Watches Blog Wrist Watch Reviews

Welcome back to Wrist Game or Crying Shame where we bring power to the people by letting you vote on whether a watch is worth your time or not.? This week, we take a look at the one and only Omega Aqua Terra Railmaster.Last week, on WG or CS, we took a look at a Cartier Santos in 18K gold and I went full on with Elton John references.? It certainly wasnt my fact finding that brought this bright piece to a 55% Wrist Game win (thanks to George Cramer for informing us about some of the issues with this watch), but perhaps it was all of my witty quotes from Captain Fantastics back catalog.? Either way, you readers are becoming a lot more like us in your love of gold and we like that a lot.? Lets [...]

Did you buy a wrist watch without papers? Do have have watch papers from a former collectors piece and have no need for them anymore? WatchPapers.com can help you out in both situations. For example, your vintage Royal Oak Jumbo bought without papers at a watch fair.. Just enter your watch brand and serialnumber, and WatchPapers.com will check their database for the original matching papers. If you still own the papers of your long sold Rolex Sea-Dweller ref.1665 and have no use for them anymore, you can make some money by putting them into the WatchPapers.com database and wait until the current owner of the watch enters the serialnumber of this watch. Matching original papers to a vintage [...]

Sometimes, a watch has more than one face or look. It is all in the eye of the beholder ofcourse, but the photos below support this comment really well ??If you look at your watch from different angles or when being in different locations, it can become a watch with a totally different look. The first photo below show the Ingenieur being this raw, rugged tool watch and the second photo shows this fine shiny sophisticated timepiece that refers to the first GG designs from the mid-1970s. To me, these photos demonstrate that this watch is suited for casual as well as more formal occasions. A Rolex Sea-Dweller (or Milgauss? )) and Yacht-Master in one so to speak. The photos have been taken by Ci [...]

For over the last 170 years Cartier has influenced the fine jewelry styles as well as the watch industry. Some of Cartier's most iconic pieces of jewelry and watches resemble the elegant and powerful panther. The Panth�� re motif was Jeanne Toussaint's excellent idea. Back in those days, Toussaint, as Head of Creation at Cartier, designed the Panth�� re wristwatch with wildcat print made of gold and black enamel. Today the French Maison shares some new Haute Joaillerie releases that refer to its wild heritage.The Libre collection focuses on some of the most exotic shapes the French brand has ever conceived. The first highly jeweled creation is the Baignoire. On Fratello, were more than used to [...]

Introducing the TAG Heuer Monaco 1989 1999 Limited Edition, the third watch in a series of five to celebrate the models 50th anniversary.The TAG Heuer Monaco 1989 1999 Limited Edition is here and closely follows the first green piece released at the Monaco Grand Prix attributed to the 1970s and the second red piece shown at Le Mans, which was dedicated to the 1980s. This time, TAG chose New York City as its place of introduction right before the Formula E race to be held on the city streets.TAG Heuer Monaco 1989 1999 Limited Edition 90s StyleThe TAG Heuer Monaco 1989 1999 Limited Edition is once again limited to 169 pieces and brings in yet another set of colors meant to evoke thoughts of t [...]

Max VerstappenYesterday, I met with Max Verstappen during the introduction of the TAG Heuer Formula One Max Verstappen Special Edition. Well, the official name of the watch is?TAG Heuer Formula One Max Verstappen Youngest Grand Prix Winner Special Edition, but lets shorten it a bit for my own sake.The cool thing about Max Verstappen is, that he is very down to Earth. It could be his middle name. At first I thought it might be his age, but that cant be it. It is something he just is. A friendly fellow, as he was standing at a?table yesterday, with a drink in his hand, easy to approach and talk to. There is not the smallest bit of show in him. Something I love. Pure, a little bit raw even.Intr [...]

The IWC Pilots watches were always amazing tool watches. At some point, like many other brands, IWC decided to bring more variation to the game: enter the IWC Pilots Watch Automatic Spitfire.Since 1948, IWC delivered its Pilots watches to the British Army and Navy and the Mark 11 with its caliber 89 movement is being regarded as an icon. Over the years, IWC continued to develop and innovate their Mark watch and today we are looking at the Mark XVII in their collection. Not the 18th iteration, as after the Mark 11, Mark XII followed. Besides the classic Pilots watches, like the Big Pilot, Chronograph and Double Chronograph, IWC also introduced their Spitfire Mark-series based on that collecti [...]

Theres a new book on my favorite topic the Omega Speedmaster. The Magister book doesnt cover all Speedmasters ever made. Instead, it shows 70 Speedmaster watches that author Andrea Foffi has in his own collection.I have seen an early print version from editor Paolo Gobbi, one of the guys involved in this project. Believe me when I say it looked amazing. As a Speedmaster enthusiast, this book might just be something that makes your Christmas a whole lot merrier.Andrea Foffi and MagisterI met Andrea Foffi in October 2018, when we were both visiting Shanghai to witness the launch of the (then) new Omega Constellation models. He showed me this crazy Omega Speedmaster in platinum. It was studded [...]

Henri Germain Delauze, CEO and founder of COMEX passed away today at the age of 83. The diver watches everyone is craving for bear the name of this famous diving organization, also known for being the NASA of the sea.Although Ive seen an OMEGA PlopPof COMEX edition just recently in the OMEGA museum in Biel,?we know Rolex watches best for being the choice of COMEX. Shown below, are two fine examples of COMEX divers watches by Rolex.?Rolex COMEX divers watches are one of the most sought-after models from this Geneva brand.The joint venture between Rolex and COMEX is there since the early 1970s and word is that they had a lot of influence when Rolex developed the Deep-Sea Sea-Dweller watch.Than [...]

After being quite impressed by the Ulysse Nardin Diver Lemon Shark when it first came out back in June, I was excited to get hands-on with it. I wasn't sure what to expect. It was cool, but I didn't instantly love it. There had been a bit of concern among the community that no matter how good the watch might look, it could never live up to its price tag thanks to the movement powering it inside, but more on that later. Despite this, I was looking forward to experiencing the Ulysse Nardin Diver Lemon Shark for what it was.I finally got my chance to handle the watch back at the start of August at Fratello HQ. Having hopped on a plane and gotten to The Hague, I had to hot step it over to get a [...]

Its Speedy Tuesday We came across this very rare OMEGA Speedmaster CK2998-3 last week on the interwebs. A normal ref. CK2998 Speedmaster is already becoming rare, but how about this FAP version. FAP stands for Fuerza Aerea del Peru which means that this Speedmaster has been issued to the Air Force of Peru.The OMEGA Speedmaster CK2998 is the successor of the very first Speedmaster, the ref. CK2915. In 1959, OMEGA introduced the CK2998 which has the same case, but with a different bezel, dauphin hands instead of the broad arrow hands and O-ring gaskets on the pushers. The Speedmaster CK2998 was in production between 1959 and 1963 and was actually the watch that was worn by Wally Schirra during [...]

Value appreciation, retention, and depreciation are often front and center in the minds of potential purchasers. They shouldnt be, but they are. The truth is, that nobody knows for sure how a watch will perform on the resale market long term. Lets dig into the reasons why that is and what purchases you can make in full confidence.Firstly, dont take anything you read on a website much less a website that discusses a nuanced and changeable commodity like luxury wristwatches as investment advice. This is not an investment guide. The same is true of any website analyzing the trends of pre-owned watches. It is an inexact science, to say the least. But there are some brands that have historically [...]

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 [...]

Its bromance time. TAG Heuer and Bamford Watch Department. Most of you will at least be familiar with the Aquaracer line from TAG. These entry-level dive watches have a lot of fans in the community and are nothing if not reliable and well-made watches.Theyve always been a little safe in their design from my personal point of view. Reliable? Yes. Solid? Yes. Exciting? Perhaps not so much. Now, this is something I have said very frequently on the site Taste is subjective. My tastes will differ from yours. With that in mind, I think the new Bamford Aquaracer proves exactly why TAG Heuer keeps going back to George Bamford and rekindling this bromance.TAG Heuer a Bamford AquaracerThe Aquaracer Ba [...]

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 [...]

TAG Heuer and chronographs go hand-in-hand and since we love chronographs here at Fratellowatches, we thought it is about time to zoom-in on one of the coolest chronographs we saw at the BaselWorld show this year. Dedicated to the man behind the Carrera, Jack Heuer, TAG Heuer came up with a very nice chronograph with their in-house caliber 1887 movement. Even better, they decided to use the design of a stopwatch and put it inside a watch case (with a strap). This means, that this watch has the classic bullhead chronograph design as youve probably seen from other brands in the past as well. TAG Heuers special piece this year, the Carrera MikroPendulumS has the same Bullhead design.The TAG Heu [...]

How very dare you, Grand Seiko USA This morning, I got an email from Nick Roberts at Lawrence Co PR (thanks, Nick) informing me that three new limited-edition (obviously) time-only Grand Seikos would be debuting in the US market. Its just as well Nick had the wherewithal to let me know otherwise I might never have learned of these beauties. And they are beautiful. First things first, book yourself a flight to the States or tap up your long-lost cousin to pick one up for you. Once youve done that, come back and read about the Grand Seiko SBGW273, 275, and 277.Look, I know Fratello is based in Europe and we are a team of almost exclusively Europeans, but this is 2021. This is the internet. It [...]

Im going to be honest: this is not just a list of my five current favorite Rolex watches. This is a confrontation with a question that has been on my mind for some time. Is buying a new Rolex slowly turning into the itch you cant scratch? I dont want to think that way, but who I am kidding? As I was writing it, I knew this list was really a long-overdue goodbye to the idea of buying a new Rolex. Call me a hopeless romantic, but there is more to this than simply availability. So lets go and close this book for once and for all.I have been fortunate enough to write several entries in our Sunday Morning Showdown column with my colleague Ben. And over the course of these last few months, we have [...]

Today, Im taking?a closer look?at the current?Rolex line-up?and picking out what I consider design flaws. My selection is subjective, but I cannot be the only one who has looked at a modern Rolex and thought, It would be better ifa.?I am not attempting to be an armchair designer and fully appreciate I am not the only customer base.?However,?sometimes, a particularly Rolex model is showered with praise,?yet?I cannot shake the sense of Emperor's new clothes syndrome. There is even a chance to vote and share your voice in the comments section?below, so?let's?get the debate going.?Firstly, you might be wondering why I am deciding to kick-off the New Year in a slightly negative connotation. Hasn' [...]

Gatsbys style sign from Rolex. Original Seiko Date Tee and last, but not least, an Omega Speedmaster poster.A few weeks ago, we shortlisted our first three gift ideas. We created this series to show you whats out there for watch nerds like ourselves, besides watches cool things to have.Creative lightingI once bought an all original 1975 Ford Coke bottle Cortina from an old fellow from the Czech Republic. I also noticed a big Ford sign hanging down from his ceiling. I thought to myself, If you don't ask, you don't get it. So I asked, but I didn't get it. But three weeks after I bought the car, I got a call from him. I was not asking this time, but I got it. I restored it and proceeded to hang [...]