Hands-On With The Zero West TT-58
Zero West has a penchant for basing its collection on historic British moments. Specifically, the brand focuses on remarkable events that took place geographically near Zero West’s studio in Emsworth, UK. The South Coast of England has played host to many naval and airborne activities, but the TT-58 represents the Tourist Trophy sports car race at Goodwood motor circuit in 1958. I had the chance to spend some time with the now sold-out 58-piece limited edition TT-58. And with the recent British Grand Prix and Goodwood Festival of Speed occurring in July 2023, I felt it was an excellent time to reflect on my hands-on experience.First, it’s important to note that Zero West is not t...
Hands-On: The New Furlan Marri Disco Volante
After a successful three-watch collaborative effort last year, the guys from Furlan Marri are back, remaining true to their creative nature. Instead of riffing off their existing catalog, the new Furlan Marri Disco Volante genuinely surprised me.Small brands tend to find a stable recipe for success and stick to it. And this is true even as they, like Furlan Marri, move away from the shadow of debut success. But within only three years, Furlan Marri has established a proven track record of retro-flavored moves.The Furlan Marri evolutionIn 2023, Andrea Furlan and Hamad Al-Marri joined forces with Revolution and big-dog collector Auro Montanari, aka John Goldberger. The result was a value-drive...
A Pair Of Movado Sport Models With Borgel Cases
I have handled a lot of watches over the past 30 years. To my knowledge, though, I had never held a Borgel-cased watch until sometime last year. Now I own two Borgel pieces, and they’re worth sharing. Both are Movado Sport models from the ’50s and are lovely regardless of the case maker.My interest in watches from the ’30s through the ’50s continues to uncover fantastic gems. While pieces from the following decades often have case, movement, and dial makers associated with them, case makers feature prominently on earlier watches. Why is that? I think there are several reasons. Tariffs on precious metals meant that local-market case makers were more prevalent. Also, wr...
Hands-On: Delugs Delcro Straps
Last year, I bought a digital sports watch to keep track of my running and rowing sessions. Since I’m very much an amateur athlete, I went with a Coros Pace 3, an entry-level exercise tracker. I got it on a Velcro strap because I heard it helps with adjustability, and honestly, it’s very comfortable and secure. Recently, Delugs introduced a very similar strap called the Delcro, and it’s available in no fewer than 20 colors. I tried them on a few of my watches and will tell you whether I like them as much as the strap on my sports tracker.On the Delugs website, you can find the development story of the Delcro straps. In it, Ken, the founder of Delugs, admits that the inspira...
What Does It Mean To Be A Cartier Man?
Earlier this year, Cartier introduced a new watch for men, Calibre de Cartier. A few years ago, Cartier introduced the Santos 100 to fulfil the demand for a more masculine watch, the Calibre de Cartier is their next-gen masculine watch with in-house movement. And perhaps this new model does the trick even better!I tried on the Calibre de Cartier during one of their events and I must say that I was quite impressed by the look and feel of this watch and perhaps just as important, the price tag. A list price of just below 5K Euro makes this watch an interesting competitor for the ‘usual suspects’ as a stainless steel , in-house Panerai or IWC. However, what does it mean to be a Cart...
Speedy Tuesday Omega Speedmaster Professional 145.022
Omega Speedmaster Professional 145.022This is our 7th Speedy Tuesday and we love the feedback we get from you! This week’s Speedmaster dates back to 1969 and it is a caliber 861 ‘Professional’ watch. It is a Speedmaster Professional 145.022 and while you can get one for a decent price and without too much hassle these days, this particular watch from one of our readers from the first hour has a nice story to it.His father bought an OMEGA watch in the 1960s at this authorized dealer called ‘Siebel‘. It must have been the mid-sixties according to the owner as he brought this watch to the store in 1969 for a service. There is no remembrance of the exact model and y...
Hands-On With The Patek Philippe Calatrava 5227
To a lot of people, Patek Philippe equals mechanical and complex complications such as a perpetual calendar, minute repeater or even a chronograph. However, let’s not forget that Patek Philippe also has a powerful collection of subtle Calatrava timepieces. Today, we will have a look at this Patek Philippe Calatrava 5227. At first sight, the?Patek Philippe Calatrava 5227?seems to be a Calatrava like any other Calatrava you’ve seen, but again it are these subtleties that make it stand out.The Calatrava was first created in 1932 and earned an important spot in the Patek Philippe collection ever since. Their sleek and elegant designs might seem very generic to the untrained eye, but ...
The Elegant Marketing Approach of Louis Vuitton's Exclusive Time Pieces Escale Worldtime & Escale Time Zone
Last year after BaselWorld, I visited Louis Vuitton to see their new collection of watches and I was quite impressed by their high-end collection and absolutely stunned by their new Travel Watch: the Escale Worldtime'. Louis Vuitton stands for traveling and it speaks for it self that the brand had to come up with a great – and different – world timer watch. Well, they did. The presented Escale Worldtime' is in every aspect completely new and unique: a world timer without hands, where all functions are being controlled over the crown! Reading the time on the watch has absolutely nothing to do with any other world timer that is on the market. At first it isn’t really easy, bu...
Design And Win Your Own Limited Edition Stowa Watch
I am pretty sure you are familiar or at least heard about Stowa watches. This German brand is well-known for its classic Flieger watch. The Stowa company, lead by Jorg Schauer, was founded in 1927 by Walter Storz and is located in the German Black Forrest. Stowa currently has about 20 employees.Together with the German on-line edition?of WatchTime, Stowa is in for an interesting design contest. You, as a watch fan, can deliver a design for a Stowa watch until the 30th of July. Mid-August, Stowa will announce the best designs on a shortlist (1o watches). People can vote on the best design and this particular design will be realized by Stowa in a limited edition watch. The final watch will be ...
IWC Mark XVIII Le Petit Prince IW327004 52Mondayz week #29
Most people who know me know that I’m not a huge ‘modern day’ IWC fan. This week two incidents made me have the IWC Mark XVIII Le Petit Prince as 52Mondayz watch for this week anyhow.IWC Mark XVIII Le Petit Prince edition, ref IW3270 04 52Mondayz, week #29The first matter was the news that Georges Kern stepped down from IWC and went to Breitling. Mr. Kern was one of the reasons that I’m not such an IWC fan. After having seen his speech in front of a group of investors, I realised that IWC’s philosophy didn’t match mine. Something which was clear by IWC’s watches of roughly the last 10 to 20 years as well by the way.Models which kept my interest throu...
Watches & Pencils #29 The Seiko Turtle: Legendary Dive Watch
In early 2016 Seiko re-launched their Seiko Turtle with a big wave. In a short time 4 variants splashed in: a black (SRP777), a gilt (SRP775), a blue (SRP773) and a pepsi (SRP779) version (read more here). Later on, some editions were added. For example, the PADI version and the green version. The watch scene embraced the return of the missing turtle, so I decided to dedicate an episode to it. And an illustration:AncestorThe big ancestor is the Seiko 6309. To be precise, reference number 6309-7040 or 6309-7049. It replaced the 6105 series in 1976. It was produced for more than 10 years (from 1976 until 1988) and had a almost identical friend (6306-7000, difference: hacking movement and Kanji...
Red Dial Reverso Tribute Small Seconds A Love Story
When I picked up the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Small Seconds with the red dial at the SIHH last January, I was convinced it is some limited or special edition.At first, I thought I wouldn’t even ask whether this is the case, but as soon as I put it on my wrist, I wanted to make sure. “It is not a limited edition, but it’s for our regular collection.”. Wow. It was my first appointment at the SIHH, and I already was smitten by the first thing I saw. That sounded promising. Unfortunately, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Small Seconds is about the only watch that stuck with me from the SIHH. Although we’ve seen lots of great new watches, the red dial Rev...
Pre-Owned Picks 7 Professional Watches
Most watch enthusiasts seem to have an interest in tool watches. Watches for professional use, basically. Whether that’s for diving, flying, or racing, doesn’t matter.These professional watches often don’t see any action other than desk work or the occasional swimming pool. That doesn’t stop us from having a preference for these watches though. For this article, I selected seven of these professional watches, for different purposes. Most Some I consider classics, but that’s what we like most.7 Professional WatchesLike all Pre-Owned Picks articles, these professional watches are picked from Chrono24. It is the largest market place for wristwatches in the world - ...
Watch Strap Review 43 Straps By Zeigr From Germany
I've been doing Watch Strap Review for about six years now. During this time, we have introduced several new brands to you. Last month we took a closer look at some serious heat from our friends at Two Stitch Straps. It’s always a pleasure to reconnect with the brands we’ve worked with before, but it's equally exciting to learn of a new one. Like the brand we are going to talk about today - Zeigr Straps.I use the name Zeigr Straps although that's not 100% correct. For the German audience, the name might sound familiar. Zeigr is a German watch blog. But it's also a bit more than that. For one, they have their own watch strap, which they sell on the platform.ZeigrWe are not talking...
Doxa Sub 200 Whitepearl Is the Seventh Dive Watch Color (2021)
In an industry already saturated with grey and black-dialed dive watches, it takes a brand like Doxa to make a collector really sit up and take note. The new and evocative Doxa Whitepearl dive watch is a new interpretation of the rugged and retro Sub 200 series a subaquatic watch that extends the brand's relationship with color, now in a 7th shade.It isn’t just dive watches that Swiss-based Doxa is well-known for. There are other strings to its bow that need some recognition, but dive watches are certainly its forte and over the recent years it has become increasingly difficult not to mention its contribution to the dive watch world, especially when speaking of those occupying the mid-...
The IWC Big Pilot's Watch IW501015 "Grasshopper" Green (2021)
You can opt for a BP with a standard black dial with white numerals and indexes or retro-colored ones in the Heritage version - or silver in the Edition Las Vegas, or deep Le Petit Prince blue, if you’d prefer. Of all these dial executions, the IWC Big Pilot's Watch IW501015 is by far the wildest. Unexpected, even, although what once was blue now turns green in the world of watches. Green is THE color right now. So what would you do if you had the choice? Would you go for black, blue, silver, or radiant green instead?There are two types of green in the IWC collection. There are four Spitfire references with a bronze case and a matte green dial that has strong military green vibes. And ...
Buying Guide: The Best Omega Watches From The 1980s (2021)
We like to talk about vintage watches a lot within the Fratello team. While the daily routine is largely focused on the most recent developments in the world of watches, the most fun for many of us lies in the world of vintage watches. It's a world full of history, remarkable watches, incredible stories, and quirky details. It inspired us to come up with a series of articles focusing on the best watches per decade from a select group of brands. Some of them are priceless, some of them still affordable. In this installment, we will take a look at the best Omega watches from the 1980s.While the 1970s marked a time of tremendous change in the watch industry, the 1980s showed the effects of that...
Dear Mido, Bring Back The Melik-Mido
It’s charming, it’s elegant, and it’s playful at the same time. It is so far removed from Mido’s standard production that the brand could reissue it any time. Why we would welcome the modern reinterpretation of the Melik-Mido? Let me explain.I was waiting in line at the airport in Italy after the Mido cliff-jumping event I reported on here. COVID regulations made the procedure more painful than usual, so the line was moving forward really slowly. I happened to stand in a row next to Mido CEO Franz Linder. I had my 1961 Mido Decompression Timer on one wrist and Mido Multi-Centerchrono on the other. Obviously, we started discussing watches. At some point, he asked me, &...
Building A Watch Brand Ep. 10: From Design To Manufacturing
The design stage of the VPC Type 37HW is now behind us. Still, we have done some fine-tuning over the past few weeks, which I am happy to show you. We are now fully engaged in the technical development and the hunt for the right manufacturers. And that has proved to be quite the ride. As with many of the steps involved, this is usually not public, so I am happy to share some behind-the-scenes. Here is a taster of what preparations for manufacturing your first watch entail.But let me start by thanking you for the response I got to opening up on the effect of comments. In the previous article, I shared how all the you should have done X comments can affect my mood. I got a ton of positive feed...
A Day At The Tour De France With Tissot
There's a pro at the wheel. He's going to make sure that I enjoy a day at the Tour de France with Tissot to the fullest. Former French pro bike racer Kilian Patour, who rode for Credit Agricole and Team Garmin-Slipstream alongside the likes of Thor Hushovd and Bradley Wiggins, is going to be the driver of the Audi Q5 in Tissot livery. Driving a car in a bike race requires special experience and skills, and former pros know exactly how to drive, behave, and react on the hectic roads of France. Before the start of stage 13 from Chatillon-sur-Chalaronne to the mountain top of Grand Colombier, there was a bit of time to do some watch spotting - and bike spotting, of course.There are 167 riders r...