After a much-deserved two-month summer break, we are back with many new strap makers on Watch Strap Review. I ll bring you some incredible brands and a ton of excellent watch straps in the upcoming months. To begin, for your reading pleasure, here is the Strapatelier from Singapore. For such a small country, Singapore has a very active watch community that helps these little ateliers to be born and eventually grow into successful businesses. This is one such story.As usual, it starts with a passion for watches. I think this is how most of us got into straps, right? You get a nice watch and want to change the look, so you look for a strap… And then another one and another one until you ...
Last summer, I spent three weeks away from home wearing one watch exclusively. I was visiting family and only took my Doxa SUB 300 Black Lung for the trip as I was expecting some of my pieces to come back from service. The watches were delayed, and I got stuck with the Doxa. For a watch guy, this sounds like hell, but surprisingly, I enjoyed it. This gave me the idea to do the same this summer, only this time, I took another excellent diver for the road. The new Aquastar Deepstar II Blue Ray was my companion for a few weeks. Here are my thoughts on this experience.I know that it s not too uncommon for people to wear only one watch. Most people outside the watch world might only have one or a...
Out of all the Speedmaster watches in my collection, the Speedmaster Calibre 321 is one of the pieces I appreciate most. Without making this article a love letter to the watch, let me explain several things that make the Speedmaster Calibre 321 incredibly special.For the price that you ll need to pay for this watch, these are things you can and should expect. The normal Speedmaster Professional Master Chronometer retails for $7,500 ($8,600 for the sapphire version). The Speedmaster Calibre 321, however, has a $16,700 price tag. Ive touched upon the ownership of the Calibre 321 in this article and compared it to that other re-edition of a few years ago, the 60th anniversary, here.Speedmaster ...
Following a comprehensive interview with Albert Zeller of RC Tritec, this week, we conclude with the second and final part. This is where the story of luminescent materials enters the modern age, starting with a call from a certain Mr. Hayek and a two-week deadline to drop radioactivity. Here, the story of lume takes a creative and more sustainable turn for the future.RC Tritec is the company behind Swiss Super-Luminova. The company s chemical and material development is one of the reasons we can read our mechanical watches at night today. We are living in a colorful world where #lume and other related hashtags have close to a million related posts, but do we know all the facts? If you haven...
In February of 1945, a few months before World War II came to an end, the U.S. Army Exchange Service put in an order for 30,000 Felca ref. 1187 watches. That s a pretty exciting intro for a watch that most collectors have never heard of.?It has no quirky movement and no special features on the dial. It s just a simple time-only watch that I would have probably overlooked… until I made a new watch friend recently. He had two watches I liked, and I had one watch he liked and I didn t mind letting go in return. After we made the watch swap, Curtis and I kept talking. Well, you can guess what we were talking about.This was what started my obsession. I bought it at a garage sale around 2002...
We all know what these terms mean, right? Of course, we do. They re commonly used and well-known to all chronograph fans and collectors. Well, what if I told you that the majority of times we see the terms bi-compax and tri-compax used, they re not technically correct? Granted, it s not quite as bad as seeing deployment instead of deployant, but we watch fans pride ourselves on factual accuracy, so let s clear things up.I m not going to teach you how to suck eggs. We all know what a chronograph is, but for the sake of completeness, let s just define it here. As you re almost certainly aware, a chronograph is a stopwatch that allows the user to accurately measure elapsed time to the second. T...
If you have followed me, you know that I am a bit of a Datejust lover. It was the watch of choice for my debut book for a reason. Part of its charm is its flexibility, so when Nacho asked me to write an article on why it is such a great do-it-all watch, I did not have to think twice. Or did I-It seems so self-evident that the Datejust is a GADA (go anywhere, do anything) watch. But why is it so flexible? What makes it such a horological chameleon that seems at home in any situation? It is a topic that is often mentioned but hardly ever unpacked. So lets do that today. Lets ask ourselves, why is the Datejust such a perfect everyday watch? And perhaps more importantly, is it still?Reliabilit...
Seaboard Marine Supply Co. was a manufacturer and distributor of fine sailboat gear. That included a yachting chronograph with three beautiful executions over the years. Today we will look at the last one, the Seaboard-Yacht.This watch combines all the best of what vintage-watch collecting is about. It s not a typical Instagram attention grabber, but it has its audience. The strong visuals suggest it s not a random generic watch, but rather, a carefully designed tool. The mystery of the watch s story and the huge gaps in its background only bring more and more curious eyes. The recent $4,000-5,000 price range confirms high collectability potential. That s pretty impressive if you realize tha...
No doubt about it, summer is here. It s about the highest time to put the original Excelsior Park into the spotlight. The last few weeks, it has been pretty hot in the heart of Europe where I live. The temperature climbed almost up to 40C, and I wished that I could go to the office naked. I have been wearing shorts with linen shirts or light T-shirts every single day for a few weeks now. With more and more watches coming into my collection, the morning pairing ritual takes longer. No matter how long it took last week, I always ended up with some colorful or bright-dialed watch.How Excelsior Park ended my bright-dial periodThe moment I took this Excelsior Park into my hands, I realized that ...
Has it been a year already? How time flies! And hopefully, youve all had the fun that causes this fast-forward effect. But enough about time travel. Its time to put on your finest pair of shorts and head to warmer climates - the Fratello Summer Splash 2022 is here! This year, its a different beast altogether. Instead of looking for the best all-around summer watch, were on a quest for color. So, leave your black and white dive watches at home. Only the brightest, most summery watches will make the cut. This year, there are also no restrictions when it comes to price or water resistance, so anything goes. Eight contenders will go head to head for the Summer Splash 2022 crown. And much like la...
Many Doxa fans have been waiting for this day. The gossip becomes a reality as the brand introduces their Doxa Army diver, a watch that is a modern recreation of a legendary military diver. To be true to their pioneering nature, Doxa presents yet another new material to their collection, ceramic. The new Doxa Army is a unique and limited piece for true brand fans.People around the brand have been talking about this day for a long time now. Finally, at an event held in New York in collaboration with Watches of Switzerland, the partner of Doxa, the new Army is introduced to the world.Doxa ArmyThe history of the iconic and uber-rare vintage Doxa Army diver goes almost hand in hand with the Sub ...
Aprils Watch Strap Review brings us a company from the UK with a Swiss name but Italian-made straps. Swiss Time Watches itself hails from England, though Gaetano, the man behind the brand, is Italian to the core. Well, let me correct that; Gaetano is, as he puts it, a proud Sicilian. So it is no surprise that while every leather goodie I received came from the UK, they are all made in Italy. As such, I was expecting fancy leather materials and classy straps, and Swiss Time Watches did not disappoint. But lets not jump the gun. Here are my thoughts on what I found in the package.In the parcel that Gaetano prepared for me were six straps. However, Ill only dissect four, as three of the six wer...
With the introduction of the new Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Ultra Deep in titanium, the line-up of Seamasters has become even more interesting. It is the oldest collection in the Omega catalog and started all the way back in 1948. Before the Constellation (1952), Speedmaster (1957), and De Ville (1967). In these almost 75 years of Seamasters, Omega made some pretty iconic watches you should definitely know about.Although the first Omega Seamaster watches looked nothing like a dive watch, this changed in 1957 with the introduction of the Seamaster 300. At the same time, Omega also introduced the Railmaster and the Speedmaster. Despite the fact that I have a weak spot for these first Seamast...
A few weeks ago when we first discussed the idea of sharing our guilty-pleasure watches, I knew exactly the watch Id be writing about. Nobody else did, as I hadnt even shared with them that I owned this watch. In fact, to this day I havent even shared a picture of it on my Instagram. Its not that Im ashamed of this watch - I wear it from time to time and really enjoy it. But like a true guilty pleasure, my guilty-pleasure watch was one that remained a secret… until now. Youve read the title, and you already know that the watch in question is my TAG Heuer Formula 1. Specifically, its the 34mm plastic-bezeled, lume-dialed reference WA1211. It seems that, without knowing that I would be w...
Our recent article about one of our readers and his Speedmaster Mark II inspired some others to share their stories with us. This week, we feature stories from Stuart Lees and Mark Talbot about their Speedmaster Professional watches.Both stories have one thing in common: it took quite a while before both authors finally purchased the Omega Speedmaster. But it was due to very different reasons, I must add. Stuart bought a number of other Omega watches first, as he didn t find the Speedmaster an appealing watch in the beginning. He even found it a bit of a boring watch. But when he saw one isolated from any other watch, it enabled him to admire it without any distraction. He then pulled the tr...
Grail watches are supposed to embody the best. Best, however, is a subjective term. That s why everyone s grail is different. What I consider best for me is a watch that doesn t require careful handling. My best is a watch that can keep up with me in all that I do. Beyond that, I want the ultimate expression of capability in specs and design, as well as efficiency of material and cost. Thus, as far as my judgment is concerned, I want an Oris. And if I m buying tomorrow, I want an Oris Aquis Date Calibre 400.If my grail is a watch, the tower that keeps it is Oris, and I admit I m more enamored with the tower than the various potential grails within. Oris has spoiled me these past couple of ye...
At this point, you should now know the definition of a guilty pleasure. When it comes to watches, the pleasure is picturing yourself wearing something far outside your comfort zone. For me, the Girard-Perregaux Laureato Absolute Wired satisfies me as much as I know it shouldn t. The regular Laureato from Girard-Perregaux has its fair share of detractors, which I am not one of. Yes, the resemblance to Audemars Piguet s Royal Oak is hard to ignore. But GP venturing into the territory of AP s Offshore offshoot is somehow even more tantalizingly sinister yet seductive.Before I descend into depravity, let s first understand the context around the contentious Laureato. ?In 1975, Girard-Perregaux l...
Welcome to Strap Check, a column on Fratello where our editors showcase their favorite watch/strap combinations. We all know the feeling. When you ve been wearing a watch for weeks on the same strap, there comes a time when the excitement starts to fade a little bit. Maybe that s the time when you start looking. But looking for what? A brand new watch? Sometimes the answer lies not in the watch, but the strap on which you wear it! From the classic to the unique. From cheap NATOs to bespoke leather and special bracelets. This is where we get excited about perfect combinations that make you feel like you ve got a brand new watch on your wrist. So tune in every week for a new Strap Check. Are y...
The 1969 Omega Speedmaster Mark II was based on the original Alaska Project watch that Omega developed for NASA. For a long time, these watches were completely underrated. They could be had for less than $1000, and sometimes, even for half of that.Those days are behind us, but the Speedmaster Mark II 145.014 is still a very interesting watch to acquire. It has the same movement as the normal Speedmaster Professional from that period, which is the Omega caliber 861. The watch also has a number of improvements. I use quotation marks, as many collectors perhaps don t see them as such. But for Omega at the time, they certainly were, hence the Mark II designation for the Speedmaster Professional....
As the dizzy haze of Christmas and New Year s dissipates, we face the grim reality of returning to work. The only option is to work from home for some of us, preferably still in sleepwear. But with restrictions lifting in certain regions, office managers enforce presenteeism, requiring us to suit up and commute. To make the journey more palatable, here are my choices for the best office wristwatch.Well, firstly, what is an office watch? We re used to pilot s, diver s, and explorer s watches. It is less common, however, to relegate timepieces distinctly to an office or work environment. Brands often prefer their models to emanate a tough and enduring air. By contrast, the typical office space...
