Watches Blog Wrist Watch Reviews

In 2021, Omega updated the iconic Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch with the caliber 3861 movement. A very good reason to update our Speedmaster Buyers Guide as well!This guide dates all the way back to 2014, and since then, a lot happened. Not only did we have our own way with Omega and the two Speedmaster Speedy Tuesday watches (in 2017 and 2018), Omega also introduced a number of interesting Speedmaster watches to the collection. What about the Speedmaster Calibre 321 from 2020, or the new Moonwatch Master Chronometer models in gold? Time for us to update this Speedmaster Buyers Guide.In this Speedmaster Buyers Guide, we give you an overview of the most important references of the Speedm [...]

This weeks MotoringExposure article on watches is about Omegas Speedmaster Missions case. There is one ( 34) up for sale on eBay for $145,000.- USD and as this is a very rare occasion, I thought it might be well worth blogging about. Of the 50 cases produced in total (in three batches of 40 and another 5 in 1997 and yet another 5 in 1998), this Missions case belongs to the first batch. These cases consist of 22 Speedmaster Mission models (with NASA mission patch at 9 oclock) and 1 Speedmaster Replica to honor the first Speedmaster CK2915 of 1957. So, in total, $145K USD will bring you 23 timepieces, a loupe, a spare caliber 1861 movement and a nice case.Click here to go to my more in-depth a [...]

Actually, there are two Top 5s. One with watches in the more affordable range and one with watches that should be considered extreme haute horlogerie. Since I joined Ernie Romers of Watchuseek during BaselWorld, Ive put both Top 5 lists in the BaselWorld forum at Watchuseek. Click here to go there.Here are two teasers from both lists. In the extreme haute horlogerie list, I only picked two established brands and one of them is Patek Philippe with their Perpetual Calendar Chronograph ref.5270. With a price tag of approx. $155,000.- USD definitely not for everyone, but for those who can You need this watch. Period.In the other Top 5, I picked Omega as one of the brands with a model worth ment [...]

Besides a new Limited Edition Speedmaster Professional to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the 1971 Apollo 15 mission (restricted to 1971 pieces), Omega unveiled their latest addition to the Speedmaster family. The Speedmaster Omega Co-Axial Chronograph. Youve read it correctly, it says Speedmaster OMEGA Co-axial Chronograph. The emphasis is clearly on their new chronograph in-house caliber 9300 and caliber 9301 movements with co-axial escapement, or as they say in Switzerland L chappement Co-Axial.The difference between the caliber 9300 and 9301 are in the finish of the movement, where the 9301 should be seen as the movement with a luxury finish like a 18ct red gold rotor and balance bridg [...]

I remember Omega introducing the Speedmaster X-33 in 1998 with a digital display, it took me a while to start breathing again. Omega labeled this Speedy the Mars watch, ready for the next landmark in space traveling. Sadly, Omega thought it was necessary to introduce a From Moon to Mars Speedmaster Professional as well, the fugliest* Speedmaster in my humble opinion.This is probably one of the Speedmaster models with the shortest production number ever, since the X-33 Mark II was introduced shortly after, because some NASA or professional users of the watch complained about the high polished parts on the watch. The price of an Omega Speedmaster X-33 is increasing rapidly over the last few ye [...]

Omega made a lot of weird and funny looking watches during the 1970s, I guess the Seamaster ref.145.023 is one of them. It has been introduced in a black ceramic version and a high polish tungsten-chrome finished version, both from the early 1970s and identical in terms of dimensions, used movement and rarity. Chronograph legend Chuck Maddox nicknamed the tungsten-chrome Seamaster ref.145.023 as being the Anakin Skywalker Seamaster and the black finish model as the Darth Vader Seamaster. On his website, he described the two watches in detail (click here).Today, I noticed that a German watch dealer has a Anakin Skywalker Seamaster for sale, in very nice condition and complete with Omegas Warr [...]

Watch Report is a Dutch magazine about watches and their fourth edition has just appeared in the stores. Watch Report has nice cover stories and their coverage on novelties is quite actual for a magazine on paper. One of the subjects in the latest copy is a top 3 of all time favorite watches, given by Watch Report readers. The result is no surprise, but personally I would have thought that place 1 and 2 would be vice-versa.So, here it goes, the Top 3 of watches (of all time) by Watch Report:1. The Omega Speedmaster Professional. Watch Report pictured a ref.105.002-62, caliber 321 model. However, since I dont have one, here is a picture of my own 145.022-67 caliber 321, on a ref.1039 bracelet [...]

Some collectors or watch afficionados will tell you that the only good Omega watches are vintage Omega watches. In my opinion, they do have a point in terms of looks and value. Vintage Omega watches are the rising stars on watch auctions and who doesnt want to own a very early Speedmaster?As for the modern Omega watches, a lot of eyebrows are being frowned, but the fact that Omega is stepping up the ladder cant be denied. Creating their own in-house movements (again), making watches with complications and spending huge amounts of money on their marketing machine. They want to be or perhaps are already in the league where they wanted to be for a long time, stepped away from brands like Long [...]

Omegas Speedmaster family comes in many different variations, but always with that special Moonwatch DNA. In the 1990s and early 2000s, one of the popular Speedmaster models were the Speedmaster Automatic Reduced watches. One of our friends, Andreas S. Gregoriades sent us photos of this wonderful Omega Speedmaster Day-Date Mk40 Triple Calendar watch.Omega Speedmaster Day-Date Mk40There were a number of Speedmaster Reduced models (click here to read our Speedmaster Pro Moonwatch versus Speedmaster Reduced article), but these Triple Calendar models were to me the most exciting variations. This particular Omega Speedmaster Day-Date has reference 3520.50 and was introduced in approximately 199 [...]

Every Wednesday is Watch Wednesday at MotoringExposure, the blog for fast super cars and exotic cars. Although the watch related articles are most of the time less in-depth than the ones posted here at Fratellowatches, they are still worth reading for the intermediate and advanced watch collectors.This week, it is all about the Omega Seamaster Professional Diver 300M, also known as the James Bond watch in times of GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day and Casino Royale. Although the SMP in GoldenEye was a quartz movement driven watch and the Casino Royale featured the more recent Co-Axial version, these watches are basically all the same (with some minor op [...]

From the press release by NAWCC:On September 10 2010, the National Watch and Clock Museum will unveil for the first time a complete collection of all eight James Bond wristwatch models provided by Seiko UK These eight watches have been identified for the Bond Watches, James Bond Watches exhibit by Mark Mills (former Technical Support Manager with Seiko UK).? Mills was Eon Productions contact person at Seiko from 1977 through 1985.Dell Deaton of JamesBondWatches.com and Guest Curator for Bond Watches, James Bond Watches, was given unprecedented access to documentation and Mark Mills' personal recollections with the support of Seiko Watch Corporation in Tokyo, Japan. Prior to Deaton's initiati [...]

Omega Speedmaster Soyuz ApolloJuly is the month of Omegas Speedmaster watches. Not only the Moonlanding will be celebrated (on the 21th of July 2:56 GMT), also the last Apollo mission which dates back to July 1975 is celebrated. The ASTP (Apollo-Soyuz Test Project) consisted out of a number of joint scientific experiments, but was of course mainly meant to see whether combined (manned) missions between two super powers would be possible in the future. Mission ASTP started on the 15th of July and returned on the 24th of July 1975.Now, I think that my track record on blogging and writing about the Omega Speedmaster models is something I can be? a bit proud of, but I never took the time to do [...]

This is not an elegant dress chronograph, this is a bruiser of a tool watch and likely will not fit under anyones shirt cuff unless you have a wrist the size of Michael Jacksons and are wearing Arnold Schwartzeneggers shirt. Chuck Maddox (27th of May, 2003)Photograph by Chuck MaddoxA few weeks ago I was in New York City and met with Bill Sohne (collector of fine time pieces and moderator of the Omega forum of PuristsPro) for a coffee and a small chat about watches. We discussed a lot of watches, including this Omega Seamaster Professional Chronograph in titanium (ref.2298.80) he bought, also known as the SeMPC Ti. Bill told me that during his long friendship with the legendary Chuck Maddox, [...]

In 2021, Omega updated the iconic Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch with the caliber 3861 movement. A very good reason to update our Speedmaster Buyers Guide as well!This guide dates all the way back to 2014, and since then, a lot happened. Not only did we have our own way with Omega and the two Speedmaster Speedy Tuesday watches (in 2017 and 2018), Omega also introduced a number of interesting Speedmaster watches to the collection. What about the Speedmaster Calibre 321 from 2020, or the new Moonwatch Master Chronometer models in gold? Time for us to update this Speedmaster Buyers Guide.In this Speedmaster Buyers Guide, we give you an overview of the most important references of the Speedm [...]

Introduced during BaselWorld 2009, the Omega Seamaster Ploprof 1200m (ref. 224.30.55.21.01.001) is slowly hitting the stores and becomes available for the large public. This remake of the original Omega Seamaster Professional 600m/2000ft that was introduced in 1971 (after 4 years of extensive test work) is in my humble opinion one of the best that Omega did so far. Remakes are dangerous, collectors are most of the time insulted by them because there is only little left of the original details, and buyers of modern watches often dont get all the fuzz and dont like the old-fashioned design. This Ploprof 1200m is probably pleasing both groups.The Seamaster PloProf, with its impressive dimensi [...]

Alon Ben-Joseph of AceJewelers.com friend of the show did a very nice video review on last years introduced Omega Speedmaster Professional 40th Anniversary Limited Edition.I love this version of the Omega Speedmaster Professional. The logo on the dial and special case back make it worth buying over most other limited edition Speedmaster Professional models. I have seriously considered buying this watch after it was presented during Baselworld 2009, but since I have had a few of these Speedies and cherishing my Speedmaster Professional pre-Moon caliber 321 the most anyway, I went for something completely differentEnjoy the video and dont forget to give some feedback on it! [...]

Fluted bezels are not a Rolex exclusive. Omega puts a fluted bezel on the Constellation Globemaster, for instance. But still, a bezel with multiple facets reflecting light has an inescapably strong Rolex vibe. But did you know that back in 1927, the Minerva Manufacture in Villeret made a fluted bezel? Well, it did. And in 1939, the brand produced a chronograph with a rotating fluted bezel with a red marking on it. And that last bezel is back. During Watches Wonders 2022, Montblanc presents the Minerva Monopusher Chronograph Red Arrow LE88. And in the same Montblanc 1858 collection, the brand also launches a new Geosphere travel watch with an extra chronograph function, plus an icy cold dive [...]

In the first installment of this new podcast series, Balazs sits down with Davide Cerrato from HYT. The two talk about Davides career as a world-renowned watch designer in the industry.If you are a fan of the Fratello On Air podcast, first of all, thank you. Your support means a lot to us all, who sit down week after week to research, record, edit, and put out new episodes for your listening pleasure. I consume a lot of podcasts myself, so I know how it feels when my phone notifies me about a new episode from one of my favorite channels.But we do want to evolve the show, so we came up with the idea for the Meet The- podcast series. Today, were bringing you an exciting inaugural episode highl [...]

What better way to make the most wonderful time of the year even better than by giving your watch-loving loved ones some of the coolest goodies out there? Big budget or small budget, the Fratello Watches Holiday Gift Guide has you covered. With picks ranging from 15 Christmas decorations from NOMOS all the way to 730 for the Bennet Winch watch roll (and above), there's bound to be something for everyone. So check out these carefully selected picks from our editors and treat your loved one (or yourself) to one of these great gifts. 'Tis the season after all!You may notice that some of our editor's gift ideas below have already been covered on the site this year. And if that's not testament th [...]

Laurent Lecamp has a background in the luxury industry but began his career in fine watchmaking in 2010. As of January 1st, 2021, he is the managing director watch division at Montblanc. I sat down with him, virtually, and recorded our conversation.Lecamp likes to get his hands dirty. He founded independent watch brand Cyrus in 2010, basically doing everything from sales to development of the collection, finance, marketing, etc. Then he started at Carl F. Bucherer in 2014, becoming the CEO for the Japan market and board member. Lecamp stayed there for nearly six years until January 1st of this year when he joined Montblanc to become the Managing Director of the watch division.Montblanc 1858 [...]