I've been collecting Speedmaster watches for over 20 years. The first one I bought was in 1999, a Speedmaster Professional 145.012-67. Things were very different back then. There were far fewer resources available. Doing your homework was hard. It took a lot more legwork than it does today. When I started out, I used the TimeZone Omega forums and was in touch with fellow enthusiasts like Chuck Maddox and Bill Sohne, for example.I hadnt set out with the 145.012-67 in mind. Honestly, it could have been any Speedmaster Professional. This was just one of the most affordable models around. It was even cheaper than a young pre-owned model with caliber 1861 or 861. In 1999, nobody ever heard (or ca...
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Welcome to Episode 61 of Fratello on Air, otherwise known as WASP 9.3. After spending the last three weeks rummaging around in our mailbag, we're returning to the world of sports to provide you with a quick whizz around the American sports leagues to keep you abreast of news and developments in the NBA, NHL, MLB, and NFL.Find us on Instagram?@robnudds?and?@ferenczibazs....
As every wednesday, it is Wednesday Watch over at MotoringExposure. Today it is time to put Marvin Watch in the spotlight This brand, over 150 years old, has recently been re-invented and the on-line promotion and presence is unbelievable. This brand knows how to put themselves back on the horological map again.Reasonable priced (mechanical) time pieces with great eye for detail In Basel I had the chance to have a look at them and was impressed by these classic looking (see below) watches.Check out my latest MotoringExposure article about Marvin Watch and let me know what you think Click here...
At the dawn of availability, last week Fratellowatches attended the introduction?of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Geophysic 1958 tribute in The Netherlands. The presentation was held in the beautiful historic Admiralty room of the former Arsenal, now National Maritime Museum in Amsterdam.The HistoryIn the mid 20th century the scientific community was preparing a program of scientific explorations towards the International Geophysical Year 1958. Jaeger-LeCoultre decided to associate with this initiative by creating an exceptional precision instrument, the Geophysic watch.The most important design elements of the watch were readability, precision and reliability. Its calibre 478BWSbr movement was deriv...
Its Speedy Tuesday Ever since we saw the new Speedmaster 57 Caliber 9300 models but especially after a couple of weeks of wearing it ourselves the Fratellowatches team is in love with this particular model. In case you missed it, read our thorough hands-on review of the Speedmaster 57 Caliber 9300 here. This week, we show you the stainless steel Omega Speedmaster 57 Caliber 9300 from one of our readers and followers on Instagram.Using his instagram account?@GeoMags, we noticed that he was wearing this Speedmaster 57 Caliber 9300 on some of the Speedy Tuesdays (use the speedytuesday hashtag for over 500 photos of Speedmaster watches on Instragram or just to join the Speedy Tuesday). The co...
With the re-release of the Pasha Grille at Watches And Wonders 2022, Cartier has launched a model that comes very close to the design that the brand says was custom made for the Pasha of Marrakesh in 1943. But before we get into the new 2022 models, lets take a quick look back at what the Pasha actually is and when it came on the market; opinions are quite divided on that. Until the 80s, Cartier was always known for its small, often square and rectangular watches, usually made in yellow gold. Therefore, it was quite a surprise when in 1985, a 38mm round timepiece suddenly hit the windows of the Cartier boutiques. Believe me, 38mm was very large for a mens watch at the time, and some models e...
Its time for Two for Tuesday where we consider a pair of watches that just might make it to your shopping list. Today, we look at a couple of standards. The Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight takes on the omega Submariner.Steel, no date, automatic, and with a durable bracelet these are attributes that many of us enjoy on a dive watch. Plenty of brands offer a diver with these characteristics, but theres one true king of the genre. The omega Submariner sits at the top of the food chain and it does so for a lot of reasons that we will cover below. With go anywhere good looks, fantatsic build quality, and a reputation for holding or growing value, its hard not to like this watch. The problem, of cour...
During Watches Wonders last year, Zenith graced us with the new Defy Extreme. The most extreme Defy model was not just a tour de force in materials and design. The main attraction was, without a doubt, the 1/100th of a second automatic high-frequency chronograph movement. We had the pleasure of witnessing one of the models from up close. Besides the amazing movement, I was pleasantly surprised by how comfortable the Defy Extreme was with its titanium case and bracelet. Now the brand makes the watch even lighter by releasing the Zenith Defy Extreme Carbon.I love Zenith because the brand shows great variety in its collections. The biggest joy for me is in the Chronomaster line, and especially...
Among many ladies releases from last year, perhaps the most bittersweet was Patek's minimalistic manchette-styled Twenty~4. Considering what modern women demand from a watch, it fell just short. My heart went out to the rectangular design but not to the movement. Almost as if Patek heard my cry, the brand has decided to start this year in a big way. I'm thrilled that two of the three ladies' novelties, feature the in-house Caliber 324 S C self-winding movement.Patek Twenty~4 AutomaticMany of you know that I adore ladies watches. They are sophisticated and many of them have a touch of flair that I love. Even without diamonds, they are attention-grabbers. Unfortunately, very few of them have a...
What can I say but thank you? After a roller-coaster month of hilarity, with accidental (and occasionally deliberate) controversies, we have reached our final Summer Splash round. We team Fratello, the Fratelli, and the newly-minted Kraken Kartel have narrowed down our combined selections to three models. Left standing after four weeks of furious voting are RJs Omega Seamaster 300M, Mikes Tudor Black Bay .925, and Phils Doxa Sub 300.Weve got a fresh, colorful line-up including a crisp white dial, a surprisingly versatile taupe dial, and, thanks to you the Fratelli, a vivid orange dial (nice one, Phil). The Doxa Sub 300 battled through a packed Wild Card tussle that saw more than 30 audience ...
I have a weak spot for watches that help you travel through different time zones, without losing track of home time. We all know about the GMT watches that just have an extra hour hand, to display home time (or 24h notation). However, there are also watches that can flip through different timezones with only a push on a button or turning an extra crown. Technically speaking, these watches are much more complicated than the ones with just an extra hour hand like the omega GMT-Master or ETA 2893-A2 based watches (Omega, Linde Werdelin etc.).World Timer watches, as they are being called, attract me since the day I became interested in wrist watches. During all these years, my taste did not chan...
Last year, I reviewed the Grand Seiko SBGM021, a similar looking model of what we have here today. However, the Grand Seiko SBGJ017 GMT has a hi-beat movement and a less casual appearance. Lets have a look.Grand Seiko?SBGJ017The ivory dial of the aforementioned SBGM021 is something I really love about that watch. It gives a great contrast with the hands and a playful appearance. This Grand Seiko SBGJ017 GMT has a silver dial and looks a bit more elegant than the SBGM021. But enough with the comparison, this new Grand Seiko SBGJ017 (introduced in September last year) landed on our desk and was introduced at the same time as its black dial SBGJ019 counterpart. It features Grand Seikos caliber ...
The Moonwatch doesnt need any introduction here on Fratello (in case it does, go here), but this doesnt apply to everyone. Like this guest on BBCs Antiques Roadshow.The BBC aired a new episode of Antiques Roadshow yesterday evening. One of the guests bought a Speedmaster Professional pre-Moon watch at a car boot sale. When someone offered hime50 for it, he luckily turned them down.However, he still didnt have a clue about the watch. Watch expert Richard Price explained the importance of this watch to the owner, and why he was so right not to sell it for 50 quid to some shark (who probably knew very well what he was looking at). The owner paid onlye5 for it at the car boot sale, but his insti...
And a warm welcome to all of you for This Week in Watches, the November 9, 2019 edition.? Its been awhile and its good to be back!Yes, readers, This Week in Watches took a little breather over the past several weeks as yours truly went to the US of A on vacation for two solid weeks.? I did my best to stay away from the laptop, but Im happy to be back and bring a strong dose of news to your pupils.? Im ready if you are, so lets get it onNew Heuer Camaro SiteI mean, when you get an email from Steve Perry regarding Heuer, the thoughts of helping the former frontman of Journey find his dream vintage watch can really allow the mind to wander.? I mean, if I or my teammates did such a thing, we mig...
One of the coolest looking exhibition spaces at Baselworld is the double booth by Seiko.Since Grand Seiko became a different brand the Japanese powerhouse shares a twin booth, between their two major brands, Seiko and Grand Seiko. On the one side, you have the displays for the latest Seiko timepieces, while the other side belongs to the Grand Seiko novelties. Writing a run-down on both brands would be a too long article so this time we will only take a closer look at the 2019 novelties of the other Seiko brand, Grand Seiko. GS has some seriously cool watches to show us this year, both for men and for women. For the sake of gender equality, I think it is time to talk about the ladies' models ...
Last time out, I gave you a breakdown of all the watch and F1 team partnerships for the 2021 season. In the closing statement, I pondered the possibilities of Omega becoming an official partner of the sport for the first time. Thats unlikely to happen with omega as the official timekeeper. But it made my imagination run wild with other possible tie-ins between carmakers and watch brands. My list today looks at a fantastical selection of collabs. These do not necessarily relate to motorsport, and some only tie a specific watch to a car model.We often dismiss it or lie to ourselves about how much we are driven by marketing. Watch aficionados especially resent the marketing tactics of our favor...
I remember when Zenith first released the Defy 21 back in 2017. I was invited to a showcase event where many of the new watches from that years Baselworld. It was the first time I was able to see these watches up close and personal. I was rather excited as that year had seen a few new watches released that I was eager to see up close and personal. One of these was the Zenith Defy 21.The Zenith El Primero Defy 21 was a big update and upgrade on the original El Primero movement from 1969. The movements frequency was given a bump up from 5Hz to 50Hz, in turn giving a considerable increase in timing precision from 1/10th of a second to 1/100th of a second for chronograph readings. This means tha...
This coming Wednesday, June 5th, the Fortuna Exchange auction will take place again. A monthly live auction where you can bid on watches. In this month, Fortuna offers no less than 153 watches of which we selected 4 to show you: omega Explorer 1016, omega GMT-Master 165, Omega Seamaster 300 165.024 and a Zenith A. Cairelli CP-2.Lets start with the last one, the Zenith chronograph for the Italian Airforce.Zenith A. Cairelli CP-2 ChronographIf youre not into vintage watches, you might recognize this model anyway as Zenith did a re-edition of the CP-2 not that long ago (we reviewed it here). This particular watch, however, was sold in the 1960s by the Italian defence contractor, A. Cairelli. Th...
omega NoveltiesAs every year, everyone started running towards the omega booth right after the opening of the Baselworld exhibition. Rumours about a new omega GMT-Master II seemed to be true, although there wasnt a Coke or Pepsi configuration to show. Instead, omega came up with a blue and black configuration. New was the omega Yacht-Master II in stainless steel. More about those models later. Lets focus on the brand new omega Daytona reference 116506 first!omega Daytona 116506Although omega doesnt celebrate it officially, its the 50th anniversary of the famous Daytona model. The all platinum version of the iconic omega Cosmograph Daytona is not a limited edition nor is it a time limited edi...
Despite the cancellation of Grand Seikos summit, the new watches are being introduced anyway (kudos for that). Thus, were kicking off with the new Grand Seiko 60th Anniversary Professional Divers 600M.Thats right, Grand Seiko was born in 1960 and celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. Not exactly the celebration they had in mind in Japan, but I am sure we will get an opportunity to see the watches live and to test drive them. For now, well have to make do with the press releases theyve shared with us.Grand Seiko 60th Anniversary Limited Edition Divers 600MThis watch might look familiar to you. It looks similar to the Grand Seiko Diver SBGA231G (that I reviewed here) or perhaps better sai...