Watches Blog Wrist Watch Reviews

Aside from perhaps the Freak, Ulysse Nardins Marine Chronometer is without a doubt the brands most recognizable model. And indeed it should be, for when Ulysse Nardin first established his workshop in 1846, he set his sights on producing the finest marine chronometers the world had ever seen. Through the rest of the 19th and early 20th centuries, Ulysse Nardins superbly accurate chronometers became indispensable tools for over 50 navies worldwide. In 1996, for the brands 150th anniversary, the marine chronometer aesthetic finally made its way into a wristwatch.In the 25 years since then, the Marine Chronometer has proven to be a very successful style indeed. These days, Ulysse Nardins standa [...]

Once rejected by watch enthusiasts, now one of the most sought-after Patek Philippe's models, the Aquanaut is a major source of buzz for pretty much everyone. Therefore, it seemed inevitable that Patek would address the dearth of options for its female collectors sooner rather than later. Of course, Patek Philippe masterfully embraces not only the hottest color in the watch industry but also appeals to the serious watch lover with different types of movements. Lets take a look at the five new iterations of the Aquanaut Luce, revealed earlier today.Green enters the mainstreamHow wonderful is it to admire such intriguing new releases? The women's Aquanaut Luce has been with us since 2004. Its [...]

Recently, Fratello was invited to visit the Vacheron Constantin Head Quarters in Switzerland. In this article, we give an overview of the fantastic things Vacheron Constantin showed us during that day.Unlike most factory visits, we found our way to the Vacheron Constantin HQ within 30 minutes after touchdown. This is also one of the reasons we could do this visit in just one day, as the flight is only 1.5 hours from Amsterdam to Geneva. Without further ado.Vacheron Constantin through the yearsBesides Fratello, some other journalists were invited as well to visit Vacheron Constantin. As you can see above, the Vacheron Constantin building has an impressive architecture. Although I am out of th [...]

Its Speedy Tuesday!?A few weeks ago, our watch photographer did a photoshoot with a number of Omega Speedmaster watches. Ranging from vintage to new and including a few (rare) limited edition Speedies as well.Speedmaster Printing and TypographyIn this photo essay we selected the coolest Omega Speedmaster pictures and present them to you. With this photo essay we try to show you the details of the Speedmaster designs and wonderful different dials and styles they had over the decades.The Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch wording and logo is printed in white since 1968 and its typography changed a tiny bit since then. Long r, a wide S, large OMEGA or a tad bit smaller. a connected S or a [...]

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 [...]

Omega Speedmaster Pro MoonwatchThis is our second Speedy Tuesday on Fratello Watches and this weeks pick is the Omega Speedmaster Professional with reference number 105.012 and caliber 321 movement. Every Omega Speedmaster enthusiast knows that this is the same model that went to the Moon on the wrist of Neil Armstrong (we covered it here).Besides the pictured Omega Speedmaster ref. 105.012, astronaut Collins was wearing a similar model, the Speedmaster ref.145.012. Buzz Aldrin supposedly wore the 105.003 (pre-Professional), but this watch got stolen afterwards.Speedmaster fan Jmsrolls (John) shot a picture of his ref.105.012 Speedy on a 1969 copy of National Geographics magazine, covering t [...]

I just finalized a write-up for Watch Freaks, a blog hosted by Alon Ben-Joseph. It is about web 2.0 and horology and how this combines. Or should combine in my opinion ??Click here to read the article what did web 2.0 did for horology?An example of what it didnt do for Ebel. [...]

In the past, I have found my gold Omega on the wrist of a stuffed animal. And for a long time, there was a Seiko on my daughter's nightstand. Can you guess the reason why? Because it was so pretty in the dark. Of course, theres no one to blame for that but me. My daughter has no idea about the value of these things. It means, however, that I need to take care that my watches are not easy for my daughter to grab. An expensive mechanical watch is no toy for a child.Owning and wearing a precious watch comes with a responsibility the responsibility of taking care of a valuable item. There's a reason why parents don't gift their daughter or son a costly watch before they have reached a certain ag [...]

Even before the SIHH 2017 starts, Omega announces some BaselWorld 2017 news. Besides the Speedmaster Speedy Tuesday limited edition, they announce the Speedmaster Automatic Racing Dial and the Speedmaster Automatic 38mm. We will cover the ladies 38mm model at a later stage, but lets have a look at the Speedmaster Automatic Master Chronometer with racing dial.Speedmaster Automatic Racing DialJust like last year, when Omega actually announced their Speedmaster Moonphase Co-Axial Master Chronometer during SIHH, it is now time to unveil their Speedmaster Automatic Racing Dial. Also equipped with a Co-Axial Master Chronometer (caliber 9900) movement, of course. While Omega some times still refer [...]

I hope you enjoyed a real good weekend and that you're ready to start the week with a real good coffee. With the emphasis on real, because in the first part of this weekly kick-off article, we warn you that fake Omega ?bSwatch Speedmaster MoonSwatches have been spotted. Also, if you're into cycling, Tudor, or both, you might want to know more about the new Tudor Pro Cycling Team. I also have a book tip for you, and that's a re-printed edition of Watches: A Complete History of the Technical and Decorative Development of the Watch by horological experts Cecil Clutton and George Daniels a must-have for horology enthusiasts.It was only a matter of time, of course, but the first fake Omega ?bSwa [...]

This year Hamilton is releasing some excellent watches for women. These are well designed, high grade, mechanical timepieces that bring to women the value and vintage-like, classic style that is at the base of the companys success.There are many mechanical watches for ladies to choose from in more expensive price brackets. This is not so in Hamiltons set range of CHF 500 to CHF 1,500 for which the market of female watch enthusiasts is under-served. Hamilton, who holds perhaps the strongest position at the entry price level for luxury watches, is coming to the rescue. After seeing Hamiltons new JazzMaster Medium, Seaview Medium, and RailRoad 38mm for myself, it appears as if they will succeed [...]

Slowly but surely, the world seems to be reopening. For us watch nerds, that brings about a question we haven't been faced with for some time. Namely, which watch comes along when it's time to hit the road or take to the skies is a quandary. The travel watch is an oft-debated topic, but I have four recent journeys to share where I had to make such a choice.It's funny, I've come full circle when it comes to the travel watch discussion. When I first began to travel years ago as an adult, I really had only one watch. My faithful Rolex Explorer went everywhere with me. As time progressed, though, and I collected more heavily, I began to think more about what to take. I considered the activities, [...]

In our Sunday Morning Showdown, 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. After the excitement of our Speedmaster World Cup, its time to get back into the groove of the Sunday Morning Showdowns. And this is quite a special one. For the final SMS of this year, two iconic Omega James Bond wristwatches go head-to-head.Well, that was a body blow. We waited five years since Spec [...]

Already mentioned a few posts earlier (about the SIHH), the IWC Portofino Hand-Wound Eight Days timepiece with hand made Santoni strap is something to look forward too. Although I am a bit skeptic about the quality / durability of their in-house movements, IWC knows how to design a watch. It seems that almost every model in their catalog is very likable, also by non-watch aficionados. Now, if they can crank up the quality of the caliber 50000 movements a bit (Ive seen too much? 7 days power reserve models with troubles in the last few years), I might be interested in getting one myself as well at some point.The IWC Portofino Hand-Wound Eight Days is surely a timepiece that I would like to tr [...]

The SalonQP event in London, held from the 11th of November till the 13th of November, was a great success. Ive been to the event on Thursday (opening night) and Friday, and on Friday Ive made a few pictures to give my precious readers an impression of SalonQP.Of course, I also took some pictures of the timepieces that were there on display. However, for all photos, please visit the Photo Report topic over at WatchUseek (by clicking here).If you havent been there this year, try to visit the SalonQP 2011. I surely had a great time looking at all these magnificent watches, talking to the people over there and meeting with Gerard Nijenbrinks of Horloge Platform Nederland, Ariel Adams of aBlogto [...]

The Hublot Big Bang Rainbow King Gold is probably as bold of a watch as it gets.I mean let's be neutral as much as possible here and look at the facts. Hublot is a very divisive brand. On the one hand, their marketing strategy is something I'm pretty sure professors will teach at universities soon. They know how to make a product that their target audience literary lusts after. Not to mention that not every model line is loud and in-your-face, perhaps not as much as the Big Bang watches. On the other hand, this aforementioned target audience is something that many watch fans (not Hublot fans, there's a significant difference) do not necessarily mingle with. I mean I hardly can imagine someon [...]

Recently, we did a hands-on review of the new Longines Spirit watches. It is a pilots watch, new to the Longines Sport collection. We talk to Longines Head of Product Development Xavier Ligero about the Spirit and how it came to life.Our Fratello on Air podcast is available via Buzzsprout, Soundcloud, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Deezer,? Stitcher, and Spotify.Talking to Xavier LigeroThe Longines Spirit is a watch that looks so familiar, yet it is new to its collection. The pilot watch DNA is clearly visible, which also derives from the Ministry of Defence specifications for pilot watches. In this podcast, I talk to Xavier Ligero, head of product development at Longines since 2014. We disc [...]

Just like last year, the watch press is being overwhelmed with novelties that are going to be presented during the Baselworld exhibition. Some brands show the product in all its glory already, no secrets to unveil anymore and others are only showing you bits and pieces of their upcoming releases.Last year, Omega leaked information regarding their Omega Speedmaster Professional Tintin a day before Baselworld started. This year, they showed some teasers on their official Facebook page with bits and pieces of a new Omega Seamaster. Among the +500.000 fans of that page, there were some Photoshop magicians that were able to unraffle the mystery without much hassle.Although we will not be sure unt [...]

There are few brands that can lay claim to a following as fervent as the Paneristi. A group of watch lovers so passionate, they spawned their own, official model. As a publication with some experience of the same, we have to say this: Respect where respect is due. Panerai, after all these years, continues to keep an old design fresh. With the new PAM01661, Luminor Marina gets a taste of Carbotech.The Panerai Luminor Marina is a classic. No doubt about it. The Luminor range was created in 1950, but didnt go on sale to the public until 1993. When it did, the Luminor Marina joined the collection and has been a fan favorite ever since. The fact that for so much of the brands history its watches [...]

The 1815 was my first high-end piece, acquired back in 2003. I still remember the sleepless nights and moments of indecision during the course of the decision process. Several other pieces were also in contention: the JLC Master Geographic; the Chopard 1.98; one of the Patek Calatravas; the AP Jules Audemars Automatic.All images in this article can be clicked on for larger versionsSo why did I go with the 1815 in the end? Quite a number of reasons, actually. First impressions, the case had a heft that belied its size and none of the others quite managed to convey the same impression of density. Then there was the dial color; a sublime dark blue that under some lights was electric, and unde [...]