During my holiday in Italy, I ve missed the delivery of the new 39mm Explorer hitting the local authorized dealers. I ve kept my eyes open in Italy (see this link), but aside from the new Tudor Heritage Chrono, there wasn t much ‘new to see in the displays. The new Submariner in black and green were already available before my holiday, and the green model surprised me in a positive manner I have to admit.Anyway, when I got back last weekend, I immediately noticed the availability of the new Explorer ref. 214270 on some of my sponsor websites. There was also this private seller on the Dutch Forum offering a BNIB Explorer 39mm for just above 4K euro.The picture above is a BNIB Explo...
Omega s Speedmaster family comes in many different variations, but always with that special Moonwatch DNA. In the 1990s and early 2000s, one of the popular Speedmaster models were the Speedmaster Automatic ‘Reduced watches. One of our friends, Andreas S. Gregoriades sent us photos of this wonderful Omega Speedmaster Day-Date Mk40 Triple Calendar watch.Omega Speedmaster Day-Date Mk40There were a number of Speedmaster Reduced models (click here to read our Speedmaster Pro ‘Moonwatch versus Speedmaster ‘Reduced article), but these Triple Calendar models were – to me – the most exciting variations. This particular Omega Speedmaster Day-Date has reference 3520.50 ...
A few years ago, U-Boat jumped in the gap – at that time – of big watches. A Panerai wasn t affordable for everyone, so U-Boat produced large quartz watches and had a wide network of resellers. You could even get them at most clothing stores for men. Clever marketing made U-Boat a big name and even people who didn t care about watches, seem to know this brand. Heck, someone in a clothing store even asked me whether I was wearing a U-Boat, while it was a Panerai.Perhaps not fully justified, but I ve never given U-Boat watches a proper look. Dimer send me a few of his pictures that he took of this U42 model and telling me that he was very impressed by the watch and the watch box. S...
A few weeks ago, when I was visiting my friend Gerard over at Horloge Platform Nederland, he showed me this incredible beauty of the 1950s, a Vacheron Constantin ref.4591. It reminded me of scenes from The Godfather when the Corleones hang around with Moe Greene in a Las Vegas casino. Somehow, 1950 watches do that to me, I might be the only one though.So, what it so special about this watch? The main thing is the shape of the crystal, which is quite difficult to photograph I assume. But as you can see on the picture above, there is a small ‘folding line from 3 o clock to 9 o clock. Although it is a relatively small watch (25mm wide, 8.5mm thick and a length of 38.5mm, including the lu...
Arcadia, a brand that started making watches in the year 18something – the website only mentions 19th century, I assume they KNOW the exact year – tries again in 2010. As so many other brands, Arcadia went bankrupt during the 1970s quartz crisis in watch land. According to their website, Arcadia was even the symbol of Swiss watchmaking excellence in the 19th century. A quick query on Chrono24 and eBay did not give a result on Arcadia (watches) at all.Now, I love watches and give kudos to anyone starting a new watch brand driven on innovation, [complicated] mechanical techniques and design but starting a brand driven on the fact that they bought an old brand name, using a crappy w...
I am – very – proud to present to you, the first ever (real) pictures of Ian Fleming s watch and the exhibit interior, published on the internet. Below, you will see an excerpt from the press release, a picture?of the actual watch that Ian Fleming wore and used as inspiration for his James Bond novels and a picture of the exhibit room. Note that pictures of the museum nor the watch have never been published before. Taking pictures inside the museum is strictly prohibited.From the press release:?Ian Flemings personal James Bond watch is not kept wound while its on display as part of the increasingly popular Bond Watches, James Bond Watches exhibit.So when attendees arrive for the ...
Patek Philippe in America is a book on how this brand conquered the United States. The sub title of the book, Marketing the World s Foremost Watch, covers it pretty well. The impressive dimensions of this hard cover book – 13″ x 11″ – and the 360 pages with over 500 images reveal that this must be something special. The arrival of Patek Philippe in the USA has been documented using archives, photographs and numerous advertisements starting in 1860. The author of this book, John Reardon, did an excellent job creating such a valuable treasure for collectors and admirers of Patek Philippe watches.Patek Philippe in America contains 8 chapters covering the marketing of the...
To quote Don (Michael) Corleone in Godfather Part III, Just when I thought I was out… they pull me back in!. Just when I thought that this Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Jumbo would keep me quiet for some time, my watch friend Michael (not Corleone) mailed me a few days ago, that he pulled the trigger on this fabulous blue dial Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph ref.25860. This predecessor of the current AP ref.26300 chronograph, is mighty interesting. Priced a bit more friendly than its successor, it doesn t differ that much watch wise.? Although I can t get it confirmed, the bezel of the newer 26300 is a bit wider than the 25860 s bezel. Not in terms of diameter, but the bezel itself, ...
Something less serious today, the Parrera Ceramic Day-Date Chrono in white (also available in black). I actually don t think this is a men s watch, but hey, who am I to judge of course. I never heard of the company, but Ace Jewelers – one of the sponsors here – has these watches up for sale in their e-boutique. I got the white one for Mrs Fratellowatches, who seems to love white ceramic watches. Ever since the Chanel J12, a lot of other brands (low-end to high-end) are willing to ride this wave.This fairly large watch of 42mm in diameter makes it suitable for a lot of wrists, even the smaller ones, like my wife s. She normally wears a 36mm watch that covers up all of her upper wr...
The design of the Submariner 114060, is unmistakably , despite the size and use of modern materials such as ceramics. Compare the modern 114060 to the 1953 Submariner 6204 and you will immediately notice that these watches share the same DNA.Owning and wearing a Submariner is one thing, but to dive into the history of this watch is quite a task. To make it somewhat easier for you, we hereby show you the history of the Submariner in a nutshell, including a table with most important references since 1953 till the current line-up of Submariner watches.Diving Into SubmarinerThe Submariner is a watch with an interesting story. Introduced over 60 years ago, the current Submariner model (updat...
Time and Gems – friend of Fratellowatches – proudly introduces the first Black Gold watches. Stainless steel (904L) and 18ct gold watches have been coated with Time and Gem s ultra hard scratch resistant PVD. For now, Time and Gems re-worked the Submariner and the Daytona, both iconic time pieces for the Giant from Geneva.Below you can see the introduction video by Time and Gems, presenting the Black Gold Sub and Black Gold Daytona. The deep black on these watches, in combination with the 18 carat yellow gold is simply stunning.Price are unknown yet. Keep an eye on the Time and Gems blog for more information....
Every Wednesday is Watch Wednesday at MotoringExposure, the blog for fast super cars and exotic cars. Although the watch related articles are most of the time less in-depth than the ones posted here at Fratellowatches, they are still worth reading for the intermediate and advanced watch collectors.This week, it is all about the Omega Seamaster Professional Diver 300M, also known as the James Bond watch in times of GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day and Casino Royale. Although the SMP in GoldenEye was a quartz movement driven watch and the Casino Royale featured the more recent Co-Axial version, these watches are basically all the same (with some minor op...
From the press release by NAWCC:On September 10 2010, the National Watch and Clock Museum will unveil for the first time a complete collection of all eight James Bond wristwatch models provided by Seiko UK! These eight watches have been identified for the Bond Watches, James Bond Watches exhibit by Mark Mills (former Technical Support Manager with Seiko UK).? Mills was Eon Productions contact person at Seiko from 1977 through 1985.Dell Deaton of JamesBondWatches.com and Guest Curator for Bond Watches, James Bond Watches, was given unprecedented access to documentation and Mark Mills personal recollections with the support of Seiko Watch Corporation in Tokyo, Japan. Prior to Deatons initiati...
Ateliers deMonaco is just over one year old (6th of April 2009) and time for Olivier Muller (The Watch Lounge) to do an excellent write-up on this Dutch / Monaco haute horlogerie brand.From left to right:Christain Arbili, business development manager Ateliers deMonacoHSH Prince Albert 2 of MonacoRobert van Pappelendam – Initiator and co-founder Ateliers deMonacoPim Koeslag – Master Horloger ateliers deMonacoPlease read more about this brand at The Watch Lounge or read an earlier article on Fratellowatches here and here....
…Shawn! He won this 20mm red stitched strap by Di Modell. He has been contacted and will soon receive his Di Modell Rallye Wapro strap.Thanks to UKWatchStrap to make this possible....
Most of the time, it is that first scratch or ding in your watch that will hurt the most. Jack Forster of Revolution Magazine tells about the first ding in his Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 15300. That triggered me to show you the first severe scratch on my Royal Oak. As you know, this watch has a lot of polished and brushed parts, most of the time divided by razor sharp edges. Luckily, none of the sharp edges has been damaged, because you can t get that corrected any more (also AP can t do this). I believe the bezel of my watch only needs some slight polishing on one of the polished parts of the bezel.And here is the dramatized shot:Anyway, it could be worse but it still hurts of course. I love...
A lot of times, Vacheron Constantin s Overseas watches are mentioned in the same sentence as Audemars Piguet s Royal Oak, Patek Philippe s Nautilus and the IWC Ingenieur SL watches. It was actually believed by a former CEO of Vacheron Constantin, that Gerald Genta was involved in the design of the ‘222 , predecessor of the Overseas, as he stated in an interview with The Purists. We now know, that it was Jorg Hysek who influenced the design of the ‘222 time piece that evolved to the current Overseas line of watches.I guess it is a compliment for both designers, Hysek and Genta, that people are confused about who designed what. The Overseas models are just as iconic as the Royal O...
Personally, I don t have much going on for snakes. Luckily, Franc Vila s Cobra time piece doesn t bite. Although a Cobra isn t the first thing come to mind when looking at these time pieces, with some imagination I can see the resemblance of a Cobra s head in the watch case. However, with the same kind of imagination, I can see a skull in the shape of the dial, the sub dials being eyes and mouth.The version pictured above has been created to celebrate Spain s World Cup victory in July 2010 against the Orange team from The Netherlands. It is another edition of the ‘Cobra -line of watches that Franc Vila introduced during BaselWorld 2010. Limited to 88 pieces, as all Franc Vila watches a...
When talking about luxury watches the first country that comes to mind is Switzerland. Germany and Japan might arise in certain cases, but there is one big player in the watch world that is lesser known but quite important, Italy. Considering the obsessive love affair that Italians have with their watches it is not hard to imagine how a few enterprising individuals have created a storied watchmaking tradition there, that is very much alive today.The U-Boat U-42 was designed to the specifications of a watch designed by Italo Fontana s grandfather in Italy in 1942Working at Matt Baily, a luxury watch boutique in the heart of Downtown Montreal (Quebec), Canada, offers a special perspective of ...
Omega Speedmaster Soyuz ApolloJuly is the month of Omega s Speedmaster watches. Not only the Moonlanding will be celebrated (on the 21th of July 2:56 GMT), also the last Apollo mission which dates back to July 1975 is celebrated. The ASTP (Apollo-Soyuz Test Project) consisted out of a number of joint scientific experiments, but was – of course – mainly meant to see whether combined (manned) missions between two super powers would be possible in the future. Mission ASTP started on the 15th of July and returned on the 24th of July 1975.Now, I think that my track record on blogging and writing about the Omega Speedmaster models is something I can be? a bit proud of, but I never took...
