After a two-week hiatus, Fratello On Air returns with an episode about how we research watches before buying. This is a listener suggestion that likely comes from the southern USA. We know this because the message contained the word “y’all.” Well, giddyup because it’s time to discuss our top tips. For our listeners, the watch content starts after 20 minutes.

Specifically, our listener Adam emailed us and asked how we research watches with little published history. He’s especially interested in how we approach long-dormant brands or those that exist in name only. We’ve danced around this subject, but it’s time to go head-on and share.

Nivada Grenchen Antarctic GMT wrist shot

Handgelenkskontrolle

Mike is in the middle of moving, which caused us to miss last week’s episode. Our apologies! We’d also appreciate it if you’d send your episode ideas because we’ve lost our shared file! We kick off our episode discussing Sneakerness, a recent sneaker event Balazs attended in Budapest. Then, we discuss the recent PAM01655 and our displeasure with the display that reveals an underwhelming movement. For the Handgelenkskontrolle, Balazs is wearing the new Nivada Grenchen Antarctic GMT. Mike is wearing his trusty Rolex Submariner 14060M.

Movado Museum Watch ref. 246-224-085, how to research watches before buying

How we research a watch

There’s no perfect answer when it comes to researching a watch, but we have plenty of thoughts. First, ask someone who knows more about a given watch. Importantly, do this before buying! Next, we appreciate reference sites like Ranfft and other blogs dedicated to research. Old advertisements and catalogs are good but need to be treated with caution if they have hand-drawn illustrations. Sites like eBay and old auction results can provide useful information. We also like Google Images and Instagram. Forums can hold key details even if many images have disappeared. Finally, YouTube is a newer medium that is increasingly useful. The reality is that researching a vintage watch, especially an obscure model, is hard work, and it takes time. The key, once again, is to do this work before buying.

Thanks, Adam, for the suggestion, and thanks everyone for listening. Again, if you have ideas for future shows, please send them our way!

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  5. Panerai
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  7. Zenith
  8. Fratello On Air: How We Research Watches Before Buying