Have you ever dreamed of being a super spy? Have you ever wondered what watch you might wear if that career should become your daily grind? Well, perhaps we have an answer for you. At least when it comes to counting cards and flinging chips all over the board in the casinos you d no doubt make your second (or first) home. No, this isn t a go-anywhere, do-anything kind of watch. It s something that s been shaken and definitely not stirred. Allow us to present to you, the new Omega Seamaster Diver 300M James Bond Numbered Edition in platinum-gold.Before the coronavirus broke the world in ways we d never predicted something could, we found ourselves basking in the glow of the Omega Seamaster 30...
When it comes to Seiko, quite a lot of my focus goes to the Prospex collection. With a string of great new Prospex releases, I almost tend to forget that over the last couple of months, we have also seen a significant number of Seiko Presage releases featuring unique dials. The handmade enamel and porcelain dials are often breathtaking evidence of incredible craftsmanship. I had the change to go hands-on with the Seiko Presage SPB173J1 Boutique Limited Edition with a beautiful green enamel dial.The lack of focus is not a lack of interest, to be honest. I have always loved the looks and light-hearted approach of the Cocktail Time-series within the Presage collection. At the same time, the Coc...
A little watch review for this week s Speedy Tuesday topic! Once upon a time, the Speedmaster Reduced enjoyed existence within Omega s collection. Those days are past. In its place is the Speedmaster 38 collection. Omega doesn t feel it necessary to explicitly define this as a gent s or a ladies watch, and we re just fine with that. For some wrists, this unusual addition to the range will be exactly what they ve been searching for…My wife owns two Speedmaster watches. One of which is a Moonwatch model (42mm) and the other one is this Speedmaster Lady model in 38mm. She got it in 2013, and it was clearly marked as a ladies model. Last year, my mom bought herself a Speedmaster 38 Cappu...
Last time in Watch Spotting, we looked at the Seiko SKX009 in All is Lost, or SKX175 for our US readers. This time I am exploring the wrist game in Gone Girl with the Pepsi GMT-Master II sported by Ben Affleck. Most movies set in the modern-day real-world feature watches in some form. But in this column, I select films where the choice of wristwatch plays into the narrative. I also immerse myself in how the chosen character may have attained their timepiece.Gone Girl was the last theatrical release, at the time of writing, by David Fincher. If you are not sure who David Fincher is, you may be more familiar with the titles he has directed: Fight Club, Se7en, The Social Network, and The Girl ...
It s Two For Tuesday time where we take a look at two watches that commonly cause hand-wringing at decision time. This week, you ll need to muster some serious arm strength to lift those hands because we re going BIG with the Panerai Luminor and Radiomir.The Legend of PaneraiI know that I ve mentioned this before, but the early 2000s hysteria caused by Panerai was a completely unique mania. There had been nothing like it up until that point in the watch world and there s been nothing since. Sure, the Royal Oak, Nautilus, and your steel sports du jour are impossible to find, but these are very specific cases. Nigh on 20 years ago, just about everything from Panerai was?unobtanium. The brand ...
We told you this would be fun. After four weeks of voting, you, the Fratelli, have selected the winning Instagram images that have made it through to this, the second semi-final. One more hurdle awaits these champions. Winning this weeks vote guarantees the image a place in Decembers final. Better still, it puts the photographer behind the image in the running for some very tasty prizes indeed-Below you can find the winners of the last four rounds. Some cases were obvious from the start. In other instances, we saw heavy voting battles (and surprising last-minute swings) between the contestants. However, in the end, there could only be one winner each week. Now we need you, dear readers, to d...
Last week, I selected my Top-5 Oris Aquis Limited Edition divers watches made for the Change for the Better campaign. For the new Aquis Hangang Limited Edition, Oris partners up with Seoul KFEM to support the cleanup of South Korea s mighty Hangang River. We go hands-on with the first of the Aquis Limited Editions to feature a green dial.Busy times at the Oris headquarters in Switzerland. The brand from H?lstein has graced us with a string of new releases in 2020. From the fun and upbeat H?lstein Edition 2020?to the eye-catching Oris Divers Sixty-Five Momotaro collab to the new 41.5mm Aquis Date, there is plenty to enjoy. And those are only a couple of the latest additions to the collecti...
You d think after all the years I ve spent observing, handling, and dismantling watch cases, I d kind of be over it by now. Yeah, my shrink says the same thing. What can I say? The novelty of watchmaking is the only drug to which I ve ever been a slave. And so whenever something remotely new comes along, I can t help but indulge my interest. Say hello to the inaugural range from Belchengruppe.Belchengruppe had been due to exhibit at Baselworld. Sure, I was more excited to see the latest technical and aesthetic developments of the big boys, but there is a special place in my heart for smaller brands trying to find their niche. That special place in my heart bleeds for these tiny brands becaus...
We are very happy to have the CEO of Officine Panerai on our podcast, Mr. Jean-Marc Pontroue. We talk to him about the current status of the watch industry, how the brand is navigating these difficult times, and about the recent introduction of Panerai s very own PAMCast.After the mandatory wrist check (see below), Mike and RJ discuss these topics. Our Fratello on Air podcast can be played via Apple,?Soundcloud,?Spotify,?Google Podcast, and?Buzzsprout. This podcast player is blocked because you did not accept marketing cookies. Change cookie settings During the podcast, we discuss the PAMCast initiative by Panerai. With this content-based initiative, Panerai offers interesting stories to...
In this Sunday morning column, two of our writers go head-to-head in an epic showdown for the ages. Strong opinions and hysterical hyperbole are welcome (so feel free to join in with the fun in the comments section below). And dont forget to let us know which watches youd like to see torn to shreds/effusively exalted next week. Well try and feature as many of our readers choices as we can. After last week saw Rob and Balazs barny over the Datejust, we have another classic for you: the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Extra-Thin…Balazs is not afraid of a fight, that much is clear. This week he s going toe-to-toe with the boss man, hoping to score a much-needed victory. Meanwhile, Bobsled Bobb...
Update: The auction is not cancelled. We reached out to Bonhams: see their response at the end of the article.We take a look at a few pieces from the cancelled online Bonhams Seiko auction. It wasn t pretty.In this day and age of negativity online, you might think that we get a lot of joy from breaking apart an auction. Let me be clear: we don t. But when something was this bad, we need to learn from it. After all, we write a lot about Seiko and especially vintage Seiko. We love the brand and its voluminous catalog. We re not sure how this auction ever came to light, but it had the opportunity to cause a lot of havoc. Hey, it was even featured on some other prominent watch sites! And two oth...
Welcome back to This Week In Watches for August 8, 2020 the Retro Edition. I ve been on vacation for a couple weeks, but I m back and ready to share the news.Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Sedna Gold BlueThe new Blancpain Fifty Fathomas Bathyscaphe Sedna Gold Blue is a watch that blends a retro case design with modern touches. It s hard to dislike this clean looking model, but I just can t pull of the 43mm case. If you can, though, this Sedna Gold piece adds a new blue dial and comes on either a nylon or sail-canvas 23mm strap. The brand s caliber 1315 automatic works away inside the 300 meter diver. The price of entry for feeling blue is $22,660. More information can be found on the Bl...
While the answer to this question is (relatively) simple, exactly how you go about having a repairable watch brought back to life is very important. Chief among them is finding someone you trust to repair your watch…Theoretically, almost all mechanical watches can be repaired. As I used to say to concerned clients when I was working at the bench, if it can be made, it can be remade. As poetically satisfying as that statement was to deliver, it isn t?technically true. While lost machines could be rebuilt (from scratch if necessary), there?are things that simply aren t available anymore. The most obvious example for us, perhaps when it comes to radium lume. What was once commonplace is n...
For this week in Pre-Owned Picks, I am selecting watches from the Twentieth Century that have seen a revival in the Twenty-First. I do not mean watches that have iteratively had improvements throughout the decades - ala, the Speedmaster or Submariner. Specifically, I refer to watches that were once made, in a time-gone-by, but ceased production. Decades later, the watches are brought back to life as a re-edition with similar or identical styling and modern materials.Are we living in a crisis of watchmaking? - that was the question posed by Tomas in his #TBT article here. Quite possibly, we are. But importantly, it is we who are to blame. We reminisce of when wristwatches had to meet the stan...
It s finally here - the new MING 18.01 H41 and it rocks! We re here with news on the two variants and an exciting bracelet from one of the hottest independent brands.But first, because this new MING 18.01 H41 will sell out in moments, here s the link for your ordering pleasure. We ll see you in five, so you can actually read about what you ve hopefully scored.First, an apology and a plea on the MING 18.01 H41The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray, was written (and translated from Scots-language) by Robert Burns in 1786. And folks, nearly 235 years later, this is definitely still the case. You see, I was supposed to have a prototype of the new MING 18.01 H41 in my hands in time f...
The NOMOS Glashtte brand has changed drastically over the past decade. With a huge investment made to bring manufacturing of almost all components in-house, the small, Saxon independent has carved a very special place for itself in the German watchmaking canon. And now, with the release of three special Ludwig models, NOMOS Glashtte pays homage to the story that led to its foundation 30 years ago…When NOMOS Glashtte was established following the fall of the Berlin Wall, it was part of a movement designed to stimulate the renaissance of Saxon watchmaking. It succeeded. Now, three decades after the brand s birth, Glashtte is booming. Other brands such as A. Lange & S?hne, Glasht...
We all have watches that represent special moments in our lives. My Mido Rainbow Diver 5907 will forever be bound to three important events. Most importantly, it?happened to be on my wrist the night our daughter was born. Here is the full story on todays #TBT.I?remember when I?first showed a picture of the Mido 5907 to my wife for the first time. Being a colorful person, I knew she would love the dial instantly. We both agreed that we want to add it to our vintage collection if the opportunity ever came along.Mido 5907 resurfaced in ViennaAnd the opportunity came last summer in one of the world s oldest auction houses,?Dorotheum. I was surprised to see it resurface in Vienna, which is not ev...
Hermes has, for years, given us extraordinary craftsmanship rooted in its tradition. Its watches represent the apogee of fashion style. This embrace of high-art when it comes to watchmaking is discernible once again with the latest Hermes Arceau Into the Canadian Wild, which is a wonderful homage to the harsh and sweeping climate of Canadas frozen north.?But ultimately, it is the French tradition that Hermes encapsulates, particularly with regard to contemporary minimalism; and yet this collections timepieces have even more of the sparkling effect than usual. In showcasing the diamonds combined with a raw, Bauhaus-inspired design, Hermes has signaled here its close bond with the art world.Ov...
I m sharing a story from a passionate Omega Speedmaster collector and his connection to his late grandfather s Omega Constellation. You may know him on Instagram as @dan_occasionally_likes_things. For brevity, I will just refer to him as Dan.But before we get into our discussion, I want to explain some backstory into my digital friendship with Dan.When I began my professional career around seven years ago, my father gifted me his 2006 Breitling Aerospace Avantage. Breitling introduced the ref. E79362 in 2005 and changed the name to Aerospace Avantage. The advantage this reference brought was the back-light on the LCD screens. In 2007, the name reverted to just Aerospace with the COSC text on...
Welcome back to Wrist Game or Crying Shame where you re the head honcho in charge. This week, we look at a rather unique Omega De Ville Power Reserve. But first…Last week, I did my best to give you the right implement to sail the ocean seas with a Yacht-Master in gold. I rocked back and forth like a ten foot skiff on Lake Erie during a squall with my opinion on this thing. You landlubbers, however, sent this master of galleons down to Davy Jones locker with a 32% Crying Shame loss. It seems the only thing this watch was master of was losing! Well, let s keep some of the glitz this week, up the technical quotient, and lower the price. Sound good? Then let s get into the Omega De Ville ...
