Amsterdam?IWC CocktailIWC recently opened their boutique in one of the most famous shopping streets in The Netherlands. We are talking about the PC Hooftstraat in Amsterdam of course. On the 20th of June, IWC is organizing a cocktail to show the new Aquatimer collection. This collection has been presented during the SIHH 2014 in Geneva.? IWC Museum Curator David Seyffer will be there to present the new Aquatimer models. Also, he will bring?some of the museum pieces from Schaffhausen to show to you! Fratello Watches is pleased to give away 3 personal ?invitations to our readers from the Benelux?to join this unique event in Amsterdam. Like we did last year, to the IWC event at the race track i...

Chronoswiss Sirius ArtistWe covered Chronoswiss last year and mentioned that we sort of lost a bit of track with the brand. They happily surprised us with their collection of watches and weve been watching them ever since (again). With a brief explanation of the Chronoswiss history in our previous article lets have a look at their new watch collection. Chronoswiss basically has two collections. The Chronoswiss Timemaster being the sporty collection and Sirius the classic collection. Both collections consist of various models and the classic, with 20 variations up to this date, is most extensive one.The Artist watches are part of their classic Sirius collection. Introduced in 2013, this exclu...

Speedmaster Pro 3572.50 Caliber 1863It s Speedy Tuesday! One of our readers, Erik Ebeling, sent us photos of his beloved caliber 1863 Omega Speedmaster Professional reference 3572.50. This discontinued model is similar to the ‘standard Moonwatch model reference 3570.50 but with a sapphire case back. In the current Omega collection we still find a Speedy Pro with a sapphire case back, but it also has the sapphire front crystal. This reference 3572.50 from Erik has the Hesalite crystal on top, the sapphire crystal on the back. Erik let us know that the production year of this specific watch was around 1999.As you can see on the photo above, the Omega logo is in the center of the Hesalit...

During Baselworld last year, Blancpain presented the modernised version, or reinterpreted according to Blancpain, of their well known Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe. Originally created in the late 1950s as a dive watch that also could be used for daily wear. This year Blancpain added a new member to the family in the shape of a chronograph. The?Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Chronograph Flyback.Although the new Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Chronograph Flyback has an updated appearance?it still holds?the aesthetic DNA from the original Fifty Fathoms model. The rectangular shaped hands still resemble the 1950s version. Same goes for the hour markers on the domed dial. They are designed ...

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...

On the 24th and 25th of May, I was invited by A. Lange & S?hne to join the prestigious Concorso d Eleganza Villa d Este 2014. This prestigious event finds its roots in 1929 and with some pauses since the 1950s, the Concorso was revived again since 1995. The event at the Grand Hotel Villa d Este was only for participants, media and invited guests while the Concours of Historic Cars is open to the public on Sunday (25th of May) in the park of the Villa Erba.Over 50 beautiful classic cars were present, from the 1920s to the early 1980s. Furthermore, around a dozen of concept cars and prototypes were present during these days. Sponsored by BMW, A. Lange & S?hne and some other partners, i...

This article is contributed by one of our loyal followers and readers, Boris Pjanic. He runs a watch business in Germany and has a blog on watches as well. While being a passionate, his second love is for Omega timepieces. This contribution covers a wonderful vintage Omega Seamaster 300. Not the Seamaster 300 that Omega based their 1957 reference CK2913 re-edition on this year (click for the article on the new Omega Seamaster 300 Master Co-Axial), but from the early 1960s.Most Omega collectors think of the Speedmaster first when asked which vintage Omega they would consider first. Nevertheless, the Seamaster 300 is definitely not a watch to ignore. While the Big Triangle seems to gather the...

It s Speedy Tuesday! Just last weekend I ve met Ben Oliver, a car journalist from the United Kingdom who writes for a number of titles. He told me about his love for mechanical watches and vintage chronographs in particular. One of the watches he carried with him last weekend – it was during the Concorso d Eleganza Villa d Este 2014 in Italy – was the 17mm thick Omega Speedmaster Professional Mark III from 1972. A watch that is quite difficult to fit under your sleeve. The Omega Speedmaster (Professional) Mark III reference 176.002 was introduced in 1971 and featured an automatic chronograph movement for the first time in a Speedmaster. Omega and Lemania jointly developed this mo...

With our personal love for sports chronographs, we were very pleased to see the Baselworld novelties from TAG Heuer. Especially the TAG Heuer Carrera CH80?chronograph. Inspired by the first generation of Carrera chronograph watches and faithful to the original design by Jack Heuer back in the 1960s. Powerful design, pure lines and optimal ergonomics with an easy-to-read layout? as TAG Heuer proudly quotes on their website. During the introduction of the TAG Heuer Carrera CH80, both dial configurations were shown to us. The high-contrast color combination of black and white on the dial with the sporty looking red accents makes the new TAG Heuer Carrera CH80 a very attractive watch in our opin...

Last Tuesday we visited the IBG 2014 event. IBG stands for Inside Basel and Geneva but to be honest it is much more than that. The IBG events are a big success in the United States for a long time now and since a few years they (Ebner, publisher of WatchTime, Chronos and Uhren Magazine) also started to organize these events in Germany.This year s event counts 14 participating brands and a sponsorship by Jaguar. The brands that participated in 2014 are:A very nice mixture of brands and ranging from relatively affordable (this does not include Seiko actually, as they brought their Grand Seiko collection) to high-end brands like Armin Strom and Moritz Grossmann.Like previous years, the event in...

During the Baselworld novelty presentation at Maurice Lacroix, we were happily surprised by the new Masterpiece collection. Apart from the Square wheel and Mystery line-up, perhaps the most interesting novelty was the Masterpiece Gravity. We already posted some live wristshots on our @fratellowatches Instagram account. Now, we present our hands-on review of the Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Gravity with better photos.Maurice Lacroix describes the Gravity as the force that is intended to attract admiring glances. And to be honest, the Gravity was the first thing?that caught our attention on the presentation tray, containing some of the novelty watches for this year s Baselworld.The large and do...

A cult watch that has appealed to both men and women, the Reverso has shown up in all manner of fascinating guises since 1931. Featuring an attractive blend of elegance and sportiness, the Reverso became a great classic of the Art Deco cultural movement, of which it embodies the essential values: refinement, artistic craftsmanship and aesthetic clarity. Ever since its birth, and above and beyond its timekeeping function, the Reverso has played the role of a guardian of memories.The Grande Reverso Ultra Thin 1948 with its stainless steel case revives the spirit of a bygone era. Contrary to many models that enjoyed pre-war fame and were by then consigned to oblivion, the Reverso watch with the...

Since 3 years, Hamilton is the main sponsor of the Volkel Air Show in The Netherlands. This Air Show will take place on the 25th of May 2014, but Fratellowatches was invited to come to the press event that was held on the 7th of May.Hamilton s ambassador and pilot Nicolas ‘The Quick Corsican Ivanoff (who currently races in the Red Bull Air Race World Series) was present to treat us with some impressive flying skills in his plane. Ivanoff will also be the first pilot to open the Air Show on the 25th of May.The association with aviation goes back a long way, to 1919. That was the year when a Hamilton watch ensured that the very first US airmail postal service flight was operated in a ti...

If you have been looking for pre-owned watches on-line, you ve probably come across Bob s Watches, the Pre-Owned Exchange. This company, in its current format, was founded and lead by Paul Altieri since 2009. As some people are still a bit hesitant to buy watches on-line or to buy pre-owned watches in general, we decided to do an interview with Paul Altieri from Bob s Watches to give you a better understanding of who s behind the Pre-Owned Exchange and how they operate.(FW) Where does the name Bob s watches come from, as you are the founder and your name is Paul?(PA) Bob Thompson. Bob started the company back in the mid 1990s, then selling lower-end watches like Elgin, Hamilton, and Omeg...

With a rich automotive history, the (TAG) Heuer Monaco has always been linked to racing. So if youre thinking of a special, haute horlogerie version of the Monaco, nothing beats incorporating components from the race industry in a watch! TAG Heuer came up with a new way to drive their Monaco. After 5 years of hard work, the patented belt-driven Monaco V4 has crossed the finish line back in 2004.10 years later, during the 2014 Baselworld exhibition, TAG Heuer presented us the evolution of this award-winning (including best design award and Red Dot award) watch, the belt driven Monaco V4 Tourbillon.As we take a look at the front, the first things to notice are the two v-shaped bridges. These b...

The ownership of an expensive timepiece does not come without any risks. The risk of loss, damage, theft or even robbery is for some people even a reason not to buy or wear their precious watch. A safe deposit box at the bank might be a good idea but it will also become annoying when you want to swap watches once in a while. A safe at home is therefore a good alternative and this will also give you some advantages regarding insurance premium. A safe has to meet a number of requirements for insurance companies and most of the time these safes arent particular nice to look at. Big grey chunks of steel that probably will not fit your home interior at all.Enter Stockinger Bespoke Safes. This com...

It s Speedy Tuesday! We realize we ve been discussing the Omega Speedmaster Pro X-33 quite often here lately, but it seems we are not the only enthusiast about this model. Recently we received an e-mail from Philip Kisloff – who owns an Omega Speedmaster Pro since 1977 – with a very nice write-up on the new Speedmaster X-33 3rd Gen (reference ?318.90.45.79.01.001) model. We would like to share his article with you today. Review of the new Omega Speedmaster X-33 SkywalkerIve owned an Omega Speedmaster Caliber 861 for almost 40 years, wearing it proudly for almost every day of that time. For one thing, its a tangible connection with the greatest feat of exploration in history. Even...

Friend of the show Boris Pjanic who deals in watches and occasionally writes about them too, found this bi-color Datejust reference 6605 with German writing on the dial for the indication of the chronometer movement.Boris writes us the following:Collecting and trading watches for over 16 years has enabled me to pursue my love and passion for vintage watches which was instilled deep inside of me as a child.? What I recall is that as a child I used to look at the windows of jewelers in town when my parents too me for a stroll.? While I am not coming from a family of jewelers, nor do I possess any other relation to the business, I have always been wanting nice watches.? Not necessarily from a ...

It s Speedy Tuesday! One of our dear readers and Speedmaster enthusiasts has contributed a number of photos of his recently acquired Omega Speedmaster Pro Tintin watch. We discussed this watch already even before it was released in BaselWorld and then were the first to tell you about the association with Tintin. Jean-Claude Monachon –?Vice President and Head of Product Development – told us about the initial plans for this watch when Omega designed it, making it an official Omega Speedmaster Tintin timepiece. Instead, it became the Omega Speedmaster Pro Racing as the owners of the Tintin copyrights (probably) did not like the idea of having this watch as a tribute. As our first p...

Chronos24.pl and Fratellowatches.com are proud to present you this new, special, bi-weekly section dedicated to our fellow watch journalists and bloggers. Ever wondered what they really like? C read on.Without going into the long-lasting dispute about who is a journalist, who is a blogger, and which of this two is better (like it matters) we tried to find out about a? more interesting topic: what are the personal favorite watches of watch editors and which timepieces would they purchase when having unlimited resources. In the next coming weeks (every other Monday) we will bring you some of the biggest names from the world of watch editors, both acclaimed authors with an impressive track-reco...