Like last year, a word of thank you to my sponsors Steiner in Maastricht, Henrik at SubGMT, Squiggly and Blancier watches. For 2008, 121Time will be added as well.

Next, thanks to all contributors (special thank you to Gerard Nijenbrinks for posting some messages while I was away) and all people who used to comment button Also, to all people who mailed me with hints or suggestions for new topics. I hope to keep up the frequency of posts (at least once a week) like the last few months or even better ;).

2007 has been a bit in the light of Rolex, since that brand got my interest more and more, but I will try to cover a broader range of watches in 2008.

Thanks, visitors of this Fratello blog! Have a great new year’s eve and all the best for 2008!

Squiggly got my attention before, but I’ve recently noticed (I am not that much of a Swatch collector) that they have a Swatch Forum besides their Squiggly Swatch Store. The forum is visited by Swatch enthusiasts from all over the world and besides the ‘generic’ Swatch talk, there is a lot of interest in identifying all kinds of Swatch models.

What I also noticed about Swatches is, althought that they are plastic, battery operated, quartz driven and (normally spoken) disposable watches, most people seem to like them (or the brand). Even the sophisticated mechanical watch collectors seem to have respect for the brand that invented this Swiss made watch in 1982. Perhaps it has something to do with their investments back in the 80s in brands like Omega, Blancpain, Breguet and so on. Otherwise the watch branch would have probably looked totally different than today. Personally, I have my share of Swatches as well. Mostly ’specials’ or ‘collectors editions’, except for the ones that I got or bought in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 2006 I bought the Swatch-clopedia with all models from 1982 till 2006. It is great that these watches get documented that well!

If you are looking for that Swatch you had in 1989 and lost it somewhere, check the Squiggly catalogue. They might have it! Squiggly also carries catalogues from various years, packaging, display materials, the Swatch-clopedia, spare straps, Swatch bijoux etc etc

Photos of the Swatch Fair in Dortmund

Regrets, I have a few, but then again, too few to mention.. One of them is selling my PAM00113, the Panerai Luminor Marina with a white dial. Not a regret because of the white dial, but because the fun I had with the watch. The large size makes it a fun watch to look at and the number of straps you can buy and change should be considered as a separate hobby! Just when I thought I was going to add another Rolex to the collection, I noticed this PAM00000 (Panerai Luminor Base with OP logo printed on the dial) on a Dutch watch portal. I emailed and phoned with the seller, and the deal was done. Last satuday, I picked it up and I can tick off one regret from the (short) list.

As I wrote above, it is a PAM00000 or PAM Luminor Base Logo and it has been produced in 2007. The J-serial number is engraved on the back and properly filled in on the warranty card (stamped by a Dutch official dealer). There are 900 made of this type of watch for 2007. The movement is called the OP I which is actually a modified Eta/Unitas 6497 movement. The movement is therefore about the least interesting feature of this watch Panerai is about history, large watches and changing straps!

I changed the original OEM calf strap to this OEM Croco strap I bought over a year ago for my PAM00113, which I didn’t include when sellin it. Probably knowing I would get myself a Panerai again in the future!

All-in-all, 2007 is a nice horological year for me! Getting myself a Rolex Yacht-Master in stainless steel/platinum and this Panerai Luminor Base Logo, I do not complain at all!! I guess I will be saving up for that Nautilus or Royal Oak Jumbo a bit longer now..

Yesterday, I visited the Düsseldorf watch fair in the Radison-SAS hotel. It is a 2 hour drive from The Hague and (much) more interesting than the Dutch watch fairs. The (quality) level of offered watches is higher and it is watch-only, where the Dutch watch fair also has a lot of wooden clocks etc. Unbelievable, they should separate these things..

Anyway, I shook hands with Ruud Kuiper of Clockwise with whom I dealt with before and he showed me this gold Omega DeVille Hour Vision watch. It is the first watch which features the caliber 8500/8501 (red gold) inhouse movement by Omega. It has been a long time for Omega (early 1970s) to get into manufacturing movements again. This caliber has a power reserve of 60 hours, the co-axial escapement, a date feature and is nicely decorated.

I am really impressed by this watch. The watch case has a diameter of 41mm and features a saphire see-through on the sides make it possible to have a 360 degrees view on the movement. This particular watch was in rosé gold, leather croc strap and gold folding clasp. List price is over 10.000 Euro, but Clockwise has it for sale for 7950 Euro.

A very interesting watch in my humble opinion. I am not into gold (and it is out of my budget anywa), but there is also a stainless steel version of this watch.

Pictures taken by Ruud Kuiper:

Here is the direct link to the watch over at Clockwise!

Not too long ago, I noticed ‘Cult Watches, the world’s enduring classics’ in a window of a book store in The Hague. It is a book by Michael Balfour, whom I think is also responsible for more horological titles.

I flipped through the pages and looking at the pictures and stories of all-time classics (Speedmaster, Submariner, Navitimer, Nautilus, Royal Oak, Tank and so on..) I was immediately interested. However, asking 50 euros (almost 75 USD at this moment) was a turn-off. It is no reference like the Pattrizi books or Mondani books on Rolex, or the Saga book on Omega by Marco Richon. This ‘Cult Watches’ book is a nice-to-read book and I am not paying 50 euros for those

Anyway, when I got home, I checked Amazon for this book and immediately clicked ‘Buy’ when I saw the price. 33 USD, which is quite interesting for us Europeans with the current currency rate. Including shipping costs, it cost me only half the price they asked for the book in the book store. And that was no mistake either, because later on I noticed the book for the same price (50 euro) in another store.

Amazon delivered quickly, which they always do when something is in stock, and after I quickly unwrapped the book and made myself a nice cappuccino. The book covers all the famous brands which have watches that could be categorized as ‘classic’ or ‘cult’ watch.

Brands like Audemars Piguet (Royal Oak), Breguet (Type XX), Cartier (Tank), Hamilton (Electric), Jaeger-LeCoultre (Reverso), Omega (Speedmaster), Patek Philippe (Calatrava & Nautilus), Rolex (Submariner & Daytona), Tag Heuer (Monaco) and Universal Genève (Tri-Compax) are included, amongst other brands and watch models of course. The superb photographs give much detail on the watches. All texts are well written and cover a bit of the brand history as well as detailed information on the models itself.

For this price of 32,97 USD or about 27 Euro (including shipping) this book is a must-have with respect to the bookshelf of every watch enthusiast! It can also be used as a coffeetable book of course, if our S.O. allows you to that is..