I have a weak spot for gold Speedmaster watches. According to some, a Speedmaster doesnt belong in gold, its a tool watch after all. However, I find precious metal a great way to celebrate one of the most iconic chronographs in the world.My first encounter with a gold Speedmaster was in 1999 or so, as my watchmaker had one of the original BA145.022-69 watches. The gold Speedmaster from 1969 was presented to the Apollo astronauts and officials of the White House. We all know the story (if not, click here). Omega made 1,014 of them in total. In 2019, for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo XI mission, Omega introduced 1,014 pieces of the Speedmaster Professional in Moonshine gold.The gold non-l...
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We selected three interesting watches from recent Catawiki auctions: an IWC Mark XII, a Longines Legend Diver and a omega GMT-Master II.As always, let me start by saying that before you bid on a watch, you should have done your homework. Especially when it concerns vintage watches. Some brands can help you identifying them, but most of the time it might take some more effort. From this weeks brands for example, Longines is known to have a great museum and archive that can help you to authenticate a watch. IWC has a small museum in Schaffhausen and should be able to give you some help as well. With omega, it will be difficult to get some official help from their offices in Geneva, but there i...
This episode we finally set the Speedmaster?watch in the spotlight of the Watches Pencils feature. In particular, we zoom in on the first Speedmaster which has passed the NASA tests: the Omega Speedmaster with reference number 105.003. Also known as the Ed White Speedmaster. Later on more about the NASA?tests:Form and Function Hand in HandThe thing that?really fascinates me about this watch is that there is such a harmony between form and function. The fundamentals of the Speedmaster are rock solid from the beginning; While the watch passed all the NASA tests, it was never designed especially for the tests. Before the 105.003 the watch was simply a commercial watch like any other. A sports ...
At Fratello we all have a thing for vintage so its always a pleasure to see watch brands introducing vintage inspired models. Weve mentioned it earlier and now well have a closer look at the?Oris ChronOris Date that was introduced during Baselworld this year.Oris ChronOris Date, an icon returnsSo after almost 50 years the?Oris ChronOris Date returns. First introduced in 1970, the ChronOris watch was the first stop-seconds chronograph for the brans. Its name is derived from the words chronograph and the brand name. The original watch came with the typical 70s case design as seen on many watches from that era. With a pusher and two crowns the watch is a bit different from the re-launched versi...
Sell crazy someplace else, were all stocked up here. says Melvin Udall, Jack Nicholson's character in the movie As Good as it Gets.The Heuer Autavia sold at Phillips for 75,000 CHF (photo credit: www.phillips.com)The line above could easily explain the current market for vintage chronographs. As I sat down on the couch with, fittingly, a glass of champagne (this was pure happenstance as we had a friend in town I normally prefer my bubbly to consist of malted hops and barley) one evening in mid-May, I decided to tune into the Phillips Stop-Start-Reset auction featuring 88 vintage stainless steel chronographs. I watched a number of pieces sell at very strong prices, but it wasn't until the...
In 2021, Omega updated the iconic Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch with the caliber 3861 movement. A very good reason to update our Speedmaster Buyers Guide as well!This guide dates all the way back to 2014, and since then, a lot happened. Not only did we have our own way with Omega and the two Speedmaster Speedy Tuesday watches (in 2017 and 2018), Omega also introduced a number of interesting Speedmaster watches to the collection. What about the Speedmaster Calibre 321 from 2020, or the new Moonwatch Master Chronometer models in gold? Time for us to update this Speedmaster Buyers Guide.In this Speedmaster Buyers Guide, we give you an overview of the most important references of the Speedm...
Welcome back to Wrist Game or Crying Shame. This week, we focus on what I'd call an overshadowed watch. The omega Datejust 18K is here. But first?Last week, we looked at the TAG Heuer Carrera Telemeter from back in 2015. I mentioned that this watch kicked off a series of glass box pieces, but was a bit of an oddity styling-wise. You didn't seem to care at all, though, because this watch rolled to an 83% Wrist Game triumph. We switch things up in a big way today, though, with a look at the omega Datejust 18K.The Datejust 18K has internal competitionAt times, there are products that are simply so powerful that they leave no room for competition. It's even more surprising when the power is so g...
Every Friday I write an article for the website of USAs best read watch magazine, WatchTime. Yesterdays article is about my personal Top 5 of rectangular watches.Rectangular watches do not seem to be my style. In all the years of watch collecting, Ive only had a few in my modest collection of watches and most of the time sold them quickly again. I also was able to borrow a few pieces, such as the Jaeger-LeCoultre Grande Reverso 1931 you can see above (and which we reviewed here) but perhaps too short to start a long lasting relationship with it.It is not that I dislike their looks, I actually love the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso collection for example. But somehow I cant get used to look at a r...
There are often stories about watches that make us frown upon a bit. Is it a real story? Is there any provenance to back this up? A watch that has been handed down or has been sold 10 times already in its life time, often raises these kind of questions. Not with the omega 6238 we have on Fratello today. We love first owner stories for sure, even when it means the watch has been serviced (as it should) and might contain some original replacement parts. A watch that has not fallen into the hands of dealers or auction houses, where some parts might have been curated to make it an attractive looking watch. None of that in the case of this honest 1968 omega 6238 that belongs to one of our reade...
Breitling: Instruments for Professionals. Many watch enthusiasts will be more than familiar with this slogan, and I would be willing to bet we all could rattle off a few of Breitling's most famous models. Let's be real C who among us has not heard of the scuba-ready SuperOcean or the legendary aviation chronograph, the Navitimer? Some of us may not realize though just how important Breitling has been to the watch industry throughout its illustrious history.Unfortunately, a truly comprehensive review of the brand and all of its models is beyond the scope of this article. We do hope, however, that this two-part overview will highlight the most important moments in Breitling's history, and hel...
We say Cartier and you will probably say Tank. The Tank is a watch that has been in Cartiers collection since 1919 and designed by Louis Cartier (hence the LC). The prototype was already built in 1917, but the model was marketed two years later.Pictured below is a LC Tank that dates back to 1998, in platinum and with a very flat F. Piguet movement? (Cartiers 021MC caliber). This watch measures 33.5 x 25.5mm.Photo by Geo, www.troisanneaux.comInspired by the armored Renault tank (1917), the Cartier Tank watch was given to General John Pershing, who served in Europe during the first World War. If you take a close look at the Tank watch, it looks like the horizontal section of an armored tank.Th...
Besides his work as interior and furniture designer, Robert Lighton also created a few wrist watches by the names of Hudson, Empire, San Remo, Algonquin and a few more. Mechanical watches with stainless steel, sterling silver or gold cases, most of them with an ETA (mechanical) movement. A few years back these babies sold for over 2600 USD, but you can get them now for as low as 695 USD Robert Lighton New York is having a close out sale, and if I may say so, you really will have a bargain when buying one of these original beauties. Below, a stainless steel Empire model is pictured.My mother has been wearing her Hudson in sterling silver for over years now, and the cushion shaped case of the ...
In this week's TBT, we take a look at an absolute classic, but one that's decidedly niche in its execution: the Breitling 809 Cosmonaute. The Cosmonaute is certainly one of the brand's better known models, but that's likely due to its familial resemblance to one Breitling's most famous creations: the Navitimer. Today, we'll explore the model, its significance and, of course, I'll prattle on a bit, but this time about why instant gratification is such a rare and beautiful thing. T-minus 3 2 1 it's TBT time on Fratello Watches!The Breitling 809 Cosmonaute head onI found the Breitling 809 Cosmonaute by accidentAs promised, let's start with a ramble because I think it helps demonstrate what ca...
Last time in Watch Spotting, we looked at the Seiko SKX009 in All is Lost, or SKX175 for our US readers. This time I am exploring the wrist game in Gone Girl with the omega Pepsi GMT-Master II sported by Ben Affleck. Most movies set in the modern-day real-world feature watches in some form. But in this column, I select films where the choice of wristwatch plays into the narrative. I also immerse myself in how the chosen character may have attained their timepiece.Gone Girl was the last theatrical release, at the time of writing, by David Fincher. If you are not sure who David Fincher is, you may be more familiar with the titles he has directed: Fight Club, Se7en, The Social Network, and The ...
Today, there was a watchfair in Houten/Netherlands. There is currently nothing on my shortlist, but it is only a half an hour drive from the city where I live in, and its always nice to meet up with some other watch fanatics. It seemed that the whole Dutch omega Forum crew was there. I also shook hands with a few of my forum sponsors, including JK of JK Watchstore.He showed me this new omega Sea-Dweller Deepsea, a.k.a omega Dipsy (ref.116660). Although omega is catching up with the orders of this watch, it isnt a watch that youll see often for the coming months. The watch is BIG. At first sight, a lot bigger than my regular Sea-Dweller (ref.16600) and my fairly big IWC Ingenieur (3227-01). H...
HublotAnd now something you have probably not seen yet. On the 3rd day of Basel World we visited Hublot to take a closer look at their 2016 novelties. The first piece we were introduced stole the show-for me, anyways. We were given the new Hublot Classic Fusion Berluti in black ceramic and 18k gold and I have to say, even though Hublot is not my main focus, those are some seriously nice looking watches. As we learned, last year marked the 120th anniversary of Parisian shoemaker legend Berluti. For this occasion Hublot teamed up with the atelier to produce 2 distinct models: the Hublot Classic Fusion Berluti All Black and the Hublot Classic Fusion Scritto.Based on the Classic Fusion line, bot...
Omega Speedmaster Plaisted Polar Expedition 1968!A sextant and a Speedmaster was all they had to calculate their exact position. Four brave men who had travelled for 44 days to conquer 1320 kilometres across the Polar cap reached their destination: the exact geographic North Pole at 90 degrees latitude North.The mission was led by American explorer Ralph S. Plaisted. The other men in his team were Gerald Pitzl (navigator), Walter Pederson (the mechanical engineer) and Jean-Luc Bombardier (scout and technician). All four men were wearing an Omega Speedmaster Professional reference 145.012. The same reference that was used during the Apollo 11 mission approximately a year later.During this mis...
We like to talk about vintage watches a lot within the Fratello team. Though most of what we write about is largely focused on the most recent releases and developments, for many of us, a lot of the fun can be found in the sometimes weird and often wonderful world of vintage watches. It's a world full of history, remarkable watches, incredible stories, and quirky details. It inspired us to come up with a series of articles focusing on the best watches per decade from a select group of brands. Some of them are priceless, some of them still affordable. In this installment, we will take a look at the best TAG Heuer watches from the 1980s.While the 1970s were a decade filled with tremendous chan...
Everybody wants to be unique. That's why everybody wants to wear a omega. With an annual production of close to one million watches, omega is a paradox of luxury. Yes, the brand produces exclusive watches, but it does so in very large numbers. Theyre not enough to satisfy the market, but we've touched upon that subject in many other stories already. And to use a trusty clich|, all omega watches look the same. But that can literally be changed. You can change the Jubilee bracelet for a NATO strap, but you can also have a professional watch tuner make your omega into a unique piece. Customizing Seiko watches and G-Shock models is way less controversial, and altering Omega watches is also a thi...
Today on TBT, we'll have a look at what's become a rather popular vintage watch, the Hamilton Military Chronograph. It's a popular watch because it hits on two of the more collectible sub genres: the military and the chronograph categories. I stared at these watches, and their identical, yet other branded brethren, for what felt like a long time before I became serious about acquiring one. While I generally consider myself well timed in finding things, this was one of those cases, though, where I really struggled to find an example. Chalk that up to a vintage market that remains piping hot. So, yes, we'll talk a little about the buying experience because it was a new one for me.The Hamilton...