Watches Blog Wrist Watch Reviews

Baume Mercier brought one of the biggest surprises during the recently held SIHH by introducing the Clifton. Although Baume Mercier already had sent out press releases to announce this new collection, I didnt want to say much about it before seeing it in the flesh.The Baume Mercier Clifton collection grabs back to their watches from the 1950s. Elegant shaped cases, long lugs with perfectly beveled edges, a domed sapphire crystal and applied numerals and hour markers.The inspiration for the Clifton is clear. 1950s timepieces from their own collection from that era. During my interview (that will be published later on) with Baume Merciers Alexandre Peraldi (design director), Ive learned th [...]

I hope you enjoyed a sunny weekend somewhere outside. And even if you stayed at home in front of the TV, the weekend was very eventful for the avid sports fan. There was MotoGP action from Portim?o in Portugal, the Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton at Anfield, and Formula 1 action from the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy. Plenty to talk about in the coffee corner, but maybe you also want to throw in some watch-related stuff. Well, if the F1 topic lingers on a little too long, you could mention a case of possible mistaken watch identity, the first topic in this episode of Coffee Corner Watch Talk. Anyway, enjoy your coffee and have a great start to your work/watch w [...]

Though the season for ice diving is quickly coming to an end, Bell Ross celebrates those brave enough to dive under the frozen surfaces with the BR 03-92 Diver in white. Winter will not officially be over until the 20th of March. But the days have already started to get longer, and temperatures have begun their steady ascent. Soon, in those places where it is still present, the ice will begin to melt. Lakes will go back to their usual liquid state, as the surface layer melts away. However, in some of the northernmost regions, ice diving was still possible until just a couple of weeks ago. Just as hazardous as cave or wreck diving, ice diving is not for the faint-hearted. With todays release [...]

There are people who wear watches strictly for themselves. The calm and introverted types who, unaffected by hype and trends, go their own way. They buy watches that go completely unnoticed. Kudos to them. But there are also people many more people, I dare say who want their watch to send a message. A clear message, even, of status, prestige, or wealth. But their watches can also be an expression of personal style and taste, and an exuberant person will proudly wear a watch with the same characteristics. The right watch will get you noticed in real and virtual life for all kinds of reasons. Buying status, visibility, and likes for less than 5K is possible. And guess what? You don't need a [...]

Exotic materials titanium, ceramic, and carbon. What do we think of them for our watches? Tune in to the latest episode of Fratello On Air to find out what Balazs and Mike have to say.What happens when two vintage watch lovers come together to discuss exotic materials? Well, we had to open our minds and consider alternatives to our beloved stainless steel. In the first of a two-part series, we talk about materials that find their way to watch cases. Titanium, ceramic, and carbon are in play, and while they arent our favorites, we come up with some suggested models.Getting into exotic materialsAs always, we begin with the Handgelenks Kontrolle. Balazs is rocking his vintage Heuer Montreal and [...]

Fair readers, its time to return with a healthy heaping of Wrist Game or Crying Shame. Last week, we returned after nearly a month away, and I was able to set your pulses racing with a bejeweled Rolex. This week, we look at the Bell Ross BR 03-92. Before we get to thatLast weeks Rolex Submariner Silver Serti was a controversial piece indeed. It brought out plenty of comments, and those included words from column veterans Captain Dean Baker and the almighty Chow Their words and your votes sent this flashy diver down to the seafloor in a 67% Crying Shame result. I cant say that Im surprised, but will you shock me with your thoughts on the Bell Ross BR 03-92?The Bell Ross BR 03-92Ah, Bell R [...]

Only Watch auctions have seen impressive growth in results ever since the start in 2005. The first edition offered 34 lots that fetched 1,907,000 in total. This years 2021 edition brought us 53 lots totaling 28,210,000. Adding up, the Only Watch initiative, in nine editions, raised almost 100,000,000 for research against Duchenne muscular dystrophy. An extraordinary achievement indeed!Only Watch 9th edition Auction ResultsOf course, Patek Philippe didnt disappoint; theyve been the star of almost every Only Watch auction so far. This years entry, lot 41, a complicated desk clock, outclassed its C rather misplaced C estimate of max CHF 500,000 by CHF 9,000,000 and fetched CHF 9,500,000.99% [...]

Why are most watches round? Why not triangles? And for those few watches that aren't round, why are they square? There are more than a handful in the realm of quadrangular watches, but we need only investigate the few with historic provenance, industry-shaking developments, and direct lines drawn from designs already present in time to gain the answers to these questions. These few are, of course, the Cartier Santos, Casio G-Shock Square, and Bell Ross BR 03, all with many variations of their own to explore.Watches are round only for a couple of reasons. (Actually, watches are round for many reasons, but I'm trying to make a point.) First, the circular sweeping of the hands naturally promot [...]

This article is a direct counterpoint to the article I released 90 minutes ago. Whenever Only Watch lights up the internet, we are reminded of one thing: theres no accounting for bad taste. Truthfully, however, what I define as bad taste could be seen as quite the opposite from another mans point of view. Exactly how far apart my taste is from that of the future owners of these watches will become apparent when they go under the hammer in November. Before then, though, why dont we have a bit of fun sharing our candid thoughts on the belowPlease dive into the comments and tell me what you think of the watches featured in this article and the one from earlier today (you can read it here: its s [...]

With the 2021 Formula One season starting on schedule, I check out the watch brands that sponsor each manufacturer. Some of the partnerships are new for this year, whereas some are dyed-in-the-wool. There are even F1 teams without a watch sponsor as the season gets going. But no matter the case, I cover each team and weigh in with my thoughts on whether they are a good fit for the chosen watch brand.Did you check out Episode 6.0 of the Fratello WASP Podcast? If not, open your podcast player of choice, and have a listen as you read along. I made a guest appearance to give a rundown on the first European-originated sport to feature in the series. Previously Rob and Balzs focus on the North Am [...]

All Hallows Eve. My favorite time of year. And Im not alone in this. Watchmakers also revel in putting a spooky spin on their collections. For this weeks Pre-Owned Picks, I am selecting three watches with an occult theme. What may surprise you is how collectible some of these watches have become or will become.Horror films are my guilty pleasure. I am far more likely to select a terrible horror film on streaming services over an acclaimed drama. Many share my deep fascination with horror fantasy, whether that stems from books, art, poetry or motion pictures. Some of the characters within are so ingrained that you can distinguish them from only a few subtle shapes. Konstantin Chaykin uses thi [...]

Its time for This Week in Watches on October 17, 2020 the crisp edition. Depending on where you live, its getting chilly Lets see if we can warm the cockles of your hearts with some new watch news.The Panerai Luminor Logo and Base Logo ReturnI was excited to see that the newest Panerai Luminor Base Logo models debuted this week. These have always been some of my favorites with their manual movements and crisp clean dials. Best of all, the Base Logo models are the most affordable of the 44mm Luminor range. Many of us recall the early PAM000 and 005 models and the newest PAM01084 (Luminor Logo) and PAM01086 (Luminor Base Logo) look nearly identical. They feature matte dials with printed Super- [...]

The full, exhaustive history of watches worn by the British Armed Forces (and all associated squadrons/units/regiments and so on) could fill several volumes. Here we will pick-up on some of the more famous watches worn by the British Army.Nowadays, military watches are incredibly popular for their no-nonsense layout and hardy construction. We often forget that it has its roots in real military conflict. In fact, the advent of wristwatches itself might well have war at its core. The British Army is one of the most famous military forces around the globe. Historic images of British Tommies have romanticized the armys reputation, which, throughout its history, has fluctuated. From the bloody ti [...]

Howdy-do fine folks and welcome to This Week in Watches for May 9, 2020 the Everything Edition. Ive given it this name because weve got quite the smorgasbord of new watches for you. So, grab your plates and hit the buffet!Christopher Ward C60 Sapphire EditionWhen I said we had everything, I meant it. We kick things off with a new Christopher Ward C60 Diver. This 40mm dive watch has a blue dial made from sapphire. With this, the Sellita SW200 automatic is visible. Christopher Ward tells us that creating such a dial takes 20 production steps. Lapping, grinding, and polishing are just some of the measures required to fit this slice of sapphire into a watch case. The watch has a display back in [...]

The new Bell Ross BR 03-92 GREY LUM is the latest addition to the brand's Instruments line.Bell Ross has three major model families, Vintage, Experimental, and Instrument. The latter is arguably one of BR's most iconic model families. Within that, the BR? 03 group is also the largest with 27 timepieces. From steel to PVD, two-tone, and even ceramic one can choose from many different looks as well as complications. The BR 03 line contains simple time-only pieces as well as watches with power reserve indicators, GMTs, and ever-popular chronograph complications. The BR 03-92 GREY LUM is coming to this line with its simple yet unmistakably Bell Ross design. Great size, clean lines, and insane [...]

Hey there, its This Week in Watches for March 21, 2020 and we have some news for you We delve into a concept watch and a couple more made for derring-do.H. Moser Endeavour Centre Seconds Concept WatchH. Moser makes some downright gorgeous watches. Their dials are mesmerizing and Im generally a fan of their case work. The Endeavour Centre Seconds Concept watch fits within a trio of watches on the theme. Theres a tourbillon, a piece with diamonds and this simple piece. The concept moniker means that there is no branding or printing on the dial. The prices on the tourbillon are $65k USD (CHF is the same) in either white or red gold, and $59,900 USD (same in CHF) in steel. What we have here is a [...]

Its This Week in Watches for November 16, 2019 lets do this!Before we get into the new watch news of This Week in Watches, Ill spend a few minutes talking about some observations over the last week.? Last weekend was auction weekend in Geneva with the Only Watch charity event occurring.? If my math is right, the Patek Grandmaster Flash Chime helped raise roughly 82% of the proceeds for charity when it sold for a whopping 31M CHF.? Im really happy for the charity, but if Im being open and honest, that was one unattractive watch.? Still, congrats to the owner and the charity.? Next up were all the individual auctions held by the usual suspects.? This year felt a bit normal as there werent any [...]

After several years of not meeting with Bell Ross, we sat down with the brand at Baselworld 2019 and we found a winner in the new Bell Ross Bellytanker Bronze chronograph.I could say Bellytanker all day long its simply that fun.? That being said, the word belly just doesnt come to the forefront of watch-related names, but here we are with the Bell Ross Bellytanker Bronze chronograph and in our brief time with it, we came away impressed.The New Bell Ross Bellytanker BronzeThe Bellytanker name used in the?Bell Ross Bellytanker Bronze stems from emergency fuel tanks hanging from the bottoms of older fighter planes.? As BRs website also tells us, the name is also used synonymously for salt [...]

As we introduced you to our Catawiki Favorites (Editors Choice) a? few weeks ago already, this time we show you three different watches of our choice: Zenith El Primero Chronomaster, a Bell Ross (by Sinn) chronograph and a Cartier Tortue in gold.This article is a partnership with Catawiki, but our selection consists of watches that we picked and theres no interference from Catawiki regarding the editorial work. If you are not registered on Catawiki yet, we urge you to do so. It is free or charge and will make bidding and marking watches as interesting a lot easier, click here to do so.As always, let me start by saying that before you bid on a watch, you should have done your homework. A lot [...]

Bell Ross is not only producing the rectangular aviation watches, but also has a fine collection of other models like the vintage series and the WW1 and WW2 collection (covered here and here). For me personally, the Vintage BR collection is very attractive as they offer very clean round watches at an interesting price point. Today, I will show you the Bell Ross Vintage BR 123 GMT 24H that Bell Ross sent us just before the holidays.Bell Ross Vintage BR 123 GMT 24HDuring a diner with Bell Ross not too long ago, they showed me a number of new models that were either just released or about to be released. One of the watches that drew my attention was this Bell Ross Vintage BR 123 GMT 24H. [...]