Watches Blog Wrist Watch Reviews

Its Speedy Tuesday and I?could just rant and rave about the newly introduced Speedmaster Grey Side of the Moon with meteorite dial (introduced here) or I could involve the new and much appraised Rolex Daytona 116500LN with ceramic bezel in this article. Lets go with the latter, to add a bit of punch.The Rolex Daytona doesnt need much introduction, we did an extensive bit of coverage here and the Omega Speedmaster Grey Side of the Moon was reviewed in-depth in this article. However, both models I discuss here today are BaselWorld 2016 novelties and seem to be in the same price range (CHF 11,800 Swiss Francs for the Daytona, 13.500 Euro for the Speedmaster). Two?watches?with in-house develope [...]

Unlike the Rolex Daytona, where it is quite common to make a choice between a white dial or a black dial, the Speedmaster Professional comes with a black dial. Most of the time, that is. There are some limited and numbered editions from the past where Omega decided to use a white dial instead for the Professional. In all other cases, you need to seek for Speedmaster models that do no belong to the Professional series (or are a Moonwatch) if you want to have a white dial.With this article, Id like to give you an overview of white dial Speedmaster Professional models.?Let me start by saying that the most beautiful white dial version in my book is the one that they never produced, a prototype [...]

Only a few months ago, Christies had their Omega Speedmaster 50 Auction held in New York City with a 100% selling rate. This time, Christies is having an online auction (that still runs for almost 3 more days) with some incredibly nice Omega watches. Not only Speedmaster pieces, also Seamaster and Constellation pieces for example. There are 26 lots in total, that you can find here, I am not sure why all of them are considered to be rare Omega watches, as some of them can be fairly easy found on eBay and Chrono24. However, some of them are very interesting and in some cases even unique, definitely worth a look.Although one of them is even a flown Speedmaster, a X-33 model?previously owned by [...]

One of the first things that you learn from watch magazines, blogs and collectors is that quartz watches are off limit. They lack soul, they are cheap or at least cheapen the watch and basically cant be taken seriously when youre into collecting watches.Whenever someone asks what my profession is, I tell him or her that I write about watches. Mechanical watches. As this makes the explanation that I am only writing about serious watches redundant. But it is of course not the truth, theres more to this than the movement of a watch. Gerard wrote about his love for G-Shocks a number of times, including in one of the recent You Asked Us features. But what about more expensive watches that have a [...]

Writing that vintage Seiko is very popular is slightly understated. It is huge. It is the brand that allows you to enjoy vintage references (that are even historically relevant) for a few hundred Euro or Dollars to highly sought-after vintage (Grand) Seiko references that will set you back a few thousand Euros or Dollars.Ever since Mike Stockton is writing for Fratello, Ive noticed this in my own collection of watches. The number of (vintage) Seiko watches increased rapidly. It is highly contagious and it will not break your bank.One of the concerns though, that is also shared by our own Fratello watchmaker Paul (who is currently occupied with customizing the trunk of his Maserati, with spec [...]

On the 25th of December 2018, the man who probably had the biggest impact on Seiko's modern history, and possibly the story of the modern watch industry in the 20th century, passed away.Tsuneya Nakamura reached the age of 95 years and a funeral service was held on the 4th of February in the city of Suwa, in Japan's Nagano Prefecture, where Nakamura san spent most of his life serving local industry and economy but also education and arts.Tsuneya NakamuraToday we would like to pay tribute to this emblematic Seiko figure by retracing the life of the man that orchestrated Seiko's phenomenal success in the 60s and 70s.Born on the 8th of March 1923, Tsuneya Nakamura joined Daini Seikosha Kameido ( [...]

Grand Seiko brightens up our morning by introducing no less than 4 new references in their Elegance collection. Not only do they come up with a new hand-wound movement (caliber 9S63), they also introduce you to their new 39mm case design.Lets have a closer look.Grand Seiko Elegance Hand-WoundThis news hit us early this morning (4:20am local time). A new movement is a big thing, as always, and especially when it was already 8 years ago since the last hand-wound Grand Seiko movement was introduced. Today, Grand Seiko unveils their caliber 9S63 movement. A movement with a small seconds hand at 9 oclock and a power reserve indicator at 3 oclock. The new Grand Seiko Elegance watches with this cal [...]

It is the last day of the year, time to share with you the Top 10 best read articles on Fratello in 2018. In total, we published just over 450 posts on watches.2018 was a very important year for us, as we made a number of important decisions for the future of Fratello, which we will tell you more about soon. Also, of course, there was the release of another Speedmaster Speedy Tuesday (Ultraman) which means a great deal to us. We very much enjoyed doing watch reviews (a big thank you to all brands that cooperate with us on that) and hosting watch events (another thank you to the brands and boutiques involved). We will do more events in the future, starting next week actually.For 2019, we hope [...]

Last Friday we organized an event together with Seiko Nederland and Dutch print magazine Watching for fans of Grand Seiko watches. When we announced this Grand Seiko event?a number of weeks ago, our mailbox was flooded with messages from people who signed-up. However, we could only select 20 people as it was decided to keep it small and exclusive. In the end, it was stretched to 22 people that were invited to come to Amsterdam and join us for an afternoon packed with Grand Seiko.Grand Seiko EventGrand Seiko is something you still need to explain to people from time to time. The high quality is evident once you get to handle a Grand Seiko watch yourself, so we thought it would be a great idea [...]

We would like to invite you for an exclusive Grand Seiko event. This will take place on December 7th in Amsterdam and will be organized by Fratello, Watching Magazine, Horloge.info and Seiko Nederland B.V.This is your chance to have a closer look at the Grand Seiko brand and their incredible craftsmanship. Besides having lunch in style, there will be a number of presentations, exclusive Grand Seiko and Credor watches to admire up close and a demonstration by one of Grand Seikos Master Craftsmen with a Snowflake watch.Location: Amsterdam, The NetherlandsDate: December 7th, Start 12:00 (Ends at 16:30)There will be only a very limited number of available seats, so make sure to sign up asap.Plea [...]

Not particularly a fan of quartz, but I dont hate it either. Especially when it is done right, in a special way or with specific functionality (think Breitling ExoSpace or Omegas X-33 for example). The Grand Seiko does not provide digital or specific functionality, but the quartz movement surely is special. In fact, I prefer a Grand Seiko 9F quartz movement over some of the (non-Grand Seiko) mechanical movements out there. So before you click away, because it is about quartz, you might want to keep reading.Some times, quartz can be done in an interesting way, even without digital functions. Like Rolex did with their Oysterquartz movements, it was in production for roughly 25 years (starting [...]

A journalists darling, it seems. I am talking about Grand Seiko. Whether it is here, or on any of the other on-line watch magazines and blogs, when theres a mention of Grand Seiko you hear violins playing in the background. To such an extent, that it becomes implausible perhaps. However, a few months back we took some of our readers with us to Japan to visit their manufactures and at the end of the day, they were all bitten by the Grand Seiko bug.Although it might come across as such, we are not paid by Grand Seiko to tell you these things or write these reviews. And make no mistake, there are also a couple of things we would like to see different from Grand Seiko. Their pricing and distribu [...]

During BaselWorld, Bert Buijsrogge and I had the opportunity to have some alone time with the platinum Grand Seiko?SGBD201 which I called the high-end watch that impressed me most in Basel. Simply a stunning 43mm watch made of platinum with this amazing sparkling dial. The inner works were just as impressive, with Grand Seikos Caliber 9R01 movement. An 8-days movement with a power reserve indicator on the back.When I was visiting Japan in September, with some of our readers, I stumbled upon the rose gold version of this exact Grand Seiko master piece. I couldnt recall that Id seen it before, so I asked Seiko Netherlands to assist me with this and they dug up the initial press information. Ne [...]

In part 1 youve read that during our readers journey to Japan, weve been visiting the Grand Seiko manufacture in Shiojiri. In that location, we witnessed the creation of Grand Seiko and Credor models, using their Spring Drive and 9F quartz movements. We also had a workshop in polishing cases in the zaratsu style and applying indexes on the Grand Seiko dials. Grand Seiko made sure that we not only got a tour, but also received a couple of masterclasses to show how difficult some of the skills are.Grand Seiko Readers Journey Part 2After our first days in Tokyo and Shiojiri, we had a day off on Wednesday. Needless to say that most of us went watch shopping. Tokyo has some interesting places to [...]

Perhaps you noticed the massive Grand Seiko coverage on our Instagram (stories) already, but last week our Grand Seiko readers journey took place in Japan. With a some of our readers (from the United States, Belgium and Germany) who signed up for this trip, we visited the Grand Seiko manufactures in Morioka and Shiojiri.Grand Seiko Readers JourneyWhen I visited Seiko back in 2015, as part of their Seiko Media Experience tour, I got so enthusiastic that I asked our publisher (Ebner Publishing, who also has WatchTime, Watch-Insider, Chronos and Uhren Magazine in their portfolio) if we could do anything like this for our readers. With the help of Seiko Germany and Seiko Watch Corp in Japan, we [...]

Ever wondered why watch connoisseurs are praising Grand Seiko? Or perhaps you are already a Grand Seiko fan and want to learn more about this Japanese manufacture.Together with Grand Seiko, Fratello Watches organizes an exclusive reader's trip to Japan from September 23 to September 29. We visited (Grand) Seiko ourselves at the end of 2015, which not only opened our eyes to high-end watchmaking in Japan, but also remember it as one of the best experiences ever (and we've seen many manufactures). This led to the idea to do a very similar journey for our readers, together with Robert-Jan Broer of Fratello Watches and Grand Seiko.You will be able to see with your own eyes how precise and commit [...]

Last year, Seiko introduced the Grand Seiko Spring Drive 8-Day Power Reserve SBGD001 during BaselWorld, but did not show it to everyone. It was on display, but available to a few markets only. This year, we came prepared and asked them to take it out of the display for us to take some decent photos and fiddle around with it for a while. Nothing much changed about this piece for this year, but as Grand Seiko became a separate entity (and organization), they also changed the dials on existing models. Including on this flagship' Eight-Day Power Reserve in platinum. It is now being referred to as SBGD201 and swapped Seiko' on the dial for Grand Seiko'.This watch has been developed and manufactur [...]

Visiting Seiko at Baselworld 2017 was, once again, an experience marked with numerous new releases and an exciting blend of technology mixed with retro cues. We showed a preview of the Grand Seiko releases the minute the press conference had concluded (which coincided with the embargo lift) and we'll show some more pictures of those here. The focus, though, will be on the watches from the parent brand. Let's take a look.Seiko at Baselworld 2017The Seiko SLA017 62MASThe most eagerly awaited release from Seiko at Baselworld 2017, and perhaps one of the most anticipated overall, was the reissue of the famous 62MAS. We ran, and reran, an article on my original piece from 1965 in advance of the s [...]

It must not go unnoticed, this change at the Seiko Watch Corporation. Grand Seiko is is?now a separate entity and will no longer feature Seiko on the dial of their watches. The Grand Seiko logo will proudly show at 12 oclock on all their watches from now on.Grand Seiko SBGW252A wise move I think, as there was a bit too much confusion at times with three different Seikos on the dial. First there was the brandname Seiko at 12 oclock, below the center pinion youd find the GS logo and Grand Seiko written under that. From today on, it is just the GS logo at 12 oclock and Grand Seiko written under it. But not only that, Grand Seiko will be treated as a separate company. Like what Lexus is to Toyot [...]

And it's that time of year again and we always look forward to the new releases from one of our favorite brands: Seiko. Today, though, we'll give you a sneak peek at the 2017 Grand Seiko Baselworld novelties. Last year, this was a widely read story and we expect you're interested again While we normally refrain from using stock photos, we will have only just walked out of the press conference held by the brand and still have a hands-on appointment in the wings. For now, let's take a look at three new models.The 2017 Grand Seiko Baselworld noveltiesThe 2017 Grand Seiko Baselworld novelties usher in a serious change that seemingly everyone outside of Japan has desired. Quite simply, the models [...]