Exactly this month, it is 20 years ago that I bought my first Speedmaster. The perfect moment to share a story on my own Speedmaster and about collecting them.Ive told the story about when, where, and why I bought my first Speedmaster many times during our Speedy Tuesday events, but I dont think I wrote it in an article. Twenty years ago, on October 1st, 1999, I purchased my first Speedmaster. It wasnt long after I learned that this watch actually the watch worn on the Moon. My father told me about Omega being the brand on the Moon when I was a young kid (11 years old or so), but he never told me it was the Speedmaster.Speedmaster 145.012-67A Speedmaster Professional with reference 145.012-6...
Get ready for this white dial anOrdain Model 2 to redefine your understanding of the words WHITE and SHINY. Yesterday, I received a text from my wife saying: Did you take the anOrdain with you?. This is serious. To explain: never before had I received that question from my wife about a watch I had on the wrist for a review. Never before, I got that question about any watch. But this one she wanted to wear! Without further ado, let s have a closer look at the anOrdain Model 2.anOrdain Model 2Recollecting my first moments with anOrdainWhen I try to time-lapse my week with the anOrdain Model 2, I realize everything was just smooth, with memorable rewarding moments of joy in every stage of the p...
The dust has settled down. Meanwhile, most of us are used to the fact that Seiko doesn t supply its enormously popular SKX 007 and SKX 009 models anymore. When taking mechanical diver s watches seriously, if possible at all, what are your options in Seiko s current line-up of automatic diver s watches?Starting with the Seiko SKX 007/9 USP s…one size fits allFirst, to possibly come up with alternatives, let s have a look at the SKX s specifications and USP s (Unique Selling Points). I ll start with its – for a diver s watch – a moderate size of 42,5 mm. Although people with a small size wrist, say below 17 cm, will think this is rather large. In the case of the SKX, it isn t...
Bilbao is the largest city in northern Spain and the 10th largest overall in the country. It is an industrial port city with a population of about 350.000 people. Other than being an important place for the northern Spanish industry, Bilbao is also the capital of Biscay, one of the territories of the Basque country. The landscape is just beautiful with large mountains on both sides, and the Nervin River that runs through Bilbao.As far as architecture is concerned, the best-known building is the Guggenheim museum. It was built in 1997 and designed by architect Frank Gehry. This amazing building is home to pictures and sculptures by many contemporary artists such as Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel B...
Dutch-Swedish brand Maen is ready for taking orders with their Hudson 38mm automatic divers watch. Both the brand name and the name of the watch derive from their fascination with New York City. Captain Henry Hudson and his ship, the Halve Maen (meaning Half Moon) sailed to the East-coast of the United States in 1609 and play a big role in the discovery of New York (then: New-Amsterdam). Inspired by this, the founders of Maen decided to come up with a divers watch. A watch that is undeniably inspired by vintage diving watches.Maen Hudson 38mm – $349 for the Early BirdsGerard reviewed the Maen Hudson 38mm last February already when we received a prototype of the watch that will be deliv...
I had the opportunity to stop by Antiquorum Geneva and check out the watches in their upcoming May sale. Watch auctions are interesting for me to see things that I either havent seen in person or am not familiar with. I enjoy doing research or checking details to see if I discover something I hadnt noticed before. Clearly, today vintage aficionados are more educated and the free flow of information on the internet allows for more critical buying. A lot of tomatoes are flying around the internet, but that shouldnt take away from the good research and hunting that still awaits us.A personal visit allows me to dig a little further and ask the team more about the watches that interest me. They h...
I ve been looking many times to add a Flightmaster to my modest collection, but I never dared to pull the trigger on one. That might change now though, as the same guys who wrote the Moonwatch Only book, now bring some light into the dark world of the Flightmaster watches. Their new book titled Flightmaster Only is indeed what the title promises, only about the famous Omega Flightmaster and consists of 224 pages.With an introduction and written historical overview by Petros Protopapas (International Brand Heritage Manager of Omega) and Ilias Giannopoulos (journalist and watch expert), it can definitely be considered as a validated source of information on the Flightmaster watches.Let s have ...
Setting up a micro-brand is not the easiest route to take in the watch industry, especially when you dont use any of the many already existing cases, nor combine features while declaring you have built a new watch. Unyber Watches, a small and characterful Madrid-based company, have chosen the harder way because they wanted every piece to have its own personality and purpose.Right from the start, they decided their first project would be a chronograph. But they didnt want just any old run-of-the-mill model, they went for a bullhead style. Certainly, bullheads have never been out of fashion for the adventurous man who cares about aesthetics. They are distinguished and modern, elegant and risky...
With the success of the first model, LENVINO Watch Co. returns to Kickstarter to introduce the new brand for you LECRONOSLENVINO believe that vintage is timeless. It represents the best of its kind and denotes its high quality from the past. They applied this philosophy in making their watch. They used the most premium materials, traditional craftsmanship and unique design to create this authentic timepiece.LECRONOS is inspired by the word of chronometer, meaning high accuracy and precise. The second collection – The Race for vintage collection is a nod to the features of classic sports cars. The vintage tachometer featured a dial design at its core, equipped with a reputable Japanese ...
UNDONE Watches is known for its customized watches. When Barry (VP Marketing, UNDONE Watches) contacted me about an illustration to visualize the production process I couldn t wait to start working on the piece. The idea was to create some kind of garage where UNDONE ‘builders are busy assembling a watch. They call them Mr. UNDONE internally.First Limited Edition With Watches & Pencils ArtworkThese last few months I have been working on this project. At some point, we came up with the idea to go one step further: to create a custom and limited UNDONE watch with this Watches & Pencils artwork on it. Unique, because I had never released any watch related artwork on a watch until...
Sometimes, when you read or hear a word, a song pops up into your head. Every time I read or hear about this watch, the [22 minutes lasting version of] Kraftwerk s Autobahn song is very difficult to get out my head again. If you re not familiar with it, make sure to search for it on Spotify or whatever service you use. The NOMOS Autobahn Neomatik 41 Date has been presented to us during BaselWorld last month, so about time to have a closer look at it. It has been much talked about since then, so I would like to share my thoughts about this NOMOS Autobahn Neomatik as well.At first, I wasn t very convinced about the autobahn (highway) association even though I spend many hours on the German aut...
Earlier this year, during the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie in Geneva, Jaeger-LeCoultre introduced their new Polaris collection to the world. We ve been raving about them a number of times, including this hands-on review of the most popular one: the Polaris Memovox. Today, Jaeger-LeCoultre introduces us to the new Polaris Geographic WT limited edition, where WT stands for ‘World Time . Of course.Inspired – like all the others – on the 1968?Memovox Polaris watch, Jaeger-LeCoultre now comes with another practical complication in their Polaris Geographic WT. I ve been a sucker for world timers since years, and the regular Geographic models (be it Master or even Ma...
It was one of those normal Saturday afternoons. You know, the kind where youre fiercely duking it out with another bidder who likely hails from a country across the world. Its likely that anonymous foe and I couldnt even communicate using the spoken word, but yet, there we were, raising our bids in stupidly small Japanese Yen-based increments, thereby extending the auction each time by a set number of minutes until the thing went roughly an hour past its scheduled end mark. He (Ill take a guess that it was a he) had likely pissed off his better half, if he had one C were watch nerds remember, because it was easily 10pm in Japan extending towards 11. Me? I was on the way to sending my wife of...
I am Yvo Staudt and I play the accordion. I also made a watch. That was Yvo s sales pitch for a long time when visiting retailers, at the beginning of Staudt Watches, in 2013. Before I jump to the new Staudt Praeludium Chronograph, first a bit more background on this young watch entrepreneur and Staudt Watches.Playing classical music, tango and jazz on his accordion since he was 5 years old, Yvo had one dream: move to Italy and study the accordion in Pescara. The conservatory there had one of the best accordionists as a teacher: Claudio. When Yvo turned 18 he moved from The Netherlands to Italy and his?music showed a lot of progress from the start. It was a dream come true.However, after a w...
A Speedmaster Moonwatch is not complete without a proper NASA strap. Based on the original specifications, a German Speedmaster fan decided to reproduce the original NASA s strap?with?VELCRO? Brand fastener.NASA StrapWe ve often covered straps here (hence our Watch Strap Review feature), including specific ones for the Speedmaster, and NATO straps always perform very well in terms of interest. It is also no secret that most straps sold by Fleur are the NASA ones.There are only a small number of producers of NASA straps though, that respect the original specifications and aesthetics. One of them is Peter from Germany. A Speedmaster fan who also let us know he is an avid reader of Speedy Tuesd...
A pink gold chronograph with a black dial. To me, that s the perfect combination for a chronograph that can be worn during diners, on formal occasions but perhaps even with a nice pair of sneakers and a polo shirt. The A. Lange & S?hne 1815 Chronograph in this article is not entirely new, but this combination of pink gold and black was introduced to us in Geneva, earlier this year. Actually, this combination already existed in 2004. Be it that the subdials were done in silver/off-white, a reverse panda dial if you wish. The 1815 chronograph changed a bit over time, like a slightly larger case (and with slightly I mean slightly, just 0.5mm) and an update on the movement. The current movem...
This year s highlights of Christiaan van der Klaauw are concentrated around two things: aventurine glass dial and the collaboration with Van Cleef & Arpels.The production of aventurine glass is highly secret and every piece is carefully picked for a CVDK watch. They want the Aventurine glass as lively and dramatic as possible. For this year, Christiaan van der Klaauw presented the first black aventurine glass ever made. A true premiere and it expands the other aventurine dial options. In terms of looks it is a bit more subtle than the blue variant. A true pitch black starry night.Lady Arpels PlanetariumFor this piece Christiaan van der Klaauw collaborates with the prestigious Van Cleef &...
I like to keep things simple. I know there s a skeletonized dial version of the Zenith Defy Classic, yet I prefer the reference with this beautiful blue dial. It doesn t distract that much from the beautiful case design and its combination of brushed and polished finishing.Zenith is that sympathetic brand from Le Locle, where Berti and I went to a few years ago to have a look inside the manufacture. You can find our report here (with lots of images). Ever since (and before), a Zenith is high on my list, but I always only considered to buy one of the El Primero models. Like the colourful Rainbow Flyback Chronograph from the 1990s. Does this new Defy Classic change my wishes for a Zenith? Let ...
If youve been reading #TBT since its inception a few short years ago, and Fratello Watches in general for that matter, you know that were fans of Seiko divers. Within our series on vintage watches, weve taken a look at a wide array of the Japanese brands models meant for the undersea. From 70M Sports Divers, shrouded Tunas, to the legendary 62MAS, weve covered many. Todays piece is just one more piece of the brands lineage and its a good one. The Seiko 6105-8000 is todays focus.When the Seiko 62MAS was released in 1965, it marked the brands entry into the divers watches segment. With 150M of water resistance and a rotating external bezel, it was, on paper, a watch that met the needs of those...
Eqvis Varius is probably a brand you ve never heard of. Neither did we, so don t worry. The Eqvis Varius reminded me a bit of playing with LEGO: switch and swap straps and bezels on this watch (yourself).The variations are endless and allow you to customize the watch to your attire, mood and, of course, wallet. Some brands offer customization by changing the strap of your timepiece. Others might have a bezel swapping feature. You rarely find one on the market that has both though-and more. The Eqvis Varius is such a watch. Im going to start at the beginning.Eqvis Varius – From Germany with LoveEqvis is the love child of two German gentlemen – Bj?rn Matthiesen and Simon Schmidt. W...
