March Mania Preliminary Six: Tomas — Cartier, Seiko, Breitling, A. Lange & Söhne, And More…
Welcome, one and all, to the preliminary round of March Mania 2021, here on Fratello. Are you a watch maniac like we are? If so, you’re sure to love our month-long feature. 96 watches reviewed last year line up for a battle royale like nothing that’s gone before. We need your votes. We want your comments. Help us decide the champion and share in its glory! Let the games commence…
In this round, your task is simple: vote for your favorite watch. Below you will find a selection of 12 timepieces that we covered here on Fratello throughout 2020. Why not refresh your memory by clicking the links and reading those eruditely penned odes to wrist-wear? Once you’ve made your selection, vote using the poll form below. Every vote counts because only the top eight will make it through to the next round.
Login to your Fratello lounge account and drop us a comment. Who did you vote for and why? What’s your prediction for the later rounds? Will the Omega Speedmaster 321 triumph once again… Who knows? You decide!
Cartier Santos Galbée
This one has to be here. Before I held this piece, I swore I would never wear a bi-metallic watch. Just the idea of it made me feel like a forgotten “Gipsy King“. This Cartier Santos that belonged to a well-educated academic before and traveled worldwide proved me wrong. Watch the Roman numerals, blueish hands, and a seldomly seen cardboard-like dial. Full story here.
Laventure Transatlantique GMT
If there is a watch that many of us will regret not buying in 50 years, remember the Laventure. It’s not fascinating due to the never-before-seen diver’s watch concept, but the classy scheme’s execution is very original. I need to touch that bezel soon.
Mido “Rainbow“ Diver ref 5907
A fuzzy confusion can run through people’s minds when they see the Mido “Rainbow“ Diver for the first time. Released in 1961, it’s pretty mad even for today’s standards. The Ref. 5907 with an insanely colorful decompression scale righteously became Mido‘s grail attacking the €10k price tag.
Citizen Challenge Golf
If you think you’ve seen it all, this Citizen might make you speechless. Hold the watch upwards, press the pusher at seven o’clock, and the special colorful counter moves down. If you hold it downwards, the numbers start jumping the other way around. A single video is worth a thousand words. And don’t forget to check the best manual ever designed for a watch!
Yema Superman 63
There is one Yema vintage-inspired re-edition that really gets me. I think I could not resist the charm of the shiny liquid-like bezel that reminds me of all the all-time finest diver’s watches. Look more closely at this watch limited to 1,000 pieces and its big fat lume indexes in a decent 39mm case.
Seiko Astronaut A829-6029 Aka Rotocall
I was so mad about it, I sourced another one a year after I bought mine and gave it to my business partner as a Christmas present. The Seiko Rotocall had the genius idea of switching between functions by a simple bezel rotation only. Your diver’s watch bezel will look boring all of a sudden… And by the way, it was in space too.
Breitling Spatiographe Montbrillant
One of the most undervalued Breitling watches with an unusual 10 minute counter for the late 1990s. The other oddity is the 3hours counter instead of the 12h. They do not pop up so often, but it’s pretty mad that the price tag hasn’t changed much in the last decade.
Rodania / Selectron Permadate
Did you know that the biggest Tour de France champion promoted this Permadate by Rodania? I was as surprised by this as I was when I saw the crazy weekly calendar 2084/2086 movement developed by A. Schild. A genuine idea packed in an interesting case.
Ernest Borel Flash
Forgot your phone at home? Light up your mechanical watch from 1959. Ernest Borel filed the patent for an electrically lit watch first but entered the market too late. Yet, in comparison to the world pioneer Tourist Everlight, the Ernest Borel Flash wins in many aspects.
Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk Date
I always felt that A. Lange was oddly too traditional, as novel as their overall style was. However, the Zeitwerk Date changed that forever. A big industrial gig, bold and confident. It’s a cyborg watch that came from the future to show us all how it should be done.
Sperina Regulator
If there were a book titled Greatest Examples of Horological Madness, you would definitely find the Sperina Regulator in it. Do you see the extra crown and the +/- scale with a tiny hand on the dial? Well, it allows you to regulate your balance wheel directly through the case. Please don’t ask me where or how I find these…
Louis Erard × Alain Silberstein Regulator Watch
If there were a call for the most natural collaboration of last year, I would say Louis Erard reaching for Silberstein. Silberstein got rid of all the glitter, and now you can have “him” in the purest, almost naked form. It’s loud in its originality. For me, it’s the best Silberstein watch design ever created.
If you were expecting a mad mix of twelve vintage watches, I probably let you down today. I selected a crazy mix of six modern and six vintage watches. I am really curious to see if you break the balance and move more vintage or modern pieces into the second round.
So now it’s over to you! We want your votes but we also want to hear your thoughts. Better still, by sharing them with us, you’ll put yourself in the running to win either a LIC leather watch strap or (drum roll, please), the HAMILTON INTRA-MATIC AUTO CHRONO. Yes, that’s right, as Karina detailed in her post, we will be giving away one of Hamilton’s most popular models for one lucky commenter. How do you win? Comment on the March Mania tournament as often as you can, engaging with other readers, helping to create a happy community atmosphere. The best contribution will be handsomely rewarded, so what are you waiting for? Let your voice be heard!
