We all love the possibility of wearing a big sports watch or a retro chronograph without worrying about the fragility of a vintage, mechanical grail. Some Gen-Z and Millennial buyers wouldn’t even know what to do with such a thing and might run to the local watch shop if the power reserve runs down. So what’s the trick to getting these people into mechanical watches? Quartz is now cool

The year is just one month old, and Seiko has already graced us with the first string of new releases these past few weeks. While that is business as usual, Seiko surprised me with its latest release. I own a first-generation Seiko “Sumo” SBDC001 that I love very much. While I don’t wear it as much as I once did, the watch has a special place in my heart. That's why I was more th

Once again, Seiko is presenting blacked-out versions of two of its classic models. This time, it’s the Alpinist (SPB337J1) and the Turtle Origin (SPB335J1) that took a dip in the black bath. I have seen the Alpinist in person in many different iterations, and I happen to own the “basic” steel version of the Turtle Origin. But it’s surprising how different familiar watches c

Late last year, I followed my colleagues’ thoughts on how would they spend their $25,000 budgets on a perfect watch collection. I had as much fun reading their articles as you did. Since no one asked me about how would I break the bank, I allowed myself to slightly adjust the brief. What would a perfect watch collection look like for me if I were only allowed to spend my budget on vintage ti

Quartz is having something of a quiet comeback. After decades of scorn and contempt, many have come to appreciate the ease of use that quartz provides. Furthermore, not all quartz watches are the same. Today’s new Grand Seiko SBGX355, already nicknamed “Snowflake Quartz,” uses the brand’s famed 9F62 movement and comes in a highly wearable case. I’ll go ahead and call

Any young watch brand constantly has to make choices about designs, costs, quality, and many other aspects that affect the organization every day. In the case of Serica, a young Parisian brand founded in 2019, elegance, reliability, and accuracy steer the decision-making process. In terms of elegance, I don’t think there was anyone who thought that Serica wasn’t on the right track. How

Daniel Roth is a name that carries weight in the world of Haute Horlogerie. When LVMH, the brand’s current owner, announced its revival back in 2023, it filled us with anticipation and trepidation. Could this work under the umbrella of a big luxury group? Will LMVH do the Daniel Roth name justice? Well, today, we finally get to see and judge for ourselves.We already saw the first renders and

Welcome to this week’s episode of Fratello Talks. Today, Nacho is joined by Morgan and RJ to discuss the topic of watch servicing. More specifically, they answer common questions on the topic, including: when should you service your watch? How often should you service your watch? And how much should you expect to pay for a service? Keeping your beloved watch shipshape is not something you sh

On November 30th, Fratello published my first article about Breitling’s pop-up museum in Zurich, which celebrates the brand’s 140th anniversary. In that article, I covered three gems showcased at the museum under one of Breitling's three universes - Sea. Today, we will cover three essential pieces of Breitling's next universe - Air. Be sure to stick around for the last watch; it rises

We all love talking about GADA (“go anywhere, do anything”) watches. They represent an ideal for collecting and living - that one watch can handle all situations, just as we can. Along with this comes the notion of pairing down what we own and the goal of simplifying our daily lives. If we own just one watch, we get closer to that goal. Doing so has benefits, such as saving money and t

When it comes to G-Shocks, I seek advice from the Wizard of G, our very own Gerard. Balazs is also a devoted fan of the rough-and-tumble digital watches that take a beating and ask for more. Me? I like the watches, but I’m an analog and mechanical junkie. Still, when news of the forthcoming DW-5000R-1A Origin Revival reached me, I knew I had to get one. It recently arrived, and I’m exc

We introduced you to micro brands in earlier articles here on Fratello Watches. Dutch distributor FORaSEC supplied us with a watch from?micro brand Melbourne Watch Company. This Australian owned and operated brand has been founded in 2013 and since then have released watch models Flinders an Hawthorn by using Kickstarter to fund these collections. Their third and latest project was Portsea. The wa

I guess it is safe to say that we are all awaiting for the James Bond Spectre movie to be released later this year. As you know, Omega has been their ambassador since 1995 (“Golden Eye”) with their Seamaster 300M watch. In Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, the Seamaster Planet Ocean took over the role of the Seamaster 300M and in Skyfall, Bond?started to wear the?Seamaster Aqua Terr

With all the stress of the watch shows like SIHH and BaselWorld in our mailbox, we are unable to answer all Speedmaster related questions we get in a timely matter. However, a lot of them concern questions about authenticity and originality. Super-LumiNova or a modern bezel on a 1960’s or 1970’s Speedmaster is an example of the obvious ones, but some times it is difficult to tell wheth

In less than two months from now, we will bring you as much news as possible from the biggest watch exhibition in the world. A couple of brands give us a little sneak preview of what’s coming, such as Omega with their new Speedmaster Racing or in this case, Alpina with their Seastrong Horological Smartwatch. And it is already available!Alpina Seastrong Horological SmartwatchAlpina continues

Recently I bumped into a picture of a vintage watch that I had never seen before. It turned out to be a military watch by Lemania, issued to the South-African Air Force (SAAF) in the 1980's and equipped with an iconic movement. Since it is not a watch you probably see very often, I tried to find out more about it.Lemania 5012 SAAFThe Lemania 5012 SAAF was in use by South African Air Force pilots d

Travel back with me to October 2012 to, of all places, Fukuoka, Japan. I'd been to Japan many times but really only to Tokyo, but work had taken me to the Southern part of the country and I was excited to see something different. Well, it was different in some ways, but in many ways, the litter of small restaurants, electronics stores and, naturally, a large baseball stadium reminded me of the cou

A hook-up for a new strap for our Watch Strap Review feature comes from all sources. Sometimes I search for a strap on the web and new name pops, other times somebody suggests me a company they worked with. This time, I stumbled upon Peter and his amazing company Watchacc on Instagram. It just so happens that we have more than one mutual friend from within the collectors' sphere. So I reach out to

In this new Sunday morning column, 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.

Just in case you are looking for a reason to buy one of those new Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Master Chronometer watches, I will list five of them in this article.If you joined our last Speedy Tuesday GTG in December 2019, the new Moonwatch Master Chronometer wasn’t really a surprise to you. During that event, Omega announced that its caliber 3861 will be used in a new Moonwatch. Those who h