Considered Louis Erard's flagship collection, the Excellence welcomes a new model to showcase the heritage brand's highly popular pursuit in metiers d'art collaborations. In a limited edition of only 99 pieces comes the Excellence Marqueterie boasting a micro-marquetry dial in four shades from two types of wood. Painstakingly handcrafted with surgical precision by renowned artisan Bastien Chevalie

After January, Watch Strap Review took a break. As you might have seen (or heard if you tune in to Fratello On Air), I’ve been busy with other things, including our new Fratello Nivada Grenchen Racing Chronograph watches. But I’m back with another brand, this time from France. Atelier Romane has been on my radar for a while now. So I contacted the folks there, and they were happy to su

Blue, black, silver panda, reverse panda, and salmon dials in an authentic re-edition with a 38mm case… Will the Vulcain Chronograph 1970’s get your attention?I stopped keeping track of re-editions, and I suggest that you stop counting too. They keep coming, which implies that the market is not overfed with them. What really puzzles my mind is the question of why one single car manufac

Fratello On Air is back again this week, and although we are late, we are here! This episode features several topics, including a new Vulcain chronograph, the Speedmaster bracelet, TrueDome crystals, and small watches. It’s a conversation you won’t want to miss!

Yema is a brand that continues to surprise us by releasing new chronographs every few months. Each new collection takes inspiration from a car race, an iconic person, or a famous automobile. The last one is the inspiration behind the new Rallye 5 Turbo. This mechanical chronograph is encased in 39mm of steel and inspired by a famous French car, the Renault 5 Turbo. As a Frenchman and a watch enthu

Some brands have a certain style, cachet, and image that set the tone for our perceptions of them. Neither nor AP would have the cachet they have today without a diver's watch and a certain octagonal bezel. For most brands, the halo models fit nicely within their collections. But with the storied Swiss brand Ulysse Nardin, there is a high-tech, evolved twist. This is the origin and evolution of t

Both Longines and Seiko are well-established, long-standing names in the watch industry. That’s why it makes sense that they give their signature dive watches such imposing names as Legend Diver and Marinemaster. We thought it would be a good idea to put these revamped classics up against each other. Why? First, they’re both based on and inspired by older watches from their respective

The Code is growing on me. It wasn't exactly love at first sight, to put it mildly. Still, with time and, more importantly, some much-needed significant cosmetic changes, I'm warming up to the watch that wasn't just hindered by a seemingly lazy dial design and somewhat ridiculous name. Last year, I had a most pleasant experience with an automatic model in pink gold with a blue dial, and this year,

Last year, I asked, “Can we appreciate the Submariner as just a great dive watch?” That question and article sparked a lot of debate. Today, I am asking a similar question of the Submariner’s spiritual competitor, the 42.3mm Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Automatique.“Icon” is one of the most overused terms in the watch world. The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms is one of the few d

This year, Citizen celebrates the 30th anniversary of its The Citizen line. That may sound surprising, but it’s because the brand’s top-tier watches haven’t always been available globally. Little by little, though, we’re seeing more of these creations that often feature uncommon dial materials and highly accurate movements. Today, we’ll look at two limited global rele

If you’ve ever been to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center recently, watched the Apollo 13 movie or.. even better.. witnessed it yourself, you know that the NASA astronauts used to have a strong preference for Chevrolet Corvette sports cars.The picture above shows the Apollo 12 crew with their beloved Chevrolet Corvettes. Astronauts Charles Pete' Conrad Jr., Richard Francis Gordon Jr. and Alan

It’s Speedy Tuesday! Just a few days before BaselWorld will start and Omega unveil the new Speedmaster Professional 45th anniversary Apollo 11 limited edition. At least that it was we suspect they will be doing besides demonstrating the new Omega Seamaster Master Co-Axial Chronometer. Just before doing so, we would like to grab your attention for the discontinued* Omega Speedmaster Professio

Baselworld 2014 was an odd one for TAG Heuer. After a long period of focus on the avant garde, the brand hit the show with the force of a minor neutron bomb with the introduction of its forthcoming CH80 chronographs.? The CH80’s wowed the crowd with their blend of clean, classic good looks coupled with a modern in-house movement and semi-reasonable pricing. Soon after Basel, though, the firs

Last week,?Vulcain introduced?two new colors for the 50s Presidents Classic series. It's the most basic variant with three hands and a date at 6 o'clock. Let's do a quick review to discuss the highlights of this watch.More OriginalityVulcain introduced the Presidents' series to create a classical and formal watch, but with these new colors they try to transform the watch in a more unique and less

Baselworld is a funny place. You have the big brands, the smaller brands and, then, you have the little surprises. Appointments are often back-to-back, but we sometimes find ourselves with small blocks of time that aren't really long enough to make it back to the press center but not short enough to walk directly to the next meeting. Sowe wander. And so it was that we stumbled upon Dodane a brand

Longines Heritage 1945I can comfortably say that this year is about time-only watches. Not that we did not see any three-handed watches the previous years but the amount of coolness the brands present this year in this segment is remarkable. Omega (Railmaster), Montra (Triumph), Tissot (Ballade) or Nomos (basically any 2017 novelty) are just a few brands to mention with such watches. There was how

This year Nomos added?some pretty funky additions to their collection. The Nomos Club Neomatik now comes in several colors: signalblau (blue) and signalrot (red). Let’s have a look.Nomos Club?Neomatik MovementThe watch is powered by the in-house 3001 DUW movement with the Nomos Swing System. It does have a power reserve of approximately 42 hours. The exhibition caseback reveals the movement

Tudor brought two heavily praised stars to Baselworld 2018, the Black Bay GMT and the Black Bay Fifty-Eight.? We’ve covered those pieces over the last couple days and the response has been overwhelming.? What you probably haven’t noticed – and few have discussed it – is that the brand brought something else to the show that I quietly enjoyed.? It’s a bit polarizing, b

Last week, we showed you press shots and gave you a rundown of the new Doxa SUB300T Poseidon Edition. To recap, Doxa chose to reissue a very rare yellow Divingstar model that contained the Poseidon logo on its dial.? Poseidon, as a refresher, is a longstanding innovative dive equipment from Sweden.? The original pieces from 1969 likely number in the handful range, but Doxa is giving us 500 of the

There’s no doubt about it, the Oris Divers Sixty-Five is a bona fide hit.? When it was first released in 2015 in 40mm guise, it received near-universal praise and it has received continuous additions and updates since that time.? Currently, there are numerous dial colors and the case sizes available include the new 36mm diameter, a 40mm version and even 42mm variants.? Today, though, we̵