I saw the picture of the new Grand Seiko Hi-Beat 36000 80 Hours Green Birch SLGH011 and immediately What A Wonderful World started playing in my head. I don't think the Grand Seiko watchmakers in Shizukuishi are listening to this evergreen song when they're putting together the new Green Birch. But if they are, it wouldn't surprise me, either.I won't get into the part where the beautiful landscape of northern Japan is a bottomless source of inspiration for the Grand Seiko watch designers. No more snow crystals only seen between January 13th and February 2nd. I won't mention Mount Iwate either. But I do, for a moment, have to say something about the enchanting forests in the Shizukuishi regio...
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The ultimate toolwatch the omega Explorer II, aimed at speleologists and cave explorers.Some time ago, Michael Stockton wrote quite a love letter (as one of our readers wrote in the comments) on the omega Explorer 1016. While the reference 1016 Explorer was being produced already in 1963 and kept in production for 26 years, omega introduced another Explorer in 1971. The Explorer II. This watch was not a successor of the Explorer 1016, but an additional timepiece with an additional function. The Explorer II was aimed at speleologists or cave explorers, who could lose the sense of time during their work. When you are not exposed to daylight, its feasible to lose track of time and whether you ...
This year we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing, and with that, also the 50th anniversary of the Speedmaster Professional as the Moonwatch. Time to recap once more how the Speedmaster became the Moonwatch.Exactly 50 years ago, on July 16, the Saturn V rocket was on its way to the Moon (and back) as part of the Apollo XI mission. On board were fearless astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. On their wrists, but probably the least of their concern, the Omega Speedmaster Professional.On July 20th 1969, the Apollo 11 Lunar Module put astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Buzz Aldrin on the surface of the Moon. Michael Collins stays in the Command Module. On Jul...
Every watch enthusiast can think of a great discontinued timepiece that should return to the spotlight. Not as a reissue, but as a worthy successor to the original. An original 2.0, if you will. That's what we talk about at the Fratello offices. And these talks inspired us to come up with a series about watches that the Fratello editors would like to see make a comeback. Some watches are iconic, some of them are less popular. But all of them are loved by at least one of our editors. Lets look at some of our favorites in this series. This time, it's Lex who wants the late 1990s Zenith El Primero Rainbow Flyback Chronograph redone.In those Fratello team discussions, we regularly dive deep into...
Right out of the gates, Patek Philippe releases two of the biggest show stoppers of Watches Wonders 2022. The first is the all-new Patek Philippe Annual Calendar Travel Time Ref. 5326G-001. The watch is a brilliant display of vintage-inspired style and technical ingenuity. It combines an annual calendar and a travel time complication?that displays two time zones. It is launched together with the automatic Calatrava Ref. 5226G-001 which features the same stunning overall new style. This is a pair of watches that introduces an explorer-chic that is brilliant. Lets find out more.The big introduction for Patek Philippe this year is the Annual Calendar Travel Time Ref. 5326G-001. For the timepie...
Welcome back to another Fratello on Air Podcast. This time, Balazs and Mike talk about their favorite vintage chronographs.Balazs and Mike love vintage chronographs and are keen to share the top three favorite pieces within their collections. Its a discussion of timers that spans the decades.Our Fratello on Air podcast is also available via Buzzsprout,?Soundcloud,?Apple Podcast,?Google Podcast,?Deezer,??Stitcher, and?Spotify.The Handgelenk Kontrolle and some newsBefore focusing on the main topic, though, its time for a Handgelenk Kontrolle and a fair bit of news. During this recording, Balazs chose one of his vintage chronographs for the occasion with the 70s Seiko 6139-7070. Hes a huge fan ...
My love of watches has gone through the phases many of us know all too well. A resurgence about 18 years ago involved a plethora of Fashion Watches with a smattering of vintage. After buying my first pre-owned Swiss mechanical watch, an Oris, this all changed. The last 4 quartz watches were sold off with a vow never to touch them again. Why then, is my desire for the ticking of a tough quartz watch re-awakened??Some days I just want to go for a run, fall over and sprain my ankle while sledding with the kids, or even just relax without a care in the world. The peace of mind of throwing on a bullet-proof quartz tough-guy of a watch is simply liberating. I might love my 37mm Grand Seiko. And I ...
This year has been weird, I dont have to do much explanation here. It also applies to my watch collection though, but I am not sure this has anything to do with Covid-19. In previous years, I purchased more watches, and with a higher value per watch. Interestingly enough, the 7 watches I bought in 2020 range from 215 to 14,000. Make sure youre ready to see some quirky choices!For me, it is not so much about the price tag or brand name on the dial. I either like a watch or I dont. However, I have been known to be a bit rash on occasion. Several times this year, I pulled the trigger without really thinking about it. This generally leads to more amusement than regret (as some of the Fratelli wi...
Sometimes its just fun to be grouchy Who doesnt love a good whine session every so often? Well, thats me, and today, Im going to talk about three popular modern watches that I simply dont get. However, I will bring solutionsWe now live in an age where there are luxury products that seemingly everyone has to have. No, these arent your run-of-the-mill newest iPhones or the latest Air Jordan sneakers. Instead, these are some mega pricey objects and many are watches. Heres the thing, though, as a watch lover, I just dont get some of these watches. Every watch Ill show you today is undeniably nice, but the secondary prices have the aroma of tulips if you know what I mean. Like I always say in my ...
I am not the experienced sailor that our editor Gerard is, but steering one of the racing boats in 2018 is one of the coolest things Ive ever done.It was a home game for us when the Volvo Ocean Race was held in Scheveningen in The Netherlands. Omega had a little surprise for us, that we could join one of the boats entering the harbor of Scheveningen. I often feel lucky that I am doing this job at Fratello. It makes it possible to visit places and do things I would otherwise never have done.Americas Cup Limited EditionAround 20 years ago, I just started watch collecting. I remember Omega releasing their special Seamaster 300M Americas Cup, with white gold bezel. I still have the official pres...
On May 15th 1918, the first airmail service flight took place between Washington and New York. This flight officially established the airmail service in the United States. Mail service was contractual between the postal service and the operators of whatever means of transportations the post used. Whether it was railway or steamboat, the owners of these companies signed a contract to carry the mail. The US, however, had no commercial airlines at the time, so the airmail service was carried out by air force pilots (Major Reuben Fleet of the Army Air Corps and Lieutenant George Boyle) and planes. That first airmail service flight delivered 4 bags of mail including a letter from the Postmaster o...
Welcome back to Wrist Game or Crying Shame, a unique user interface allowing potential wearers of wrist-related objects to express their opinions in an anonymous, stress-free environment.? Today, well present you with the TAG Heuer Super Professional.? But firstWell, you all have a real penchant for watches named Submariner and that rang true with last weeks Tudor of the same name.? The reference 79090 the last acrylic crystal beast released by Genevan-based omega cruised to an easy 65% Wrist Game win.? Clearly, plastic is fantastic with this crew.? Well, a scant 10 years or so later, another Swiss-based company threw its hat into the ring and tried to compete with some big-time competitio...
Omega Speedmaster Pro Gemini IVSpeedy Tuesday is here and this time with a Speedmaster Gemini IV limited edition of 2005 that commemorates the mission of 1965. During this mission, the first space walk of a NASA astronaut was performed by astronaut Ed White. Ed White was wearing his Speedmaster pre-Professional (ref.105.003) during the EVA and therefore the Speedmaster is considered to be the first watch into outer space.The blue dialed Speedmaster Professional Gemini IV not only has a dial and bezel that stands out, it also has a very nice caseback that commemorates the first space walk by Ed White. As you can see below, Omega has put the red NASA mission patch on the caseback of the watch,...
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...
Yes, believe it or not, were barreling into the festive season once more. With Halloween in the books, attention shifts towards the gift-giving portion of the calendar. Hamilton has kindly provided us with some decidedly joyous images of the brands big hitters for your consideration. In this holiday run-down we have some of our favorite pieces released in recent times. Including the Hamilton American Classic Intra-Matic Chronograph H, the American Classic PSR Digital Quartz, and the Khaki Field Mechanical Bronze among others.While its rare that yours truly receives a watch from my friends or family, I am a fanatical giver of the ticking marvels that occupy my life and mind. I enjoy sharing t...
Sometimes, I feel bad for certain watch brands. Theyve created amazingly beautiful watches, but due to the unknown name on the dial, the price, or bad marketing efforts, they never really made it. Today I want to share with you 5 watches that never (really) hit the big time.Perhaps unbelievable today, but that is basically how the Nautilus and Royal Oak also started out. Nobody cared. Look at them now. Another example is the Aquanaut. When it was introduced in 1997, as the new Nautilus for a younger generation, it was barely picked up. I am not saying the watches in this overview will be picked up at some point and become the investor pieces the aforementioned watches have become today, but ...
The TAG Heuer Aquaracer series has become interesting over the past couple of years. The popular divers now look higher-end than prior iterations and come with a lot of nice features. A ceramic bezel, a micro-adjust buckle, and more are some of the details that have brought this watch into the modern age. Today, we get three new Aquaracer models and theyre all quite different from each other.The TAG Heuer Aquaracer first came about in 2004, and wow, were these popular amongst friends of mine who were early in their careers. They were solid divers with strong looks and loads of different options. After that mid-00s period, though, I sort of lost track of the Aquaracer until last year when the...
Yo, yo, yo, weve gone decimal I knew there was a reason we had those funny old episode numbers. Now we finally know why. The long-planned episode 10 has been delayed because for the first time this year both Balazs (Fridge) and Rob (Freezer) are in different countries (whaaat?).Thats right, episode 9.1 (the second installment of our mailbag series) sees the Podcast come to you from Dresden (Germany) and P cs (Hungary). Our intrepid international impresarios have watches from Omega, Artya, Armin Strom, and more for your listening pleasure.This week, we touch on Murderball (correcting an error in last weeks episode), Ice Hockey (the Olympics), the Isle of Man TT, Stamford Bridge, and Baseball....
Today marks the return of the Breitling Top Time, a legendary vintage chronograph from the 1960s.If you were hoping for some fun news during these different and difficult times, we think Breitling has taken a good shot at answering the bell. With the new Breitling Top Time, we see the return of a fabled name and the use of a dial design thats bound to excite both collectors and lovers of chronographs. The watch also debuts a new Arianee blockchain certificate program to help prove authenticity and to transfer ownership of a watch should it be sold to a new owner. You can read more about this on Breitlings site.The Breitling Top Time ReturnsThats right, the Breitling Top Time returns and the ...
Last October, Chopard introduced their Alpine Eagle, a new watch with a familiar face. We decided to use our hands-on experience with the Chopard Alpine Eagle for an episode of our 52Mondayz feature.To be honest, I was a bit surprised to see the return of Chopards 1980s model called St. Moritz. The Chopard St. Moritz was a watch designed by the then 22-year old Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, now CEO of Chopard. A sporty luxury watch aimed at a new type of clientele at the time, young and successful men and women who enjoyed a somewhat jet set-ish lifestyle. A bit like how St. Moritz is, a luxury alpine resort town which was (in 2014) the second most expensive place in the world for tourist and bu...