Probably one of the most sought-after Breitling models is the Navitimer ref.806. However, not everyone (or every owner) knows how to use all the information on the dial in combination with the slide rule. Bill Sohne, a well known collector who s active on the internet for years now, and Chuck Maddox (the ?e?ober Chronograph-meister) put the original manual online of the vintage Breitling 806 Navitimer APOA.It describes perfectly how to perform calculation with this watch, using the slide rule. Click here for the online manual.Scan of the manual below by Bill Sohne and published by Chuck Maddox.????...

After having worked for the Cantonales Technikum institute and at Rado Watches, Ryser Kentfield moved to the USA to start his Swiss Timepieces store in 1990. He tried his own brand at the JCK Show in Las Vegas, but as he says in an interview with Keith W. Strandberg (Europastar) it s very difficult because people want a known brand name. Ryser Kentfield now tries to get retailers world wide, to sell his watches and to get a bit of attention for his brand name. He makes and sells 700 watches a year, but predicts it will be somewhere between 1000 and 2000 pieces in 2007. His watches start at 1100 USD and use an ETA 2824-2 self-winding movement. His website, https://www.ryserwatches.com, featur...

Omega proudly presents their latest in house movement, the Omega caliber 8500. It features a 60 hour power reserve, bi-directional winding, the co-axial escapement and it will be COSC (Chronometer certified) ofcourse! ?The new Omega De Ville will be the first watch equipped with this new movement.Congrats Omega! And now some attention to your Quality Control (Omega cal.330x) and After Sales (numerous complaints world wide) again.The Omega caliber 8500Renowned as the watchmaking company which produced the first-ever industrialized movement and always looking to improve the performance and quality of its timepieces, OMEGA has taken a step further and launched its in-house manufacture calibres ...

The ultimate toolwatch – the Explorer II, aimed at speleologists and cave explorers.Some time ago, Michael Stockton wrote quite a ‘love letter (as one of our readers wrote in the comments) on the Explorer 1016. While the reference 1016 Explorer was being produced already in 1963 and kept in production for 26 years, introduced another Explorer in 1971. The Explorer II. This watch was not a successor of the Explorer 1016, but an additional timepiece with an additional function. The Explorer II was aimed at speleologists or cave explorers, who could lose the sense of time during their work. When you are not exposed to daylight, it s feasible to lose track of time and whether you...

Just recently, all German watch magazines started to cover the new beauties from Ebel: the 1911 BTR collection, based on the 1911 series. Especially the chronograph is of my personal interest! I always liked the Zenith El Primero driven Ebel chronograph, as worn by Don Johnson a.k.a Sonny Crockett in Miami Vice in the 1980s. The new 1911 BTR chronograph features an in house movement by Ebel, caliber 137. The case is 44.5mm in diameter and can either be choosen with a stainless steel or rubber bezel. The 1911 BTR also comes in a GMT model (caliber 240) and a perpetual model (caliber 288). Prices start at 3500 euro for the GMT with leather strap.I think that this step could bring Ebel back int...

SuitbertW posted a short pictorial on the Purists visit to Audemars Piguet. Click here to view all photos.Check all other posts about this visit in the Audemars Piguet??Discussion Board??as well!!...

The Omega Constellation Double Eagle model has been the biggest change of the Constellation line since 1982. Before that, only the 1952-1969 era counts. In the 70s there was no real clear and defined Constellation design. The Manhattan series, which seems to be some kind of?? code name for the post-1982 Constellation models, didn t change much until 1995. Most post-Constellation series were referred to as Constellation95 models. Not too long ago, Omega did some restyling and admitted to the big & bold hype of most other brands out there. Although it is hard to think of it as a hype anymore. Big watches are here to stay, maybe next to smaller watches again.. but definately no hype (or f...

Last week I received the Swatch-Clopedia,????a comprehensive source for all Swatch collectors. You can order it from Squiggly, a great online Swatch seller. I am no Swatch collector, but as every watch addict, I have my share of Swatches. From??my first??1991 Test model to the Olympic Pheidippides 2004 model, with various models in between ?? Never wear them, but nice to display.Anyway, buy this guide! And be quick, because it is limited printing (6000 pieces and that s it). The authors worked for 2 years on this book, which covers practically every Swatch between 1983 and now, including the limited models. The book has 900 pages in full color. What really amazed me, was the weight of this b...

Omega s holy grail retailed in 1987 for around 1500DM, as much as 750 Euro. Probably no-one would have guessed it would become the Holy Grail of Speedmasters. Chuck Maddox and Alexander Monkowius, amongst others, wrote in great detail about this watch. The Speedmaster Automatic ref. ST376.0822.Once in a while you seem them for sale at a watch fair, watch auction or at one of the online sales corners. However, most of the time they probably change owners within a blink of the eye. This watch is wanted! Why? Because it basically houses in the classic Speedmaster Pro case and is powered by the classic chronograph movement caliber 1045. As a regular Fratello reader, you probably know that this c...

A few days ago, I posted about the new Dutch Forum. In the mean while, it is on line and running. Although they seem to have had a few technical difficulties, the number of users and posts is growing every day. The Forum.nl site is??managed by Peter, Karel and Gerard.For the non-Dutch speakers, there are a lot of alternatives ofcourse. My personal preference is still the German ‘Das Forum‘. Here is a list of a few ‘known on line Forums. If you are into this brand, just give them a visit and decide what you like best ??Das Forum (www.r-l-x.de) – GermanForum.nl (www.forum.nl) – DutchThe BJSOnline Forum (www.network54.com/Forum/380354/)WatchUseek Forum (www....

Finally, Baume et Mercier is back on the map (at least in my book). Their latest retro models are nicely done and will hopefully boost their image a bit. This Regulator (Regulateur) model breaths 1950s according to Baume et Mercier. A caliber 14070 Dubois-D??praz based movement is ticking inside its 39mm stainless steel case. Price of this beauty is far from shocking, namely 1990 Euro (in Germany, it might vary worldwide). If you are into gold, Baume et Mercier also introduced a limited (176 pieces) Regulator with jumping hour, based on a caliber 14400 Dubois-D??praz movement. The price of this one is a bit higher, 7200 Euro, but hey.. it s gold! Both watches are water resistant up to 3 bar ...

On the 22nd of July, FratelloWatches celebrated its 2nd birthday. It all started on 22 july 2004. Like WristWatchReview, who also celebrated its birthday on the 26th of June, I will post some statistics for the interested people:229,400 unique hits measured since 3 October 2004,491 posts since 22 july 2004,736 comments since 22 july 2004,Post with the most comments is Another Scam with 102 posts,I bought and sold about 13 watches since 22 july 2004,DutchWebHosting.nl did an excellent job hosting this site with almost no flaws,I upgraded twice to a newer version of WordPress,Since 22 July 2004, I have had 1 BMW 3-er Touring, 2 Alfa Romeo 147s, 1 Peugeot 206,I wore my Panerai Ref.113, Sea-Dwe...

A quick hello from Finland. I haven?t posted much here last days, and now you know why… my holidays!Anyway, I will be back shortly and post a few new items asap!p.s. Zeger, congrats on your AP RO Jumbo!...

Millennials might associate the Day-Date with fictive characters like Tony Soprano, but there s much more to this watch, of course. The Day-Date is the watch worn by Presidents, captains of industry, people from the entertainment industry, and all those who appreciate a timeless watch in precious metal.My first encounter with the Day-Date was relatively late. In the small village where I grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, there weren t many people that spend on luxury items. They were all over on tv-series and movies, though, and advertisements. is known to have some pretty fantastic ads, and many of them included the famous Day-Date, featuring people like Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Pla...

Check this nice essay, written by SteveG.Photo by SteveG.Click here to read it....

Tag Heuer recently introduced their eyeglasses. They already had some very nice sun glasses in their collection, but it seems that there was market for more ‘Vision products. I have to admit that I was impressed by them… looked good and reasonably priced.Click here to check them out...

Today I bought the Le Mans DVD, with Steve McQueen. This is the movie where the Heuer Monaco was put on the horological map ?? Heuer even produced a version of the Monaco with the colors (red/white/blue) of his racing suit. A while back I posted about a clothing brand called Vintage 55, who makes ‘replicas of his racing clothes.Anyway, for 10 USD you are the man. You can make your own ‘stills with this DVD of the Heuer Monaco. Btw, I recall that Steve McQueen was an avid Explorer wearer. You might want to verify in which movie this is though…While I am at it anyway, you might want to order this one as well. This is the movie called Winning, where Paul Newman wears his Da...

I thought the Royal Oak Jumbo (or Extra-Thin) had hit its peak a few years ago, but it clearly hadn t. Prices are going through the roof, as you will see in this article.I ve been writing about the Royal Oak (and the Jumbo in particular) a lot over the years here on Fratello. It was my dream watch for a long time, I had a few Royal Oak variations, including the 15202 Jumbo and I saw the development of the market value from roughly $7,000 to $40,000. In a period of 15 years, I have to add.For this series, we select pre-owned watches from Chrono24, the largest online marketplace for watches in the world. In today s article, I included the 15202 similar to the model I had in my own collection, ...

RogerCP (a TZ regular) wrote a nice review on the Omega DeVille Co-Axial GMT. It is a 18 karat ros?? gold version, but that s not even the argument why I think it is ‘special . The watch is only 35mm in size. That s smaller than the average men s modern wrist watch.Picture by RogerCPThe review is quite in-depth, not only on the movement (caliber 2628, which is based on the famous co-axial movement caliber 2500, which is based on ETA 2892-A2 again. Or did I forget to put the Omega caliber 1120 in there as well?), but also on the case, dial, hands, strap, deployant clasp and last but not least… the GMT watch as such (and links to some other GMT related articles as well).Anyway, cli...

I suppose that I could be faulted for featuring the rather newish GMT-Master II 16710?in a #TBT article, but Ill live with it.Ive covered a couple newer pieces in this series such as the Explorer 14270 and, more recently, the IWC Mark XII, so Im more on the side of featuring what Id call classics instead of purely vintage. Definitions aside, the 16710 is definitely a classic and one that continues to be on the acquisition list of many people; lets find out why.The GMT-Master II 16710 was around for so long – nearly 20 years – that it s still hard to believe it s goneThe GMT-Master II 16710Its awfully hard to believe that the GMT-Master II 16710 has been gone from showrooms ...