Right before the Christmas madness will break loose, Oris introduces to you their new Artelier Date Diamonds models in 33mm. A mid-sized case watch for women whereas the watch was previously only available in a small 28mm. This Artelier Date with 12 brilliant-cut diamonds on the dial might be a great gift (for your wife, girlfriend, or yourself of course!) for Christmas.Oris Artelier Date DiamondsStarting at 1800 Swiss Francs for the version on a leather strap and 2000 Swiss Francs for the one with the stainless steel bracelet, this 33mm stainless steel watch competes with a number of other ladies watches out there. What s especially nice, is that Oris made sure to fit a see-through case bac...
MILENEAL a new and emerging brand of mens watches will be catering to an exclusive niche – the young and dynamic working class mainly comprised of millennials, the watch design is a stylish combination of comfort, quality and versatility. Its inspired design is an ode to geometry and nature.The new micro brands tagline is be complete now, giving the idea that that millennials or young working adults need not wait to save up and make money to buy that overpriced watch. Ironically, as time waits for no man, Mileneal aims to provide a solution to young working adults to own a timepiece that is of good quality, design & style. Filling that void on that bare wrist with the inexpensive y...
An introduction to mechanicsPlates, axes, wheels, gears. For all those who spent hours building and dismantling technical constructions, experimenting in the engineering world, the Big Bang MECA-10 offers itself as a transitional object. It took two years to develop and refine a new manufacture movement with on-board mechanics. Atypical architecture with Meccano-type design. Following the launch of the first Big Bang MECA-10 models in 2016, the Black Magic joins the Big Bang MECA- 10 collection composed of the King Gold, Titanium and Full Magic Gold versions.Entirely conceived and developed in house, the HUB1201 is a skeleton mechanical movement with manual winding and a 10-day power reserve...
In all honesty, even though I love this brand from Glashtte, I don t own a NOMOS watch (yet) nor was there one – seriously – on my radar. Reason? They are too small for me (or I am too big for them), that s basically the reason. Now, NOMOS introduced 14 new watches as being part of their ‘At Work Series .These new NOMOS At Work Series are not entirely new though. They are based on existing watches from the Tangente, Metro, Orion and Tetra collection, but have one thing in common: they have large(r) diameters, new dials and are ultra-thin.NOMOS At Work Series in 39mmAs I ve written above, I love NOMOS watches and some times I just wish I had the small sized arms of our cont...
At Fratello Watches, it could be said that weve viewed the inception and subsequent growth of the American micro brand, Oak and Oscar, from afar. However, thats not exactly the case. Several of us are in touch with its founder, chief designer, and wearer of many other hats, Chase Fancher, on a relatively frequent basis. We chat via WhatsApp, always run into him at Baselworld and generally grab a beer during SalonQP. So, why havent we featured the brand on our site? The reasons are benign, but perhaps the main cause wont sound so; Oak and Oscar is a victim of its own success. Translation: by the time prototype or test versions of the first two models (the Burnham and the Sandford) made their ...
It was 2007 and I was window shopping at a watch store that had low to mid range watches. Brands like Festina, Casio, Tissot and Certina were in there, mostly sports models and of course mostly chronographs. Two watches stood out of the crowd for me; the Tissot PRC 200 (which I bought, not there and then but thats a different story) and the Certina DS Podium. It was a fairly new model line within the Certina family that the brand offered in both quartz and automatic versions. Though at the time the automatic was out of my price range I loved the look of the watch and its sportiness. Exactly 10 years later I finally managed to put one on the wrist. During my review of the Certina DS Podium Ch...
Cosmonaut?Gennady Padalka has spent 879 days in space, during 5 different missions. It is about 50 days more than the second record holder (also a cosmonaut). During Padalka s?International Space Station Expedition 31/32, he wore an Omega Speedmaster Professional. Now, this watch is being offered at an auction this month. Not a special engraved or radial dial version, but ‘just a flown Speedmaster.A Flown SpeedmasterYou can have a beautiful CK2998 or a stunning rare limited edition Speedmaster, but there s not much out there that will beat a flown Speedmaster. Once in a while, there s one that will pop up on an auction. RR Auction is offering 534 space (related) items such as [signed]...
Florijn, Dutch Glory! In the 52Mondayz line up this is the second watch brand with its origin in The Netherlands.The first one I covered was Fred Dingemand s d.m.h., and now it s the Florijn brand designed and produced by Hans Heuvelman. Teun Heerebeek mentioned the brand in his Watches & Pencils #20 before, we never dit a review on the watches though.The Florijn F03 on my wristFlorijn F03So here s the watch I ll be wearing this week, the Florijn F03. Currently the Florijn watches come in three variations, very conveniently named F01, F02 and F03. F01 fully in bare stainless steel, F02 in stainless steel with a black unidirectional bezel, and the F03 (the one I m wearing this week) total...
Technological development has always been one of the key features of Tissot. Tissot has several achievements under their belts. Did you know for instance that they assembled the first non-magnetic watch in 1929? Or that Tissot was the first company to release watches made of plastic, stone and wood? Surely, once the brand from Le Locle became part of Swatch Group they were repositioned to serve the affordable segment. This however only fueled their desire to offer cutting edge technology timepieces at a very competitive price. The watch that we have here today for you is the result of such desire. A timepiece that offers a lot for way under $1000. Im talking about the Tissot Ballade Powermat...
Classic design, engineering precision and high functionalityClassic design, engineering precision and functionality are the guidelines for the outstanding Pilot Chronograph watches of ARCHIMEDE. The first Pilot Chronograph was rewarded several times: Winner and 3. place at the Golden Balance, 3. place at the award ‘Pilot watch of the year 2012 of the German FliegerRevue.ARCHIMEDE intends to continue this success on Flieger Chronographs with the launch of the very special, brand-new Pilot Chronograph Tricompax. A remarkable, quite rarely seen timepiece among Pilot watches. The magnificent ETA 7750 Top movement is equipped with Tricompax module, Glucydur balance, Nivarox hairspring, nob...
One of our long time readers and friends, Boris Pjanic, told us about his Brggler chronograph. A new brand from Zrich, specialized in creating bespoke chronograph watches. Even though Boris considers himself to be a vintage watch guy, he was intrigued by the story of owners Katarina and Michael (Brggler) when he first met them in London, almost two years ago.In this article, Boris Pjanic explains why he decided to buy a bespoke Brggler chronograph.Brggler at SalonQPI enjoy meeting people who are creative and possess the audacity to create something truly new in the world of watches. In a highly saturated market it is not easy to find something new and pleasing. Often I see the revival o...
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...
Living in the South West of Germany has its perks; its the warmest area of the country, the scenery is breathtaking and France and Switzerland are just a stone throw away. Two of the legendary Germany circuits are also within short driving distance. The Nrburgring is only a few hours drive for me but Hockenheim is only 30 minutes away. A few weeks ago with?Certina, we spent a Sunday on the circuit for the ADAC GT Masters. It was a fun afternoon with great watches and awesome machines. Because we know you ll probably love cars (besides watches), here is our photo essay of the race. Enjoy!ADAC GT MastersFirst of all, we would like to thank Certina?for the great event, lovely hospitality and c...
In part 1 you ve read that during our reader s journey to Japan, we ve been visiting the Grand Seiko manufacture in Shiojiri. In that location, we witnessed the creation of Grand Seiko and Credor models, using their Spring Drive and 9F quartz movements. We also had a workshop in polishing cases in the ‘zaratsu style and applying indexes on the Grand Seiko dials. Grand Seiko made sure that we not only got a tour, but also received a couple of masterclasses to show how difficult some of the skills are.Grand Seiko Reader s Journey – Part 2After our first days in Tokyo and Shiojiri, we had a ‘day off on Wednesday. Needless to say that most of us went ‘watch shopping . T...
A topic that kept our friend TLIGuy occupied for a while has to do with the use of calendars by astronauts during their mission. In fact, he asked a few astronauts about the H-shaped calendar they wore on their JB Champion bracelets, and at some point, he received an answer by one of them via e-mail.Timely Wrist CalendarThe astronaut answered that he suddenly recalled the brand name of the H-shaped calendars they used on their Speedmaster watches. They were called Timely Wrist Calendar. TLIGuy mentioned that it was quite interesting to get an e-mail from an astronaut who recalled something futile like this, as he has been flying jets, orbiting and walking on the surface of the Moon. And now ...
You ve probably never seen this Universal Geneve, and probably can t even imagine they ever made such a watch. Obviously they did.Universal Geneve Senna 41, ref. 998.310First model in the UG – IAS colaboration, the Senna 41In the late 1990 s Universal Geneve teamed up with the Ayrton Senna Institute (IAS). Founded in 1994 by Ayrtons Senna s family and presided by Viviane Senna. Viviane being Ayrton s sister, and mother of Formula One driver Bruno Senna.The cooperation resulted in two dedicated watches, from which part of the profit was donated to the IAS. The first watch was the chronograph model ‘Senna 41 , the star of this article. The second a 3-hand model, the ‘Senna 65...
Flagship model from Tutima Glashtte creates a new style in the world of German watches.Highlight of the new collection: SAXON ONE chronograph, with alligator leather strap, ref-no 6420-04.For more information please visit the Tutima websiteTutima presents the flagship model of its new watch family to the public: the SAXON ONE symbolizes sportiness and toughness C and also delivers unmistakable esthetics.Tutima SAXON ONE chronographEven the name SAXON ONE heralds the start of a new timekeeping era: this striking chronograph exudes the immense vitality of the relaunch of the traditional brand that was founded in Glashtte in 1927. The unique design and 44 millimeter diameter of this watch hav...
Forget about the level of difficulty concerning perpetual calendar or even tourbillon movements. A chronograph movement is the toughest to design and produce. Perhaps the reason why Audemars Piguet is able to come up with the craziest complications, but not (yet) with their own in-house chronograph. Peter Stas, CEO of Frederique Constant stressed it once more last Tuesday during a diner in Amsterdam, that a chronograph movement is a very difficult complication to produce. A flyback chronograph even more so.Frederique Constant Flyback Chronograph ManufactureAlthough the?Frederique Constant Flyback Chronograph Manufacture was already introduced and shown to us in Basel this year, Peter and Ale...
Single subject watch auctions have clearly graduated from the absolute exception to somewhat of a normal occurrence. Weve seen remarkable results from the Christies Speedmaster auction of almost 2 years ago and the trailblazing Bacs & Russo team has done the same with auctions focused on the Daytona and the Datejust. For fans of a given type of watch, watching and/or participating in these auctions must seem a lot like the scene when the lucky children are first turned loose in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. For those who like variety or who dont favor the featured watch, it probably feels like a serious case of overhype. Well, whatever your interest level, today, Ill discuss t...
Perhaps you noticed the massive Grand Seiko coverage on our Instagram (stories) already, but last week our Grand Seiko reader s journey took place in Japan. With a some of our readers (from the United States, Belgium and Germany) who signed up for this trip, we visited the Grand Seiko manufactures in Morioka and Shiojiri.Grand Seiko Reader s JourneyWhen I visited Seiko back in 2015, as part of their Seiko Media Experience tour, I got so enthusiastic that I asked our publisher (Ebner Publishing, who also has WatchTime, Watch-Insider, Chronos and Uhren Magazine in their portfolio) if we could do anything like this for our readers. With the help of Seiko Germany and Seiko Watch Corp in Japan, w...
