Pre-Owned Spotlight: Looking At Herms, Piaget, And Dior
For these Pre-Owned Spotlight articles, we often pick watches from fairly typical brands. That’s partially because those watches are easier to find. However, that doesn’t mean we overlook the less obvious brands. Since visiting the Herms and Louis Vuitton manufactures last year, I’ve also started looking for pre-owned watches from brands better known for their fashion or jewelry. Today, I’ll show you some of the things I’ve found from Herms, Piaget, and even Dior.Finding original examples of watches from these more fashion-oriented brands is not always easy. A brand like Herms, for example, started making its watches in 1978. Before that, Herms would collabo...
Introducing: The REM Firenze Legends Straps
One of the things I loved best about being a Panerai owner was changing straps regularly. By swapping their shoes, the look of the Panerai watches drastically changed. Unfortunately, REM Straps did not exist at the time. We got to know the folks at the company very well during our partnership on Speedmaster straps. Quality and creativity resulted in a lineup of exciting straps for various Omega Speedmaster watches.Firenze Legends for Panerai watchesToday, REM introduces its Firenze Legends collection of Panerai straps. According to Totte el Siddig, co-founder of REM Straps, Panerai collectors (Paneristi) are on top of the game when it comes to switching straps. The new Firenze Legends collec...
New: Omega Seamaster Diver 300M In Bronze Gold And Burgundy
By now, we are used to catching glimpses of future Omega Seamaster Diver 300M releases on Daniel Craig’s wrist. Despite his retirement as 007, Craig is the Biel-based brand’s go-to ambassador for new Seamaster variants. And with great success, we might add. The online watch universe goes wild whenever the British actor straps a yet-to-be-released Seamaster on his wrist. During the Governors Awards in Los Angeles last November, watch fans spotted a colorful gold version on Craig’s wrist. It sparked an online frenzy of photoshopped potential models. With the release of the Omega Seamaster Diver 300M in Bronze Gold and burgundy, we now know what Craig was wearing. It’s t...
Introducing: The BA111OD Chapter 7 Certified Chronometer
Since 2019, BA111OD has offered edgy, affordable Swiss timepieces. The brand from Neuchatel offers a tourbillon, manufacture complications, and several avant-garde mechanical watches. The models even have chapter names, and today’s piece, the Chapter 7, is the first to receive a chronometer certification.With rising prices from many traditional “high street” brands, smaller independent watch companies have carved out a permanent niche in the market. Years ago, these plucky microbrands offered loads of watches at a low price, but they often lacked refinement. Now, brands like BA111OD have stepped up and are producing high-quality, attractive watches that appeal to new and se...
New: Hublot Classic Fusion Chronograph Boutique Lucerne
If you like the odd thematic special edition, Hublot is the brand to follow. Today, we get an interesting new watch from the Nyon-based outfit. This is the Hublot Classic Fusion Chronograph Boutique Lucerne. You quite literally get a piece of Lucerne if you purchase this watch, so if the Swiss city carries meaning to you, read on!The new Hublot Lucerne edition costs CHF 15,900 / $18,200 / US$17,500 and comes with a black rubber and vintage brown calf strap. Let's take a closer look.The Kapellbrucke in LucerneBefore we get to the watch, you need to know about the landmark Kapellbrucke, or Chapel Bridge, in Lucerne. Even if you have only driven through the small city in the center of Switzerla...
Orient CFH01001B Review: A Lot Of Bang For The Buck?
When I started buying mechanical watches about 10-11 years ago, there wasn’t much on the market (new) that I could afford. Last few years, this has changed drastically. One of the brands that offers mechanical watches for a decent price (for starters in collecting mechanical watches for example) is Orient. Orient is a Japanese watch company that exists for over 50 years and has a production run of 2 million watches per year. They are promoting themselves heavily on the web and are now also available in the US and Europe! Actually, before I got this Orient CFH01001B from OrientWatchUSA to give my opinion, I didn’t even know that a jeweller in my neighbourhood (I think it’s o...
Heuer Chronosplit LED Ferrari Edition On Auction By Led-Forever
Heuer (and later on TAG Heuer) has a strong relationship to racing, hence the names of their watches (Monaco, Monza, Silverstone, Daytona, Carrera and so on). In 1975, Heuer shocked the world by introducing a timepiece with a LCD and LED combination. Quartz driven of course and operated by two separate movements. In 1977 – which was a fine year – Heuer ditched the LED display and replaced it by a LCD display as well. The LED screen was a power consuming display which probably caused a lot of reliability issues.LED-Forever, a website dedicated to these type of watches, has put up one of the rarest versions of them all, the Heuer Chronosplit Ferrari Edition (r102.703-3) as sold in ...
Colin Firth's Speedmaster in Before I Go To Sleep
There are actors who wear their favourite watches often during the shoot of movies giving headaches to costume designers; just think of Stallone (Schwarzenegger and technically the entire cast of The Expemdables 3) and the famous Panerai Luminor or Tom Selleck with his GMT-Master 1675. Alain Delon loved his Audemars Piquet Royal Oak Jumbo so much he sported the same watch in many of his movies.Other stars have an endorsement deal with a brand so sporting a certain watch is a requirement; the most obvious example is Ian Fleming's 007 secret agent James Bond and his association with Omega among many other brands like Aston Martin or Walther (more related James Bond brands can be found here). ...
Longines Legend Diver 52Mondayz, week# 8
Longines Legend Diver – 52Mondayz, week# 8Inspired by the launch of the Longines Avigation Watch Type A7 1935 last week, which is the new offshoot in the Longines Heritage collection, I’ll wear my Longines Legend Diver this week.If I’m correct,?the Longines Legend Diver was the first watch in the current Heritage collection from Longines. Even, the Legend Diver wasn’t named a ‘Heritage’ model, however obviously a ‘Legend’. Longines hereafter came up with the name ‘Heritage’ for the rest of the collection.In the distant past Longines already made some re-editions from the Lindbergh Hour Angle, Conquest and Flagship models. I think th...
Watches & Pencils #24 Lifesavers and Killers: Pulsometer and Telemeter
IntroductionAs many of us, I follow a lot of watch loving people on Instagram. While scrolling through my Instagram timeline I often encounter comments like What a stunner' or What a killer'. Not really related to the real purpose of the watch…While this kind of comments perfectly make sense on those passingly IG accounts?I suddenly discovered that this is true in some cases. Although not much in present time, watches have been killers or lifesavers in the past.Functionality to Design StatementsNowadays most of us buy a watch pure by its aesthetics. Ok, sometimes things like a chronograph?come in handy when you want to boil your eggs. But besides this that will be about it. So much has...
Speedy Tuesday A Collector's Story On His Gold "Dave Navarro" Speedmaster
Once in a while, we receive stories from our readers on their Omega Speedmaster that we feature here on Speedy Tuesday. This week, it is Phil’s story about his 18 carat gold Speedmaster Professional that he dubbed ‘Dave Navarro’. I’ve met Phil on-line, via his instagram (@Phillterr) account and later on met him in New York during a watch event for which he was invited as well. For today’s Speedy Tuesday feature, we have Phil’s story on how he became interested in Omega and specifically his gold Speedmaster Professional.Without further ado, here’s Phil’s story.The Dave Navarro SpeedmasterLike many people, I tend to give my watches a nickname, of...
Meet The People Behind Ikigai Selling Vintage (Grand) Seiko
Writing that vintage Seiko is very popular is slightly understated. It is huge. It is the brand that allows you to enjoy vintage references (that are even historically relevant) for a few hundred Euro or Dollars to highly sought-after vintage (Grand) Seiko references that will set you back a few thousand Euros or Dollars.Ever since Mike Stockton is writing for Fratello, I’ve noticed this in my own collection of watches. The number of (vintage) Seiko watches increased rapidly. It is highly contagious and it will not break your bank.One of the concerns though, that is also shared by our own Fratello watchmaker Paul (who is currently occupied with customizing the trunk of his Maserati, wi...
Show-Stoppers To Open 2019 Part II: The Independents
As 2019 kicked off, the industry was buzzing for the star-studded luxury watch fair SIHH. Since the rise of the Independents in the past two decades, they have gained a reputation as the critics and connoisseurs' favourites. FHH (Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie), the organiser of SIHH, clearly knew the Independents would draw a crowd. In 2016, they announced the addition of nine independent brands set up in a big hall called the?Carre Des Horlogers.This year, the Carre grew to 17 brands, practically half of the total 35 exhibiting names. The Independents are undeniably a force to be reckoned with. To put it simply, the Carre itself is one big show-stopper.The Carre, adjacent to FHH's own bo...
#TBT Surprising Junghans Olympic
The Junghans Olympic has everything, except for a Heuer logo on the dial. And I dare say it has even more.The case detailing, extra robust pushers, a majestic crown, a killer strap, vivid original dial with few nice quirks and an overall condition that any safe queen would envy. This is basically the self-summary I would put atop my Curriculum Vitae were I this particular Junghans Olympic watch.Never say neverA friendly reminder to myself that I once said I will never buy a cushion case watch. To explain, I had two legendary Heuer Autavia ref. 73363, in the Orange boy style and Jo Siffert colors, both sourced locally from original owners. I was never particularly fond of the cushion case, bu...
The Feynman Cove: Live on Kickstarter now
Feynman Timekeepers, an independent from Singapore, is currently on Kickstarter with its inaugural dive-watch, the Feynman Cove. The Cove intends to create a versatile dive silhouette, functional for functional diving, and suitable for wear in all settings.Following the success of its ?rst model, the modern dress-piece Feynman One, the brand returns with it's take on the ubiquitous dive-watch. Choosing to go with a compressor-style case, the Feynman Cove is the result of a year's design and testing.The project was conceived with 3 design guidelines: wearability under all conditions, legibility, and thoughtful lume design. The result is a modern tool-watch which is equal parts functionality, ...
10 Awesome Dress Watches That Were Introduced In 2019
2019 seems ages ago, but we’re only in February 2020 and Watches & Wonders and Baselworld haven’t even started yet (and fingers crossed they will).It gives me some time to reflect on 2019 and think of all the watches that we’ve seen in those 12 months. At first, I thought that not much came out last year, but giving it a bit more thought by putting some effort into reliving the SIHH 2019 and Baselworld 2019 as well as the ‘spontaneous’ introductions (we’ve had many, actually), it struck me that we’ve seen quite some good pieces. As we all know the sports models, available or not, I thought it would be nice to sum-up some of the awesome dress watc...
Christopher Ward C60 Elite 1000
Have you heard about the quick release titanium bracelet Christopher Ward introduced along with the C60 Elite? If you hadn’t already, you just have. You’re welcome. Trust me: It’s going to make your life better.It's easy to get lost in the C60 divers’ watch range by Christopher Ward, but I'm here to help. Unless you're a hardcore fan, I bet you won't be able to recollect half of the brand’s C60 offering. As of now, there are 13 C60 models available online. 13 models ready to enchant your underwater soul. A GMT, a bronze, an 8-day power reserve, hand-etched or blacked-out dials, COSC specs, aluminum or ceramic bezels, even a quartz chronograph movement. You hardl...
Episode 37: Fratello On Air Supposedly Rare And Exclusive Watches
This time, Balazs and Mike welcome a very special guest from the icy North. Fellow Fratello member Jorg Weppelink graces the mic alongside the duo with his thoughts on the current trend of supposedly rare and exclusive watches.Yes, we touch on a topic that’s top of mind for many watch collectors and that’s this idea of rare and exclusive watches. We have so many questions! Is it foolish when we call a watch such as the Submariner “rare”? Would we snap up a steel Rollie at retail? Do we think this current trend of finding scores of supposedly unobtainable watches on the grey market is a bit ridiculous? What do we think about burgeoning brands like MING or Unimatic that...
Finding The Best Omega Watch Designs From The 1970s
As a fan of watch design, I have developed a healthy obsession with the first generation Omega Constellation Manhattan. The Constellation Manhattan is Omega’s biggest icon introduced in the 1980s. But it’s also one of the few introduced in the “decade of decadence”. The seventies is where the true magic of vintage Omega design is for me. Enter another healthy obsession. It’s time to take a look at a selection of brilliant releases from the seventies that have crept to the top of my list of vintage wants.I couldn’t believe it when I read it, but the 1970s have officially been hailed as the most stylish decade ever. Sure, the 1980s are criticized for a lack ...
Gyre SeaCleaner Telling A Recycling Story On Your Wrist
Cleaning up the oceans one watch at a time. That could take a while, but since sarcasm is the lowest form of wit and has never contributed to anything good, I will change my tone. I will serve you an English proverb that says, Even the smallest things are helpful when towards a goal, instead. That's the spirit! It sure is Bernard Werk's spirit, one of two founders of Dutch watch brand Gyre. Werk, a long-time watch journalist and industry veteran, materializes his concern about polluted seas with something he loves deeply and knows a lot about - a watch, made from recycled plastic and powered by light. The Gyre SeaCleaner watch tells a recycling story on your wrist in a most pleasing style.Th...