【F】 Taking Our Time Machine Back To 2016

Welcome to another episode of Fratello On Air. This week, we hop into our time machine and travel back 10 years to 2016. As we’ll see, in some ways, this wasn’t so long ago. Yet, in others, it was a different lifetime. Join us as we look back on fonder days.

It seems like yesterday when Mike drove from Frankfurt and stopped in Karlsruhe to pick up Balazs on the way to Baselworld. Interest in watches was already running full steam, but there were differences. Social media was still in its relative infancy, and the Swatch Group was still exhibiting on the big stage with its multitude of brands. In this episode, we mention some key releases from 2016 and share other thoughts from the last decade.

Handgelenkskontrolle

It’s been a while since we’ve recorded, and much of this is down to Mike’s travels in Germany. Sadly, on one of the trips, he had a very Balazs-like travel experience involving planes and trains. If he did have a time machine, he’d probably go back and choose to sleep through his alarm that day. We mention an upcoming Sotheby’s auction featuring a pair of Michael Jordan’s shoes from the Dream Team Barcelona Olympics. Balazs discusses the return of The Night Manager, a show that, coincidentally, has returned after its first season in 2016! For the Handgelenkskontrolle, Balazs is wearing an upcoming release, the Nivada Grenchen F77 MKII. Mike was wearing his Rolex Sea-Dweller 1665 “Great White” in Germany and still has it on his wrist.

Seiko PADI, soap and a Ducati

Taking our time machine back to 2016

Yes, it’s hard to believe that 2016 was 10 years ago! Time flies! In this episode, we’re reminiscing about a year that brought some interesting releases and behavior. Specifically, vintage watches were within a boom period. In particular, a Patek Philippe 1518 sold at Phillips for over CHF 11 million! It was hard for us to believe that watches were achieving these sums a decade ago.

Regarding new watches from back then, many still feel relatively modern, but there’s no doubt that larger diameters and chunkier cases were in vogue. The Blancpain Bathyscaphe Blue and Ceramic is a good example of this, but to be fair, the same basic platform is still in the catalog today. Speaking of big and robust watches, Robert-Jan reviewed the Sinn U212, which still looks fresh. If we truly want to feel old, Tudor was already in its second year of offering non-ETA movements. Omega launched a rare box-office stinker with the blue and white CK2998, a piece that has aged quite well.

Our time machine continues its journey and finds a truly wild release from Hublot. The Big Bang Berluti was available in gold or steel and showed off a leather dial. Seiko, a brand that always brings loads of new releases, announced a partnership with PADI. This caused a stir, with several of us on the team grabbing one of the new models. TAG Heuer announced a Monza PVD, a retro chronograph with a thick case. However, we save the most significant announcement for last. Rolex, after producing steel Daytona 116500LN models with a steel bezel for over 25 years, introduced pieces with ceramic bezels. Understandably, the excitement was palpable and hit Basel like a hurricane. We remark that these watches have been unavailable since that time!

We hope you enjoy today’s episode. Share your watch memories from 2016 in the comments below, and let us know if we forgot any momentous pieces.