This episode we finally set the Speedmaster?watch in the spotlight of the Watches & Pencils feature. In particular, we zoom in on the first Speedmaster which has passed the NASA tests: the Omega Speedmaster with reference number 105.003. Also known as the ‘Ed White Speedmaster. Later on more about the NASA?tests:Form and Function Hand in HandThe thing that?really fascinates me about this watch is that there is such a harmony between form and function. The fundamentals of the Speedmaster are rock solid from the beginning; While the watch passed all the NASA tests, it was never designed especially for the tests. Before the 105.003 the watch was simply a commercial watch like any oth...
ANALYSIS OF RESULTS AT – PHILLIPS (BACS & RUSSO), CHRISTIES, SOTHEBYS & ANTIQUORUMChart – RECAP ON NOVEMBER 2016 WATCH AUCTIONS – GENEVAAUCTION HOUSETTL LOTS*QTY SOLDSOLD %TOTAL VALUEAVG. PRICEPHILLIPS (Bacs & Russo)19117793%CHF 27.513.625CHF 155.444Christie s32327685%CHF 14.702.500CHF 53.270Sotheby s31327788%CHF 7.088.750CHF 25.591Antiquorum55545081%CHF 5.700.000CHF 12.667TOTAL & AVERAGE %1.3821.18087%CHF 55.004.875CHF 61.743*Net of withdrawn lotsNOTE: Amounts & quantities sold include after sale results as of November 16, 2016 and may be ongoing.It was an eventful auction weekend here in Geneva. Predicting auction results is much like predicting the we...
Mastering speed and design for a quarter of a centuryThe Klondike Chronograph, the twenty fifth anniversary edition of Delma s heritage collection, was designed to make mens hearts beat just a little bit faster.? This collection highlight from the traditional Swiss brand Delma has been created with attention to detail and the highest level of technical precision.Delma, the family-owned Swiss watch manufacturer founded in 1924, has called on its long experience of traditional watchmaking expertise for the development of the Klondike Chronotec, the latest timepiece in its heritage collection.? This elegant Chronograph is the ideal match for anyone whose tastes run not only to a fast-paced life...
Tudor Pelagos LHDYesterday, Tudor invited us for a lunch in Amsterdam. We understood that it had to do with a new introduction, but had no clue about what to expect. Exactly at 1pm, Tudor unveiled their latest, the Tudor Pelagos LHD. LHD stands for Left Hand Drive, for left-handed divers, meaning that the winding crown is on the left side of the case. So as you can see in the header image, I am wearing it on the wrong wrist.Good Things FirstTudor respected a couple of things with their Pelagos LHD. For starters, there was a left hand version in the past. In 1981 for example, the French Navy received a couple of left handed Tudor Submariner 9401 references on special request. So it is no gimm...
Id bet that it was ten years ago that I found myself looking at pictures of a vintage Doxa Sub 300T and the brands newest offerings on the companys website. There was something so cool about this watch that hadnt really changed since its mid-1960s introduction.Perhaps it was the then rudimentary website that hasnt really changed so much that made the watches seem so legitimate C kind of like an anti-establishment, middle finger wave. Or, maybe it was that the brand has always shown real divers wearing their watches. Its hard to put ones finger on what makes the Doxa Sub 300T so irresistible, but I finally picked one up and in this weeks #TBT, Ill attempt to explain why folks such as those za...
Officine Panerai Radiomir PAM00627I recently visited the Panerai manufacture in Neuchatel. You can read about my Panerai manufacture visit in this article.?It changed my view on Officine Panerai quite drastically. No longer I see them as manufacturer of large watches that happen to look good (slightly?exaggerated statement), as I ve witnessed how much effort they actually put in R&D and testing activities in their manufacture in Neuchatel. With that in mind, let s have a look at the Panerai Radiomir PAM00627 that was introduced last January during the SIHH in Geneva.Radiomir vs LuminorIf you ask me the first thing that comes to mind when I hear the brand name, I say Luminor. For me, that...
Speedmaster Professional 145.022 CasebacksWhen you look at this Omega Speedmaster Professional 145.022-71, there s nothing strange at first sight. Just a nice and ‘ordinary Speedmaster Professional post-Moon. Dial, bezel, hands and bracelet, all correct. In fact, it is quite a nice example of a Speedmaster Professional 145.022-71. In our Speedmaster 145.022 buyer s guide, we give away some specifics on this reference.However, looking at the back of this Speedmaster Professional 145.022-71, we see something awkward. A clean caseback, with no inscription. But wait a minute, you might say, there are different casebacks for the 145.022, with and without inscription. True, but:Not like thi...
THE SUBTLE BEAUTY OF GREYWhich grey best suits your personality?Hublot is releasing its CLASSIC FUSION collection in on-trend yet timeless grey. Following on from its Spring/Summer 2015 blue collection, the Classic Fusion quintet now boasts a total Racing Grey look. Less harsh than black, more timeless even than blue, this grey C inherently neutral and universal C reinforces the model s versatile elegance. An androgynous hue with many different facets. From yuppies to gypsetters, tweed to iridescent satin, grey works with every style from the understated?to the ultra-sophisticated.The case is available in a choice of 4 dimensions and with three movements, to suit any wrist:33, 38 and 42 mm C...
MONTFORT WATCHES Co. builds luxury, quality form follows function timepieces. Their maiden model C the Strata is a sport-chic automatic wristwatch that boasts the following impressive credentials:Scratch resistant Super Stainless Steel3D printed stainless steel dialsSwiss madeUnbeatable valueFounded by two watch enthusiasts, Philippe Kuratle and Jeremie Senggen, MONTFORT WATCHES Co has innovation at its heart. With TIME TO INNOVATE as their leitmotif, theyve brought some pretty interesting solutions to their Strata model that make it stand out and not just another watch project.Model JamesThe scratch resistant Super Stainless steel is obtained by diffusion of nitrogen and carbon in the surfa...
Theres no doubt that we love Seiko here on Fratello Watches and judging by the numbers, you seem to feel the same. Its the beginning of November and that means exactly nothing, but if we squint a bit, we can go ahead and call this article an early Holiday gift guide. Today, in a battle of Seiko Divers, well line up three watches for three different budgets that fit under the undersea category, but, yet, theyre everyday wearable. Best of all, pricing comes in under the magic $500 mark. Ive been waiting for a long time to write this article, so lets begin!3 Seiko Divers under $500When I say that Ive been waiting a long time for a comparison of three Seiko Divers, it stems back to Basel this ye...
Tiffany & Co is probably not the first brand that comes to mind when you are out there looking for a new watch to buy. Watch collectors will associate Tiffany & Co with rare and Patek Philippe watches with the name of this world wide chain of jeweler stores signed on the dials. From now on, that will hopefully chance with the launch of the Tiffany CT60 watch collection.At the end of February, I was able to have a sneak preview and introduction of the Tiffany CT60 collection in London. Up until the arrival in London, I was fully unprepared and only knew about the then actual Tiffany & Co watches that could be categorized as fashionable watches, but had little to do with serious m...
Two weeks ago we published an article on the P1lot One watch: a pilot s watch for a Dutch on-line watch community that was designed, developed and produced by a couple of members of that community. Last Sunday was the official release of the watch, hosted at Teuge Airport in The Netherlands, the perfect location for such an event.The watch was produced in a limited quantity of just 52 pieces and almost all (50) members of the Dutch horlogeforum.nl website who ordered the P1lot One watch were present that day.Almost all P1lot One watches (43mm x 12mm, grade 5 Ti case) have been delivered to the forum members who came down to Teuge airport. The P1lot One watches were packed in a beautiful leat...
Visit any major city in the world or, for that matter, any famous attraction and youll likely be surrounded by myriad junk shops loaded with trinkets containing the name of whatever monument is nearby. If we use the Eiffel tower as an example, youll begin to run the gauntlet of questionable sellers of Eiffel-themed keepsakes before you even come close to crossing the river. If youre looking for fiber-optic Tower earrings or an Eiffel back scratcher, they probably have a solution for you. However, when traveling the globe, if youre looking for tourism-themed watches, youll typically find loads of copycat Swatch-like pieces with customized dials depicting something from whatever memory-making ...
Ahead of BaselWorld, Linde Werdelin introduced the world to its fourth generation of the SpidoLite, a series originally conceived after a Mount Everest expedition, which debuts as Linde Werdelins most extreme skeleton to date, opening the dial up to reveal the brands first-ever power reserve indicator. Designed and engineered holistically, the SpidoLite represents an evolution in weight-optimised construction.The two new models C the SpidoLite Gold and the SpidoLite Titanium C really showcase Linde Werdelins continued pursuit of skeletonisation.As Morten Linde explained, the parts left in the dial C the skeletonized plates, gears, springs, rubies and so on C are there only because they are a...
Omega did not surprise us with the introduction of a new Speedmaster Snoopy, but they surely did so with the watch itself. Although we already brought you the initial news about the Speedmaster Snoopy in BaselWorld, we now show you the watch again using our own photos instead of press pictures and some additional information we received.I thought it would also be nice to have the new Omega Speedmaster Professional Silver Snoopy Award pictured side-by-side with the Snoopy Award model of 2003. Just to be sure, I ll also throw in the ‘real Apollo XIII commemorative model that Omega released in 1995, as a so-called ‘mission patch model .However, let s start with the new Omega Speedm...
It s weekend! We decided to come up with some easy-to-digest content for the weekend, as you ve probably been doing enough reading all week. From now on, we will publish our Weekend Watch Lists feature every weekend, to show you overviews with information about the consumer watch market. Our overviews are based on data from on-line watch consumers. Per list we will indicate the countries from which we used the data, as this will vary to keep it interesting. It will be interesting to see how much taste in watches can differ per country and continent. Data is retrieved from Chronolytics.ch, watch market research company that operates under the flag of Ebner Verlag (publishing house of magazine...
Limited to 200 pieces only, Audemars Piguet commemorates their 17th year of sponsorship of the QEII Cup in Hong Kong with a titanium Royal Oak Chronograph. The QEII Cup has been there since 1975 already and was established because of the visit of Queen Elizabeth II in that year to Hong Kong. Since 1999, Audemars Piguet is the title sponsor of this race that s being held during spring season.I am not going to bore you with all kinds of details about the QEII Cup, as I assume you are only interested in learning about the special Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph QEII Cup timepiece that the manufacture from Le Brassus just introduced.Based on their current Royal Oak Chronograph models in 41...
#TBT is back from Baselworld 2015 and it s time to jump into more affordable vintage.? Hot on the heels of our recently published TAG Heuer Carrera article, we ll now spend some time talking about a true vintage piece from the brand.Its no secret that vintage Heuer chronographs are hot. The allure of strapping on a vintage chronograph with a strong connection to racing ticks a lot of boxes. In fact, Ive met people over the years that really dont care much about watches but they like racing and, therefore, desire a Heuer (or even TAG Heuer) chronograph. For vintage watch and chronograph collectors, the design language of vintage Heuer is undeniably cool and, for the early models at least, abo...
Baselworld 2014 was an odd one for TAG Heuer. After a long period of focus on the avant garde, the brand hit the show with the force of a minor neutron bomb with the introduction of its forthcoming CH80 chronographs.? The CH80 s wowed the crowd with their blend of clean, classic good looks coupled with a modern in-house movement and semi-reasonable pricing. Soon after Basel, though, the first warning sign that something was amiss appeared when TAG decided, albeit in a good way, to make minor modifications to the pushers, dial, hands, and crown. Soon after, though, and in shocking fashion, the brand decided to cancel the eagerly awaited CH80 altogether right before it was to enter stores. The...
Omega s Speedmaster comes in many shapes and colors, but chances are very small you ve come across this particular model before. This Omega Speedmaster Perpetual Calendar is the most complicated piece that Omega did in series and it was created to celebrate the 700th anniversary of Switzerland in 1991.Strangely enough, Omega only made 50 of them and they all were meant to be Japan market only. Why would the Japan market be so interesting to have a watch that commemorates the 700th anniversary of Switzerland? If anyone knows, please shoot a message or leave a comment.Omega Speedmaster Perpetual BA 175.0037One of our readers, Rob, loves the Speedmaster and he bought this beautiful gold Speedma...
