A bit of pre-Baselworld 2014 news on this Speedy Tuesday! Although Omega already gave a few hints on their official Facebook page not too long ago (and enthusiasts immediately guessed it right), today came the announcement of the new Speedmaster Mark II (327.10.43.50) re-edition that Omega plans to introduce during Baselworld 2014. We are looking forward to it!As you can see, the new Speedmaster Mark II comes in two flavors, one with a racing dial and one with a white luminous dial. Just like the two versions that were introduced in 1969. In essence, the Mark II was a newer version of the famous Speedmaster Professional with its hand-wound caliber 861. The same movement, but with a more mode...

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...

If you are a regular visitor of Fratellowatches, you know that we ve always been a fan of the Lemania 5100 movement. This work horse chronograph movement was used by brands like Omega, Sinn and Tutima. Even when the Lemania 5100 movement was discontinued, Tutima was in the end the only brand that still produced watches with this movement. I was told that Tutima stocked a lot of these Lemania movements as they were the official supplier of chronograph watches to the German military (‘Bund ) with these Tutima NATO watches. Which explains they were able to deliver them long after the movement was being discontinued.Below you see – in the middle of two Tutima NATO chronographs –...

It s Speedy Tuesday! On this very last day of 2013, we thought it would be nice to do a side-by-side article on three different Speedmaster 57 models. One of them is the very first Omega Speedmaster from 1957, reference CK2915 with caliber 321 movement. The holy grail to a lot of Speedmaster collectors and enthusiasts. The other two are homage watches to this very first Speedmaster CK2915 and feature some of the characteristics that this watch has. One of them is the Omega Speedmaster 57 Replica or re-edition that was in production from 1998 to 2003 and the other one is the Speedmaster 57 Caliber 9300 that was introduced in 2013.In the photo above you see (from left to right): Speedmaster...

Over at The Watch Gallery in the United Kingdom they are doing some cool stuff on-line for their customers and potential new clients. They recently published a video featuring professional watchmaker Jamie Hardes (at London at One Hyde Park) showing you the anatomy of a . He disassembles their calibre 3132 movement, featured in the Explorer ref. 214270.The current version of the watch that was used during the climb of the Mount Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and his team, worn on the wrist of Ian Flemming when he wrote the James Bond novels and many more adventurous people out there (including the elegant wrists of Victoria Secret Angel Alessandra Ambrosio). In 2010, introduced the new 39...

It s Speedy Tuesday, the moment you have all been waiting for! This week, we have a numbered edition in store for you. It means it is not limited or a special edition, but a ‘regular collection model with an individual number. Yong Wee from Singapore, one of our readers and fans of ‘Speedy Tuesday , sent us photos of his much beloved Omega Speedmaster Professional ref. 3577.50 ‘From The Moon To Mars watch.As you can see, this Omega Speedmaster Pro ‘From Moon To Mars has three different sub dials. The Earth is shown on the sub dial at 9 o clock, the Moon at 6 o clock and Mars at 3 o clock. It also contains the wording ‘From The Moon to Mars on the dial startin...

One of the cool things of being a watch blogger is that you get to try some really nice watches. One of the watch we had in our possession for a while was this Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Jubilee in platinum. That s right, platinum. In hommage to 180 years of watchmaking from this company from Le Sentier, they created this ultra thin Master in platinum. The watch is just 4.05mm thick but even more astonishing is the Jaeger-LeCoultre caliber 849 movement that is just 1.85mm thick.This Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Jubilee watch only has an hour hand and a minute hand otherwise the movement would probably became too ‘bulky for its 4.05mm thick case. The caliber 849 movement ...

TAG Heuer and chronographs go hand-in-hand and since we love chronographs here at Fratellowatches, we thought it is about time to zoom-in on one of the coolest chronographs we saw at the BaselWorld show this year. Dedicated to the man behind the Carrera, Jack Heuer, TAG Heuer came up with a very nice chronograph with their in-house caliber 1887 movement. Even better, they decided to use the design of a stopwatch and put it inside a watch case (with a strap). This means, that this watch has the classic bullhead chronograph design as you ve probably seen from other brands in the past as well. TAG Heuer s special piece this year, the Carrera MikroPendulumS has the same Bullhead design.The TAG H...

The definition of ultra-thin just got a new meaning when Piaget introduced their Altiplano 38mm 900P timepiece earlier today. It is the world s thinnest mechanical watch with a hand-wound movement. A watch that merely measures 3.65mm in height. The 900P reference finds it roots in the very first ultra-thin movement made by Piaget in 1957, caliber 9P.Piaget has a thing going on for ultra-thin watches, that s for sure. Since 1957, Piaget has developed and manufactured 23 ultra-thin calibres (out of the 35 movements that they developed and produced in-house). 12 of these ultra-thin movements has set new records for being the thinnest movement world wide.The skilled watchmakers of Piaget are con...

It s Speedy Tuesday! Our successful Speedy Tuesday Event that we organized on the 29th of October in ESA-ESTEC s official visitor centre Space Expo led to a number of Speedmaster purchases. Even up till now we receive e-mails and notifications from people who bought a (new) Speedmaster as the Speedy Tuesday Event inspired them to do so. We are happy to hear these stories and some of them are rather special.One of the cool stories we got so far are the purchases of very beautiful CK2998 watches, a bunch of new Speedmaster Professional 3570.50 models, a 105.003 and an X-33. We have covered the Omega Speedmaster Professional X-33 before and although we think it is an ugly watch, the features an...

Some time ago, Linde Werdelin sent us their Oktopus Titanium Red for a review here on Fratellowatches. During the last few years, Linde Werdelin s collection has been sorted out and optimized by having two main pillars: the Spido and the Oktopus. Today, we review the Linde Werdelin Oktopus Titanium Red after having it on our wrists for a couple of weeks. After all, you can t review something without having experienced it yourself.Linde Werdelin Oktopus II Double Date Titanium RedSince we ve covered a lot of Linde Werdelin timepieces here during the last few years, we won t go into the basics but focus on the review of this particular watch. Originally named Linde Werdelin Oktopus II Double D...

It s Speedy Tuesday! This week s topic is about a very rare Speedmaster that you will will come across only seldom, the Omega Speedmaster Split-Seconds 3540.50 or Rattrapante. Introduced in 1999, this Speedmaster had an odd looking case and a carbon fibre dial and was the first Speedmaster with a rattrapante complication. Only few of these watches have been made during a short time span. There was even an Italian market-only model, with a blue dial. The regular version has a run of 5000 pieces according to some sources.Omega Speedmaster Automatic Rattrapante ChronometerThe version pictured above (photo credits Antiquorum) is the reference 3840.50, with a leather perforated racing strap. This...

In 2002, Audemars Piguet introduced their first Royal Oak Concept watch to celebrate the 30th birthday of the famous Royal Oak. Made out of Alacrite 602, which is an alloy of cobalt, chrome, tungsten, carbon, silicon and steel. The Concept watch gave the Royal Oak a more rounded and oversized look & feel. Basically, it had nothing to do with the 1972 based Royal Oak model except for the octagonal bezel and its eight hexagonal screws. In 2014, during the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) in Geneva, Audemars Piguet will introduce a new Royal Oak Concept timepiece.The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept GMT Tourbillon will feature (as you can see) a white ceramic bezel, crown ...

It s Speedy Tuesday! As you probably know and as its name really suggests, the Speedmaster was meant for those who were active in sports or better yet, racing cars. Long before the Speedmaster became the ‘Moonwatch , the tachymeter and chronograph were actually used for timing car racing. Even today the Speedmaster collection has two pillars, one is the Moon program and making sure that new models have enough Moonwatch heritage and the other pillar is racing. Whether it is a dedicated Speedmaster Racing or a Speedmaster Professional that refers to its racing history, there is always a Speedmaster that refers to the original purpose of the collection.One of the dedicated racing models f...

Longines is one of those brands that perform very well when it comes to new watches, but also has its share of collectors of their vintage collection. With over 180 years of history, there are definitely some very interesting Longines timepieces to consider. Both from their actual catalog as well as from their past. Nowadays, Longines is part of the Swatch Group and is positioned somewhere between Omega and Tissot. Also based on some watch market data we have, we identified that watch consumers also positions this brand between Omega and Tissot and noticed an increased interest in Longines over the past few quarters.An interesting trend, as I also see a decline in interest in a number of wat...

It s Speedy Tuesday! For today we have – again – something special for you Speedmaster fans out there. As you probably know, Omega produced a number of mission patch models as part of 50 white suitecases with the ‘Speedmaster Mission collection in 1997 (40 sets) and in 1998 (2x 5 sets). Each suitcase contained 22 Speedmaster Professional mission patch models, 1 57 re-edition (reference 3594.50) as well as a spare Lemania-based caliber 1861 movement. The model we have on Speedy Tuesday today is the Gemini V mission model, also featured in this suitcase.Omega Speedmaster Professional Gemini VThis particular mission patch model commemorates the Gemini 5 flight that was perfo...

Chronoswiss – although its name suggests otherwise – was founded in Germany by Gerd R. Lang in 1983. In 2012, Gerd R. Lang sold his shares to the Ebstein family in Switzerland. Although I own a Chronoswiss myself (click here for the review on the Chronoswiss Regulateur I did in 2002), I lost a bit track of the brand over the last few years. During our meeting with Chronoswiss in BaselWorld 2013 I was happily surprised to see that they still produce the wonderful tuna-can shaped cases with ribbed details and large onion shaped crown. In fact, in 2013 Chronoswiss introduced their 30th anniversary edition of their Regulateur watch in both gold and stainless steel. Coincidentally, it...

Linde Werdelin, friend of the show for many years now, is introducing a new member of the Oktopus-family. As you probably know by now, the Linde Werdelin has two pillars, the Spido and the Oktopus. This Oktopus Moon Tattoo is their most prestigious piece to date, as they claim in their press release. A few years ago, Linde Werdelin already showed us the art of a tattooed Oktopus watch and in 2010 they introduced us the Oktopus Moon as well (limited to 29 pieces).Although it is still possible to add-on Linde Werdelin s The Reef instrument, we are guessing that no-one will actually do that to this timepiece that is, according to co-founder Morten Linde the marriage between modern thinking and ...

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...

Daytona History. The Daytona is without a doubt one of the most sought-after timepieces in the world. Being it new or vintage, this sports chronograph from can always count on a lot of interest from watch enthusiasts. Over at Watchonista, they decided to build an ultimate guide on this iconic chronograph. With the help of collectors, enthusiasts, editors and auction houses, Watchonista created an interesting time-line overview on the Daytona as well as a complete reference guide. Daytona HistoryThe Daytona history is being discussed by?Vincent Daveau, journalist and watch writer, in a 7 part article on Watchonista. Also, it contains interviews with Christie s International Head of Watche...