Nivada Grenchen is one of those “rebirthed watch brand” success stories. Today’s story, however, comes from the 1950s. First founded in 1926 in Granges, Switzerland, Nivada Grenchen went from strength to strength in the mid-20th century. Pioneering tough self-winding timepieces, Nivada Grenchen was one of the first companies to use the technology in 1930. Unfortunately, like so m

Welcome to another edition of Sunday Morning Showdown! With the smell of fresh coffee filling the room, it’s time for a battle of chronographs - the Breitling Chronomat versus the Omega Speedmaster. More specifically, for this week’s battle, Jorg chose the Breitling Chronomat B01 42, and Thomas chose the Omega Speedmaster ’57. The first is an illustrious chronograph with roots in

When two of the most likable people in the watch industry collaborate on a watch, only good things can happen, right? With collaborations, success is never a guarantee, but the new Oak & Oscar Atwood Wind Vintage Edition is an absolute winner. The only complaint is that so few will be made.Here at Fratello, we’ve covered almost every release from Oak & Oscar, the Chicago-based indepe

Elvis Presley was known to have a soft spot for nice watches. In 2018, Presley's Omega dress watch, made of white gold and with 44 brilliant-cut diamonds on the bezel, was auctioned for US$1.8 million. The watch ended up in the Omega Museum in Biel, Switzerland.Elvis Presley’s Omega watchDuring my last visit to Omega in Biel, they took the Elvis Presley watch out of the display and let me we

Do you like themed parties? I’m not a huge fan but, as they say, different strokes for different folks. Audemars Piguet celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, and although such a monumental moment in the brand's history could well do without a theme, there is one. The theme “AP” picked and explored is ergonomics. It sounds boring, right? Wait until you see what the brand has

We’re back with another episode of Fratello On Air. This week, we’re in myth-busting mode. We’ve seen some silly things on social media, and it’s time to shed light on them. For our listeners, the watch content begins after 25 minutes.

We know Yema as an accessible French brand that offers fairly affordable watches. However, with the introduction of the company’s in-house Calibre Manufacture Morteau movements, its prices shifted upward a bit. To ensure that the watchmakers have enough time to work on the higher-end in-house movements and still offer watches at a more affordable price point, the company now shifts to Swiss-

RogerCP (a TZ regular) wrote a nice review on the Omega DeVille Co-Axial GMT. It is a 18 karat ros?? gold version, but that’s not even the argument why I think it is ‘special’. The watch is only 35mm in size. That’s smaller than the average men’s modern wrist watch.Picture by RogerCPThe review is quite in-depth, not only on the movement (caliber 2628, which is based o

Now that I think of it, it has been almost 8 years since I have this watch. And finally, completed! A few weeks back I noticed this reference 1039 bracelet for sale, which belongs to this type of Speedmaster. According to most sources that is, you are never sure with those vintage Omega watches. My watch left the Omega factory in 1968 (October 22nd to be exact) on a journey to Norway. The referenc

The Omega Constellation Grand Luxe is something really special. Omega introduced the Constellation in 1952, being more or less the successor of the Centenary watch that Omega introduced in 1948 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Biel watch factory. Already being the flagship of the Omega manufacture [because of the fine finish and chronometer movements], the Constellation came in several gr

Omega Museum in BienneIt’s Speedy Tuesday! Although we welcome any type of Speedmaster for this topic, today we have something really rare. No other than the OMEGA Museum in Bienne contributed this Speedmaster for this Speedy Tuesday. This Speedmaster ACP was in their museum archives and we had the opportunity to shoot some photos of it.Speedmaster ACP – Automovil Club PeruanoThe OMEGA

It’s Speedy Tuesday! This week we have this wonderful Omega Speedmaster 105.003 from Georg from Germany and it just returned from the watch spa. He bought all of his watches between 1984 and 1987, merely because he liked the look of them. As this was definitely a period where mechanical watches were out-of-fashion, he was able to pick them up for unbelievable prices. At least for today’

Today's article is a lesson in watch esoterica: perhaps not for Seiko addicts, but I hope to bring some attention to what I think is a significant piece of the company's history. Recently, we featured an article about Seiko's first professional dive watch, the 62MAS. While I made it clear that this is the undisputable first of firsts, the question of lineage always exists. The simple question is,

It was probably in 1997 or 1998 that I did an internship at this hospital for my Informatics study. There was a guy working there who had this stunning titanium watch on his wrists, a Porsche Design. I think it was one of the models done in partnership with IWC, but the memory doesn’t provide?any further details. I do know that he told me he got it for his graduation and longed for that spec

Creux Automatiq has been going from strength to strength, the Aussie born, Swiss brand is proving to be a new force in the luxury watch industry.In late 2015 Creux Automatiq, a boutique watch company based in Sydney, Australia was born. They launched their first Swiss timepiece; the Ghost CA-01. The watch received glowing reviews from critics and industry all over the world. The design focus is av

Since it is freezing cold out here I thought it was the right time to create something which does remind me of more sunny places: a tropical dial!Design versus NatureWe all love and hate certain things about a watch. When a brand launches a watch, every detail has been carefully designed (at least, let’s assume). Colors are an important aspect in this matter. Every brand wants to create the

rOmega has released Apollo XI editions of the Speedmaster since 1969. The first was the famous gold Speedmaster Professional with a burgundy bezel, a massive gold dial with onyx markers, and a gold bracelet. Only 1,014 of these watches were produced. Of them, a number were presented to the Apollo astronauts, President Nixon, and a few more important people who played a role in NASA’s space p

rOmega has released Apollo XI editions of the Speedmaster since 1969. The first was the famous gold Speedmaster Professional with a burgundy bezel, a massive gold dial with onyx markers, and a gold bracelet. Only 1,014 of these watches were produced. Of them, a number were presented to the Apollo astronauts, President Nixon, and a few more important people who played a role in NASA’s space p

Wrist Game or Crying Shame soldiers on this week with a look at the Eberhard Aviograf 31032. We give you the opportunity to get naughty with this chronograph from the noughties. But first…I want to thank Rob for stepping in last week on Wrist Game while I stepped out onto the ocean blue. I’ll have you know that I spent a lot of time chatting with Isaac during my sojourn on the seas, bu

I started Watch Strap Review six years ago, soon after I joined Fratello.I felt that we talk about watches a lot (duh) but some of the accessories surrounding them often do not get enough attention. We featured your occasional watch winder or a roll here and there. However, I thought that the most important accessory a watch should have is a great quality leather strap. We can all agree on the fac