The advent of GPS has sadly rendered chronometers obsolete for navigational use. However, the beauty of Breguet retains relevance today. This is perfectly demonstrated with the latest member of the Marine collection, launched earlier this year at Baselworld, the Marine GMT 5857.The Marine collection fuses the traditional and contemporary with handsomely pleasing results. This latest version includes a second timezone, a useful complication for all travellers including intrepid seafarers.Breguet has always been an exemplar of haute horology, favoured by aristocrats and the notable figures whom line the pages of history books. A reputation for innovation, Abraham-Louis Breguet conceived many i...
We love people with a passion for watches, whether this is a passion for Pateks, es, independent watchmaking brands or Swatches and G-Shocks. G-Shock is a sub brand of Casio and it will soon celebrate its 30th anniversary. Admitted, it is not the brand that is top of mind when we write or think about watches, but we ve learned that there are a lot of fans out there that collect G-Shock watches and we don t see any reason to neglect them!What would be a better way to explore about G-Shocks than to ask an authority. We didn t have to search long, as one of them is a Dutch guy that has his own blog about G-Shocks (50Gs), a website about G-Shocks (G-Peopleland) and is the moderator of the WatchU...
Speedy Tuesday is here! I thought it would be nice to zoom in on the differences between a Speedmaster Pro from 1967 and a Speedmaster Pro from the current collection. We get a lot of questions per e-mail (and Facebook) about Speedmasters and which one people should get, so our comparison might help you (or them) to make the right decision.The Speedmasters pictured above are today s subject of Speedy Tuesday. On the left you see a 1967 Speedmaster Professional ref.145.012 and on the right a 2012 Speedmaster Professional ref.3570.50, both on [time correct] stainless steel bracelets and in their original Omega boxes.BackgroundI don t want to do the whole Speedmaster rehearsal here, as we ve co...
The world of collecting vintage watches is an interesting one, where passion and friendship are key in order to attend GTGs (GetToGethers) like these. One of the most respectable vintage collectors (world wide) is Dutchman Philipp. Together with one of his friends he organized a superb GTG for collectors and enthusiasts who are passionate about (and watches in general).People from all over the world came over to Maastricht to join this Vintage Passion GTG. The first photo reports is up at the Vintage Forum website right now, posted by the host of the meeting.The world of collecting vintage can also be a messy one, we therefore advice you to seek all the expertise you can get via one of...
We know you ve been waiting for Speedy Tuesday! We know we have! This week s Speedmaster is a very rare model, a white gold 25th Anniversary Speedy that has been chronometer certified.This Speedmaster Professional Chronometer ref. BC 148.0062 (ref. 348.0062 with the white gold bracelet) was introduced in 1994 together with a version in stainless steel and a version in platinum. The white gold version is the only one that has been chronometer certified. It is basically a caliber 861 movement but since it was regulated to become a chronometer (and received chronometer certificates), it has been numbered ‘864 . Omega also did some decorative work on this Lemania based movement.Just like t...
I have a weak spot for Sinn Spezialuhren. Form follows function, like many German developed and designed products, in combination with a fair price is Sinn s key to success. Except for the movement, Sinn develops a lot of high-tech solutions for real problems. What about their Diapal lubricant free anchor escapement (click here for our review), Tegiment technology process to harden the case (see our review here), Ar-Dehumidifying technology to improve readability and prevent the watch from fogging and so on.Another weak spot that I have is for this shop in Munich called Manufactum. I think they are also in other cities, but I only happen to know their Munich store. They only sell ‘good...
Our friends from Arcadia lent us one of their beautiful Vintage 22 timepieces to give it a test drive. A rose gold classic designed watch with a vintage Valjoux caliber 22 movement. That s something we couldn t refuse of course!This beautiful 43mm rose gold column wheel chronograph has a lot of ingredients from vintage chronograph watches, but has been restyled and totally made up to date. Although we love vintage ‘dress chronographs, most of them are around 37mm are therefore quite small for these days. To be honest, it would look silly on our wrists (but that s perhaps a shortcoming of the big fat Fratello team). This Arcadia Vintage 22 looks decent on our wrists and not too big at ...
It s Speedy Tuesday today and after the recent passing away of Neil Armstrong – perhaps the most famous Speedy owner – we thought we need to focus on a special Speedy. What would be better than to put a Speedmaster in the spotlight that has a moon and stars on the dial?Picture from Antiquorum s Omegamania auction.One of our friends and avid readers of Fratellowatches sent us two pictures of his ref. 345.0809 Speedmaster Professional Moonphase. This particular model has been re-introduced in 1999 with some minor changes to the dial (and a modern bracelet). However, Speedy enthusiasts prefer the original model which has a somewhat cleaner dial and the famous reference 1450 bracelet...
Longines is one of those brands that clearly marked certain eras in the past when it comes to watchmaking. This brand from Saint Imier in Switzerland has a rich history in timekeeping that goes back as far as 1832. However, from our own interest in the brand we can say that in the 1950s and 1960s, Longines had these wonderful Conquest watches with a beautiful gold and [hand painted] green medallion on the caseback. In the 1970s, Longines followed the Swiss industry with sports watches featuring integrated bracelets. In the 1980s, Longines was a well known name in timekeeping and sponsoring of Formula 1 racing (Ferrari). Furthermore, they developed and introduced their VHP (very high precisio...
Omega Speedmaster 50th Anniversary Limited SeriesWhen OMEGA introduced the Speedmaster in 1957, they never could have guessed that it would take off to these great heights. As far as we know from their own documentation and advertisements, it was a watch meant for those who needed to time certain activities. Sports or racing, it didn t matter. In this article we focus on the Speedmaster 50th Anniversary Limited series that Omega introduced 50 years after the original introduction.The brochure above shows a few early Speedmasters and there is no clue or hint about NASA or the Moon race. In all these years, since 1957, only small tweaks and updates were applied to the watch and it evolved to w...
As a watch collector, you will need to have proper resources in order to prevent from buying fugazzis, frankenwatches, put-togethers, fakes and so on. One of the advantages of collecting watches is that there are a lot of books and other publications on their watches to help you with this.Collecting watches – especially vintage models – can be a snake pit as we ve mentioned a few times in the past. Even if you aren t a newbie to [] watches, it won t hurt to come prepared. The books by Guido Mondani Editore are being regarded as the most complete and best documented works of art on the subject. Although they carry books on Panerai, OMEGA and Patek Philippe as well, they are best...
Gianni Agnelli, former Head of FIAT and Italian industrialist was famous for his flamboyant style. Nicknamed ‘The Rake of the Riviera‘, Mr Agnelli was always wearing his carefully selected timepieces over his cuff.In the autumn of his life he has been spotted wearing this large – especially for that time – OMEGA Seamaster PloProf over his cuff. Earlier even – but already a bit grey haired – he has been spotted wearing this wonderful classic Patek Philippe World Time ref.1415 HU timepiece. Jake featured him on his Patek Blog last year and states that this picture dates back to approximately 1960.We found a similar Patek for sale over at Chrono24, world s le...
Gold Speedmaster Professional Limited Edition Moonwatch 1969Only 1014 have been made of this gold OMEGA Speedmaster Professional in 1969 of which 28 went to the White House and 26 of them were given to the NASA astronauts of that time. Number 1 was offered to President Nixon, but he declined it. This particular watch is on display in the OMEGA Museum in Biel.Above is a picture that I took of the President s watch when I was in Biel last year.Anyway, this week s Speedy Tuesday is featuring this special gold Speedmaster Professional ref. BA145022 from one of our long-time readers. Originally bought in 1970 as you will see on the receipt. This watch was sitting in my mail box for a long long ti...
Last Wednesday, Fratellowatches joined the introduction of The Chinese Timekeeper in Amsterdam. The event was hosted by Ace Jewelers (official and exclusive retailer in Europe) and to get in the right mood, Ace invited us over to Nam Kee, an award winning Chinese restaurant where the event was being held.After weeks of poor summer weather the Sun finally showed up – almost a hint for what was coming- so we headed over to Amsterdam to have a look at the Chinese Timekeeper (or CTK) watches. We were welcomed by Adrien Choux of CTK, Alon Ben Joseph (CEO Ace Jewelers) and Cliff Chan (owner Nam Kee).Adrien Choux of CTK brought a wide variety of the watches and gave a passionate explanation o...
Omega Speedmaster Professional Broad Arrow MoonphaseThis weeks Speedy Tuesday pick is a Moonwatch with a Moon complication of one of our Italian fans. It all started in 1987 when Omega decided to put a moonphase Speedmaster on the market. In the end, they started up introducing three different Speedmaster models with a Moonphase: Two teutonic models (1986) and one Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch (1985) version with a moonphase complication. All three had the famous caliber 861 as a base movement and a moonphase module added to it, also known as the caliber 866 movement.As you can see, a beautiful composition of stainless steel, a silver dial and an 18 carat white gold bezel.Later on, in t...
Chronos magazine celebrates its 20th anniversary! Besides their anniversary edition of the magazine (including a Vacheron Constantin supplement), editor-in-chief Rdiger Bucher selected 20 of the best watch advertisements that were printed in Chronos magazine in all those years. Chronos is part of the Ebner Verlag (publishing company) and also responsible for Uhren Magazine and WatchTime.Below, we show you the two we like best! The first is one from Swatch and dates back to 1995. The one below is probably a bit more well-known and dates back to 1998. Patek s ‘Begin your own tradition campaign has been successful ever since, as even non-watch enthusiasts seem to know this brand and its...
During BaselWorld this year, photographer Bert and I were visiting the Bell & Ross booth and one of the watches that made us very enthusiastic was this World War 1 Chronographe Monopoussoir Heritage. I am sure you ve seen it here or here for example.The kind people of Bell & Ross showed us the entire new collection, but we had our hopes for this one, the WW1 Mono pusher chronograph. Drop dead gorgeous with its wire lugs, large dial, yellow-ish numerals and a nice ‘new patina on the dial. With a retail price of approx $7500 USD it was quite firm for today s critical buyer, or should I say buyer in critical times? Nevertheless an awesome watch that makes a great alternative for ...
Omega Speedmaster Professional 145.022This is our 7th Speedy Tuesday and we love the feedback we get from you! This week s Speedmaster dates back to 1969 and it is a caliber 861 ‘Professional watch. It is a Speedmaster Professional 145.022 and while you can get one for a decent price and without too much hassle these days, this particular watch from one of our readers from the first hour has a nice story to it.His father bought an OMEGA watch in the 1960s at this authorized dealer called ‘Siebel‘. It must have been the mid-sixties according to the owner as he brought this watch to the store in 1969 for a service. There is no remembrance of the exact model and year, but it ...
Omega Speedmaster Pro Gemini IVSpeedy Tuesday is here and this time with a Speedmaster Gemini IV limited edition of 2005 that commemorates the mission of 1965. During this mission, the first space walk of a NASA astronaut was performed by astronaut Ed White. Ed White was wearing his Speedmaster pre-Professional (ref.105.003) during the EVA and therefore the Speedmaster is considered to be the first watch into outer space.The blue dialed Speedmaster Professional Gemini IV not only has a dial and bezel that stands out, it also has a very nice caseback that commemorates the first space walk by Ed White. As you can see below, Omega has put the red NASA mission patch on the caseback of the watch,...
This year, it is 80 years ago that Omega became the official timekeeper at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1932. During these 80 years, Omega has been the official timekeeper 25 times.The Games will start at the 27th of July and will go on for 17 days. Over 10,000 of athletes and officials from over 200 countries are participating in the Olympic Games in London. Omegas count down clock has been put in place in March last year and is rapidly approaching the start of the Games.Watch enthusiasts over the world are probably most familiar with the special edition watches that Omega has been introducing over the last few years. However, for the 2012 London Games, Omega did something really spe...
