Omega Speedmaster 60th Anniversary
Welcome to 2022 from Wrist Game Or Crying Shame! This year, things are gonna be great - I can feel it! We will kick off this year hot on the heels of an Omega release from just yesterday! The five-year-old Omega Speedmaster 60th Anniversary is in play. Before we get to it, though…Travel back to late 2021 with me when I showed you the Cartier Ballon Bleu 36 automatic. I really had no idea how that one would go, but the watch took us out on a high note with a 60% Wrist Game triumph! Folks truly campaigned on behalf of that watch due to its comfortable bracelet and lovely looks. I’m impressed! This week, we’re on point - the first week of January is always Speedy week - as we ...
Echo/Neutra Averau 39 Moonphase Exceeds My Expectations
Let me start by stating the obvious: it’s always exciting to add a new watch to the collection. Regardless of the price, scratching that proverbial “itch” is satisfying. It’s even more exciting when you get a new watch with a feature you’ve wanted to have for a while. In this particular case, I am referring to the moonphase. It’s a bit of a useless complication in the grand scheme of things. How many of us genuinely have use for a moonphase complication? That’s what I thought. Nonetheless, the Echo/Neutra Averau 39 Moonphase drew my attention since I first saw it back in March 2021. Now that I finally have it in hand and on the wrist, how does it mat...
Yema Flygraf French Air & Space Force GMT Steel
The first Frenchman shot into space was Jean-Loup Chretien, and on his wrist was a Yema Spationaute 1. The watch was designed in 1982 in collaboration with France’s Space Agency (CNES). That same year, the Soyuz T-6 mission carrying two Russian cosmonauts plus Chretien was shot out of the earth's orbit to board the Salyut 7 space station. Chretien returned to Earth after spending 7 days, 21 hours, 50 minutes, and 42 seconds in space. The Soviet mission made him the first Western European man in space, and it made the Yema Spationaute 1 the first French watch in space. Forty years later, Yema officially renews its connection with space and launches the Yema Flygraf French Air & Spac...
A Look At The Legendary Seiko Historical Collection The Year 2000
When I was writing the article on the best Seiko watches from the 2000s for our weekly Buying Guide series, I came across a special Seiko collection. The Seiko Historical Collection was a special series of seven watches released to celebrate the new millennium. At first, I wanted to include them in the article, but I soon recognized that this would double the length. On top of that, the collection deserves a separate article. Not only does it show the incredible history of the Seiko brand, but it is also a perfect example of creating reissues the right way. I’ll explain why.Watches inspired by the past have become the norm in the watch industry over the past twenty years. Especially th...
Tomas's Watch Resolution For 2023 Focusing On Gallet
This is the story of how I went from collecting everything I liked to a commitment to focus more on one brand in 2023. To frequent #TBT readers, the brand will be no surprise. It is one I hold near and dear to my heart - Gallet.I had a different watch story to share today, but a few hours ago, I got a message from Nacho asking me if I would like to share my watch resolutions for 2023 in this week’s #TBT article. I admit that his question surprised me. Not that I haven’t had any watch resolutions, but I didn’t think about them enough to be clear in my mind or even try putting them on paper. Still, I gave an instant “YES” to Nacho’s question because I consid...
The FlikFlak 3-2-1 Liftoff: A Perfect Gateway Watch For Kids
In this article, I won’t be waxing poetic over our beloved space-flight-qualified chronograph, the Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch. That may well be the lowest hanging, possibly even ground-dwelling fruit for an article on Fratello. Instead, this article is about a watch made by a brand directly related to our esteemed Swiss luxury titan. I’ll be sharing the Flik Flak 3-2-1 Liftoff, a perfect NASA-themed and child-friendly complement to any Omega Speedmaster. I recently gifted this watch to my daughter. I’ll sum up why it was such a fun purchase and give some general insight about the watch itself.If a Flik Flak feels like a miniature Swatch for kids, that’s ...
Pre-Owned Spotlight: Omega Seamaster Diver Extravaganza
As the new year kicks off, I've had an Omega Seamaster on my mind, so I thought I'd put together an article to showcase a handful of the models that I've been lusting after. Who knows? Maybe you'll discover a model you didn't know existed or even find a new favorite to add to your list. Either way, when it comes to making a solid dive watch, Omega cracked the code decades ago. And although the current selection is overwhelming indeed, I think it's always good to look back at some of the recent yet discontinued models. These are often quickly forgotten in favor of the latest offerings, and sometimes that’s for the best. Yet it's within that selection that the future classics can almost ...
Jorg's Watch Resolutions For The New Year
Well, this is a first for me. Honestly, I have never set definitive watch goals and written them down. Maybe that’s an aspect I’ve never considered when it comes to being determined to get the watches I want. So for 2023, let’s start the right way. I agree with Lex that it all begins with one thing and one thing only - writing it down! These watch resolutions will help me set goals for my watch purchases this upcoming year. In previous years, I’ve let go of wants because I have so many other passions that also “require” a lot of money. But this year, the chase for several watches is more specific than in the years before.Watch dreams - we all have them, fr...
Fratello Talks: The Watches We're Planning To Buy In 2023
Lex, Nacho, and RJ discuss their watch resolutions for the new year. We look back at the watches we purchased in 2022 and discuss what we have on our wishlists for 2023. This week, Nacho already made his first purchase of 2023 to celebrate his upcoming 30th birthday. As a bonus, we also have a small contribution from Sinara....
Fratello's Top 5 Current Watches Under $1,000
Another Friday, another Top 5! It might be a new year, but our weekly lists are going nowhere. We completed our Best Of 2023 series last week with our top dress watches of last year. This week, we move on to our regular series of lists covering various topics. In this first Top 5 of the year, we will look at what we feel are the best mechanical watches under $1,000. What five watches would we buy that tick all our boxes? This is our collective answer to that question.It seems like an easy question to answer. But finding the best five watches under $1,000 that we collectively agree on is quite the task. Many of our writers covered personal picks in a series of articles last year. I then wrote...
Seiko 5 Sports GMT LEs For Asia SSK029 And SSK031
It's a small world. No, I'm not starting a Disney song; I'm simply stating a fact. The world is a village. In other words, the two most recent Seiko 5 Sports GMT watches - the Ice Blue SSK029 and the Passion Red SSK031 - might be Asia-only limited editions, but if you set your mind to buying either one of these creations while living in, say, Bulgaria, that should not pose an insurmountable problem. The two newest travel watches from the Japanese watch powerhouse kick off 2024, the unofficial Year of the GMT.If you’ve read Jorg's “The Best GMTs Of 2023” article, you might be under the impression that last year was the Year of the GMT. But you're mistaken. Last year was a wa...
Gerard's 2024 New Year's Watch Resolutions
Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I missed out on our “Most Worn Watches Of 2023” article. Furthermore, at the beginning of last year, I didn’t publish my watch resolutions. But let me correct both issues now and explain my intentions for 2024 simultaneously.Although I didn’t make it public, my idea for last year was to downsize my watch collection in numbers and consolidate it in value as much as possible. And I must say, that worked out pretty well. I sold or traded some watches of lower financial value and acquired some with, for me, greater emotional and/or historical value.What I did last yearBesides the condition of my bank account, there’s hardly a ...
Value In Vintage With The Bulova Wrist Alarm Watch
Hunting for vintage watches is a wonderful pursuit, but it can be full of pitfalls. A mechanical object that is decades old can have all sorts of problems that may be hard to diagnose from an online listing. That is why many of the vintage watches I like to peruse in my spare time are not particularly expensive. I call these “value in vintage” watches. Today, we’re looking at one of my favorites, the Bulova Wrist Alarm. This is an intriguing option for those looking for a mechanical wristwatch with an alarm complication.Vintage alarm watches?I have long been interested in mechanical alarm watches. This complication had its heyday in the 1950s through the 1960s, with notable...
Hot Take: The New And Improved CIGA Design Blue Planet II
The 2021 GPHG-winning CIGA Design Blue Planet is a unique take on time telling. Its domed dial with an engraved depiction of the earth tells time in a novel way. A good design firm rarely rests on its laurels, though, and the Blue Planet II brings subtle but positive changes.I remember the original CIGA Design Blue Planet from our review in 2022. Early in the text, the Seiko Think The Earth Wn-1 was mentioned, a watch I own. That’s a cool piece, but it isn’t easy to service - Seiko won’t touch it. Plus, it wears like the center of the old board game Trouble if that means anything. The CIGA Design Blue Planet II has a similar design, but the watch is wearable with water resi...
Cartier: Jewellery or Haute Horlogerie?
Starting on the 19th of January, the annual SIHH is being held in Geneva. The SIHH, Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, represents a number of fine watch manufacturers like Audemars Piguet, Officine Panerai, Jaeger LeCoultre, Vacheron Constantin and a few more. One of them is Cartier. Cartier once started out as a jeweler and in the 1900s, it was one of the first to create a wrist watch. I think everyone knows (or should know) the Santos-Dumont story.Anyway, I didn’t classify Cartier as being a haute horlogerie brand for a long time. I just recently became interested in the brand, after talking to Treo. Treo is the owner of a dedicated Cartier website called Troisanneaux. Afte...
Give Away For Pilots: PME Leather Pilot Jacket And The RayBan Aviator Large Metal
Have you seen our GMT-Master History article last week? Besides a lot of GMT-Master watches, an airplane and a pilot there were also a leather pilot jacket (by PME) and a pair of Ray-Ban Aviator?sunglasses included in some of the pictures.We are GIVING THEM AWAY for FREE! Thanks to??PME Legend?(Bataviastad)?and?Bon Art opticians?(Houten).The Ray-Ban Aviator pair of sunglasses are considered to be the classic pilot one’s that will (nowadays) suit both him and her. With its green Bausch & Lomb G-15 glasses and gold frame it will perfectly match with every thing in your wardrobe and will protect you from the sun of course.As you can see above, Dennis of the Fratello team is wearing a...
Omega Speedmaster Professional DD145.0022
The 1980s could not be described as the decade with the epitome of good taste. Today’s Speedy Tuesday subject is a typical product of the 1980s, a bi-color Omega Speedmaster Professional DD145.0022. Although the case design, dial and bracelet are those of the typical Speedmaster Pro, the use of materials and colours could be defined as ‘1980s’.Personally, I would not mind owning this Omega Speedmaster Professional DD145.0022 as I am a kid of the 1980s and love these things. They bring back memories of how things were in those days.Omega Speedmaster Professional DD145.0022The Omega Speedmaster Professional DD145.0022 has not been made in huge quantities, but there is no info...
Santos de Cartier A Star Is Leaving the Stage!
The one watch in the world, that has probably been the most wanted, ?most loved, most hated and most copied watch for decades, is without any doubts the Santos’ from Cartier. Of course there have been other famous models by other companies, but no brand has been in the spotlight for so long, with just one model.Cartier Santos Story– Santos 1979 –Cartier’s decision, now 37 years ago, to release a steel/gold and therefor more commercial and affordable variation on their first mens watch, the Santos Dumont, was more or less, a down grade of the prestige Santos Dumont model in 18k gold. It was quite a departure for ?the brand, that used to have a very elegant and classic ...
Hands-On Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Deep Black Review
The Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean collection is over 10 years old. In this article we already gave you some background on the Seamaster and Planet Ocean in particular. A fact you should know is that in 2007, the models were slowly upgraded to Omega’s in-house calibers (8500 and later on, in 2011, 9300). Other improvements were the use of ceramic for the uni-directional diving bezel. Last year in June, Omega suddenly dropped the ceramic bomb on the Seamaster Planet Ocean like they did on the Speedmaster 9300 series and called it “Deep Black”. I was able to wear one for a few weeks, and here are my thoughts about it.Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Deep BlackJust a few months afte...
Chopard Alpine Eagle 52Mondayz, week #2-2020
Last October, Chopard introduced their Alpine Eagle, a new watch with a familiar face. We decided to use our hands-on experience with the Chopard Alpine Eagle for an episode of our 52Mondayz feature.To be honest, I was a bit surprised to see the return of Chopard’s 1980s model called St. Moritz. The Chopard St. Moritz was a watch designed by the then 22-year old Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, now CEO of Chopard. A sporty luxury watch aimed at a new type of clientele at the time, young and successful men and women who enjoyed a somewhat jet set-ish lifestyle. A bit like how St. Moritz is, a luxury alpine resort town which was (in 2014) the second most expensive place in the world for tourist...