When there is a new watch brand around the corner, we are always interested to have a look at it. Although we all feel the market is flooded by the number of watch brands, in some segments there is room for new brands. Except for a couple of vintage watches, a new Seiko and a few others, what is really available under $500 Euro these days?Our Scandinavian friends from Corniche must have thought the same thing, and decided to come up with something fresh. On their website, I read that the owners spend their childhood summers on the French Riviera, to which I can relate (until I was 10 or so and my father decided to go Great Britain as his interests shifted a bit), and wanted to design and cre...
One of my all-time favorite watches is the Royal Oak. It is actually one of the models that got me into mechanical watches in the mid-1990s. Love at first sight, you could say, and as you know that is something to cherish. However, these watches come at a certain price and with those perpetual annual price increases these watches seem to be only available for the lucky few. The low production number and high demand for them – by the lucky few – enables Audemars Piguet to stay exclusive and only available for those who are able – and willing – to spend so much money on?their watches.This shouldn t come as a shock, as Audemars Piguet was always high-end and the stainles...
A vintage Speedmaster on its own is hard to find already these days, if you want an all original and authentic watch that is. Aside from the current prices; when I started out with buying and collecting Speedmasters over a decade ago, it wasn t much of a problem to find a nice vintage piece with all original details. At the time, these details weren t even as important as they are now but most of the watch I found at watch fairs, on eBay etc were all fine.So if an all authentic regular vintage Speedmaster Professional is already hard to find today, what about the real out-of-this-world (no pun intended) Speedmasters?Speedmaster Professional Radial DialA few years ago, we reported about the N...
It is really very difficult to find any ornament or jewelry item for men, in any part of the world. In fact, if you try to list down the jewelry items exclusively designed for men, you can count them on the fingers of your one hand! Griffin Emblem C one of the best Timepiece designers have redefined this concept by launching a perfect watch to compliment your lifestyle and your wardrobe. It is well said that boys take a glance at their Smartphone to confirm the time and polished men take a look at their watch!The truth is C most of the men like to flaunt their exclusive watches gracing the wrists because it is one of the best way that depicts their originality and standard of living adding c...
CHRISTIES GENEVA AUCTIONFollowing my review of the Phillips watch auctions last week, my brother (Roy) and I took a look at Christies upcoming auction catalog and had the pleasure of viewing the watches with Thomas Perrazi in Geneva. Thomas and the team have focused on vintage versus modern in recent auctions following a global trend from collectors. In regards to the team, we also had the pleasure of seeing Marie Stauffer at Christies as she has just moved over from Sothebys (part of a pretty common game of musical chairs among auction houses). Along with Sabine, Marcello and Richard, the Christies Geneva watch department team is solid and has put together a great catalog with a large varie...
Several years ago, (and probably in development long, long before that) C Girard-Perregaux released a series of watches called the Operas. As the name suggests, all boasted musical complications. They were available C and I believe some still are C with various dials and case materials.Family portrait. All images can be clicked on for larger versionsIn 2005, I was lucky enough to be granted some lens time with the prototypes of these pieces several years ago by the local distributor. The astute viewer will note that the time isnt set to the usual 10:10 on these; some watches had blocked hands, balances or crowns, though all of the striking works were functional.Opera One is a minute repeater...
The Watch Photographer, friend of the show and famous because of his calendar is now offering his beautiful GMT-Master ref.1675 (ca.1971) for sale. We can easily say that this is the most popular GMT-Master of this moment and still considered to be affordable when it comes to collecting vintage watches.What once started as being the watch for (PanAM) pilots, grew out to be the most popular watch for?travelers?of all sorts. The current GMT-Master II ref.116710LN is the result of decades of small and well thought-of tweaks and adjustments to the original GMT-Master, such as the ref.1675. GMT-Masters prior to the ref.1675, carry the 6542 reference number (1954) and have no crown guards and w...
Recently, I was able to review another Bell & Ross, the BR01-96. Significantly bigger than the BR03-92?Heritage I had a while back for review, but still quite comfortable on the wrist. This BR01-96 comes very complete, with two straps and accessories to swap these straps yourself. How much I like it on pictures and other people, during the process of reviewing this watch, I ve learned that these square shaped Bell & Ross instruments are not for me. However, I can surely appreciate the design and craftsmanship that Bell & Ross has put into them.Go to Watchuseek or follow this link to read the Bell & Ross BR01-096 Review! Thanks to Watch-Site for the Bell & Ross....
About a week ago, I was able to test drive a Calibre de Cartier. Having seen it during the SAHH in Amsterdam in 2010, I was quite impressed by its specifications and masculine look, but didn t have the opportunity to try it ever since.Cartier was never that much on my radar, until I met Geo who runs the?Troisanneaux website and moderates the Cartier forum of Revo-Online. I ve learned that they are pretty good at watch making (understatement) and with their recently introduced Calibre de Cartier, they are in the same (price) league as the other big brands with in-house movements (Panerai, , IWC, Omega).Anyway, I ve tried the Calibre de Cartier and the results can be read at Watchuseek s Publi...
RUBBER B – a company located in Miami, Florida – introduced vulcanized rubber straps for a number of sports models. Their rubber straps will fit seamlessley to your Oyster case and the original clasp of the Oyster bracelet will fit without a problem. I came across these straps by reading Jake s Blog where he covered RUBBER B straps already. Go over there to see some more pictures of the straps, including some close-ups of the strap attached to the original clasp.This rubber strap could be an excellent alternative if you don t want to wear your with a bracelet while swimming, on the beach or just during summer. RUBBER B claims the straps to be of an impeccable quality, entir...
In 1948, Omega introduced the world to their Seamaster watch. Omega s commercial director of that time, Adolphe Vallat requested a watch that was water resistant with an automatic movement. Omega s designer Rene Bannwart had a sketch on the shelf that was originally intended to be a new Centenary model (the predecessor of the Constellation) that he found to be too bulky to be an elegant dress watch. Adolphe Vallat happened to find it a perfect match for his request.So, there it was, the very first Omega Seamaster. 34mm in diameter, a bumper movement and with these superb looking beefy lugs. These very first Seamaster watches (as pictured below) were available with either center seconds or a ...
Actually, there are two Top 5s. One with watches in the more affordable range and one with watches that should be considered ‘extreme haute horlogerie . Since I joined Ernie Romers of Watchuseek during BaselWorld, I ve put both Top 5 lists in the BaselWorld forum at Watchuseek. Click here to go there.Here are two teasers from both lists. In the ‘extreme haute horlogerie list, I only picked two established brands and one of them is Patek Philippe with their Perpetual Calendar Chronograph ref.5270. With a price tag of approx. $155,000.- USD definitely not for everyone, but for those who can : You need this watch. Period.In the other Top 5, I picked Omega as one of the brands with ...
A member of the Dutch forum posted a few pictures of his vintage ref.1675 GMT-Master from 1960. This GMT-Master has a beautiful ‘aged dial, that collectors point out as a gilt ‘tropical dial.The wording on the dial are special as well, since it only says ‘Officially Certified Chronometer instead of the Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified wording. The reference before this one (ref.6542) used to have this wording on the dial as well. Before you think it is an older dial in a newer case, it s not, as the diameter of the dial is different. The owner of the watch claims that this particular model was only in production for less than 12 months.Please note the beaut...
ABP Paris (Atelier du Bracelet Parisien) is a manufacturer of the world s most exclusive leather watchstraps. Although you can order most straps via their web shop, the Fratellowatches team decided to visit their workshop in the center of Paris.ABP is currently lead by Yann Perrin and is a typical family business and have been around for 15 years. A few years ago, due to ever growing business, they had to move to a bigger workshop on the Place du Marche Saint-Honore where they are still located as of today. Let us tell you, that with approximately a staff of 10 persons, we foresee another move in a couple of years.Yann (right) and his staffAll straps that ABP sell are – of course ̵...
In 2008, Jaeger-LeCoultre celebrated the 80th anniversary of their famous Atmos clock. As you might know already, Atmos clocks keep ticking because of temperature changes in the environment. I did a write-up in its 80th anniversary year where you can read more about the Atmos s background and workings (click here to read it).Now, in 2011, Jaeger-LeCoultre did not only steal the show (SIHH2011) with regards to wrist watches, they also introduced a new Atmos clock. The Atmos Marqueterie Paille.Restricted to 28 pieces only, the Atmos Margueterie Paille (or straw marquetry) is celebrating an ancient decorative technique that was revived by interior designers during the 1930s. The transparent cab...
Dear readers of this blog,We are only few hours away from 2011! I am pretty sure that 2011 will be an exciting year for (haute) horlogerie. In 2010, we ve seen a lot of new watches that were really out of this world, such as The Palace by Jean Dunand, the Rebellion T-1000 and Max Busser s HM No.4. Besides these, we ve seen re-incarnations of classic time pieces such as the Explorer in 39mm, the Bulova Accutron Spaceview and the Glycine Airman Base 22. And everything in between of course. My friend Frank Geelen of Monochrome did a nice write-up on the best timepieces of 2010 and I wholeheartedly agree with his choice of timepieces.So, what will 2011 bring us? We ve seen some great previews f...
A brand that did not get much coverage here is H.Moser & Cie, until today! For MotoringExposure, I ve written an article on this independent manufacturer. Their line-up of Mayu watches is impressive and definitely worth considering if you are in the quest of buying a precious dress watch.I think these dress watches are pretty special, especially the one above with its brown dial and palladium casing. Prices start around 12K Euro.Click here to read the article over at MotoringExposure....
I have a weak spot for watches that help you travel through different time zones, without losing track of home time. We all know about the GMT watches that just have an extra hour hand, to display home time (or 24h notation). However, there are also watches that can flip through different timezones with only a push on a button or turning an extra crown. Technically speaking, these watches are much more complicated than the ones with ‘just an extra hour hand like the GMT-Master or ETA 2893-A2 based watches (Omega, Linde Werdelin etc.).World Timer watches, as they are being called, attract me since the day I became interested in wrist watches. During all these years, my taste did not c...
If you are into collecting watches, it seems to be some kind of quest or grail to – at some point – get a watch from your year of birth. Just recently, I paid attention to some topics on TimeZone and the UK based TZ-UK watch portal about getting a watch from your birth year. It seems that Omega, and Breitling are very sought-after brands for the birth year purpose, as they are when it comes to watch collecting in general as well.Earlier this year, I had the same goal, getting a nice watch from my year of birth, 1977. Since Omega is the brand that started this watch madness for me, I was always on the lookout for a Speedmaster Professional ref.145.022 that dates back to 1977, but...
I remember Omega introducing the Speedmaster X-33 in 1998 with a digital display, it took me a while to start breathing again. Omega labeled this Speedy the ‘Mars watch, ready for the next landmark in space traveling. Sadly, Omega thought it was necessary to introduce a From Moon to Mars Speedmaster Professional as well, the fugliest* Speedmaster in my humble opinion.This is probably one of the Speedmaster models with the shortest production number ever, since the X-33 ‘Mark II was introduced shortly after, because some NASA or professional users of the watch complained about the high polished parts on the watch. The price of an Omega Speedmaster X-33 is increasing rapidly over...
