Watches Blog Wrist Watch Reviews

In this series, our editors will each share their personal grail watch. Its the watch they want the most, their exit watch, or whatever you want to call it. For now, let's stick to grail watch. I will kick it off by sharing my own grail watch, my journey to discovering it, and the grail watches (I thought) I had.In the late 1990s, my grail watch was an Omega Constellation. Funnily enough, it wasnt a pie-pan or any vintage model, but the standard model Omega introduced in 1995. There was no influencing, and there was no proper website about watches. Watch brands websites looked like they were made in Frontpage 1.0, and perhaps they were. There was just the authorized dealer and its stack of b [...]

Watches And Wonders is an event centered around some of the watch worlds finest and most exclusive brands. Rolex, Patek, Lange, everyone is invited to the party and its a suit-and-tie affair (for those brave enough). Something I did not expect when touching down in Geneva this past Tuesday was that the very next day during breakfast a white paper bag adorned with a red Swatch logo would be waiting for me. The bag looked familiar. I had seen it in the hands of some of the lucky few, greeted by jealous stares as they exited the Swatch boutique in Rotterdam shortly after its 9:39 AM opening. Inside was the new Omega ?bSwatch Speedmaster MoonSwatch. Undeniably, its the watch launch of the year, [...]

As the year comes to an end, some of our editors will be highlighting their favorite watches released this year. I think you'll agree that narrowing it down to just five watches is no easy feat, especially as this year saw so many special releases from big and small brands alike. From an update to the Omega Speedmaster and new Rolex Explorer models, to classics like the Patek Philippe Nautilus receiving a splash of color on its dial. Even microbrands kept busy this year, launching almost too many exciting watches to count during the past 12 months.So, needless to say, I was dreading making my list. Having spent far too much time slotting brands and in and out of the list, I feel confident in [...]

After the impressive auction result of the Elvis Presley Omega Tiffany, we decided to give you an overview of some of his other watches as well. We discuss two of his Omega watches (one is the 1.8mio Swiss Francs Omega Tiffany), his Rolex King Midas and the well-known Hamilton Ventura. Without further ado, lets have a look.Elvis Presleys WatchesElvis Presley was one of, if not the, most influential musician of the last century. Throughout his career, that spanned over 30 years, it was estimated that he sold over 1 billion records. He also sold out 837 consecutive shows in Las Vegas, starred in 31 feature films and musicals and had 18 number one songs on Billboard's Hot 100 Pop Chart in the U [...]

Thats it. Its over. After a strange few months, the 2020/21 season has come to a stunningly normal conclusion. If Tom Brady keeps this up, hell be in the market for extra fingers before we know it. With his seventh ring and fifth Super Bowl MVP award in the bag, there is not much left to be said about a career that could be broken in half, viewed sideways, with one eye closed, while standing on your head and still be worthy of a first-ballot induction to the Hall of Fame. Instead, were turning our attention toward one of the most worn watches of the event. The new Breitling Chronomat.In all honesty, I am still bitter about the whole 2020/21 season. As a die-hard Broncos fan since the John El [...]

One of the cool things of being a watch blogger is that you get to try some really nice watches. One of the watch we had in our possession for a while was this Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Jubilee in platinum. Thats right, platinum. In hommage to 180 years of watchmaking from this company from Le Sentier, they created this ultra thin Master in platinum. The watch is just 4.05mm thick but even more astonishing is the Jaeger-LeCoultre caliber 849 movement that is just 1.85mm thick.This Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Jubilee watch only has an hour hand and a minute hand otherwise the movement would probably became too bulky for its 4.05mm thick case. The caliber 849 movement consists [...]

To set the time correctly on your mechanical wrist watch, you definately need at least one quartz controlled wrist watch. Even better, you need a watch that keeps perfect track of time. You need a radio controlled wrist watch In 1990, Junghans introduced the first radio controlled wrist watch, the Mega 1. An integrated antenna in the strap receives a long-wave radio signal every morning broadcasted on 77.5 KHz from Frankfurt. This broadcast carries time information from Germanys national atomic clocks at Braunschweig. These radio transmissions automatically set the watch correctly.Currently, Junghans still carries one radio controlled watch in their Avantgarde collection. The Mega 1000 watch [...]

Every watch enthusiast can think of a great discontinued timepiece that should return to the spotlight in a more modern version. At the Fratello offices, we are no different. It inspired us to come up with a series about watches that the Fratello editors would like to see make a comeback. Some of the 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. Jorg kicks off with the IWC Ingenieur SL Jumbo Ref. 1832.In Fratello team discussions, we regularly dive deep into the archives of a brand to talk about some of the watches from the past that we love. As a result, the question, Wouldnt it [...]

The field is set with two heavyweight chronograph juggernauts at the ready. The new Omega Speedmaster is primed to take on the Rolex Daytona. Does the Moonwatch now have what it takes to defeat the hypebeast darling?It was one week ago that the new Omega Speedmaster finally broke cover. Most of us had seen leaks the month before, but Omega still brought some refreshing surprises. As such, the responses were quite positive aside from a few concerns regarding pricing. The first meaningful changes in 25 years to one of the worlds most recognizable watches qualify as big news. However, once the dust settles and I see the specks before me on the desk questions begin to form.A meaningless, yet f [...]

What an installment of This Week in Watches we have for you. So much exciting news reached us this week. Lets get to it Ill start with a watch which was presented last week, but exclusively in Japan. It must have taken the news a little while to travel to our region, but trust me, it was worth waiting for.Grand Seiko SBGA421We havent been able to find any official press information in English quite understandable for a watch exclusively sold in Japan but this watch is too beautiful not to show you. Were talking about a limited edition Grand Seiko. In the year that Grand Seiko is celebrating its 60th anniversary, the AJHH the Association Japon de la Haute Horlogerie? celebrates its 15th.Excep [...]

Ronde Louis CartierCartier has been best known for its square and rectangle watches, ask anyone on the street to name a Cartier watch, and you will get an answer like; that watch with the screws.'. That is what Cartier is among the general public; the Santos and the Tank watches. They represent the common understanding of the essence of Cartier, in the luxury world of watches.?It therefore had lasted 30 years, after the first Cartier men's watch was made,?before a round mens dress watch was launched on a larger scale.Elegance, Style and SophisticationThe Ronde Louis Cartier' as it's still called, was born around 1937 and is a creation by the maestro himself. I have to be a bit vague since th [...]

Although we already did an in-depth article of the Omega Speedmaster Mark II Co-Axial that was introduced last year, including a comparison to the original Omega Speedmaster Mark II, we thought it was about time to actually wear one for a while and share our experience.To be totally honest with you, when Omega announced their new Speedmaster Mark II Co-Axial I thought to myself that it could be wise to buy an original model as these were available under 1000 Euro on the market. Although I never warmed up to the Speedmaster Mark II but I have to say it was probably even before 2003 when I tried one on for the last time due to the shape of the case, I decided to pull the trigger on a Speedm [...]

Welcome back to Wrist Game or Crying Shame where you can choose whether youd like a serious watch or not. Well find out with todays Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Control Perpetual Calendar. But firstLast week I gave you the Seiko 6159-7001 Professional diver for consideration. Even though it carried a stiff price tag, the watch swam away with a 67% Wrist Game win. I was happy to see Seiko get some love in this Swiss-dominated arena. Today, well do a serious 180 with the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Control Perpetual Calendar.Growing upI know that the world has become more casual and as a native South Floridian, I could live in shorts and flip-flops for the rest of my days. I dont think it would make me [...]

Two different price tags, two different styles, yet one of our readers asks us to help him to make a decision.?We already included the Longines HydroConquest in a previous You Asked Us article, but this time, the popular affordable diving watch is up against a brand from the same stable: Tissot. The Tissot Powermatic 80 Seastar 1000 is a bit cheaper and has a slightly different appearance, so it comes down to taste and,?perhaps, technical specifications.You Asked Us: Tissot Powermatic 80 Seastar 1000 or Longines HydroConquestOur reader Amar contacts us to ask about the Tissot Powermatic 80 and the Longines HydroConquest (2018 model). He adds: The Tissot is a bit cheaper but has 80 hours of p [...]

One of my all-time favorite watches is the Royal Oak. It is actually one of the models that got me into mechanical watches in the mid-1990s. Love at first sight, you could say, and as you know that is something to cherish. However, these watches come at a certain price and with those perpetual annual price increases these watches seem to be only available for the lucky few. The low production number and high demand for them by the lucky few enables Audemars Piguet to stay exclusive and only available for those who are able and willing to spend so much money on?their watches.This shouldnt come as a shock, as Audemars Piguet was always high-end and the stainless steel 1972 Royal Oak 5402 m [...]

In this Sunday morning column, two of our writers go head-to-head in an epic showdown for the ages. Strong opinions and hysterical hyperbole are welcome (so feel free to join in with the fun in the comments section below). And don't forget to let us know which watches you'd like to see torn to shreds/effusively exalted next week. We'll try and feature as many of our readers' choices as we can. This week, weve got another head-to-head for you. Lets see whether the Grand Seiko SBGH281? or the Rolex Oyster Perpetual 114300 emerges as this weeks working-class hero.Last week saw a record-breaking contest twixt Ben and me. We enjoyed it. And judging by the 3,600+ votes you, our dear readers, cast, [...]

An evening in Amsterdam with the Piaget Polo SAlthough the Piaget Polo S was already introduced in July, the Piaget team visited Amsterdam to introduce it to the (watch) press of The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Scandinavia.This was the reason for us to join the party and have a look at the much talked about Piaget Polo S timepiece. [...]

With Top Gun 2: Maverick on the horizon, IWC is here to ensure that pilots and fans of pilot's watches alike can gear up appropriately for the long-awaited movie. To cater to different needs and tastes, there's a wide variety of Top Gun watches. Some in beige ceramic, some in blue, and black is also an option. But the color black means you're not looking at just any ordinary ceramic. No, black ceramic at IWC is called Ceratanium. Now, IWC strikes again with two new Pilot's Watches in black Ceratanium: The Pilots Watch Timezoner Top Gun Ceratanium and the Big Pilots Watch Perpetual Calendar Top Gun Ceratanium.IWC and ceramic go way back. All the way back to 1986, with the launch of the world' [...]

Already in 2018, we showed you the new Omega Speedmaster platinum moonphase watches, in green, blue and red. These watches were presented to us on platinum bracelets, with a weight of approximately 500 grams each.We dont exactly know why those watches (we showed them to you in this article) never made it to the market, but during the Time to Move event for press, Omega showed them once more. This time, with a leather strap and platinum clasp. Aside from the missing platinum bracelet, we didnt spot any other changes of the Omega Speedmaster platinum moonphase. However, we thought it was time to take one up close and share some of my thoughts with you for this Speedy Tuesday article. Meet the [...]

Some guys over at the Sinn Forum @ WatchUseek.com took part in the Sinn factory tour in Frankfurt on the 23rd of February 2007. Sinn has a big share of fans over at WatchUseek and the watch internet portals in general. Personally, I am not a????fan of most of their designs because????Sinn is focussing a bit too much on pure functionality of a watch (in my opinion). Anway, I always look at their watches with great interest (I owned a Sinn 142St.S for a while) and have a lot of respect for the brands innovative creations.Cick here to see a small pictorial on the Sinn factory visitRon Engels, moderator of the Pilot Watch forum over at WatchUseek bought a Sinn 757. Mr. Lothar Schmidt, owner and [...]