Hands-On: Oris Divers Sixty-Five 60th Anniversary Edition
In 1965, 61 years after Paul Cattin and Georges Christian founded the company, Oris revealed one of its most iconic models, the Oris Divers. Then, five decades later, it took the form of a heritage reissue called the Divers Sixty-Five. Today, it’s time to celebrate the original’s diamond jubilee with the presentation of the Oris Divers Sixty-Five 60th Anniversary Edition.Oris Divers Sixty-Five 60th Anniversary EditionLast year, Oris celebrated its 120th birthday with a 40mm black DLC-coated Divers Sixty-Five housing its in-house-developed caliber 400. It was a tour de force in many ways and perfect to celebrate the company’s 120th birthday. Although most people love that Or...
Swatch Introduces Rubber MoonSwatch Straps Online
Which strap do you wear your MoonSwatch on? Are you still using the original strap, or have you ordered some third-party options? Well, listen up because, in a surprise move, Swatch opened an online strap store specifically for the Omega Swatch MoonSwatch. The two-piece straps are made of rubber and have a two-tone design, a textile texture on the outside, a Moon-like surface texture on the inside, and a Velcro closure. There are 11 color options, one for each of the original MoonSwatches, and they come in five different sizes.Finally!Let’s be honest: it was about time that Swatch launched a new strap collection for the popular MoonSwatch. The original straps look great, but they are a...
The New Omega Speedmaster Moonphase Meteorite Watches!
It's a tradition! A new Omega Speedmaster comes on a (Speedy) Tuesday, and today, we even get two. Meet the Omega Speedmaster Moonphase Meteorite models, one with a black meteorite dial and another with a gray meteorite dial.Speedmaster Moonphase MeteoriteOmega had a wonderful 2024 with great new Speedmaster releases, and the new year starts with something special! Here, we have a 43mm stainless steel Speedmaster with a moonphase indicator and both Northern and Southern Hemisphere moons.The main dial is a slab of iron meteorite, and the two moons in the 6 o'clock sub-dial are made of lunar meteorite. We saw the latter before on the case back of the 2019 Speedmaster Apollo 11 50th Anniversary...
Finding Your Place In The Watch Community
Welcome back to another episode of?Fratello On Air! This week, we discuss the watch community and how to find a group of like-minded (or differently minded) people within it. Whether you seek to meet people in person or online, there’s even a great option if you don’t live in a major city. For our listeners, the watch content begins after 25 minutes....
New: The Bulova Snorkel Collection In Hybrid Ceramic
After Swatch’s Speedmaster MoonSwatch and Scuba Fifty Fathoms collections, we were waiting for the next Swatch Group classic to undergo a Bioceramic metamorphosis. But now it looks like Citizen Group is entering the competition with its new Bulova Snorkel collection. The inspiration for these Hybrid Ceramic watches comes from the brand’s iconic Oceanographer Snorkel, nicknamed the “Devil Diver” in the ’70s. The four versions derive their names and colors from different ocean creatures, and the affordable divers are water resistant to 100 meters.The vintage Bulova Oceanographer Snorkel is known for its C-shaped case and quirky cylindrical hour markers. While the ...
Patek Philippe Calatrava 5127: When I am old and wise
One of the best designed watches – in my opinion – is the Patek Philippe Calatrava ref.5127. I don’t know what the idea is behind Patek’s reference numbers, as they don’t seem to be logical, but if you want to order one at your nearest (un)authorized Patek dealer it might come in handy. Anyway, I will call it ‘Calatrava’ in this post, without mentioning the reference all the time. Patek has a lot of Calatrava models in their collection, but the one below is the one in particular when I addressed ‘one of the best designed watches’. It has no sharp edges or hard lines in terms of design, the lugs have only this slight bend towards the strap...
Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2 Review
Once in a very, very rare blue moon, a truly amazing piece crosses your way. This is one of them: The Mother Of All Reversos. The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2. A double-axis tourbillon with cylindrical hairspring; reserve de march and date indicators. 373 parts and 58 jewels keep everything turning. Oh, and it runs for 50 hours off one massive single barrel. As you would expect, the case is truly enormous to accommodate most of all the spherically shaped tourbillon; the movement alone is 11.1mm thick, accommodate in a case around 16mm thick. The case is so massive there’s a secondary integrated lock slider near the crown to prevent accidental reversing.Click all images for...
Another OMEGA Speedmaster Co-Axial Caliber 9300 Review
Omega Speedmaster Co-Axial Caliber 9300 ReviewIt’s Speedy Tuesday! Sometimes, it’s refreshing to see other people’s opinions on a watch. On a Speedmaster for example. Today, we give the stage to ?ukasz Doskocz, Editor in chief chronos24.pl. We did a Speedy Co-Axial 9300 Review here before (click here), which was actually the best read article on FW in 2012.The legendary Moonwatch in a brand new – stylistically and mechanically – version. Now with manufactured automatic movement, date and large(r) steel case.Each year, the watch industry produces tens if not hundreds of millions of timepieces. At the same time as many as couple of hundreds (if not thousands) new ...
Hands-on Sinn U212 (EZM16) Review
It is no secret that I have a weak spot for Sinn watches. Although not all of their models are to my liking, the fact that they never fail to deliver interesting and highly functional timepieces never bores me. Today, I have their EZM16 model in front of me, also known as the Sinn U212. EZM stands for Einsatzzeitmesser and means that it is part of their collection of watches that has been specifically designed for a particular purpose. Key features are excellent readability and that the form of the watch is always dictated by the function and handling requirements of the watch. The EZM1 of long time ago (we wrote about it here, 11 years ago!) was the first of this special range of mission ti...
Watch Strap Review Part 17. Rover Haven Straps
This week, I'm butting in on Blaise's territory. As Blaise continues to write about straps from the world over (please, contact us if you're making straps from somewhere in the world we've not yet covered), I've come storming in with another American product. Have I done it because I'm American? Not really. I've actually done it because a reader contacted us last year via email and made a suggestion to take a look at today's featured artisan. Rover Haven is the name of the brand and as you'll see, this was especially exciting to me for a couple reasons. First, the straps are exclusively made in Shell Cordovan, which has to be my favorite material on the planet.?? It's durable, oily and unlik...
H. MOSER & CIE. LAUNCHES THE SWISS MAD WATCH
Not Swiss Made but still 100% Swiss – Holy Cow!The Swiss Mad Watch is unique, symbolic, and irreverent, but most importantly, 100% Swiss and proud of it. With the Swiss Made label for watchmaking revised from January 1st, 2017, to require 60% of components in a watch to be of Swiss origin, H. Moser & Cie. has soundly critiqued the shortcomings of this inadequate label and stands up for true independent Swiss watchmakers. For the Schaffhausen-based Manufacture, whose creations are over 95% Swiss, this label is too lenient, providing no guarantee, creating confusion and encouraging abuses of the system. For these reasons, H. Moser & Cie. has decided to remove the Swiss Made label...
Omega Speedmaster Blue Side of the Moon 52Mondayz, week #3
While the SIHH overpowers the media this week with watches on show there, I thought it would be adequate to give some pushback. Happily, I am allowed to wear the?Omega Speedmaster Blue Side of the Moon to do so. This is the watch Robert-Jan did an extensive hands-on review on two weeks ago, complete with incredible close-up pictures by Bert Buijsrogge. Tip: head over to that review first, if you didn’t already do so.Omega Speedmaster Blue Side of the MoonThe Omega Speedmaster Blue Side of the Moon on my wristAs most has been said and shown on this watch in the above-mentioned excellent review, I had to look for something additional to write about. I found it in the material where the w...
A. Lange & Sohne 1815 Homage to Walter Lange First Look
When Anthony de Haas (Director of Product Development at A. Lange & Sohne) started his job in Glashutte in 2004, he was welcomed by Walter Lange. Walter Lange explained to him that he would like to see a watch with stop seconds, like his ancestors did for their A. Lange & Sohne pocket watches. Last year, in January 2017, Walter Lange passed away and Anthony de Haas thought of his wishes for a timepiece.The 1815 “Homage to Walter Lange” is exactly what he would have liked, ensured to us by Anthony de Haas. Walter Lange actually insisted on having a watch like this for a long time. Now, at the SIHH 2018, Lange presented us this watch with stop seconds in a 1815 case with a ...
Richard Mille RM 53-01 Tourbillon Pablo Mac Donough First Look
Richard Mille must have thought that a watch for polo players doesn’t need a reverse function. Instead, he made sure that the sapphire crystal is simply unbreakable. Six years ago, Richard Mille created their first timepiece for this elegant but hard-handed sport.Pablo Mac Donough (born in 1982) is an Argentinian polo player who won his first tournament age 14 ( Potrillos Cup). Since 2011 he is one of the elite members of the Richard Mille team and in 2012 the first watch for polo was born: the RM053. Limited to 15 pieces only, created after Mac Donough explained the Richard Mille engineers his world of shocks, blows and forces polo players face in a game that sees solid balls launched...
Introducing You To The New Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris
Very often, I use Jaeger-LeCoultre as an example of a brand that is so interesting, yet they have not a single watch for me. The Master Ultra-thin perpetual perhaps being an expensive exception (I wrote about that one here). In 2004 they tried with the Master Compressor Memovox, which I liked at first, but quickly saw that it wasn’t a future classic. I don’t need a sports watch from Jaeger-LeCoultre, but I am also too young for a Reverso as a daily beater.We’re happy to show you that Jaeger-LeCoultre is announcing something that could fill that gap between a dress watch and a sports watch. Meet the new Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris collection. Based on the 1968 Memovox Polaris w...
Meet The Vacheron Constantin FIFTYSIX Collection SIHH 2018 Novelty
This week Vacheron Constantin will present a number of interesting new timepieces, but their focus is on their new collection by the name of FIFTYSIX. Of course, referring to the year 1956 in which they released their iconic reference 6073 watch. A stunning 35mm timepiece with the automatic winding caliber 1019/1 movement, a silver matte dial with applied gold numerals? and dauphine shaped hands. A stunning timepiece from a period in which they made? beautiful dress watches.Vacheron Constantin refers to the 1950’s as the golden age for round watches. There’s little to bring up against that. Below, an image of this reference 6073 that was auctioned by Christie’s over five ye...
Speedy Tuesday GTG Report How To Wear It!
The word is out, the new caliber 321 has been introduced last week during a Speedy Tuesday event that we hosted in Biel. Last week we already published about this movement and shared some of the extra information that was not in the press release. But besides the introduction of this movement, there was also the Speedy Tuesday event in Biel. The second one, actually, as the first Speedy Tuesday event was held already in 2016. Before and in between, we did many more in different places (Dusseldorf, Amsterdam, Noordwijk, London, Munich, The Hague and in Geneva) and we will do more this year, worldwide.Speedy Tuesday Event (II) in BielLast week in Biel there were about 45 of our readers and Spe...
Armin Strom Dual Time Resonance Sapphire From SIHH 2019
Armin Strom strikes again. The Haute Horlogerie manufacture from Bienne has prepared something outstanding for SIHH 2019. A little bit old but also very new. Let me explain: The DNA of the brand (an expression watch brands often use) lies in skeletonizing timepieces. Models Both from their own and other brands collections. This was the time when Mr. Armin Strom himself owned the company. Among other watches, Speedy fans might know that already, Mr. Strom did a platinum skeleton Speedmaster in 1994. Ten years ago, he retired and left the company in new hands. The core of Armin Strom is still skeleton watches but eventually, they went beyond that. They developed a Mirrored Force Resonance move...
Ressence Type 1 Slim From SIHH 2019 Fratello Watches
Baselworld 2014 was notable for many things. released their Pepsi GMT-Master II in a white gold case. Omega rolled out their Seamaster 300, a line that later served as the basis for the James Bond watch in Spectre. Lastly, Ressence, small Belgian watch manufacture came to the market with their first Type watch; the Ressence Type 1. The brand had only been alive for 4 years at the time. They had previous models, but the?Type 1 was the forerunner of their new evolution. A watch that had no crown, thinner case and different lugs than the previous Ressence models. Needless to say, it was a success. Fast forward to 2019 at SIHH Ressence is giving us yet another Type 1 watch. This time it is the ...
Herms?Arceau L'heure de la Lune An Introduction
Herms might not be the first brand to think of when talking high-end watches or Haute Horlogerie, but in fact, some of their watches are definitely belonging to this category. One of them is the new Herms Arceau L'heure de la Lune. Presented to us yesterday at the SIHH, it was by far the most interesting watch of their novelties.Herms?Arceau L'heure de la LuneThere are actually two versions of the new Herms?Arceau L'heure de la Lune?watch, one with an aventurine dial and one with a meteorite dial. Each is limited to 100 pieces and have their own unique number. Both watches enable you to see the moon phases demonstrated simultaneously for the northern and the southern hemispheres. This is...