Since 2010, Seiko is offering these cocktail time watches that were clearly inspired by living the good life. First only for the Japanese market (also referred to as JDM sometimes, Japan Domestic Model) and since a couple of years also for the rest of the world to enjoy. It wasn t until a few years ago that Michael Stockton told me about these Seiko Cocktail Time watches and since then I keep admiring them whenever I see one. The sunray pattern dials really stand out so they are easy to recognize. Not only the dial, but also the price point of these Seiko Cocktail Time watches from the Presage collection make it a very interesting contester in the sub 1000 Euro price range. Actually, I am a ...
Although less common today, defense departments would collaborate with watchmakers to provide their military with the right tools for the job as early as the 1880s. These extremely accurate watches are still treasured for their unique utilitarian aesthetic and historic value. The watch experts at online auction platform Catawiki have shared a few of their favourites military watches and the stories that make them special.Bundeswehr ChronographThe German air force (Bundeswehr) ordered Heuer and Leonidas flyback chronographs starting in the early 60s. There are a few of different dial variations: a Leonidas, the Sternzeit Reguliert, with 3H logo (stands for Hydrogen 3, to point at the luminous...
Its been more than a quarter since Ive given an update on the vintage watch market. Why is that? Well, the article would likely have come off as more of the same C prices are up and the market is tight. And today? Its no different, so Ill focus the article, instead, on the trends Ive witnessed along with some commentary on condition.Your Hobby is Becoming MainstreamThe vintage watch market continues to evolve and what Ive noticed is that it has become far more mainstream. What was once a true enthusiast/hobbyist market has now pivoted and attracts a far wider range of customers. Speculators, those concerned about general style, and trend followers now, more often than not, exhibit more than ...
Lonville might be a brand you never heard of before. Although it has some history (from 1873 till the early 1950 s) I won t bother you with it. The Lonville today has little to do with the watches the company made back then. Initiated in 2009 by Joost Vreeswijk, a Dutch entrepreneur, Lonville is a small high-end watchmaking brand that only served one purpose: create watches for enthusiasts. Only produced in very small numbers and all Swiss (I will get back to this). Let s have a look at the Lonville Virage Fuel Tank watch in white gold.Lonville Virage Fuel TankNot too long ago, I finally met Joost Vreeswijk when he was visiting Amsterdam (he is normally located in Switzerland). Besides havin...
From mainstream to a highly exclusive original Roger Dubuis. Do you know that feeling? After wearing a certain type of watch for some time, you look for something totally at the other end of the spectrum? This week I m wearing what I consider one of the most beautiful watches in my collection.Roger Dubuis Hommage MonopoussoirThe Roger Dubuis Hommage Monopoussoir H40 on the wristA strange model indication isn t it? Watches mentioned as ‘Hommage nowadays are very close to copy-cat watches, mostly of main stream high-in-demand watches. We all know these models from brands like Steinhart, Invicta and the lot.Made by Roger Dubuis himselfThis Roger Dubuis however is very much the opposite....
Belgium is known for the usual suspects: beer, chocolate, laces, waffles and Manneken Pis. Nowadays the country seems to have a couple of new additions to that list. More precisely; additions coming from the watch world. Belgium is the home of Belgian Watch Club, a group who share the love and passion for watches as much as they do for straps. Well, at least one of them. Michael, the name behind Molequin (one out of a few), is one of the corner stones of BWC. I met him a handful of times in the past, way before I even heard of his strap brand but could not connect the dots, until this years Basel World. He sent me a few straps to check out and feature on Watch Strap Review and this is exactl...
Where do you buy and sell your vintage watches? One great option is online auction platform, Catawiki. They host around 30 weekly Watches auctions and have some unique features that set them apart. Every auction is curated by a team of experts, so each of the 2500 watches up for auction every week is first reviewed by their watch specialists to ensure quality and authenticity. We spoke with one of their watches experts, Tom Tombeur, and asked him a bit about his expertise and his role at Catawiki.How did your passion for watches begin?Ive been interested in watches for as long as I can remember; I loved the ones my dad and granddad wore. I remember getting a Mickey Mouse watch even before I ...
I don t have to introduce you to Chrono24, world s largest on-line market place for watches. Some watch brands might hate it, but most consumers love it. Other brands see the value of Chrono24 and the massive attraction it gets from millions of users each month, and started a cooperation with them by offering their watches via a special landing page on Chrono24. Frederique Constant, Linde Werdelin and Porsche Design for example, offer their watches directly via the Chrono24 Brand Boutique.Tracking Your Watch CollectionBesides being a market place where you can buy and sell new and pre-owned watches, Chrono24 also offers a new feature called ‘Watch Collection . This will keep track of t...
There was a time that our mailbox was flooded with new watch projects via Kickstarter. Although there were some very nice projects among them, at some point we also got our share of emails with quartz watches that were not so interesting for us (or you). I was happily surprised to get a notifier about this new watch project by Undive Watches. This is a new micro brand based in Hong Kong and get their inspiration from vintage Seiko. Seiko 6105 fans, you should definitely keep on reading.It is not really a secret that we like (Grand) Seiko. Mike mentioned all the right reasons to like Seiko in the recent interview he did with Chris of Time4APint (listen to it here). Undive doesn t make it a se...
There aren t many watches around that will make people talk so passionate about as the Speedmaster. That s a bit of a bold statement, but if you see someone wearing a Speedmaster, I ll bet there will be an interesting conversation if you ask this person about the watch. People buy the Speedmaster for a particular reason, be it the Moon association or simply because they love the heritage of the Speedmaster collection. You won t find many people out there who bought it as a status symbol or to be ‘flashy .So is the case with the watch of Christian, one of our readers from Germany. He has this Omega Speedmaster Professional 145.022-68, also known as the Speedmaster Transitional.Speedmast...
During the summer period I find myself wearing watches with white or light dials more often than in other seasons. Some time ago I bought a 1998 Explorer II with a white tritium dial. It was in ‘adequately used condition, so I decided to have it serviced at in Geneva first. Got it back in far better condition than I hoped for, and subsequently never took it out of the protective plastic to wear it. Explorer II Reference 16570The 1998 Explorer-II with white tritium dial, reference 16570Important For Cave ExplorersSome history. The first Explorer II saw the light only in 1971 (here s our in-depth review of one). It was an enhancement to the regular Explorer which was in collection...
Today, Oris introduces a new variation on the Aquis collection. The?Oris Aquis Small Second with date feature. Let us stress that the ‘small in the model name has to do with the seconds and absolutely not with the size of the watch. A whopping 45.5mm in diameter for this Oris Aquis Small Second Date.The?Oris Aquis Small Second has the same design as the Aquis that was introduced earlier this year. Gerard did an interesting write-up on the new Aquis during his trip to Florida with Oris a few weeks ago, you can read it here.In short, the lugs and bracelet are a bit thinner than on the previous Aquis versions ?and the crown guards are a bit more tapered. These changes give the new Aquis ...
When you have around 1000 Euro to spend on a watch, you can go Japanese with Seiko or Citizen, you can find your way in the numerous Kickstarter projects or microbrands, but is there also still something from the established Swiss brands for you?Longines HydroConquestWhy talk about a watch that has been on the market for 10 years? Well, some times a watch is interesting enough to give it some (new) coverage for a couple of reasons. One is that this watch has become so well-known and a best seller from Longines, we want to know & see ?‘why . In this case, we thought it would be interesting to focus on this watch due to its interesting price point (for such a large Swiss brand) and s...
Most people who know me know that I m not a huge ‘modern day IWC fan. This week two incidents made me have the IWC Mark XVIII Le Petit Prince as 52Mondayz watch for this week anyhow.IWC Mark XVIII Le Petit Prince edition, ref IW3270 04 C 52Mondayz, week #29The first matter was the news that Georges Kern stepped down from IWC and went to Breitling. Mr. Kern was one of the reasons that I m not such an IWC fan. After having seen his speech in front of a group of investors, I realised that IWC s philosophy didn t match mine. Something which was clear by IWC s watches of roughly the last 10 to 20 years as well by the way.Models which kept my interest throughout the years though were the IW...
In early 2016 Seiko re-launched their Seiko Turtle with a big wave. In a short time 4 variants splashed in: a black (SRP777), a gilt (SRP775), a blue (SRP773) and a pepsi (SRP779) version (read more here). Later on, some editions were added. For example, the PADI version and the green version. The watch scene embraced the return of the missing turtle, so I decided to dedicate an episode to it. And an illustration:AncestorThe big ancestor is the Seiko 6309. To be precise, reference number 6309-7040 or 6309-7049. It replaced the 6105 series in 1976. It was produced for more than 10 years (from 1976 until 1988) and had a almost identical friend (6306-7000, difference: hacking movement and Kanji...
It is no secret we love affordable watches. Some times we look for them in the vintage market, like we showed you in this article, but we also keep an eye on new interesting propositions. Like these two limited editions from Christopher Ward for example: The?C60 Trident Pro COSC Limited Edition and the C60 Trident Day Date COSC Limited Edition. Trident Day Date Trident Pro (Date) Christopher Ward launch them today (right now actually), the C60 Day-Date and the C60 (Date), both with chronometer certification by the COSC. This will ensure an average deviation of just -4 and +6 seconds a day on average. The C60 Trident Pro uses a chronometer rated Sellita SW200 movement while the Day-D...
If you backed me into a corner and asked me about the subset of watches I own that I enjoy most, youd receive a surprising answer. Youd likely guess something related to vintage chronographs, Swiss or Japanese, or perhaps higher end vintage Seiko diving watches. While I enjoy either owning or handling those types of timepieces, youd still end up being mistaken. Readers, my favorite collection of watches are the vintage Seiko Sport Divers.Vintage Seiko Sport DiversNow, youre likely sitting there thinking, what exactly is a vintage Seiko Sport Diver? Well, the definition can be left to some amount of interpretation, but I have a very clear idea about what the Sport Divers mean to me. Specifica...
In front of us is the 11th Laureus IWC special edition in the famous blue color: the IWC Da Vinci Chronograph?Edition ‘Laureus Sport for Good Foundation .?Let s have a look.Laureus Sport for GoodThe Laureus Sport for Good (here after: Laureus) is a charitable organization that was founded by Richemont and Daimler in 2000. The goal of Laureus is to use sports to make the world a better place, without voilence, discrimination and disadvantage. Supporting over 100 programmes in approximately 40 countries, Laureus tries to make a social change. ?Since 2005, IWC has been a partner of Laureus. Every year they create a Laureus limited edition watch, of which part of the proceeds goes to suppo...
This year marks the 5th anniversary of Speedy Tuesday. Not only here on Fratello, but we are happy that Speedy Tuesday has become a community on its own, where people share their love for the Moonwatch and other Speedmaster watches.Speedy Tuesday MagazineEarlier this year, it was already celebrated with the introduction of the Speedmaster Speedy Tuesday Limited Edition watch (which is currently being delivered to those who ordered). However, we now also are happy to announce the Speedy Tuesday Magazine. That s right, a paper magazine. Although we are very much on-line, there is something about a paper magazine or book that can t be transmitted to an on-line medium. Some times you just need t...
Holiday time has officially started, many people left to find out if the grass is greener indeed at the other side of the fence. Expecting many of you readers being watch lovers, Switzerland might be a good destination for your journeys.Switzerland isn t only well known for their watches, cheese and chocolate though. Their official Swiss railway station clock is something which at least every watch lover should be able to draw with their eyes closed as well.The Mondaine stop2go on my wrist this weekMondaine stop2go, ref. A512.30358.16SBB C 52Mondayz, week #28The design of the, originally Mobach, official railway station clock was adapted by Mondaine for the design of their watches long ago. ...
