Watches Blog Wrist Watch Reviews

Awkward or not, North and South Korea together during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games was impressive to witness. To celebrate the Olympic Games spirit, Omega introduces 18 new NATO straps inspired by flags world wide, as well as 6 NATO straps that are inspired by the 5 Olympic rings: white bordered straps in black, yellow, green, blue and red, and a multi-striped version which blends all 5 colors.All these straps come with stainless steel buckles and keepers. The flag-inspired can be ordered via Omega boutiques. Prices are probably around 188 (the official Omega website gives us the Sorry, the price is not available in your country. Please contact a Boutique.. The regular st [...]

Starting on the 19th of January, the annual SIHH is being held in Geneva. The SIHH, Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, represents a number of fine watch manufacturers like Audemars Piguet, Officine Panerai, Jaeger LeCoultre, Vacheron Constantin and a few more. One of them is Cartier. Cartier once started out as a jeweler and in the 1900s, it was one of the first to create a wrist watch. I think everyone knows (or should know) the Santos-Dumont story.Anyway, I didnt classify Cartier as being a haute horlogerie brand for a long time. I just recently became interested in the brand, after talking to Treo. Treo is the owner of a dedicated Cartier website called Troisanneaux. After talkin [...]

(by Elizabeth Doerr, Freelance Journalist for Watches)(left to right): Leonid Khankin (owner and creative director Ernst Benz), Elizabeth Doerr and Philippe Dufour enjoy the Baselworld party on March 27, 2009.A book like this one has really never been seen before in the world of watchmaking: a non-commercial opus focusing on art on three fronts: the artistry of independent mechanical watchmaking with little or no commercial background, the artistry of creating an eminently enjoyable text with no marketing behind it, and the artistry of visuals created to express the rare stories of twelve unique watchmakers.The atmospheric look and feel of 12 FACES OF TIME: HOROLOGICAL VIRTUOSOS will delight [...]

The Omega Museum Collection is an interesting assembly of timepieces. The idea is simple and something other brands also implement; let's take some of the most iconic designs of the company's past and rerelease them, updated to modern standards. You can look at these watches as simple reeditions. But theyre more than that, I think. This watch, the Omega Museum Collection Milestone 1941 Officer's Chronograph, is a perfect example of thatFor instance, its design, rooted in the 1930s, is not as popular as the first Speedmasters or Seamaster 300s from 1957. The Milestone 1941 has a distinct look. It is something you dont see anymore. However, a lot of modern watches take inspiration from pieces [...]

Today I spoke with my watch friend, and also watch maker, Gerton. He told me about this Girard-Perregaux Chronograph watch he has for sale, with an Excelsior Park 4 movement. When I googled on this watch, one??of the results was this In Memory of Time website. A great website by this Japanese collector (TRS)??who has a number??of great (vintage) time pieces. Among them, the Girard-Perregaux??Chronograph with Excelsior Park movement.????????His site is really worth checking out. His collection also sports this great Ulysse Nardin Rattrapante Chronograph with Venus 179 movement. A watch produced in 1991 with a NOS 1960s movement by Venus.All pictures by TRS of In Memory of Time. [...]

Exactly 50 years ago, Apollo 11 landed on the Moon and on the wrist of Edwin Buzz Aldrin was an Omega Speedmaster Professional 105.012. From that moment, the chronograph as part of the astronauts official equipment became The Moonwatch. Today, Omega shows us the Speedmaster Moonwatch 321 Platinum to commemorate Apollo XI and celebrate caliber 321.As you can read in this article we published last week, the Speedmaster didnt become the watch of choice by accident, it underwent some proper testing procedures by NASAs engineers and was the only watch to pass all tests. The Speedmaster that NASA qualified for all manned flight-missions, was their reference 105.003. But soon after, Omega made adju [...]

Sometimes, there are watches you love that are not always top of mind. Once you are reminded of their existence, however, you instantly know what makes them so brilliant. The Omega De Ville Chronograph 145.018 is one of those watches for me. Every time I see the watch, its like falling in love all over again. The piece fits into the mold of sporty 1960s chronographs but with plenty of characteristic elements that make it stand out. It is one of those beloved chronographs from Omegas rich history that is very popular amongst Omega collectors. But as this watch is quite a rarity and Omega currently does not have a model like it in its collection, I would love to see it return. Time to find out [...]

Here we are, in the final run-up to Christmas Its been a long time coming in a long year. Theres been a lot of up and downs, but at this time of the year, we like to focus on the good stuff. Christmas should be fun and enjoyable Goodness knows we need it to be this year!Thankfully the watch world doesnt disappoint and delivers some fun and grooviness. Santa is immortalized in watch format (FINALLY!) that is itself should be enough, but theres also some other coolness if you read on!Konstantin Chaykin Santa 2020 WristmonChristmas is nearly here. This time next week, Santa will have been down your chimney or other appropriate entry point and deposited vast numbers of gifts under your Christmas [...]

Speedmaster ArtworkOnly a few months ago, we did an interview with Danish artist Cay Broendum in this article. Not much later, we had an exchange of emails about Speedmaster artwork. Now that it is done and ready for ordering, lets have a look at this piece of art and tell you about some of its details.You saw it here first, on Fratello Watches Speedy Tuesday!Speedmaster 105.012/145.012As inspiration for this Speedmaster artwork, Cay Broendum used the Omega Speedmaster Professional 105.012 / 145.012.You can recognize this due to the use of the applied Omega logo at 12 oclock, the Dot Over Ninety bezel and drop counter weight chrono seconds hand. This could still be a transitional model from [...]

It has been a while ago that we covered Breguet here on Fratello Watches (in this article by Ming Thein on the Breguet La Tradition). There is no specific reason about the non-coverage, except that the brand wasnt really on my radar. The brand always appeared to me as very classic with the exception of the Marine and Type XX/XXI collections and very expensive. Although Breguet didnt change much, perhaps my taste for watches did.Just recently, Ive started to warm up to Breguets classic round fluted cases and hand guilloch| dials. It is probably because my collection consists with just a few exceptions of sporty watches. For formal occasions or just because Ive been looking around to acqui [...]

We are thrilled to announce the release of our exciting new publication: Omega Seamaster 300M Diver Magazine. Tracing 25 years of an icon in 25 articles, this methodically-researched magazine?follows on from the success of our Speedy Tuesday edition. From the icons birth to the release of Omegas current model, this publication plunges deep into the details of the Seamaster Diver 300M, covering stories as diverse as dive watch history, dial design, famous wearers, limited editions and of course James Bond.This comprehensive profile of the Diver 300M is a fantastic resource for watch fans and passionate collectors. So be sure to grab a copy of Omega Seamaster 300M Diver Magazine at your neare [...]

Since 2020, I have been the happy owner of the Hamilton PSR, the 50th-anniversary edition in (PVD) gold. Then, last December, Hamilton introduced a special version for the latest sequel in the Matrix series of films: The Matrix Resurrections. Its an all-black Hamilton PSR MTX, limited to 1999 pieces. The number of watches corresponds with the year in which the first Matrix movie was released.In this video, RJ talks about the Hamilton PSR MTX edition, the watch that Nacho introduced to you here.Hamilton PSR MTXThe PSR MTX watch measures 40.88 a 34.7mm and has a PVD black coating. Whereas the original models came with a red LED display, the Matrix edition has a green display. Some very rare ed [...]

Sigma 7Yesterday, it was exactly 54 years ago that astronaut Walter Wally Schirra?orbited Earth 6 times in the Sigma 7 spacecraft. The name of the NASA mission was Mercury-Atlas 8, and Schirra picked Sigma 7 as the name for the spacecraft. Using the mathematical symbol for summation as appropriate for an engineering evaluation, and the 7 to refer to the seven Mercury astronauts (source).?On his wrist, an Omega, the first Speedmaster in Space. Schirra is?the only astronaut to have flown Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions.First Speedmaster in SpaceNot only did Wally Schirra use a Hasselblad camera for the first time in space, it was also the first time that an Omega watch was used in space. T [...]

James Bond nowadays wears an Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 600m, but in the past he had all kinds of watches, among them a number of Rolex watches. The famous James Bond Rolex is of course the Submariner, although Ian Fleming wore a Rolex Explorer himself and was probably referring to this Explorer as well in his books. Dell Deaton wrote an excellent article, including some nice photographs of Ian wearing his Explorer, for the US based magazine WatchTime.However, it seems that Daniel Craig doesnt take this Omega sponsorship (for EON movie productions) too seriously, as he has been repeatedley spotted with Rolex watches from his personal collection. Besides his vintage Rolex Submariner 6538, i [...]

I sense that Grand Seiko is getting more traction in Europe since the last year or two. I cant speak for the US, as I am not familiar with that market, but I notice that more people start to appreciate the Japanese craftsmanship when it comes to watches. This article is not to elaborate (again) on Grand Seiko and how amazingly well built their watches are, I am pretty sure you know that by now and otherwise you can read it in one of our Grand Seiko articles. Today, it is about one of the new limited editions that Grand Seiko made for the 20th anniversary of their 9S movement: the Grand Seiko reference SBGH267.A week before BaselWorld started, there were some embargoed press releases sent aro [...]

During BaselWorld this year, photographer Bert and I were visiting the Bell Ross booth and one of the watches that made us very enthusiastic was this World War 1 Chronographe Monopoussoir Heritage. I am sure youve seen it here or here for example.The kind people of Bell Ross showed us the entire new collection, but we had our hopes for this one, the WW1 Mono pusher chronograph. Drop dead gorgeous with its wire lugs, large dial, yellow-ish numerals and a nice new patina on the dial. With a retail price of approx $7500 USD it was quite firm for todays critical buyer, or should I say buyer in critical times? Nevertheless an awesome watch that makes a great alternative for some other big label [...]

The Datejust is about as classic as it gets. Its a dressier model from Rolex, but it has all the go anywhere, do anything traits from the brand that also make it a great everyday watch. For the many of you who find it boring, I wont try and persuade you otherwise. Others, though, might be going through a struggle that I recently encountered; namely, which model to buy and how to feel comfortable with the purchase. I settled on a Rolex Datejust 16030 and this is my tale.It really doesnt matter which generation of Datejust one looks for, the variants are simply mind-boggling. This initially scared the living daylights out of me because I literally had no clue if what I was looking at was real [...]

Roughly a month ago, Oris reached out to us and asked if we'd be interested in testing a new watch prior to the lifting of a press embargo (yes, youre looking at a watch released out of cycle not at Baselworld). Naturally, we answered affirmatively to the rhetorical question and the mystery watch was on its way. A week or so later, I received what's known as the new Oris Big Crown ProPilot Worldtimer and I have to say that I was interested from the first glance.Lets take a trip to the beach where I fought the quickly rising tide and even encountered a shy, but ultimately compliant crab. With pictures shot solely in the Algarve in Portugal, enjoy seeing how this new release fared.The New Ori [...]

It is no secret that we love mechanical watches. But what if you go to foreign places where this type of luxury is not much appreciated, or where theres other sorts of risk of damaging your precious watch? This is where this FW Classic Seiko SKX007 vs Citizen NY0040 article comes in. Two affordable mechanical watches, from well-respected manufacturers, that you can wear with confident and pride during your well-earned holidays.Michael Stockton our vintage expert wrote this article to demonstrate the strengths and weaknesses of both watches, but foremost to show you two affordable alternatives to accompany you on your holidays abroad. However, make no mistake, these watches can easily be s [...]

Omega Speedmaster Mark II 45 Year After Its IntroductionAfter the Omega Speedmaster Professional won the race to the Moon in 1969, Omega thought it was time to come up with a watch that perhaps was a bit more up-to-date and ready for the 1970s. Design wise that is, as the watch should be able to withstand the same abuse as the Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch could handle. Somewhere in 1969 Omega introduced the Speedmaster Mark II. Actually, a Speedmaster Professional Mark II. The Mark in its name stands for a new or revised/improved version, for the non-native English readers. It is like calling it a 2.0 version these days.The Speedmaster Mark II came with the same Lemania based movement [...]