The Best Watches Under $1,000: RJ's Picks
Picking three watches under $1,000 that I think are the best buys in 2024 is not easy. What I always find amusing are comments under articles that say, This list is not valid if it doesn't include brand X, Y, or Z. But I understand comments like these if you're a fan of one of these brands and are convinced these are the best watches money can buy. So I followed the advice in the comments, looked up some of the proposed alternatives, and ended up including one of the mentioned brands.As Thomas mentioned in his article last week, the pre-owned market offers tons of options for great watches under $1,000. For this series, though, we’re sticking to watches with a retail price within this ...
Introducing: The Chronoswiss Pulse One Sand And Blue
Chronoswiss has been on an absolute tear over the past year with novel case designs and movements. Today, the transformative roll-out continues with the most distinct releases yet. The Pulse One models introduce an entirely new integrated case and bracelet design.I’ve been keenly paying attention to the rebirth of Chronoswiss. The brand has introduced new, more modern cases that maintain the DNA of its past watches. The onion crown, coin-edge bezel, and bold dial colors have come along for the ride, but the watches look different in a good way. They’re wearable, and with in-house-designed and La Joux-Perret-manufactured movements, they bring competitive specs. Today’s Pulse...
Introducing: The Latest Watches From AnOrdain And Paulin
Charlotte Paulin is the founder of Paulin Watches, and Lewis Heath is the founder of anOrdain. At the same time, they are also husband and wife. Can you imagine the dinnertime conversations in that household? Or maybe they’re one of those couples who can keep work and private life perfectly separated. Anyway, their brands recently launched new watches within a week of each other. AnOrdain introduced the Model 2 Porcelain with a glossy black dial, and Paulin presented the Zapata Modul in Night and Day variants. All watches have very interesting dials for very diverse reasons.AnOrdain is known for its artisanal enamel dials, so it’s surprising that the brand has now introduced a wa...
How We Feel About Revitalized Watch Brands
Welcome back to another episode of Fratello On Air. This week, we discuss our feelings about revitalized watch brands. The retro trend has been strong for over a decade, meaning that long-dormant names have been brought back to life. Are all successful? Enjoy one of our lengthiest episodes yet. For our listeners, the watch content starts after 35 minutes....
Gallet Watches You Might Consider Adding To Your Collection
I dare say there isn’t another site on the internet where you can find more in-depth articles about vintage Gallet watches. Following yesterday’s announcement about Breitling’s acquisition of the brand, we will briefly look at the most interesting Gallet watches ever produced.I made an effort and counted; over the last six years, I have featured more than 20 Gallet chronographs. If we include Mike’s older stories, you will find about 30 articles devoted to individual Gallet watches. If you want to look more closely at what Breitling bought, you can start chopping through the list here.A fine movementI started collecting Gallet watches for multiple reasons. First, when...
Seiko Ski Monster
Bas van Dorp emailed me a picture of his Seiko Monster. He wore it during his snowboard trip. As you can see, this Seiko Monster is like the Speedmaster Professional with NASA astronauts, worn on top of the (ski) jacket! The large orange dial makes it very easy to read while being in full action!Seiko model: SKX781 K3, a.k.a. Seiko Monster, caliber 7S26 (automatic movement with day-date feature). Water resistant to 200 meters (660 ft). Stainless steel case with a diameter of 41mm (height: 12mm). Just google on ‘Seiko Monster’ and you will find plenty of online dealers who sell this watch for a very reasonable price. The ski jacket is a Lowe Alpine and the gloves are by Ziener....
Bell & Ross WW2 Bomber Regulateur BaselWorld 2012
To be frank, we’ve been following Bell & Ross from the start. It started with their watches with the ‘Bell & Ross by Sinn’ wording on the dial, heavily influenced by the models of Sinn. Nowadays, Bell & Ross clearly have their own identity with the three collections they have: Vintage, Marine and Aviation.During our visit to them at BaselWorld, we sat down with a team of Bell & Ross and discussed their timepieces. We zoomed in on their Vintage collection, and mainly at the new WW2 Bomber Regulateur. Inspired by the time keeping instruments used by bombers in the late 1930s and 1940s, this Bell & Ross WW2 Bomber Regulateur is the third timepiece of the Vi...
OMEGA Speedmaster Professional Snoopy | Fratellowatches
Speedmaster Professional SnoopyIt’s Speedy Tuesday! This week we received one of our favorite modern Speedmaster Professional editions from one of our readers, the Speedmaster Professional Snoopy.The Speedmaster Professional Snoopy pictures have been submitted by Daniel Justin Teo. He is an enthusiastic follower of our Speedy Tuesday topic and lives in Singapore. While growing up, Daniel Justin Teo writes us, Snoopy was one of his favorite characters. This, and the Eyes on the Stars being his personal slogan, makes the OMEGA Speedmaster Professional Snoopy his favorite daily timepiece. Besides OMEGA, Daniel Justin also collects Jaeger-LeCoultre watches.OMEGA Speedmaster Professional Sn...
Omega Globemaster Watches With Live Photos and Pricing
On the press day of BaselWorld (just one day before the official opening), Omega introduced the first watch that will have the new Master Chronometer wording on the dial. We explained the Master Chronometer definition in this article yesterday.Today, we had a closer look at the Omega Globemaster and I have to say that my enthusiasm of yesterday evening during the official launch event was still there when seeing the watch in a more ‘quiet’ environment.The 39mm Omega Globemaster collection will be part of the Constellation family, which makes perfect sense as the Globemaster had a close relationship in the 1950s with the Constellation watches. In a more in-depth article I will exp...
Introducing the Omega Globemaster
We were invited to join Omega this evening on a special event. The exact reason for the press event was not very clear upfront, but seeing the new Omega Seamaster PloProf 1200M with Master Chronometer written on the dial already made us a bit suspicious. Remember our thorough description of the new METAS certification, introduced by Omega last December?Omega told us that the new watches will have Officially Certified on the dial, as it would mean that the watch meets all the (high) requirements, as tested and approved by METAS. Apparently this will change a bit, as the new wording on the dial is Master Chronometer.All Master Chronometer watches will come with this credit card ‘certific...
New Colors For The Eberhard Grande Taille Extra-Fort
New Elegant ColorsThis BaselWorld, four new dial variants of the Grande Taille Extra-fort (reference number 31953) were presented by Eberhard & Co. They expanded the color palette of this traditional chronograph by adding the following combinations:A silver dial with silver subdialsA blue dial with silver subdialsA grey dial with grey subdialsA silver dial with black subdialsGeneral LooksLet me first introduce the watch in general. With its mirror polished case and raised Roman applied numerals this is definitely a classic looking watch with elegance. Due the curved lugs it also fits small wrists. It's powered?by an ETA/Valjoux 7750 chronograph movement?with two counters on 9 and 3 o'clo...
Seiko at Baselworld 2016: The Highlights
In 2015, Seiko upped its international game by bringing some great pieces to Baselworld that, previously, would have been kept solely in the Japanese market. We saw a heavy focus on the Prospex series with new Tunas and a huge anniversary Marinemaster in titanium. This year, Seiko celebrates its 135th anniversary as a company (every year, Seiko finds something to celebrate ending in a 5 or a 0), so the company brought more great novelties. This is in no way a comprehensive list of everything new, but instead a glimpse at some of the things coming our way. Enjoy the look!The Seiko Presage 60th Anniversary with enamel dialSeiko Presage Automatic Watch 60th AnniversaryIn order to celebrate Seik...
Oris Divers Sixty-Five 42mm
Oris continues to be one of our favorite brands here at Fratellowatches. We've come to enjoy the value proposition that their pieces present in concert with great build quality. Last year, at Baselworld 2015, the team loved the Divers Sixty-Five in 40mm with its retro dial and domed crystal. Well, the watch has proven popular, but it's clear that Oris received requests for a larger watch and the answer is now here. Welcome in the new Oris Divers Sixty-Five 42mm.The Oris Divers Sixty-Five 42mm on the wristOris could have easily copied a successful formula by simply upsizing the 40mm Sixty-Five but they decided to reach into their back catalog to a past model in order to find inspiration for t...
The 90s: Back to the Roots: The TAG Heuer Carrera 1964 Re-Edition of 1996
TAG Heuer re-released the original Carrera in the 1990sTAG Heuer's chronographs enjoyed greater success in the mid 1990s than ever before, but there was a growing demand for historical flair. The result was a high-fidelity replica of the Carrera from 1964.After an eleven-year hiatus, the Heuer Carrera chronograph returned in 1996 as a high-fidelity re-edition original Carrera from 1963/64. Only the name Carrera was missing on the dial because of a conflict between brands. The reproduction encased hand-wound Lemania Caliber 1873. The first Heuer Carrera chronographs were still equipped with Valjoux Caliber 72.Ever since the birth of the Carrera, Heuer had always been closely affiliated with m...
Panerai Submersible Bronzo PAM00968 Out NOW
SIHH was just two months ago and yet we have again something awesome and new from Panerai, the PAM00968.The Italian-Swiss manufacture is releasing a new model today; the Panerai Submersible Bronzo PAM00968. As you might remember 2019 is the year of the Submersible for the brand. Their SIHH line-up only consisted of said models, some of which we’ve already featured for you. You can find those articles here and here. Today, however, Panerai is introducing a watch to the market that we have not seen in Geneva this January. The Submersible Bronzo PAM00968 isn’t the first but the latest Panerai that comes in a bronze case. 2011 was the year when the brand came out with their first bro...
The 2019 Gold Speedmaster Apollo XI vs The 1969 Speedmaster Apollo XI
Last week I was super excited to see the new gold Speedmaster Professional Apollo XI that commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing.But of course, it is also a tribute to the original gold Omega Speedmaster Professional Apollo XI 1969 that was presented to President Nixon, his Vice-President Agnew and to the astronauts of Apollo missions. Michael Stockton did a nice introduction article of the new 2019 Omega Speedmaster Apollo 11 50th anniversary and gave an overview (click here to read it) of the original BA145.022 and which numbers were given to which astronauts.I was so lucky to be in Bienne last week when the new Speedmaster Apollo 11 reference?310.60.42.50.99.001 was introdu...
#TBT: The Vintage Seiko Laurel Alpinist
We take a look at the Seiko Laurel Alpinist - the first watch made for the mountain men of Japan.When we think of classic mountaineering watches, the Explorer climbs to the top of the list when someone yells, “survey says!” After all, the “Explorer” - or, at least, it’s immediate forerunner - made it to the top of Everest. But in 1959, the Seiko Laurel Alpinist debuted in order to serve the Japanese mountain men also known as yama-otoko.?I’m no scaler of the alps, but I am pleased to bring you one of these early pieces today.Our First Look at a Vintage AlpinistThis needs to be said up front: If you’re looking for good historical information on the S...
Breitling for Bentley Premier Mulliner Limited Edition
Following the cancellation of the Geneva Automotive Salon and Breitling Summit, during which Breitling had planned to launch the new Breitling for Bentley Premier Mulliner Limited Edition, a new communication strategy was quickly put in place. Unusually, it had nothing to do with the communications department of the brand.You can say what you like about Georges Kern, but since he’s come on board, Breitling has been nothing short of dynamic. That personally-driven dynamism continued as the effervescent CEO “leaked” news of his brand’s latest release via his personal Instagram account. This follows the pattern of the Breitling 765 AVI 1953 Re-edition?announcement. Altho...
NAABS 6: Miami
A couple of weeks ago, a flurry of #NAABS on Stories and Pictures appeared on Instagram and piqued quite a bit of interest from members of the vintage watch community. I kept getting Instagram messages asking: What the hell is NAABS and how do I get an invite?This is what prompted me to write an article and share my experience. I first heard about NAABS from my friend and fellow watch dealer Adam (@mentawatches) a year ago when the event was being held in Indianapolis and he unsuccessfully tried to persuade me to come. In his defense, getting me from Geneva to Indy in the middle of winter for a GTG (get together) was never going to be an easy sell.Then, in November last year, I found myself ...
March Mania Second Round Breitling, Laventure, Lange, And Seiko Left Standing For Mike And Tomas
Roll up, one and all, March Mania has reached its second round! At this stage, our eight competing writers get a rest. Rob and Dave will present our weary warriors’ remaining four watches over the next four days, with each post featuring the winners of two first-round votes.Today we have the four top dogs from Mike and Tomas’s groups. The writers aren’t going head-to-head just yet, so the seedings attached to each watch stay put from the previous round. By the end of the week, we’ll be down to the final two from each initial group of 12 as we barrel towards the showpiece final. As always, what we need from you is simple: vote for your favorite watch and let us know wh...