For the past 160 years, Eterna has been driven by the same powerful force: a daring and pioneering spirt. Passionate and determined, the company continually takes on the challenges of fine watchmaking by creating, developing and optimising its timepieces with remarkable consistency. It is from this perspective that the company, based in Granges, Switzerland, has enriched and revolutionised the art of traditional watchmaking with a steady stream of horological innovations. As a result, the Eterna-Matic ball-bearing mounted rotor system established a new standard which has never been surpassed, while Eternas continuing technical innovations demonstrate the companys pioneering and creative spir...
Last week, I published an article on a newly received Mulco Escafandra in my #TBT series of articles. Youll note that the article is no longer online because I have serious doubts about the legitimacy of the watch. Actually, theyre really no longer doubts. Readers, for this, I hope you accept my apology C and lay off watching or buying these pieces. Mea culpa-these are not good pieces.Buyer Beware!? This Mulco Escafandra is not real!First off, I want to thank one of our readers, Kit Bloodkrishna Chung for contacting us at Fratello Watches with a rather complete explanation of why he felt the Mulco Escafandra was false. He cited a number of things related to the case back (a stamped EPSA logo...
Almost a year after the release of Apples first watch, it is often said – and even on watch forums – that the succes of the Apple Watch is part of the?reason for the disappointing results of the Swiss watch industry, that has led to an immediate staff decline, at several large Swiss manufactures.To me this is very questionable, not to use the word non-sense. Any person who loves high quality watches, may buy the Apple Watch, just because it s fun or out of curiosity. But that $300 dollar sexy gadget, what the Apple Watch is, will not change people s interest in good, or high-end, mechanical watches. It is still a fact is that the watch industry in general, is not amused to face t...
Never tired of exploring the borders of the Omega Speedmaster Professional world, we bumped into an Italian company named ‘Moontime‘. We touched the topic of Speedmaster customization before (click here), but that was done on personal title. We never ran into a company that is specialized in Speedmaster customization in the way Moontime from Italy does.Moontime is a company which specializes in Omega Speedmaster customization. They promise that ‘the customizations are made by skilled goldsmiths and that they are of ‘excellent quality of materials and workmanship . Also, they guarantee their modified watches for one year.Customizing watches is nothing new of course. M...
I ve had a couple of Omega Speedmaster Professional 145.022 models through the years, from the 145.022-69 to the 145.022-78 references. I kept selling and trading them at that point, they were approx 1500 Euro watches and were quite useful to flip for other more sought-after watches. But late summer 2015 I was approached by a reader who had this Speedmaster Professional for sale and after he sent me a couple of pictures I realized that I didn t have a 145.022-69 in my collection anymore. Although I had hoped for a case back with straight-text inscription, it happened to be the pre-Moon case back instead.Speedmaster Professional 145.022-69 on its original 1039 bracelet.So, after going back an...
I always tell myself I am not collecting watches, even though my wife thinks otherwise, but as a Speedmaster aficionado I have to admit that I do own a collection of those. Normally, I just buy what I like and what I am actually going to wear. So my ‘collection consists of a couple of evergreens from , a Royal Oak (or should I say the Royal Oak) and of course a couple of Speedmaster watches and so on. So perhaps I am collecting watches, but only Speedmasters. The other purchases are just that, purchases of a watch that I like to wear on a regular basis.Every Thursday we publish an article on a vintage watch with some buying tips and we did some specific buyer s guides, but I thought i...
Real watches for real people is the slogan of Oris and although I seldomly take these kind of lines very serious, this one?does make sense actually. Real people, like you and me, who have to save-up for a nice watch, a real watch. Don t be mislead by all the images of tourbillon watches or minute repeaters shown everywhere, they only represent a very small market. Oris showed us that they were able to move the watch industry, or more important, its consumers, with their $1700 Euro Sixty-Five divers watch. Where a lot of other brands were occupied last year with increasing prices and trying to justify these to their clients (retailers and consumers) during the SIHH and BaselWorld, the talk of...
First off, Id be remiss if I didnt wish you, our readers, a Happy New Year. With a new year comes an entire 366 days, Blaise informed me of the leap year, of excitement and uncertainty. Regarding the vintage market, we cant predict what will occur in 2016, but its likely that things will remain hot. Therefore, well continue to try and scope out value in a market increasingly devoid of both deals and supply. Todays subject meets that criteria and despite its case color, I think youll end up liking it. Well talk about a watch and a brand that we havent discussed on #TBT or Fratello Watches to my knowledge. Its icy cold out there in many areas (that oddly warm Christmas is now seemingly in the ...
The one watch in the world, that has probably been the most wanted, ?most loved, most hated and most copied watch for decades, is without any doubts the Santos from Cartier. Of course there have been other famous models by other companies, but no brand has been in the spotlight for so long, with just one model.Cartier Santos Story– Santos 1979 –Cartier s decision, now 37 years ago, to release a steel/gold and therefor more commercial and affordable variation on their first mens watch, the Santos Dumont, was more or less, a down grade of the prestige Santos Dumont model in 18k gold. It was quite a departure for ?the brand, that used to have a very elegant and classic watch collec...
I am by no means a fan of watch brands using certain ambassadors to endorse their watches and did a thorough and much-read article on that about a year ago (here). However, I also get the fact that watches need to be sold and that some customers actually like to be associated with a movie star or athlete by wearing a watch from the same brand, or even the same watch perhaps.What I do like, is when people (famous or less famous) are wearing a watch for the right reason, that they bought it because they love it. A few months ago, I watched a documentary on television about (comics writer and cartoonist) Martin Lodewijk, author of the Agent 327 comic.Martin Lodewijk in his studio in Rotterdam, ...
It was already in the pen since last January; my trip to the small and independent brand H. Moser & Cie in Schaffhausen, that finally took place this July, just before most brands were closing down for the Summer Holidays. I was really looking forward to this visit, since I have a weak spot for these small independents, that so often stick their neck out, to come up with something out of this world.Many of these brands, like Hautlence, Urwerk, MB&F or DeBethune were established about ten years ago and in most cases they were founded by one or two watchmakers that started their own brand out of passion, or sometimes out of frustration. Besides what these genius founders have done in t...
Well, someone had to do it, so why not me? Yes, I actually wanted to get my hands on the new Omega Speedmaster White Side of the Moon. First shown at Baselworld this past March, and previewed here, the watch was polar-izing from the get go (nasty pun there!). For the most part, purists were outraged and those interested in the brand, and the Speedmaster line, casually remarked that this release was akin to jumping the shark. For those of you not familiar with that cliche, you can look up the derivation, but it basically means that something has made a definitive transition from interesting and unique to hackneyed and overdone. Specifically, in the case of the White Side of the Moon, many fel...
It radiates retro charm, but is far from being old-fashioned: The new Belisar Chronograph from Union Glashtte effortlessly combines a nostalgic look with proven sportiness and, at the same time, shows the excellent flair possessed by this German watchmaking brand when it comes to modern details and high-quality finishes. The watch houses a mechanical chronograph movement with up to 60 hours of power reserve.Carefully selected details, such as the rounded cream dial and the train-track minute scale, whose arrangement can also be found on the totalisers, ensure that this timepiece has an exquisite vintage look, perfectly rounded off by the brown leather strap with contrasting cream-coloured s...
It s October and that means it s #Seikoctober for those of you who play along on Instagram.? As I write this, Robert-Jan also happens to be in Japan checking out all things Seiko.? So, what better than to talk a little about one of the brand s most famous pieces: the Seiko 6159 Tuna.Welcome to what well call a #TBT extra on Fratello Watches. Every so often, a reader writes into us with an interesting story or question on a vintage watch. Sometimes, it even results in me hurting my account! Todays brief account, though, is really about a reader who asked some questions on where to service a Seiko icon, the 6159-7019 original Grandfather Tuna. We had a much longer review on this watch earlier...
A. Lange & S?hne introduced this new Lange 1 with caliber L121.1 earlier this year at the SIHH. Time for a hands-on Lange 1 review I thought so I requested a pink gold version of this relatively young icon. As I wrote earlier this year (click here), there is only a few differences to note between this new Lange 1 and the previous version. The size of the bezel is probably – aesthetically – the first thing to notice as it makes the new Lange 1 appear to be a bit larger than the previous model, which is not the case. Luckily, A. Lange & S?hne made sure the case diameter stayed 38.5mm.Casually dressed with a Lange 1When I just became interested into watches and still living ...
One afternoon at Baselworld this past year, Blaise and I left the bright lights of the Messe and walked down side streets for roughly 10 minutes to a rather nondescript hotel. Our purpose was to go see the new Fortis. The brand was undergoing a rebirth in its marketing strategy and chose a large hotel conference room as its display setting. Apparently, the space was more conducive to private discussions and allowed the brand more flexibility in arranging its wares. It was during this discussion that Fortis rolled out its debut pieces from their Terrestis collection C see more here on the meaning C and we had the chance to handle all of them. Included within the collection are some nice 3-han...
Since Mike and I are both hail from Germany it was only logical that we hook up with the brands around. So what brands you have here? Obviously some of the most influential non-Swiss watchmaking powerhouses in the history of horology. Companies like A.Lange & S?hne, Nomos, Glashtte Original, Tutima, Hanhart, Sinn and Junghans among many others. Since Junghans isnt far from me the trip was planned long ago but we could not find the right time. Until now. Junghans very generously invited me to an event where they would be?revealing their newest addition to the model line; a pilots chronograph. I accepted the invitation and on a sunny Friday afternoon drove 2 hours to Schramberg for an ama...
NASA astronaut Dave Scott (1932) was the 7th person to walk on the Moon during the Apollo 15 mission in 1971. Before the Apollo 15 mission, Scott was also pilot of the Gemini 8 mission and Command Module Pilot aboard the Apollo 9. On the Apollo 15 mission, he became the first to drive on the Moon in the Lunar Rover.Just like every other Apollo astronaut, Dave Scott was given an Omega Speedmaster Professional with a caliber 321 movement as Omega delivered reference 105.012 and 145.012 watches to NASA shortly after Omega was officially announced as supplier of the timepieces used for Extra Vehicular Activities (EVA) by astronauts.David Scott and Alfred Worden prepare to pilot separate T-38 air...
I ve been looking forward to give the new?Omega Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon Vintage Black (reference?311.92.44.51.01.006)?a test drive. Omega sent us this Vintage Black variation on the original Dark Side of the Moon model last month to do our review and take it into our own photo studio.In this article I already shortly discussed this Omega Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon Vintage Black model, along with the other new variations. However, without really wearing it and see how it performs it is difficult to say upfront whether a watch appeals to me. It is one of the reasons that we do not publish many ‘press releases with stock photos here on Fratello Watches. We really want to...
1500 watch fans were able to make a selection out of 40 diving watches in the price categories up to 1000 Euro, 1001 – 2500 Euro, 2501 – 5000 Euro and over 5000 Euro. Furthermore, there was an extra category for quartz watches only. Our colleagues from the German WatchTime executed a survey among their readers and we thought it would be nice to share the results.In each category, you will find the three models that received most votes. Of course, as this survey was held on a German language platform, you will see that there is a slight preference for German brands some times.Top 3 Diving Watches – Up to 1000 Euro#1 Glycine Combat Sub (493 votes)The Glycine Combat Sub is a 4...
