Fratello On Air: Watch News, First Impressions Of Classic Watches From TAG Heuer, IWC, And Grand Seiko, And Other Rambling
Welcome one and all to this week’s episode of Fratello On Air. As Mike is out of town, Balazs invites Nacho — who happened to be in Germany — to join him for a chat. Today’s installment brings you a loosely structured discussion. The guys talk about their current comings and goings before steering into the topics of watch news and case back engravings. They then wrap things up by running through some first impressions of classic watches from TAG Heuer, IWC, and Grand Seiko.
But before we get into it, you already know it’s time for…
Handgelenkskontrolle (wrist check)
Today, both Balazs and Nacho are fully embracing the stainless steel sports watch. Balazs is wearing his 1967 Rolex GMT-Master, a vintage classic, while Nacho is rocking his Omega Seamaster Professional 300M 2254, a neo-vintage favorite from his collection. And though the topic of today’s show revolves more around watch industry news, these guys are more than happy to go with classics from the past.
Fratello On Air: watch news and other ramblings
As you might have guessed, the main news we focus on in this episode is the release of the new Argon Spaceone. But we don’t get there without touching on some other topics first. We kick things off with a rundown of the watches Nacho packed for his trip to Germany and Italy. In the roll are his 1961 Omega Seamaster ref. 14762, his “franken” Breitling Aerospace F65362, and his Seamaster Professional 2254.50.00. Incoming is a watch from Bremont that he will be writing about soon, but that’s one he’s keeping under wraps for now.
They then move on to talk about Bond watches and Balazs’s own Rolex GMT-Master 1675 (pictured in the wrist-check shot above). Both Balazs and Nacho share a love for vintage Rolex, especially for the lovely five-digit references. This, of course, includes Nacho’s grail, the Explorer II 16570. However, there’s still room for some of the better modern models, such as the current-generation Rolex Explorer II (ref. 226570).
After a brief rant on case back engravings — remember to leave your suggestions in the comments — they talk about the Argon Spaceone. This new releases strikes the same chord as many of its hyper-modern contemporaries from brands like MB&F. Finally, Balazs talks about a book on vintage watches that also share these less traditional shapes.
First impressions
Finally, for your entertainment, Nacho gives his first impressions (you could say that he…reacts) to three classic watches. These are truly staples of their corresponding brands, which he has not had his hands on before.
We kick things off with the TAG Heuer Monaco Calibre 11, a watch that Nacho appreciates, as he does other Heuer icons, like the Carrera, or the lesser-known Jarama.
Nacho then gets a chance to see an IWC that he genuinely enjoys, the lovely Mark XVIII. Though he prefers it’s smaller predecessor, the 38mm Mark XV, this one certainly doesn’t disappoint. There’s a bit of melancholy as both Balazs and Nacho agree that IWC just doesn’t make them like they used to these days.
We then finish things off with the Grand Seiko SBGH277. This high-beat model appeals to Nacho thanks to a lack of a feature that he doesn’t love. Power reserve indicators are a dealbreaker for the man, so this is one GS that he enjoys as much as he did Thomas’s SBGW231.
Which one of the three is his favorite? You can guess in the comments below. But you’ll have to listen to find out!
