Watch collectors buy watch winders for different reasons. Some use them to keep the other watch(es) on time, some?just like the looks of it or buy one?because they can.?For me personally it was the lack of quick-set in my vintage watches.?When my interest in watches shifted to vintage timepieces this became a bit of a?problem for me. Changing the date to the correct setting required me to change the time 24 hours for every day the date would be off.Watch winders come in all kinds of variations and combinations. Even safe builders like Stockinger offer a custom number of winders built into their bespoke watch vaults. For those interested in a?single winder, we found these Barrington single wi...

Buyer s Advice: A vintage Speedmaster Mark IITo everybody who likes watches, this might sound familiar: when it comes to purchasing a new watch your friends, family members or colleagues might seek out advice from you. Not too long ago a friend of mine asked me which vintage Omega he should buy. His criteria were: it should be reliable, shouldn t break the bank, can be used as a tool, and have a nice wrist presence. So when he asked me which watch should he get I gave him some buyer s advice and said Omega Speedmaster (Professional) Mark II. If you are into vintage and fancy any or all of the above features this is the watch for you too.Lets start with the obvious it is an Omega. You cannot ...

Some time ago, we reported to you about our factory visit in Neuried, Germany. Neuried is a suburb of Munich and that s where the Stockinger manufacture is located. Our visit report to Stockinger can be found here. We are very impressed by the craftsmanship and technology that goes into building a good and secure safe. Besides that, Dominik von Ribbentrop (CEO) understands the demand to be surrounded by beautiful things and made a wise decision to add some sense of design and art to the world of grey and metal coloured safes. German engineering and an almost Italian-like flavour of design can be found in their broad range of safes.New to their collection is the Imperial Black. The new Imperi...

Omega Seamaster Jedi – Lets get this straight once and for all!When you start collecting vintage Omega watches from the 1970s and come across the big chunky Seamaster chronographs the top 3 models you will find are: reference 176.001, reference 176.007 (these 2 are basically the same) and reference 176.0005 or the so-called Omega Seamaster Jedi. This due to the fact that these models were produced in fairly large numbers, not too expensive to buy and you can find them all over the internet (eBay etc.).The next thing that will happen is that you start to like the chunky TV-shaped case of the Omega Seamaster Jedi 176.0005 and you slowly start to fancy that model over the others. You sear...

Tranquility Base Here. The Eagle Has LandedIt s Speedy Tuesday! Just a few days ago, it was the 45th anniversary of the Moon landing on July 20th of 1969. Although Omega already surprised us in BaselWorld with their new Speedmaster Professional 45th Anniversary edition in titanium, Sedna gold and a beautiful NATO strap, we selected this Speedmaster Pro 20th Anniversary edition from 1989 to show to you today. We already published our Omega Speedmaster Pro Apollo 11 45th Anniversary Edition review a while ago.One of our loyal readers and Speedmaster fans, Darren, sent us photos of his Speedy Pro 20th Anniversary Apollo 11 from 1989. Only 2000 pieces have been made according to the side of the ...

Interview with Morten LindeLinde Werdelin is headed by Morten Linde and Jorn Werdelin. These two Danish guys have been friends since childhood and decided to start a watch brand together in 2002. We have interviewed Jorn – who s responsible for the commercial side of the brand – a couple of times, but now decided to ask Morten Linde a few questions. Morten Linde is the creative director of the brand, which means that he is not only responsible for the design of the watch, but basically for the whole watch, packaging, the website and so on.Fratello Watches: Morten, can you tell us something about your background as a designer?Morten Linde: I like to be surrounded by beautiful thin...

4N MVT01 D01 ReviewIn the scarce spare time in-between all meetings at?Baselworld we?like to?explore the exhibition for interesting things. Usually it s appointment-only but at The Palace – where a lot of independent brands are located – we were spontaneously invited to check out the watches from 4N. This brand was founded in 2009 by Fran?ois Quentin who has a?a rich resume in the watch industry.?With the?shortest brand name in the book, 4N stands??for ‘four numbers‘, which relates to the way the time is displayed with 4 digits, just like a digital display only it s fully mechanical.We had a look at the 4N MVT01 D01 watch. Have a look at these photos first, before we ...

To a lot of people, Patek Philippe equals mechanical and complex complications such as a perpetual calendar, minute repeater or even a chronograph. However, let s not forget that Patek Philippe also has a powerful collection of subtle Calatrava timepieces. Today, we will have a look at this Patek Philippe Calatrava 5227. At first sight, the?Patek Philippe Calatrava 5227?seems to be a Calatrava like any other Calatrava you ve seen, but again it are these subtleties that make it stand out.The Calatrava was first created in 1932 and earned an important spot in the Patek Philippe collection ever since. Their sleek and elegant designs might seem very generic to the untrained eye, but upon closer ...

This year and month, Fratello Watches celebrates its 10th anniversary! It?started out as a funny little project in 2004 driven by the passion for watches. 10 years later, it has become a watch blog that?we work on with a team of passionate people on almost a daily basis. To celebrate this milestone, we have a number of great giveaways that were donated by OMEGA, TAG Heuer, MoonwatchOnly, WatchPrint.com and ourselves.We appreciate your visits every day and we still see the number of unique visitors growing every time. Even with all the new blogs, internet magazines, Facebook groups, Instagrams and tumblrs out there who cover watches, we are very happy to have you and keep you interested in th...

Custom Made Strap For A Speedmaster 57It s Speedy Tuesday! Just last week we received an e-mail from one of our readers that he just bought his first Omega Speedmaster hand-wound watch. It is an Omega Speedmaster 57 reference 3594.50 that was in production from 1997 to 2003 (roughly). Our reader adds that his watch has a custom made strap. Made by… himself!Our reader Jan from Warsaw in Poland has a hobby in creating leather accessories in his spare time and also makes watch straps for friends and family. It takes him a few hours per strap (up to 6 – 7 hours in some cases). As there is hardly any profit in them due to this amount of hours, it will remain a hobby he adds. He lear...

Laurent Ferrier Galet Classic TourbillonBefore we start our hands-on?Laurent Ferrier Galet Classic Tourbillon review, I d like to spend a few words on the watch maker first. Laurent Ferrier has come a long way, but was able to put himself on the independent watchmaking map quite rapidly. Founded in 2008, ?Laurent Ferrier managed to win the Best Mens Watch award only two years later at the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix in 2010. The jury, consisting of international experts, was impressed with the innovative yet classic design of the Laurent Ferrier?Galet Classic Tourbillon. Featuring a double balance spring. Laurent Ferrier will enter the books as the?youngest brand ever to win this prestigio...

Sinn 140 St S ReviewIf you are not familiar to Sinn or the story behind this 140 St S model we are about to review, you might have frowned your eye brows when reading those two words in the title of this article. Space Chronograph. Wait, wasn t that about this other brand? Yes, but of course the Omega Speedmaster wasn t the only watch worn in space. ESA astronauts – other than NASA astronauts – made their own decision about the watch they wanted to wear. Some ESA astronauts bought Seiko watches (the Seiko A829-A6019 to be precise), some have worn Casio G-Shocks and ESAvastronaut Reinhard Furrer bought a Sinn 140 S in those early 1980s. He wore it during the D1 Spacelab Space Shut...

Official Press Release of Arnold & Son. All photos have been replaced with our photos from Baselworld 2014Royal Collection C TES Timeless elegance and innovative technology:Arnold & Sons new TES Tourbillon?True to English watchmaking heritage, Arnold & Son unveils the TES Tourbillon, with the hand-finished A&S8100 calibre with sapphire barrel bridge. This defining timepiece is part of the Royal Collection which combines classic styling with leading-edge technology.The tourbillon movement, one of the most elegant complications in the world of horology, has played a crucial role in Arnold & Sons history. An exceptional watchmaker, John Arnold was an active participant in on...

Oris Big Crown ProPilot AltimeterIf you have been on Fratello Watches recently, you ve probably seen our review of the Breva Genie watches with their altimeter functionality. Of course in an entirely different [price] segment, Oris is now introducing their Oris Big Crown ProPilot Altimeter watch. It is the first time that a mechanical altimeter complication is used in an automatic watch.The Oris Big Crown ProPilot Altimeter uses an extra crown, located at 4 o clock, to activate, correct and deactivate the altimeter indication. When entirely screwed-down, the altimeter is inactive and the watch remains water resistant to 100 meters. When unscrewed, the altimeter is being activated. The yellow...

International Anti-Poaching Foundation SupportOur friend James Henderson of Tempus Fugit started an initiative to help the?International Anti-Poaching Foundation?(IAPF) raise funds. This organization fights against wildlife crime as it is sweeping our precious planet. Incredible animals such as the elephant and rhino (and many others) are being hunted and killed by criminals and this just has to stop. Now.IAPF needs your financial support in order to train, equip and manage the anti-poaching rangers. These anti-poaching rangers are defending the World s natural heritage for the current and next generation. James Henderson of Tempus Fugit contacted several watch brands or related companies to...

Treasury CabinetWhile many watch collections – like ours – are stowed away somewhere in the safe environment of a local bank, there are other more attractive ways to safely store your beloved timepieces. During a trip to London?some time ago we actually had some spare time to explore London. So apart from making sure we tested all local bars we actually spent some time window shopping and we were friendly invited inside at Kronometry 1999 on Bond Street to see their special treasury cabinet.Besides all the watches on display our attention was caught by this amazing and fully customisable Treasury cabinet. This well built cabinet called The Treasury is made by Buben & Z?rweg f...

Ressence Type 1 And Type 3One of the new kids on the block that we definitely wanted to see during Baselworld was Ressence. We already mentioned them in our watchtime.com Top 5 watches from Baselworld article. This young brand was founded in 2009 by Benoit Mintiens. When you look at his biography you could be surprised that an industrial designer goes watchmaker, or not. While its not uncommon to see new brands popping up, usually they dont change the basics of watchmaking. Something Ressence on the other hand has done with the collection of watches that they produce.On the Ressence?website the chosen name and logo are explained. The name Ressence is a portmanteau of the words renaissance an...

King Willem-Alexander And His Omega Speedmaster ProIt s Speedy Tuesday! By coincidence I came across the photo below, where you can see Dutch King Willem-Alexander and his wife Queen Maxima on the stand?cheering for the Dutch national soccer team during the World Championship of 2010 in South-Africa. You can see Queen Maxima wearing her , which has been covered elsewhere in the past, but my eyes were drawn to the wrist of King Willem-Alexander. Although the resolution of this published ANP photo is too low to study the watch in detail, my nose for Speedmaster?spotting?is rarely off. It was time to investigate.Most of our readers probably know that we are based in The Netherlands. Only few wi...

Gr?nefeld Parallax TourbillonShortly before Baselworld we were invited to an exclusive sneak preview of the new Gr?nefeld watches. During a dinner meeting with some (blogger) friends, Bart & Tim Gr?nefeld would present?their new collection. We (sadly) missed out on this opportunity because we were on a business trip to Germany. Shortly before Baselworld we published an article about the new Gr?nefeld Parallax Tourbillon with some stock photos and all technical information. Now its time for the?live photos.So one week later we visited our friends at Gr?nefeld in their booth (shared with Stepan Sarpaneva, Kari Voutilainen and Loupe System) in Baselworld to see the new Gr?nefeld Parallax To...

Seiko AstronAlready in 2012?the Seiko Astron GPS Solar was introduced during the Baselworld exhibition. The Seiko Astron finds its roots in 1969, also called ‘Quartz Astron . However, without the GPS technology of course. In 2012 Seiko brought us the watch that connects to the GPS network in order to give you the exact time, wherever you are. With the push of one button for 6 seconds the watch connects itself to the GPS network and synchronizes your watch with the accuracy of an atomic clock. This also means automatically correction of the calendar function of the Seiko Astron GPS watch. Even timezones that have a quarter of an hour or half hour difference are being picked up by the Se...