Hands-On With All Moonshine Gold Omega Speedmasters
In today’s video, RJ goes hands-on with all three Moonshine gold Omega Speedmasters! That’s right, we gathered all three of the most special precious-metal Speedmasters for a hands-on comparison. Which of these three is your favorite? We haven’t quite decided yet, but one thing’s for sure, all three of them are incredibly cool in their own right. And as much as we like the low-key luxury appeal of the Canopus gold models, there’s something about yellow - nay, Moonshine - gold that can’t be beat!In 2019 Omega introduced its new yellow gold, Moonshine gold. Consisting of 75% gold, 14% silver, 9% copper, and >1% palladium. The material differs from normal ...
The 10 Best Square And Rectangular Watches Today
Square and rectangular watches are different breeds. In the exploration of watch shapes, both occupy a separate space because they look and feel different. In comparison to round, oval, or tonneau-shaped watches, there is something fundamentally different about square and rectangular cases. And as watch fans, we are often able to come up with a few examples of iconic four-cornered watches. But how about a full list? As it turns out, there are some amazing options out there. We have compiled our favorite square and rectangular watches that show the great beauty to be found in these angular forms. The result is a list that is defined by shape but ends up being diverse, serious, and playful at ...
Brick And Mortar: Why It Beats Buying Watches Online
When it comes to clothes, electronics, and things for my kids, I buy almost all of that stuff online. Not watches, though. When I look at the watches in my current collection, there are only two of them that I didn’t buy from a physical store. And that’s simply because they weren’t available at a physical shop in Europe. If they had been, I would certainly have bought them there. Yes, watches occupy a completely different category in my head.Most of the watches that I have bought online without trying them on upfront have already left my collection. But with electronics and even clothes, for example, I can easily buy stuff online without having to return it. I have reflecte...
?Thor's Summer Holiday Watches: Seiko, Vero, Furlan Marri
For me, this summer underlined the need for environmental action as I'm back home in Norway, but the heat is never-ending. At 29C in the middle of August, the summer will not end, and the predictions for the future are simple. The southern parts of Europe will heat up to such a degree that the flow of tourists will reverse, and they will come up north to more temperate weather. With the scales tipping 40C in Italy in mid-July, the signs are already here, so act on them. Now I'll apologize for my Greta Thunberg moment and get back to the subject - the watches I packed for a hot holiday.With my collection in a state of consolidation, you would think it would make for an easy choice. Perhaps ...
British Watch Companies Assemble For The EveryWatch Auction
Auction house Lyon & Turnbull presents an exciting auction for British watchmakers. In partnership with the Scottish Watches podcast and website, the auction offers one-of-a-kind British wristwatches to go under the hammer from August 16C23, 2023. The EveryWatch winning bids go towards the Maggie's Centres charity, which funds free support for cancer patients and their families across the UK. You can see the watches in person at Lyon & Turnbull's Glasgow Gallery, 182 Bath Street, on Monday the 21st and Tuesday the 22nd.Nine watch brands are participating in the auction, each with a pice unique based on its most identifiable model. From the lots below, you can see a strong focus on v...
Watch Strap Review 69 HasNoBounds
Watch Strap Review is back with another banger. From Hong Kong, we have the pleasure of introducing HasNoBounds to you all. HNB - as Kristine, the name behind the brand, refers to it - is a company that bloomed out of friendship. While HNB is only one and a half years old, it already has a rather exciting strap selection. Furthermore, the company is offering watch cases to its audience. Today, we are going to focus on HNB’s strap game, though.We skipped the first two months of the summer only to return before the good weather was gone. While summer might not be the best time to wear a leather strap, any time is a good time to stash up your strap collection, period.HasNoBoundsHasNoBound...
Tudor And Longines Watches: Are The Movements "In-House"?
Okay, let's settle this once and for all. It’s time to end an often-heated debate. Manufacture or not? seems to be the question that needs to be answered when we're talking about Tudor and Longines watches. Does a Kenissi-equipped Tudor qualify as a watch with an in-house movement? And can a Longines with an ETA movement that was specifically and uniquely made for and only used by that Swatch Group brand be considered a manufacture watch? Let's try to find the final answers.Some things in watchmaking are pretty clean-cut. Take Swiss Made, for instance. When you see Swiss Made on a dial, those words carry a lot of meaning. On the website of the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FH...
The Best Watches Under $10K RJ's Picks
During last year’s Watches and Wonders, I repeatedly stated that $10K is the new $5K. This is something that applies to what it feels like you get watch-wise at the given price point. I raised the bar even further to $15K in this year’s Geneva show. For those of us who have been around, it’s a struggle to keep a point of reference, but once you wrap your head around it, you begin to understand the new way things are in the watch industry. And though, to me, $10k feels more like $5k these days, I’ll stick to the $10K price limit that Nacho has requested me to go with today when making my picks.As my colleagues mentioned, a $10K budget gives you access to many candidate...
Hands-On: Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Sport Chronograph
What to make of Parmigiani Fleurier’s Tonda PF Sport collection? To be perfectly honest, I hadn’t really thought about that question before I had a chance to go hands-on with two of the three new Tonda PF Sport Chronograph models. The trio was introduced earlier this year, adding three new colorways to the Sports Chronograph collection. These new colors significantly change the appearance of the watches, especially when compared to the black and white models in stainless steel and rose gold presented last year. As it turns out, they’re a perfect fit for the warm summer months.It’s not every day that you get seven Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda models in for review. Even ra...
Long Term Test Report: Tegimented Sinn Watches
For a long time, Sinn has operated under the radar of most watch collectors, providing functional, robust watches mostly to the military and other similar civil services. Even though the company has been appearing with increasing frequency in mainstream media and advertising, their core product lines are still tool watches. A little known fact is that the original Bell and Ross watches were made by Sinn; including the Space series, and Type Demineur.p style=”text-align: justify;”>Quite a number of years ago, Sinn (together with Damasko, though the history is cloudy) developed a number of ways of hardening cases: first, ice hardening' using thermal annealing techniques, which hard...
Omega Speedmaster Reference 2998-61
The Speedmaster long before it became know as the MoonwatchIt is Speedy Tuesday! Today we have a guest contributor that writes about his much beloved Omega Speedmaster. Our friend from WatchesandArt in Germany has sent us his story on his love for Speedmasters and queste for the right one (CK2998-61).Over the years, I have had different Omega Speedmasters from different periods of time. I started with the famous Moonwatch, an unworn example in 1998 which I kept for over a decade before letting it go. In the meantime, many other Speedies from different periods of time arrived on my wrist, references such as the reference 145.022 from 1969, 145.012 from 1967 and 145.003 from 1965. None of them...
Top 10 Watch Icons
If you are a regular reader of Fratello Watches you probably know that I love iconic watches. The terms watch icons' and cult watches' are used to refer to those timepieces that most of the time have been around for decades and gained a certain importance with regards to design or style. They are timeless classics that have only undergone slight changes over the years, most of which were in regard to small design details or under the hood. Watch journalist Michael Balfour even wrote a book on the subject in 2007 (Cult Watches: The World's Enduring Classics) in which he shows the readers a number of watch classics. This book covers a wide range of watches that have received cult status' for v...
#TBT Yema Daytona Chronograph
Today, #TBT ventures back into familiar territory by, once again, taking a look at a mechanical chronograph. This time, however, we'll talk about a watch from a brand that I really hadn't heard of up until roughly a year ago. I recommended the brand Yema, and its U.S. distribution name Le Jour, as a brand to watch in my Vintage Market Update from a couple months back because the watches combine some great style at a still-affordable price in the increasingly unaffordable vintage chronograph market. Let's take a closer look at one of the brand's more popular pieces to see what it has to offer and also use this week to talk a little about finishing on vintage watches; the Yema Daytona is now o...
Hands-on Review JetPilot JP1 UTC Chronograph
One of the most important attributes a Watch Idiot Savant needs to have is passion. Passion for watches: to understand them, to know where they are coming from, God forbid, passion to create your own brand. Yes, your read it right. This article will be about a brand that has no history in the watch world, yet. The man who gave birth to it chose a totally different profession. By looking at the time pieces he produces you can guess which profession is that. He is Captain Mikls Varga, airline transport pilot, former Boeing 737 test pilot and watch company owner and his brand is:JetPilotThis product ticks so many boxes on my list of things I would like to have in a watch. First and foremost it...
Three Cool Watches Under 100 Euro (Each)
Have you ever been accused of being a snob because of your (expensive) watch hobby? Then he or she probably doesn’t know you well enough, or simply doesn’t understand what your passion for watches is about. My horological heart will tick with more VPH?when I see something nice regardless of the price. As I found myself spending a decent amount of Euros on new straps this week, I also wondered if I am able to find a nice watch for the price of a strap or two.Three Cool Watches Under 100 EuroActually, I’ve found three nice watches that are available for under 100 Euro. Three very different watches, that I consider interesting for three different reasons. Two new watches, and ...
Sinn 155 Bundeswehr "Dark Star" A collab with Revolution & The Rake
Revolution magazine and The Rake magazine collaborated with German watchmaker Sinn Spezialuhren and the 155 Bundeswehr “Dark Star” is the successful result.Successful result? Yes, this watch with a retail price of $2240,- was sold within two hours. The Sinn 155 Bundeswehr “Dark Star” was limited to 150 pieces only.Sinn 155Sinn happens to be one of my favourite watch brands, and I’ve often written here that I regret selling my 142 with Lemania 5100 movement. This Frankfurt-based company makes some pretty stunning watches, and even though the prices do not compare to those in my early years of collecting (which watch does that anyway?), they never lost touch with ...
Back On Stage: The Omega Speedmaster Platinum Moonphase Master Chronometer
Already in 2018, we showed you the new Omega Speedmaster platinum moonphase watches, in green, blue and red. These watches were presented to us on platinum bracelets, with a weight of approximately 500 grams each.We don’t exactly know why those watches (we showed them to you in this article) never made it to the market, but during the Time to Move event for press, Omega showed them once more. This time, with a leather strap and platinum clasp. Aside from the missing platinum bracelet, we didn’t spot any other changes of the Omega Speedmaster platinum moonphase. However, we thought it was time to take one up close and share some of my thoughts with you for this Speedy Tuesday arti...
Round 1. FIGHT! Seiko 5 Street Fighter Watches Pack A Punch
Ridiculous. Ridiculously awesome, I mean. Forget the shark. Seiko just jumped the electric rainbow Space whale (of my own invention). And it is a truly glorious experiment. What am I talking about? Haven’t you heard? The Japanese ideas factory has just dropped six, Street Fighter inspired models into its Seiko 5 lineup. Rejoice. It is a good time to love watches.There are loads of reasons to be into watches and watchmaking. Some of us love fine craftsmanship. Some of us love design. And some of us? Some of us wake up every morning, hoping a press release and the link to a custom-built website promoting the same wares drops into our inboxes that makes us yell, “YES! YES! YES!̶...
Breguet Marine 5517 An Extended Stay In My Collection
What comes to your mind when you hear the name Breguet? Some might think of the inventor of the Breguet overcoil, the tourbillon, or retrograde time display. Others visualize a bust of Abraham-Louis Breguet, the man behind the legend, the grandfather of watchmaking. There might be a few out there who associate the name with a jewel of the Swatch Group crown. But has anyone ever thought of the Breguet Marine 5517? You might, after this article.Breguet is synonymous with fine watchmaking of the highest order. A brand that produces elegant, Haute Horlogerie pieces while paying attention to the typical Breguet elements. The round case with the short, straight lugs. The unmistakable Breguet-style...
#TBT Rodania Geometer And Omega Speedmaster Resemblance Mystery
If there is any watch that resembles the famous early original Omega Speedmaster CK2915 then it is the Rodania Geometer. Or is it vice versa? This week, we shine a light on a long-standing but unanswered question: which of these watches influenced the look of the other? Some collectors say Rodania Geometer dates to 1954, which is three years before the original Speedmaster. But does anyone know for sure…?In September 2018, a Rodania Geometer sold at Sotheby’s for 4,750 (hammer price). Just a few months later, Miller & Miller Auctions (in Canada) offered another Rodania Geometer with its box. It had an estimate ranging from $1,500C2,000. The final price - including the buyer&...