Greubel Forsey has announced that it will cease to use leather straps across the board. Although I still use and buy leather straps, it is a move that I applaud. Not because I am against the use of leather, but because it helps raise awareness of some of the environmental issues the watch industry should be considering now before it is too late.With this step, Greubel Forsey wants to make the sacrifice and suffering of animals a thing of the past. This ban will become effective on January 1st, 2022. From that moment onwards, Greubel Forsey will only use high-quality plant-based materials. The specifications for the new plant-based straps are exactly the same as for its leather straps. They w...
Every so often, a press release hits the inbox that looks so familiar you almost ignore it as old news. And then, because a little voice in the back of your head calls out and stays your cursor as it hovers over the trash can, you look again and you realize that this is actually something new. It is something that, while new, looks so much like something that should have already existed you genuinely believed for a second that it did. Your apathy morphs into excitement. This new watch feels like a vivid dream that has leaped from your subconscious and manifested in metal and sapphire before you. Such was my first encounter with the Hamilton Khaki Field in BRONZE.There are few watches so wide...
Go on, admit it. You d secretly love to be Iron Man. I ll be honest, I would too. He always struck me as being the most feasible superhero. Now feasible may seem like a weird word, but Iron Man wasn t born with superpowers. Tony Stark made Ironman possible through technology. Granted, that technology doesn t yet exist, but one day it might. However, until that day comes to pass, you can take a step in the direction of becoming Iron Man by owning Robert Downey Jr. s (AKA Tony Stark) UR-105 TA Raging Gold watch from the Avengers Endgame movies.That s right, RDJ s URWERK UR-105 TA Raging Gold is up for auction right now, with all proceeds split between the Radamon Act Funding and, with the supp...
The wait is over. The Marine is back. After last year s Laventure Transatlantique spent a couple of hours of availability melting hearts before breaking those of the would-be buyers that arrived too late to the party, we have a new (old) model to dissect. The Marine II melds the original concept of the brand with a few of its more recently acquired traits and tops things off with a stunning solid gold dial. But is it the best yet or an interesting experiment that asks as many questions as it answers?Clement Gaud is developing an almost amusing habit of releasing new Laventure watches while I m (trying to be) on holiday. But, given my closeness to the brand since its foundation, I m quite hap...
Over the past months, Oris has released a handful of novel and formidable in-house calibers. Starting with the inaugural Calibre 400, name of both movement and watch, a time/date Aquis, we were then quickly given the newest iteration of the Carl Brashear diver in bronze with Calibre 401, a small seconds variant of the base 400.On June 1, the newest Oris Holstein Limited Edition was released using the never-before-seen Calibre 403 with pointer-date and small seconds to the tune of a scarce 250 available pieces. All of these are built off the base architecture of the Calibre 400, a revolution in watch engineering, longevity, and economics. But with movements numbering 400, 401, and 403, one ha...
Back in 2017, Porsche claimed its 19th overall victory at the 85th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The endurance race featured an epic comeback for the #2 Porsche 919 driven by Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley, and Earl Bamber. Only a few weeks before this win, Singer Reimagined unveiled its first-ever wristwatch. Singer is a Los Angeles-based car tuning house specializing in restoring and upgrading the iconic Porsche 911 Carrera. Specifically, the air-cooled Carreras (964 chassis for car nerds out there) phased out in the 90s. The Singer Track1 Chronograph also draws from the past to revitalize the classic racing chronograph in an entirely new dial layout. Since the launch in 2017, there...
Say hello to Primo? Rogli?. He is a two-time grand tour champion, the worlds top-ranked road cyclist, an Olympic hopeful, and, would you believe, a former ski-jumper. So, without further ado, lets welcome one of Tissot s very finest ambassadors to the show.Rob Nudds: It is absolutely our pleasure to have you here. As I mentioned in the introduction, your career began in ski-jumping, but how did that switch come about? How did you move over to the bike and what motivated the change.PR: Well, it is a story I have told a lot of times, and it seems really straightforward now, but it really wasn t. It took a lot of sacrifices and a lot of effort to make it happen. But yeah, in the end, I wasn t a...
Can you believe it? Fourteen episodes in, WASP welcomes its very first pro-athlete, and we ve kicked things off with an absolute stunner: we re welcoming Primo? Rogli?, the number one ranked road cyclist in the world. A two-time grand tour winner, Rogli? began his career as a ski-jumper, before rapidly rising the rankings to stand at the very summit of his new sport. This podcast player is blocked because you did not accept marketing cookies. Change cookie settings Following Rob s chat with Primo?, Balazs returns to the studio, reuniting the Fridge & Freezer presenting duo at long last. The boys spin around the leagues, catching up with the NBA and NHL playoffs that are very much in ...
Date windows inspire strong feelings. Whether they should exist at all is a serious question for some. Must they always be at three o clock? There are those that say yes, those that hate the asymmetry of it, and those that love a nice, unobtrusive window at 4:30 to ensure the hour indices remain unruffled. But my choice? My choice is almost always for balance along the vertical axis. Give me the six o clock date any day and I ll be a happy man.This is not just an opinion-based article (although I do have an opinion). What I d like to do here is list the advantages and disadvantages, as well as the reasoning behind different date window positions. Then, at the bottom of this article, I d like...
Quite often, the fusion of two designs leads to controversial results. Can you really combine two unique design ideas successfully? When Zenith introduced the El Primero A3817 in 1971, watch fans must have raised an eyebrow or two when seeing the amalgamation of the iconic A384 and A386. Then again, the 1970s were an age of experimentation, so fusion design was definitely a part of that era. Five decades after the initial release, Zenith has released the modern version with the Chronomaster Revival El Primero A3817. Does my purist heart accept this pairing of iconic styles?Zenith has been releasing watches at a rapid rate over the last roughly two years. With a mixture of limited releases an...
We like to talk about vintage watches a lot within the Fratello team. While the daily routine is largely focused on the most recent developments in the world of watches, the most fun for many of us lies in the world of vintage watches. Its a world full of history, remarkable watches, incredible stories, and quirky details. It inspired us to come up with a series of articles focusing on the best watches per decade from a select group of brands. Some of them priceless, some of them still affordable. In this installment, we will take a look at the best Heuer watches from the 1970s.In the 1960s, we witnessed developments that challenged the status quo of watch design forever. The sheer amount of...
The heavens have always been a fascination of homo sapiens. Each culture throughout history, having moved past the hurdles of securing shelter, sustenance, and governance, has at some point turned its collective gaze to the skies, considered a font of knowledge and mystery for those adept at seeing. Modern humanity has fared no differently; now armed with technological and scientific developments, we ceased to be content with merely gazing. And so, man has been to the moon, and there will undoubtedly be more to come.Not all of us will go to space. In truth, we may even look upwards at night less often than our ancestors. But there are tokens now available to us, ambassadors of humankinds nex...
What do you remember about the Datejust II? Do you remember what you thought of it at the time? Is it a model you pine for daily, still wear proudly, or had completely forgotten ever existed? I find myself in the latter category way too often, so I thought I d take a moment to look back on the watch that time forgot; the failed future hero that never cares to mention.Sports history is littered with nearly men and women. There are countless tales of careers that got off to a blistering start only to fall foul of injury, contract squabbles, or some other misfortune. Whenever I think of the Datejust II, those stars that came tantalizingly close to reaching the top of their respective sports ...
When a watch auction in Asia or the United States nears its last day, I?always put the Nivada Grenchen Travelmaster on my wrist. A manually wound movement, a GMT bezel, and an alarm are all auction-winning essentials. Well, at least essentials for not forgetting about an auction in the first place…I?have stopped counting how many great watches I?have lost for being too busy or too lazy to set the alarm for the end of an auction. These days when it still happens, I?no longer go back to investigate. I?want to prevent more pain when seeing if it was hammered for a heartbreakingly small price.Nivada Grenchen Travelmaster 87011What I?really love about this watch is the set of unique feature...
A few months ago, Wei Koh from Revolution contacted us, and a number of other media titles, to unfold his plan for The Pink Dial Project and asked to become a partner. I dont have to tell you how awful breast cancer is, what it does to the victim and their families. It is horror. And everyone here has a few examples of this disease in their own circle of family and friends.With The Pink Dial project, we - and the lion s share is done by Revolution and The Rake - would like to raise awareness, but also funds for Breast Cancer treatment and research. A letter went out to all our favorite watch brands out there, to see if they would be willing and able to support The Pink Dial project with exac...
Whether you like Patek Philippe and its watches or not, I think theres one thing we can all agree on: the brand is up there at the very top of watchmaking artistry. Today, the Genevan manufacture presents a world debut of six models from the current collection as part of its 2021 rare handcrafts exhibition. Each watch features artistic decorations such as manual engraving, grand feu cloisonne enamel, grand feu champleve enamel, grand feu flinque enamel, manual guilloche, and gem-setting. Of these six, I wanted to take a look at one in particular, the Ref. 5374G-001 minute repeater with a perpetual calendar.Why this one in particular? Well, not only is it my favorite of the collection but loo...
The Breguet Type XXI 3815 is a colorful addition to the already existing vintage-inspired Type XXI 3817 that was introduced in 2016. The Type XXI has its roots in a larger and more complicated iteration of the famous Type XX. Breguet s Type XXI 3815 comes in two different colors - orange and green - and we have both.The Breguet Type XXI 3815TI/HO/3ZU (orange) and 3815TI/HM/3ZU (green), are limited to 250 pieces each, so 500 in total. The new Type XXI we have here looks similar to the Type XXI 8515 but uses a 42mm case made of titanium. By using the vivid green and orange on the lacquered dial of the Type XXI 3815, the watch becomes a bit more of a contemporary version of the classic Type XXI...
Wrist Game or Crying Shame has returned once again with a period piece that might make you say, hold your horses. The original Piaget Polo is in focus today. But before we go into battle with Prince Charles…Last week, I thought I d try to appeal to your sentimental side with the platinum Swatch Tresor Magique. The comments section gave us some great memories and even an owner or two. Sadly, just 38% of you wanted to revisit the early 90s and that means that this watch definitely did not flatten em with platinum. Today, we ll switch to the original Piaget Polo and that also means a change to gold. In this case, there s a lot of gold and, let s be honest, that s almost always positive....
When is a watch considered to be a classic? Next year, the Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra will be celebrating its 20th birthday and it just made me wonder if that s old enough to be one. Anyway, today Omega is introducing to you the Aqua Terra Small Seconds in 38mm and 41mm.The Seamaster Aqua Terra is a watch that has been on my want list for many years, but I never came to actually pull the trigger. Once I was super close when I was shown a PGA edition (with green second s hand) during a holiday in Italy with my family. But, I am bad at making decisions in a foreign country at a jeweler shop without having done my homework in advance. So I let it go and to this day I kinda regret it. Is the Sea...
The 140th anniversary of Seikos foundation has brought us many a limited edition in 2021. And the year is far from over. And its not just Seiko thats throwing a party. The new celebratory limited edition Grand Seiko Quartz GMT SBGN023 also joins in. And the unlimited versions (SBGN019 and SBGN021) in the Sport Collection provide a sportier counterpoint to the chic black and gold LE.Grand Seiko found a new way to present its 9F quartz GMT caliber. It all started for Caliber 9F in 1993. Despite being almost 30 years old (where has the time gone?) the 9F series is still one of the finest movement series in its class. Thats because of the movements durable qualities and precision of ?10 to +10 s...
