The Watch: MINASE 5 WINDOWSMinases most original model, the 5 Windows, is a masterpiece of design. One of its creators, Hirokuni Yamamoto, said its creation broke down every design concept he had learnt and practiced during his 30 year design career. The movement, three-dimensional round dial and hands are all visible through the 5 sapphire windows. The movement, seemingly floating in space, bathes in the light coming from its windows. This watch breaks with typical design by placing a circular dial into a rectangular case. The sapphire crystal has a non-reflective coating and is spherical on both axes, underscoring the contrast between the clear base and the polished satin surface of the wa...
Dia dhuit, watch peeps!? It s time for This Week in Watches for October 5, 2019!For this episode of This Week in Watches, we have?a lot to cover.? It seems that the entry of October has brands already thinking of the holiday season and where they d like you to spend your money.? Let s see if this week s new treats provide that level of temptation.? Here we go!Breitling and OuterknownOne of Breitling s squad s happens to focus on surfing.? And when it comes to surfers, there are few who are better known than Kelly Slater, an American surfer with 11(!!) world championships under his belt – errrr, board shorts.? Slater also founded a company by the name of Outerknown, a sustainable appare...
When On Her Majesty s Secret Service was first released in 1969, people were not sure whether this was a step in the right direction for the Bond franchise. Fifty years later, the film is still good for a heated discussion, but the film has cemented its place in the history of the Bond saga. So it seems only right that Omega celebrates the 50th anniversary of the movie with the release of the Omega Seamaster Diver 300M 50th Anniversary Of ‘On Her Majesty s Secret Service. When discussing the classic James Bond film, to me, it s all about the movie that features Sean Connery, Roger Moore, and George Lazenby. Although many people have their doubts about Lazenby s portrayal of Bond, his o...
He doesnt get mentioned as much on Fratello as Buzz Aldrin or Ed White. But it is astronaut Alan Barlett Shepard that inspired this new moon-related watch release. Made by Czech manufacturer Prim, lets take a look at the model Hole In One. Alan Shepard is quite the man. He was the second person to travel to space in 1961, making him forever the first American in space. Ten years later, Shepard would leave Earth s atmosphere again to become the fifth man to walk on the moon. And for the sake of this article, he was the first one and only one to play golf on the Moon. That s right, on the moon!PRIM Hole In OneApollo 14 Astronaut Alan Shepard assembles equipment on the lunar surface in February...
Whats better than a second-time zone on a dial? Four time zones. Meet the Buler GMT from the 1970s. My new wonder watch that I christened the Poor, but busy mans GMT Master. A perfect watch for todays business world, where four friends meet and rally who has invested in the better startup. Because every proper entrepreneur today has to have a startup, right? Forget comparing villas or yachts, showing off your startup portfolio is the new ball game. And what does a fresh startup do? It scales up quickly by opening new offices in Paris, New York, Tokio, and Sydney. Wait a second. Arent those cities the exact ones portrayed on the dial of this Buler GMT?! We just discovered a perfect tool watch...
A lot has been written about the new Seiko 5 Sports, so we thought we d take this new collection and discuss it on video. On the contrary to what people might think, it is not the official replacement model for the SKX007. But what is it then?After neglecting video for way too long, we recently started to record videos of our events and to review watches. It is a bit different from writing, and we definitely need to find our pace and try to get used to the camera. That said, we are looking forward to doing more of these shortly. Our first video is about the new Seiko 5 Sports models (we did an introduction here), a collection that has been the talk of the town in recent weeks.Gerard and Robe...
Welcome to another installment of Wrist Game or Crying Shame.? This week, we take a look at a watch that some consider as one of the best values in watchdom, the Seiko Marinemaster 300.Last week on WG or CS, we took a look at a bit of a strange bird of a .? Up for your choosing was the GMT-Master 16700, a watch that was made concurrently with the far more popular GMT-Master II 16710.? The 16700 might have been offered as the Aldi-special econo GMT, but that didnt stop a full 76% of you from deciding that youd like to take to the open skies C or allow someone else to pilot you to another time zone C with the neo-vintage GMT.? Yes, it was a proper Wrist Game walloping!But better than that, I ...
The Scatola del Tempo Rotor-One is a well-tried concept from the legendary Italian company that received a facelift.We reviewed the earlier version of the Scatola del Tempo Rotor-One almost four years ago. A lot has changed with the company since those days though. First and foremost, it has new ownership. Until 2018 the company was owned by the family of Sandro Colarieti, the founder of Scatola del Tempo and the inventor of the watch winder as we know it today. Last year Mr. Xavier Castelli the new owner of SwissKubik (another company known for watch winders) acquired Scatola del Tempo. With that, many of the new and improved features of SwissKubik products have become part of the reimagine...
Every WIS needs to have a watch book library at home.Whether you are a guy whos into history or intrigued by the technical side of things, having the right books in your collection is necessary. To start with, they look good. No, I dont mean that fill up a shelf nicely to show off. They are often large with amazingly detailed photos of watches, movements, and everything else surrounding them like a box, papers, documents, and so on. A great watch is also a good source for research. You might want to look something up or perhaps need information for a forum/blog post. This is where the right book comes into place. Lastly, books bring back something we are losing these days. Technology makes i...
On July 21st, exactly 50 years after Armstrong and Aldrin set foot on the Moon, Omega re-introduced their Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch caliber 321. In platinum. Meet the Omega Speedmaster reference 311.93.42.30.99.001.My first Speedmaster was a reference 145.012-67, produced in February 1968 according to the Omega archives and with caliber 321. At the time, in 1999, the watch was even cheaper than a caliber 861 with less mileage, but those days are long gone. In hindsight, I am happy that I chose the caliber 321 Speedmaster as a first watch (although I was actually after a more modern one, for daily wear) and I still have it today. Never sell your first Speedmaster, as they say!Over th...
Where other brands get flamed for the constant flow of limited editions, Seiko seems to get away with it every time. This time, it is the Seiko Presage Green Enamel dial watch, reference SBP111.That might be because they are simply stunning releases, or that the Seiko crowd is not that bothered by it and are just happy when there s a new release and thus more to choose from. It s just an observation, and I don t have any issues with Seiko doing these releases as well.The Seiko Presage collection consists of many special or limited editions, in fact, I own one as well, and I love it. Without further ado.Seiko Presage Green Enamel Dial SBP111We ve seen it before, Seiko being inspired by nature...
Goedendag, this is The Week in Watches for September 28th, 2019. It has been a busy week, for a lot of brands, so here we go.The brands picked up the pace again in September, with new releases from big brands and some smaller brands.?We saw several beautiful and important releases this week that we didn t get to cover in separate articles this week. Without further ado, here are some of the releases you shouldn t miss.Hublot Big Bang Unico SORAIThe young Hublot company (1980) collaborates with a lot of different initiatives, from Ferrari to Berluti to Orlinski and a lot of others. And now with SORAI.Ricardo Guadalupe (CEO Hublot) and Kevin Pietersen (SORAI)Hublot teamed up with Kevin Pieters...
We already talked about a DS-1 briefly when we reported on their event just this past month.Bert wrote that piece focusing on the occasion, the new DS-1 Big Date and its technical improvement, the Nivachron hairspring. That watch came out to mark the 60th anniversary of the introduction of the DS (Double Security) system and the first Certina DS that came to the market in 1959. However, Certinas list of novelties for 2019 did not end with the Big Date. There is one more watch to talk about, the Certina DS-1 Powermatic 80. Now, this is not a new model line by any means. The brand already has several models out under such a name. However, this new DS-1 Powermatic 80 is the latest special editi...
One of the watches that left quite an impression since its introduction in Basel earlier this year, is the Sinn 206 Arktis II. Based on the no-nonsense 206 (and its predecessor the Sinn 203) diving chronograph, but with a touch of ice blue.In our ‘Hot Take‘ of this watch, we already gave some background information on this new Sinn 206 Arktis II and its specifications. Admitted, with Sinn it is very often about specs, but in this case, I d say that they ve really done a nice job to spice it up a bit (or better said: cool it down) with some color. The ice blue makes this watch stand out. Although I love the original 203 and the regular 206 references from Sinn, you could say that ...
It has been four years since we showed you a Gallet here for the first time on #TBT. Today, we bring you something similar yet different at the same time - one of the purest Gallet chronograph dial versions.We showed you several Gallet watches over the years. Mikes collection of Gallets features not only black dial versions that you can read about here and here, but also the Gallet Decimal and Torch Dial Multichron 12 with sub-registers nearly touching each other. Today, we have a Gallet chronograph that didn t make it on Fratello before. A version with a super clean dial.Gallet Chronograph EP 40-68Thoughts on the Gallet dialOr shall we say a lot of pearl space instead of white space? One qu...
There is the flashy coffee table type of book, and then there s the other, more educational one out there. On which end of the spectrum sits The Vintage Field Guide?For the first type of books, you usually need more than both hands, as those books often have impressive dimensions and ditto weight. The paper is thicker than the cardboard your fridge was packed in and the pages so glossy that you need sunglasses, so you dont burn your cornea. We all know which books I am talking about. And we probably all have a few of them at home, myself included.The Vintage Field GuideThe book in review today falls on the other end of the spectrum. A lot of black & white pages. Many pages without an...
Wrist Game or Crying Shame is here to see if you value history with a look at a GMT-Master 16700.Before we get into the GMT-Master 16700, let s spend a moment on last week s subject, the Yema Bipole Duopoly.? For $569, or less than most of you spend on a pair of city-bound retro mining boots, you thoroughly denied this French oddity with a crushing defeat to the tune of 60% calling it a Crying Shame.? Ah but wait!? While the 40-percenters clearly lost the battle, one such Wrist Game voter climbed the highest mountain because he chose to vote with his wallet!? And that person was none other than Jason Heaton of?The Grey NATO,?Hodinkee, and other fame.? Now Jason calls the eternally frozen s...
Earlier this year, we teamed up with Longines to find the oldest Longines watch in The Netherlands.Speaking of the oldest Longines watch, it has to be a pocket watch, of course. Although Longines dates back to 1832, their first pocket watch with in-house movement (caliber 20A) was produced in 1867. This is also the year that Longines starts to record their production in their archives. All Longines watches from that moment on, carry the brand name, and have the hourglass engraved in the watch.But let s face it, only a few of those early watches probably survived. Pocket watches made way for wristwatches a few decades ago, and a lot of these old watches are long gone and forgotten. It makes y...
On Her Majesty s Secret Service is the 10th novel in the James Bond series and the 6th movie about the British spy. For this 1969 movie, George Lazenby played 007 and faced Blofeld (again).To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the On Her Majesty s Secret Service film, Omega introduces a special version of the Seamaster 300M Diver. This limited edition is based on last year s introduced Seamaster 300M model that has a long history with Bond. Since 1995, Omega has its relationship with James Bond, with the Seamaster 300M 2541.80 (quartz) and 2531.80 (automatic) references on the wrist of Pierce Brosnan as Bond. Even though in recent movies Bond was wearing a Seamaster Aqua Terra and Planet Oc...
Last week we held our 6th Speedy Tuesday Event this year, this time in the city that never sleeps: New York.Different from the previous editions were the topics we had for the guests of the New York City Speedy Tuesday event. We added the platinum Speedmaster with caliber 321 to the presentation given by Omega s VP Head of Product Management Gregory Kissling, but we also talked about a watch we haven t touched before during the events: the Speedmaster X-33.We thought it would be an interesting topic, as the special guest of the New York City Speedmaster Tuesday Event happened to be astronaut Terry Virts. He is a former Space Shuttle astronaut and International Space Station commander, who sp...
