When visiting Baselworld, one cant help but be impressed by the size of the displays in Hall 1. This is the home of the big brands: , the Swatch Group, Patek and on and on. Once youve had your share of the bright lights, though, its important not to forget the smaller brands sitting in Hall 2. One of the highlights for me every year sits in the Hall of Small and thats Sinn. You see, this was my first year attending Baselworld as a member of the Press with Fratellowatches but I did visit as a public attendee the prior 2 years. It was fun for me just to view the watches through the glass but I will always remember that it was Sinn that actually let me handle their new watches without a press p...
Sinn showed us the limited edition Sinn U2 C (EZM5) timepiece that they designed especially for readers of the German Chronos magazine. Together with the editorial team of the magazine, Sinn defined the specifications of the Sinn U2 C (C stands for Chronos of course).The 44mm case has a scratch free surface (hardered using the Tegiment treatment) and is made out of U-boot (submariner) steel. This type of steel is resistant against seawater (salt) and then received the Sinn tegiment treatment. Sinn asked me if I wanted to try to make a scratch on the tegiment steel actually. First they gave me a normal untreated stainless steel case, which I scratched with a screw-driver. Let me tell you, tha...
Last Monday we already gave you a little sneak-preview on the new Oris Diver Sixty-Five watch. In the meanwhile, we have visited Oris at BaselWorld and had the opportunity to have a closer look at the watch. In the near future, we will do a thorough review on the new Oris Diver Sixty-Five but for now we can at least answer the question: is it as good as we hoped it would be?Our pre-BaselWorld 2015 announcement received quite some comments both here on Fratello Watches as well as some forums that linked to it. Lovers of modern watches were a bit set back by the fact it doesn t have a ceramic insert and that the watch ‘only measured 40mm while the real diving watch fans had some comment...
A little while ago we published this article about affordable vintage moon phase watches. It is no secret that when I was writing that article, I just acquired a vintage moon phase watch myself and all the material I gathered during the research process formed the backbone of the article. The acquired watch with moon phase complication needed a watchmaker badly, or as our contributor Gerard Nijenbrinks wisely put it, a very very good one in order to bring it back in her former glory.For starters, I had to source a donor movement (amongst other things) and I had to find a watchmaker that was up to the task. Luckily, I came across a watchmaker s website and after a short email correspondence I...
Chronoswiss presented a couple of new models at BaselWorld 2015, which can be divided into two categories. One is the somewhat modern sporty collection (a.o. a collaboration with German band Fanta4) that will speak to a young – and perhaps new – generation of watch enthusiasts and then there is the more classic line-up, that seems to be designed and developed in the spirit of Chronoswiss founder Gerd R. Lang.We will soon cover the modern sporty collection, but I would like to start with showing you the beautiful blue Chronoswiss Sirius Artist Regulateur Jumping Hour with blue dial.To start with the dial, it is made of solid sterling silver (925) and then received a guilloche and ...
As an admitted Seiko nut, Ive always had a hard time with the brands release strategy at Baselworld. Sure, they release the new Grand Seiko pieces and cover the Astron line, but hardcore devotees of the brand are usually left wanting when it comes to the sports-related pieces: especially Prospex. Well, I am here to tell you that while Seiko did not bring everything Prospex-related to Basel, they are taking steps forward to offer a more global product line. Recently, participants?in Seiko forums have seen grainy catalog pictures showing a variety of new professional pieces and while we wont get all of these globally, we will see some. Also, stay tuned as Fratellowatches will fill in more deta...
The Breguet Marine Chronographe ref. 5823 was introduced to us today in BaselWorld and it commemorates the 200th anniversary of Abraham-Louis Breguet s work as chronometer-maker to the French Royal Navy. King Louis XVIII appointed Breguet for this important job (remember that marine chronometers were essential to navigate ships at sea at the time) on October 27th in 1815.While I believe that one doesn t need to find an excuse to create a beautiful timepiece (as you – as a consumer – also really don t need an excuse to buy a watch), it seems that brands think otherwise. Although I have seen stories that are more sought-after, I truly believe that nobody is going to purchase this p...
On the press day of BaselWorld (just one day before the official opening), Omega introduced the first watch that will have the new Master Chronometer wording on the dial. We explained the Master Chronometer definition in this article yesterday.Today, we had a closer look at the Omega Globemaster and I have to say that my enthusiasm of yesterday evening during the official launch event was still there when seeing the watch in a more ‘quiet environment.The 39mm Omega Globemaster collection will be part of the Constellation family, which makes perfect sense as the Globemaster had a close relationship in the 1950s with the Constellation watches. In a more in-depth article I will explain t...
We were invited to join Omega this evening on a special event. The exact reason for the press event was not very clear upfront, but seeing the new Omega Seamaster PloProf 1200M with Master Chronometer written on the dial already made us a bit suspicious. Remember our thorough description of the new METAS certification, introduced by Omega last December?Omega told us that the new watches will have Officially Certified on the dial, as it would mean that the watch meets all the (high) requirements, as tested and approved by METAS. Apparently this will change a bit, as the new wording on the dial is Master Chronometer.All Master Chronometer watches will come with this credit card ‘certific...
As we predicted in our Speedy Tuesday article from January already, Omega introduces a new Snoopy Award Speedmaster. The Omega Speedmaster Professional Silver Snoopy Award is the 45th anniversary limited edition of the Apollo XIII mission from 1970. Although we haven t seen it in the flesh yet (Thursday morning, we will be first again), we are very excited to see what Omega made of this anniversary edition.Although it is very different from the earlier Snoopy Award model, it is unmistakably a Speedmaster Professional. The 42mm stainless steel case now has a ceramic black tachymeter bezel though. The tachymeter scale has been applied with Super Luminova, so it will light up in the dark.The di...
Are you looking to buy an Omega Speedmaster but don t know where to start? We re here to help! Over the past 65+ years, Omega has created many variations of one of the world s most famous chronographs. The classic 42mm Moonwatch has been in the collection since 1965, and to the novice eye, little has changed since then. But if you look a bit closer, you will find that the Speedmaster evolved quite a bit in the decades that followed.In this Speedmaster guide, we ll give you an overview of the most important references of the Speedmaster (Professional) and some of its variations. Although this article isn t meant as a pricing guide, we will give some hints, of course. If you re already a knowl...
Every couple of years, leading up to the latest Bond movie release, Omega fans debate and speculate about the type of watch that will be issued to commemorate the film. Omega?either introduces a new model which is debuted by 007 silver screen before it goes into production or they come up with a James Bond-themed Special Edition in advance of the movie. As the highly anticipated Bond movie Spectre will be released later this year (official date is 23rd October 2015) speculations arose about what Omega would present to us this time. Before we welcome the newest member of the family, lets have a quick look at the previous Omega James Bond models.The OMEGA watches worn by James BondAs any Omega...
This evening we sat with Tudor and a number of other journalists, bloggers and (on-line) editors in an adventurous setting consisting of a tippi tent in the middle of a dark Swiss forest. A bit earlier, Tudor brought us there with about ten Land Rover Defenders.It was a setting that – according to Tudor s head of design – fits the new Tudor North Flag, a watch that brings Tudor back to its roots (being a watch manufacturer, including the development of movements).Whether the tippi tent brought us back to our roots as well I don t know, but what I do know is that Tudor had exciting news. The North Flag, a new model that appears to be influenced by the Tudor Ranger II model, has an...
Presenting the new BIG BANG FERRARI watchesA fantastic third year of collaboration between Ferrari and Hublot is coming to an end. Following the launch of the first two watches, the Big Bang Titanium and the Big Bang Magic Gold in 2012, the famous MP-05 LaFerrari C the only watch in the world with a 50-day power reserve C three Big Bang models in 2013, three Big Bang models in 2014, two new Big Bang Ferrari racing versions have now been unveiled.Exceptional sports watches in honour of exceptional racing cars. In 2015, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Big Bang, Hublot is unveiling two new models developed with Ferrari: the first is the aptly named Big Bang Ferrari Black Ceramic, which...
A couple of years ago, we did an article on the Cosmograph Daytona. We arranged a Formula 1 car (Alonso s car from 2007) and a classic racing car for our photo shoot, and of course a weekend-bag full of Daytona watches.Although produced chronograph watches since the 1930s, the Cosmograph Daytona wasnt introduced until the 1963. The Daytona name was given to commemorate their sponsorship of races held on the Daytona Beach in Florida.Since we had a hard time time sourcing a race car from the 1960s we went way back in time and found one from the 1930s. The era where started making chronograph watches. The Rosengart car weve found is actually one of the first, if not the first, car to featu...
More than once, I ve seen a watch that was specifically designed or made for members of a watch forum or community. Heck, we even did our own Fratello Watches timepiece together with Marvin a couple of years ago. This P1lot One watch is something special though, as it was also made by forum members.Dutch watch forum horlogeforum.nl (with 4000 members) decided it was time for a special project. A watch for members only and also (partially) made by members. The design was done by member Teun van Heerebeek and his aim was to come up with a unique Fliegeruhr. The case and crown have been made by forum member Jan Binnendijk. The leather strap was crafted by another forum member, Remie Beijer and ...
When we last took a readers survey about 9 months ago, we found out that you re craving reviews of affordable watches. Well, in todays #TBT, lets talk affordable vintage chronographs. More importantly, lets talk about vintage watches that are actually easy to source and, furthermore, will truly fall within the price ranges I provide.If youre like me, youve read countless reviews about cost conscious vintage watches and it often turns into a discussion about little known brands that used a good Swiss movement, perhaps shared a case with others, and then died an unsung death in the mid to late 1970s once the quartz crisis took hold. These brands made some great pieces, but unless youre a true ...
It is Speedy Tuesday! I recently received an e-mail from Andi (Germany) who s interest in Omega Speedmasters was sparked by our weekly Speedy Tuesday topic. That is always good to hear of course, but that s not all, he also sent some photos of the Omega Speedmaster Professional that he bought. Andi is part of a German group of watch enthusiasts who have their own place called uhrforum.de.The watch that Andi bought is the Omega Speedmaster Professional Galaxy Express 999. This watch, especially for the Japanese market, was dedicated to the manga Galaxy Express 999, written and drawn by Leiji Matsumoto. The series ran from 1977 to 1987 and there have been several movies and series based on the...
Angelus is one of those brands that should ring a bell, at least if you are into vintage watches. Besides their own chronographs and other complications, Angelus was also the supplier of movements to brands like Panerai back in the days. With an impressive array of movements and world-firsts in watchmaking, the brand couldn t survive the 1970s due to the nifty quartz pieces that were made by other brands. There was no need any more for mechanical watches that couldn t perform with the same accuracy as those battery-operated watches.Above: Angelus Chronodato Triple Date calendar watch in 18 carat gold, auctioned by Antiquorum.Have a look at Chrono24 or eBay and you will find some impressive l...
Swiss manufacture since 1858In 1858, the Ditisheim brothers made a grand entrance onto the watchmaking scene: their Manufacture was immediately noted for the quality of its products: complication watches, chronometers and chronographs, which receive international acclaim at the World Fairs in Paris, Chicago and Barcelona.Vulcain Manufacture in Le Locle, SwitzerlandThe Cricket alarm caliberAlmost a century later, Vulcain launched the first Cricket mechanical alarm movement, which soon achieved worldwide fame. It was equipped with what would become the legendary Cricket caliber. For the very first time, watchmakers and scientists had succeeded in making a functional and efficient mechanical al...
