On the 24th and 25th of May, I was invited by A. Lange S?hne to join the prestigious Concorso dEleganza Villa dEste 2014. This prestigious event finds its roots in 1929 and with some pauses since the 1950s, the Concorso was revived again since 1995. The event at the Grand Hotel Villa dEste was only for participants, media and invited guests while the Concours of Historic Cars is open to the public on Sunday (25th of May) in the park of the Villa Erba.Over 50 beautiful classic cars were present, from the 1920s to the early 1980s. Furthermore, around a dozen of concept cars and prototypes were present during these days. Sponsored by BMW, A. Lange S?hne and some other partners, it had all the...
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Its been two weeks since you were last graced by the presence of Wrist Game or Crying Shame. Welcome back and, this week, we let out the animal with the omega Daytona Leopard. Before we bare our claws, thoughTwo weeks back, while in sunny South Florida, I actually showed you a German watch. I chose an early Sinn 103 St with tritium dial and 85% of you gave it a firm, Jawohl On account of that success, lets hope that Sinn brings back such a reverse panda stunner. Todays pick may not qualify as stunning, but more as shocking. The omega Daytona Leopard is here and its ready to go for your throat and your wallet.The omega Daytona LeopardWhen we think of the omega Daytona, a relatively straightf...
Following the cancellation of the Geneva Automotive Salon and Breitling Summit, during which Breitling had planned to launch the new Breitling for Bentley Premier Mulliner Limited Edition, a new communication strategy was quickly put in place. Unusually, it had nothing to do with the communications department of the brand.You can say what you like about Georges Kern, but since hes come on board, Breitling has been nothing short of dynamic. That personally-driven dynamism continued as the effervescent CEO leaked news of his brands latest release via his personal Instagram account. This follows the pattern of the Breitling 765 AVI 1953 Re-edition?announcement. Although it may cause a serious h...
In today's video, RJ gets a taste of the incredible horological craftsmanship of A. Lange Sohne. The Glashutte brand is known for its incredible creations, and the 1815 Rattrapante Honeygold Homage to F. A. Lange is no exception. It features finishing, materials, and craftsmanship that reaches the highest level of traditional watchmaking.A. Lange Sohne 1815 Rattrapante Honeygold Homage to F. A. LangeYou might remember the A. Lange Sohne 1815 Rattrapante Honeygold Homage to F. A. Lange from when Jorg wrote about it in his grail-watch article. And this is just the kind of watch you think of when thinking of a grail. It's not just an absolutely stunning chronograph, but it's also a pricey nu...
Once in a while we are being confronted with the scum of the Earth who steal other peoples stuff. In the worst case scenario, with violence. On the 5th of July one of our friends was robbed during a watch trade in Amsterdam. It concerns the following watch:Patek Philippe Nautilus reference 5726/1ASerial number: 5686847 / 4587076Reference number: 5726 / 1A 010Dial number: H900.936.THNT1If you come across this watch or know more about it, please contact the Watches and Art blog. A $5000 reward is there for the one who is able to get this watch back to its rightful owner.Photo shown above is not the actual watch but a similar watch. Please refer to the link above to see pictures of the actual ...
I wasnt going to do this. My ego tells me Nacho asked me to write my entry in this series some time ago and that I politely declined due to general busyness. However, as time passed, I became more and more jealous of my colleagues having fun with this devilish exercise. So I slunk back to our Managing Editor, tail between my legs, and asked even more politely if I could also get in on the action. Three-piece watch collection for 10,000, here I come.Ive currently got COVID. I picked it up on one of my frequent travels for Fratello. Despite being sick with the plague, I havent taken a day off work yet. In fact, because I could do little else, I worked through the weekend. Mostly, I was grindin...
This years presentation of the new A. Lange Sohne timepieces in Geneva was very interesting. Seven new timepieces have been introduced, including an A. Lange Sohne Grande Complication. However, one of the watches that surprised me most is this Grand Lange 1 Lumen or reference 117.035.My initial thought was: this is not a Lange. Yes, it has the typical Lange 1 case and dial lay-out, but the use of luminous material (hence the name Lumen) for the Roman numerals, hour markers, hands and the power reserve indicator (Auf Ab) set me on the wrong path at first.Normally, I associate these heavily lumed timepieces to sports watches. Effective use of luminous material on a diving watch or a chronog...
Way before the Speedmaster, my very first Omega chronograph was a caliber 1040. It was the gold-plated Seamaster ref. 176.005, the watch that many call the Jedi. Well, it is neither a Jedi nor a flat Jedi, but thats a story for another day. That Seamaster was the watch that spawned my interest in 1970s Omega chronographs. Many years and a good few purchases later, last year, I landed this Flightmaster 910. What happened before and since then is what this article is about.Dont worry; it will not be a sentimental ode. To be honest, I just needed a catchy title. Yet, one thing is for sure Im pleasantly surprised by how much I love this watch. When I take it out of the box, it wont leave my wris...
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...
60th Anniversary2016 marks the 60th anniversary of the automatic Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Memovox. Reason to celebrate with the Master Memovox Boutique Edition, limited to 500 pieces only. These 500 pieces have a blue rich dial with beautiful thick applied hour markers, inspired by their 1970s Memovox watches.Jeager-LeCoultre Caliber 815In 1956, JLC used the self-winding caliber 815 to power the Memovox watches of that time. This new Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Memovox Boutique Edition is equipped with JLC caliber 956, a direct descendent of the original caliber 815. This movement requires two crows, as you can see. One to set and correct time, the other crown to wind the spring that powers the a...
The watch industry is certainly no stranger to dichotomy. A solid gold dive watch. A million-dollar, mud-resistant survival watch. And new from Roger Dubuis, a minute repeater in a case that can only be described as the Knights of the Round Tablein space.None can best Roger Dubuis's commitment to traditional craft within complex constructions, but it wasn't always this way.Roger Dubuis HistoryRoger Dubuis laid the foundations for his namesake brand in the mid-nineties. Surprisingly, as the classic, round, Bi-retrograde timepieces could easily be confused as hailing from the forties. 2005's Excalibur was a dramatic departure that would later shape the format for Roger Dubuis's contemporary cr...
We are at the stage where our writers go head-to-head and hope to battle their way through to the semi-finals. At this point, each of our writers has only one watch remaining. Today, we have our last quarter-final that sees a bust-up between Ben and Bert. We need your help to find out who will be one of the four final contenders. Where will your votes fall?Were at the sharp end now. Ben has one watch left, as does Bert. We need you to pick your favorite in this March Mania quarter-final. Following this round, the semi-finals commence this coming Monday, so youve not got long to register your opinion. Go hard or go home. Its time to leave it all on the courtLogin to your Fratello account and ...
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...
Ceramic bezels, new dial colors, etc. A lot of predictions, assumptions, and guesses were made, but omega is taking it easy. As always. A new case profile and a new movement for the omega Explorer II 226570. What remained are the steel bezel, white black dial options, and 42mm case size.Yesterday I wrote an article about value development on the previous omega Explorer II 216570 and 16570 models based on the rumors and (correct) assumptions there would be a new reference. We will find out what the effect is on the market value and demand for the previous models in a few weeks time. Lets first have a look at the new omega Explorer II 226570. The update of the Explorer II models is less signi...
The name Artem comes from the Latin phrase, Ars est celare artem (English: true art conceals the means by which it is achieved). But Artem is also a name from Ancient Greek mythology, generally meaning strong as a bear. That term perfectly captures what Artem stands for with its durable sailcloth straps. A bear is both strong and, as youd imagine, very comfortable before deciding to attack you for trying to cuddle it, that is. The synthetic sailcloth material shares this ethos and takes it further with this latest creation the Artem Loop-less strap. Today, I test this strap on the Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch and Seamaster Diver 300M to see if the newest generation sets the bar even higher.We...
For the watch lovers amongst us who have to wear a suit every (working) day, this might cheer you up:I saw these at the Public Forum at TimeZone.com. I dont know where to get them, but if you do a quick search on eBay or Google, you might get lucky. Have seen a few cufflinks with a working watch inside, but not with this moonphase feature ??Anyway, at least leave the tie bar at home. Unless you drive a bus. ??...
2011 is the year of Omegas Seamaster Planet Ocean. Although this company from Bienne also introduced an interesting new Speedmaster Chronograph (more on that one here), their focus is clearly set to the new line up of Seamaster Planet Ocean watches. The introduction of the Seamaster Planet Ocean on Capri (Italy) in May this year, was more than impressive (click here for a?lengthy?report with over 100 images) and just a few days ago, Omega released a new version of their iPhone application with a nice feature of the Seamaster Planet Ocean Chrono.Besides a nice and useful catalogue with Omega watches (divided into Gents and Ladies), news about Omega (watches and events) and videos, there is a ...
Inspired by the stopwatches that the manufacturer from Bienne made for timekeeping events, specifically for the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal and Innsbruck, Omega presents their Seamaster Olympic Games Collection. Five Seamaster Olympic Games watches, in the colors of the Olympic Rings (blue, yellow, black, green and red).Each watch has this domed black and white dial, just like the stopwatches, and a colored ring on the outer white dial. At 6 oclock, the ring is broken by the Olympic rings logo in a mono color. This ring can also be used a a pulse reader, as it has small 20 seconds intervals, enabling the sporty wearer to easily measure and calculate their pulse beats-to-minute. The wordin...
Given the current situation, you could be forgiven for having forgotten what it's like to travel. On the other hand, not flying out on a near-weekly basis, helps remind you where you actually went and when. It was last August that we went to Switzerland for the Geneva Watch Days event. Back then, there were a lot of watches that were still under embargo and the Chopard Alpine Eagle XL is one of those.?The atmosphere at Chopard was amazing and relaxed as we had plenty of time to look at all the novelties. Right next to a well equipped private bar we got a first glimpse of the new Alpine Eagle XL chronograph watches. All three models were available, two in steel, and one in gold and steel.Chop...
According to my dictionary the meaning of Jumbo is; noun a very large person or thing, adjective very large. There are a number of jumbos out there.To start with the Boeing 747, a wide-body passenger aircraft bears this nickname. If you ever flew over the Atlantic with Lufthansa, KLM or British Airways you probably had the pleasure of travelling in one. It is an intimidatingly large plane that often makes me wonder why have I not paid more attention to physics in high school. I probably would have a glimpse of understanding how can that monstrosity actually go up and stay there. Then you have the jumbotron. A large screen you can usually find in sports arenas-or in Las Vegas. You know, the o...