All images in this post may be clicked on for larger versions.You would be forgiven for thinking that the big number in its own box is the date, and the two hands on the dial are for the minutes and hours; and perhaps that strange little stubby hand in its own round window off to the top is in fact for power reserve, or perhaps continuous seconds.You d be wrong.For starters, the watch is actually a jump hour (only adjustable in one direction: forward) with the big number being the hour; minutes and seconds are on the large dial, and the little stubby hand is in fact the moon phase display. Of course, not having a date, you can t set this accurately. Winding the crown forwards in the traditio...

We thought it would be time to compare the new Explorer II Ref. 216570 to the much sought-after vintage Explorer II Freccione or Steve McQueen. The Explorer II has always been a watch that sat in the shadow of the GMT-Master and Submariner models. Undeserved in our humble opinion.Is there much to compare? Is the new Explorer II a tribute to the Freccione (orange hand) or is it a new watch that has been influenced by the very first Explorer II that was introduced in 1971, 40 years ago?Lets start with some history on the Explorer II. Introduced in 1971 as ref.1655, the watch was equipped with an orange hand to be used as a day/night indicator for those who professionally didnt see daylight fo...

All images may be clicked on for larger versions.I was given an hour with the Hublot Masterpiece collection recently – these uncommon pieces were traveling through Kuala Lumpur as part of the Journey Through Time exhibition. These three pieces represent a significant and welcome departure from the staple line of Big Bang offerings and their myriad variants; however tastes and preferences will of course be personal. Hublot has gathered a team of watchmakers called the confrere horlogere, specifically to develop highly complicated pieces in small series. Please note that the watches photographed were non-functioning prototypes, so I am unable to comment on the running and usability of th...

As the title of this post already says, the AP Millenary 4101 was one of the nicest horological surprises in 2011. Some of you probably know that I have a weak spot for the Royal Oak, but this Millenary suddenly appeared on my list of favorite watches as well. The oval watch case is definitely something different and the fact that the oval shaped in-house movement caliber 4101 is specially built for this watch makes it even more desirable for me.The dial with the decentralized small sub dial with the center pinion (to which the hour and minute hands are attached) create the optical illusion that the dial is also oval. The small seconds sub dial blocks the 7 and 8 o clock Roman numerals, but ...

Linde Werdelin is a relatively new brand in the horological world, but one thats already gained a solid number of fans of its unique timepieces. I spent some time with one half of the eponymous duo – Jorn Werdelin C during his trip to Asia, kindly hosted by The Hour Glass in Kuala Lumpur. What follows is less of your traditional Q&A and more of commentary and opinion. My colleague Robert-Jan has also had a SpidoSpeed on loan for a few weeks and will be posting a more in-depth review and photos soon.The current collectionThe brand has a short, albeit interesting, history. Jorn Werdelin is a former investment banker and avid skier. Watches have been a passion in his life for as long ...

To be honest, until recently Ocean7 wasn t brand that had watch models that I could mention from the top of my head, except for the LM-7. The Ocean7 LM-7 has probably been the watch model that people will know this brand for, it is a homage to dive watch watches of the 1970s according to the official Ocean7 website. People will immediately recognize the LM-7 being a homage to the famous OMEGA Seamaster Plo-Prof of course. To be honest, Ocean7 did a pretty good job in creating an alternative for the vintage OMEGA Seamaster Plo-prof. This was in the period before OMEGA re-introduced their own homage to this watch a few years ago with their new in-house caliber 8500 movement.Anyway, Ocean7 is a...

Exactly one year ago, I bought an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph (also nick named ‘ROC ) ref.26300 to?accompany?my precious Royal Oak ‘Jumbo ref.15202. I added the ROC because I missed the thicker bracelet and case of the Royal Oak ‘Date ref.15300 I previously owned.The AP ROC has become one of my favorite watches and is always in my weekly watch rotating programme (something I learned to do from Chuck Maddox). The ‘Newman or ‘Panda dial combination has become a?popular model amongst the Audemars Piguet ROC fan base, given the times this exact configuration pops-up at the ‘new watch -threads at TimeZone s Audemars Piguet forum.The picture above ...

All images can be clicked on for larger versionsAn imposing 44mm across and nearly 20mm thick, the U1000 is built like a submarine – literally. Sinn uses submarine steel – a special alloy also used by the German Navy for its subs – for the case, bezel, crown and pushers. You know that slightly hollow feeling you get when you tap most watches with your fingernail? Not a sign of it with the U1000 – it s as though you re tapping an anvil. Even if you tap the crystal.That is the U1000 in a nutshell, really. Built to be a reliable, indestructible tool. The submarine steel case is water resistant to – you guessed it, 1000 meters – and is so strong and well seale...

A visit to the OMEGA Museum was on my ToDo list as soon as I bought my first vintage Omega watch in 1999. In the past, I had mailed several occasions with Marco Richon (former curator of the museum) and John Diethelm (archives of Omega), but it never came to a visit to their museum in Bienne.Just recently, the Omega museum has been refurbished and a new curator (Brandon Thomas) has been appointed. Omega invited me over to come to visit their new museum and two factory visits to see how their Co-Axial movements are manufactured.Together with the guys from aBlogtoRead, Hodinkee, Les Rhabilleurs and WatchingHorology we headed to Bienne, Switzerland, to see these treasures of one of my favorite ...

The 1815 was my first high-end piece, acquired back in 2003. I still remember the sleepless nights and moments of indecision during the course of the decision process. Several other pieces were also in contention: the JLC Master Geographic; the Chopard 1.98; one of the Patek Calatravas; the AP Jules Audemars Automatic.All images in this article can be clicked on for larger versionsSo why did I go with the 1815 in the end? Quite a number of reasons, actually. First impressions, the case had a heft that belied its size C and none of the others quite managed to convey the same impression of density. Then there was the dial color; a sublime dark blue that under some lights was electric, and unde...

The year 2020 has been tough on James Bond fans. It was a tough pill to swallow when No Time To Die was postponed for a second time. Like so many, I was more than ready to see Daniel Craig in action one last time as 007. And just when you thought things could not get any worse, the news came in on the 1st of November that Sean Connery passed away at age 90. The Scottish actor was the first and, to many, the best James Bond. In the light of Connery s passing, we decided to create a list of our 7 favorite Bond watches.Discussing a list of Bond watches is as much fun as it is incomplete. Sure, you could cough up all the watches we have seen in 25 official Bond films, but that would not start a ...

The subject of today s photoessay is the seldom seen, but utterly sublime, Chopard LUC Chronometer. A modest 38mm in diameter, it s powered by the Chopard LUC 1.96 movement. The movement has twin barrels providing a 70 hour power reserve, and a solid gold micro rotor for winding; not only do I think the finishing is amongst the best I ve ever seen – even under heavy magnification – it seems that the folks awarding Geneva Seals thought so, too. Interestingly, it s also a very flat movement for an automatic – just 3.3mm. No doubt the micro rotor architecture contributes meaningfully here; it uses an ingenious lobed cam to drive a rocking pawl that ratchets back and forth to w...

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...

Ask any watch collector to name a few classic chronographs and no doubt that there will be a IWC Flieger Chronograph between the Speedmasters and Daytonas. It is one of the chronographs with the most readable and clean dials available out there, and it has been for years. The only thing about this watch that changed ‘recently , is the diameter of the watch case and the color of the small seconds hand, it turned red. The diameter was 39mm and has grown to 42mm, a bit more into the ‘here and now of watches.IWC Flieger Chrono ref. 3717-01Over the last few months, I had the opportunity to try and wear an IWC Flieger Chronograph (or Pilot Chronograph as you wish) that has been treate...

I am the first to admit that the coverage on Seiko watches here at Fratellowatches is far below par. However, I will try to end that trend and report more often about these Japanese gems. Currently, there is a thread active on the TimeZone forum that asks members to show off their precious Seiko watches. The Seiko Sports 100 watch as posted by Robmks got my full attention, what a beauty!Seiko Sports 100 by RobmksAside from the wonderful picture, this stunning Seiko (7A38 – 7029) has a wonderful finish on case and bracelet and look at the beautiful grey dial with black sub dials. This 38mm diameter watch is part of the Seiko Sports 100 Chronograph series, which had a lot of different de...

When I bought my first Speedmaster Professional (on the 1st of October, 1999), I was completely captured by the beauty of this historical chronograph. Weeks, perhaps even months, I was browsing the internet for more detailed information on the Speedmaster series. It rapidly occurred to me that buying a vintage Speedmaster wasn t something easy, as it – like always – is in the details. Luckily, the world wasn t craving for tropical brown dials and all original flimsy bracelets, so at some point I was quite comfortable buying my first caliber 321 Speedmaster Professional ref.145.012 for approximately 800 euro (2000 Dutch guilders).The fun thing is, that I always seem to return to O...

News from the? Vallee de Joux in Switzerland. Jaeger-LeCoultre proudly presents their AMVOX2 Grand Chronograph Limited Edition (ref?Q1972473) in 18 carat pink gold. Restricted to 50 pieces only and inspired by race driver?Adrian Fernandez who started his racing?career?in 1973. Why?Adrian Fernandez? Good question. In 2010, he became official driver for the Aston Martin Works Team and as you probably know by now, Jaeger-LeCoultre has a long term relationship with Aston Martin.Just like the first AMVOX chronograph, this limited edition Grand Chronograph also features the vertical trigger chronograph, which means you have a single-pusher system by using the sapphire crystal. That s right, you pu...

I recently enjoyed some lens time with this rather unique piece by Peter Speake-Marin. Out of the box, the aesthetic was a little…unusual, but I admit that towards the end of the session, the design grew on me.Enjoy! All images can be clicked on for larger versions. Don t forget to check us out on Facebook?and gives us a Like!MTYes, it glows in the dark, too!MoonphaseDay of the week hand and instantaneous change mechanism24 hour handMaster control wheel for perpetual calendar mechanism. Note the incredibly thin jumper spring attached to the pawl center-right, and the square cut gear controlling the date advance at the end of each month.One final view....

During the Space Shuttle STS-128 mission, Swedish ESA astronaut Christer Fuglesang was not only wearing his trusty old Omega Speedmaster Professional X-33 watch but on his other wrist, he was wearing an – at that time –?unfamiliar?watch, the Halda Space Discovery watch. Developed with the help of astronauts aboard of the STS-128, Swedish watch manufacturer Halda was able to fine-tune their Halda Space Discovery watch and finish the production of this timepiece. They are limiting the number of timepieces to 128,?referring?to the flight number of the NASA Space Shuttle mission in 2009.Whether the Halda Space Watch will eventually replace the Speedmaster Professional (X-33) remains ...

Click all images for largerNomos is one of those little artisanal brands I follow with interest as they offer a combination of things that most others dont: unique and functional aesthetics, in-house movements and great value for money. Around the middle of 2010, I remember reading about their new worldtimer, and how they would be conducting a public beta test to determine the final design and assessment of reliability. If only all watch companies worked this way!Fast forward to October C I chanced upon the post again, and this time the desire to own one struck me very badly. Also, I was travelling quite extensively for work; this would be a useful complication to have!The decision was not m...