Watch Cufflinks
For the watch lovers amongst us who have to wear a suit every (working) day, this might cheer you up:I saw these at the Public Forum at TimeZone.com. I don’t know where to get them, but if you do a quick search on eBay or Google, you might get lucky. Have seen a few cufflinks with a working watch inside, but not with this moonphase feature ??Anyway, at least leave the tie bar at home. Unless you drive a bus. ??...
Patek Philippe 5970
Steve S shows his 5970 in white gold on the Paneristi Forum.Congrats on the watch Steve!...
Patek Philippe 5970
Steve S shows his 5970 in white gold on the Paneristi Forum.Congrats on the watch Steve!...
Stowa Airman
My longtime watchfriend Bas van Dorp informed me that he just ordered the Stowa Airman. Stowa was also present on the Watch 2008 event in Maastricht, but I must admit that I skipped this brand because I don’t like their bauhaus style watches. They remind me too much of Nomos. And I prefer Nomos if I’d wanted a Bauhaus style wrist watch.Stowa is a brand founded in 1927, by Walter Storz. After their factory was destroyed in Word War II (February 1945), Herr Storz immediately started building a new factory in Pforzheim. During the war, there were only five companies that made official/original pilot watches. These were IWC, Lange & S???hne, Laco, Wempe and Stowa.Just like the o...
Watch Review: Linde Werdelin SpidoLite II
Linde Werdelin sent us the recently introduced SpidoLite II timepiece for review and we were very happy to give it a spin. This light-weight successor of the SpidoLite, introduced in 2009, was suddenly there and based on the same complex case construction as the SpidoSpeed chronograph. Superb engineering, supreme craftsmanship and extreme sports are some of the phrases that Linde Werdelin use for this sports timepiece. So, what would make a better duo than……a Porsche 911 and a Linde Werdelin SpidoLite II? On a rainy Wednesday, we took the car and the watch to Airport Lelystad in The Netherlands and since all flights got cancelled due to bad weather, we asked control tower if we c...
KUKI Works Watch rolls for the masses?
Our loyal readers know that we have a strap review series on Fratello Watches. We publish a new strap maker once a month and do a little review on their products. It was during one of these hunts for a new participant that I came across the work of KUKI Works. These guys don't produce watch straps but watch rolls. The one thing instantly caught my eyes was the fact that the blokes are really down to earth. No fancy website, no lavish crocodile prints and most importantly no crazy high prices. What you get a lot though, are colours. Kuki Works has a very impressive line up of the most colourful watch rolls you can get on the market for a pretty handsome price. I mean where would you get a wov...
CT Scuderia Salt Flat Racer Watch review on FratelloWatches
I am sure most of you remember that in July we had a survey at FratelloWatches in connection with our birthday anniversary. Many of you guys thought that we should deal a bit more with smaller up-and-coming brands and you also gave us a few ideas regarding these companies. One watch house many of you have mentioned was CT Scuderia. We are here to please you so we took the survey pretty seriously and I am happy to announce that the first CT Scuderia watch review has arrived. I am sure there will be many more to follow. Let's have a look at this brand and the watches they produce.CT Scuderia Salt Flat Racer 60 ReviewCT Scuderia is a relatively young brand and the watches they offer look quite ...
Watch Strap Review Part 16. LD Watch Straps by Uglai
Before we look at our last strap for the year let's look back a little bit on what has been one of the most successful series on Fratello Watches, besides Speedy Tuesday and TBT. I started Watch Strap Review over a year ago as a monthly article featuring some of the best craftsmen in the business. We have published 15 articles so far (this one obviously being 16) and had strap makers literary from around the world. You can see a little map below of all the different countries we have featured on the series. As you can see there are still dark spots meaning we can't stop, won't stop. 2016 hopefully will be just as busy as this year was. We are trying to find you some more amazing guys and we ...
Speedy Tuesday First Series Omega Speedmaster CK2998-1, an absolute grail watch
After collecting and hunting down Speedmasters for many years now, I can say that my personal grail would be a Speedmaster CK2998-1. To me, it represents the Speedmaster in its best form. Black bezel, leaf hands, straight-lug case and caliber 321 movement. Unfortunately it took me some years to find out, and once I did, I also realized it had become very expensive.Omega Speedmaster CK2998-1Only two years after the first Omega Speedmaster was introduced, it was time for the Bienne company to come with?an update. Although the first Speedmaster, reference CK2915, looked quite similar to the CK2998 in some of its last CK2915-3 executions, you could say that the CK2998 was the first Speedmaster g...
Hands-On With The Bravur BW003
Sweden is the land of Ikea, Volvo, Saab, Nils Holgersson but also of a few watch companies, including Bravur. Based in the capital Stockholm, Bravur was founded in 2011 by Johan Sahlin and Magnus??ppelryd. Two industrial designers by trade, who wanted to design and create a watch that stands out from the crowd, have a great price-quality ratio and targets on an audience that can’t identify themselves with the pilot, divers and racing watches that are out there in large numbers.According to themselves, they wanted to create a watch with the urban fashionable audience in mind. To be honest, that almost made me cringe a bit. But, I also understand you need to have some mission statements ...
#TBT Citizen Jet Auto Dater A Dress Watch with a Unique 1960's Movement
Today on #TBT, we'll take a brief look at what I think is an unheralded classic in the Citizen Jet Auto Dater. Most would probably take one look at this watch and dismiss it as yet another anonymous Japanese dress watch in the same way that most ignore ubiquitous three hands and a date watches from Swiss brands. But a look inside and a closer examination of the details reveal that there's a bit more to this Citizen than meets the eye. This story isn't completely about a movement, but it's certainly the star of the show.I've admitted in past articles that I'm a sucker for falling into rabbit holes when searching for watches. Whether it's on eBay or a certain Japanese auction site, these compa...
Montblanc Star Legacy Moonphase 42mm Hands On Review
Moonphase watches are among the most elegant timepieces with complications that are available for a relatively affordable price. A simple classic three-hand watch is perfect for most occasions when you need to dress smartly. A moonphase, however, adds a touch of elegance even to that, elevating the watch to another level. At least this is how I look at it. I've had my fair share of moonphase watches in the past from Leonidas to Omega Cosmic and beyond. Certain sporty pieces, like a Speedmaster Pro, also bear this complication. Lastly, watch icons such as Patek Philippe's 5970, my exit watch, has a moonphase indicator too. I associate the name Montblanc with such elegance. This is why I reall...
Pre-Owned Picks AP, IWC, Omega, Patek Philippe and Seiko
After all the violence last two weeks of Pre-Owned Picks, we will go a bit into another direction with watches from Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe in the selection of this week.Not picking the obvious pre-owned Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Jumbo and Patek Philippe Nautilus (Jumbo), but something a bit more under the radar with this 26300ST Royal Oak chronograph and a Calatrava 5096J. But, we also did a few picks that are more wallet-friendly (and yes, this is also relative) for you. In any case, all are watches that I admire. Two of them (actually three) used to be in my collection but had to make room for something else. In close collaboration with the world’s leading watch market p...
Hands-On With The Oris Art Blakey Limited Edition
In their Artelier collection, Oris regularly present limited editions of watch models that are dedicated to jazz musicians. Now I would like to explore one of their latest additions to this family together with you, which is dedicated to the drummer and bandleader Art Blakey. A dress watch, providing some surprisingly creative links to drumming.To me, this watch is of particular interest because I am a drummer myself. Even though I am not playing a conventional drum set, but a Djembe, and I am playing traditional African music instead of jazz, the design of the Oris Art Blakey Limited Edition offers some details, I easily can connect with. Furthermore, as drums form the base of the vast majo...
Sunday Morning Showdown: Battle Between Bond Watches From The Movies
In our Sunday Morning Showdown, two of our writers go head-to-head in an epic showdown for the ages. Strong opinions and hysterical hyperbole are welcome (so feel free to join in with the fun in the comments section below). And don't forget to let us know which watches you'd like to see torn to shreds/effusively exalted next week. We'll try and feature as many of our readers' choices as we can. After the excitement of our Speedmaster World Cup, it’s time to get back into the groove of the Sunday Morning Showdowns. And this is quite a special one. For the final SMS of this year, two iconic Omega James Bond wristwatches go head-to-head.Well, that was a body blow. We waited five years sin...
Hands-On: The Norqain Neverest Night Sight Is A Killer
Did I scare you with the header? No need to be frightened. Yes, the murdered-out Norqain Neverest Night Sight is a “killer”. But “murdered out” is just another way of saying “all black”, and it's a killer just like you have killer songs. The watch is a silent creature of the night, that moves around in the most stealthy of ways. Nevertheless, it put a loud song in my head; but more on that in just a little bit. It also never left my wrist once I put it on. It hides during the day and comes out glowing at night, thanks to its fully luminescent dial.Maybe you already read Jorgs's introduction of the Norqain Neverest Night Sight. It's quite elaborate and will...
Top 10 Watches Of 2021
In the past, watch brands presented their new watches during the two major shows. One of them doesn't exist anymore (Baselworld) and this year, the other one was done digitally (Watches & Wonders, previously known as SIHH). I think I speak for the entire team and all my media colleagues when I write that we miss these shows a lot. However, we also noticed that brands are quite flexible and decided to release their watches throughout 2021, not only limiting them to one of these big events.It has been tough to travel this year due to the never-ending pandemic, but luckily, brands adapted and often sent us watches under embargo or made individual appointments with us to show the watches in ...
Hamilton In 2021 An American Brand Blossoming In Switzerland
It's been a while since Hamilton's operations have been conducted from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, but the spirit-of-liberty style flows through the veins of Switzerland's most American brand. What I think the brand has done very well in recent years is streamline the DNA of its collection. Ten years ago, it had ballooned in too many disparate directions to make any sense to me. Now, though, we have a wealth of functional field models, which are the brand's biggest recent success, in my opinion. We have a raft of highly technical pilot's watches, which are an essential element of the brand's character. And last but not least, we have an easy-to-understand selection of timeless American classics...
Ten Years Of The Omega Speedmaster Dark Side Of The Moon
We are now in the final stretch of 2022, but instead of looking back on this year’s Speedmaster releases, which we already covered last month, I thought it would be nice to see what kind of milestones we’re having in 2023. One of them is the 10th anniversary of the Omega Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon.The Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon was quite a game changer, and not just for Omega fans. Suddenly, all my -wearing friends were eyeballing the other brand from Bienne. This Speedmaster not only featured a full-ceramic case but also a ceramic dial. The watch was, dimension-wise and movement-wise, the same as the 44.25mm Speedmaster Co-Axial Chronograph Chronometer that Omega r...
Hands-On: Robot Minor Emerson Fittipaldi Limited Edition
The young Czech brand Bohematic has had a lot going on this year. To appeal to a more worldwide clientele, the guys behind the brand decided to change the name to Robot. And to get some attention, they partnered with the legendary Formula One driver and launched the Robot Minor Emerson Fittipaldi Limited Edition.“He is driving like Fittipaldi!” my dad used to shout when someone overtook our slow car at such a high speed that the only thing we could see was the swirling dust. I was little, and I could barely pronounce Fittipaldi. My father, however, was just three years younger than him. After I did some math, I realized that when I heard my dad shout his name, Fittipaldi had alre...