Video: Hands-On With The Bvlgari Octo Roma Worldtimer
We spend a lot of time talking about the Bvlgari Octo Finissimo on Fratello. Quite frankly, it’s because we love that line dearly. But the Octo Roma line has a lot to offer also. In fact, while the Finissimo is truly groundbreaking, for some people, its incredible thinness can be a bit too much. The Octo Roma has that same Roman flair, but with a bit more muscle backing it up. Let's take a closer look at the WorldTimer version today.It isn't uncommon for a brand to labor away for years and years in the shadows, doing all the right things and getting none of the credit it deserves. Oftentimes, it takes one moment, one seminal release to make the watch-loving crowd sit up and pay attenti...
A Brief History Of Time: Hamilton Watches
When I started my watch journey 16 years ago, Hamilton was a brand to which I instantly felt connected. There’s no doubt in my mind that was thanks to my grandfather, who was a lifelong enthusiast of the American railroad. He was an honorary member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, and he had an unrelenting passion for trains and anything related to them. His entire Cleveland basement was filled with locomotive memorabilia, including lanterns, bells, signals, and, yes, watches. Though he collected many brands of American timepieces, Hamilton watches were his favorites by far. Even my grandmother, who knows and cares little about watches, can vouch for my grandfat...
Watches we are most looking forward to in 2023
There are some watches we know will come in 2023. Then there are a few we expect to come. And finally, there are the watches we hope will come out this year. On the first day of the new year, we will present you with a small list of predictions, expectations, and far-fetched wishes. There will be brand and watch models celebrating nicely rounded off birth years, for instance. The Omega Seamaster turns 75 this year, for instance. Did you know the Daytona has been around for six decades this year? Seiko has reached the honorable age of 110. And both the Swatch and the G-Shock celebrate 40 years of fantastic plastic watches. But there are also predictions based on releases, rumors, and unfulfi...
Baffling Watches Of 2023 Flukes Or Flops?
We're going to leave it up to you this time. You be the judge. To put the watch year 2023 to bed, we're going to present you with a selection of watches that caught our attention last year. Some are surprising, some are baffling, and others are both. In any case, these are watches that kept haunting us and creations that we can't quite put our fingers on. Are they brilliant or bogus? Strokes of genius or lucky hits? Flukes or flops? You decide.On the first day of the new year, you probably don't want to read a long story that analyzes a watch or a trend in timepieces. We get it. Therefore, we'll present you with a very simple story looking at some of the most surprising and/or baffling watch...
On 2023 And What 2024 Has In Store For Fratello
Happy New Year, everyone! I wish you and your loved ones all the very best for 2024, and hopefully, all of your wishes will come true. Before I give you an idea of what will happen here on Fratello in 2024, let me take this opportunity to reflect on 2023.In early 2023, I purchased one of my “watch resolutions for 2023” pieces, the Breguet 7027Goodbye, 2023Let me start by saying that 2023 was a great year for Fratello in general. We published 1,547 stories on the Fratello website, and our audience grew tremendously. So we thank you very much for not only reading our articles but also for leaving your thoughts in the comments below them. That's very much appreciated.Not an incredib...
Grand Seiko Releases From 2024: A Condensed Guide
Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you celebrated in style last night! As you may know, every year, we recap all the Seiko and Grand Seiko releases we covered here on Fratello. Last week, we published an overview of all the 2024 Seiko releases we wrote about. This time, we’ll focus on the Grand Seiko releases we covered in 2024. As we all know, with a stream of reference numbers as names, it can be hard to remember which watch is which. That's why we created this overview of all the Grand Seiko goodness of the last 12 months.Grand Seiko celebrated the 20th anniversary of its Spring Drive-powered watches in 2024. Due to this, the brand graced us with several new Spring Drive releases, rem...
Introducing: The Longines Ultra-Chron Carbon
With the new Ultra-Chron Carbon, Longines continues bolstering its already impressive lineup. Plus, the watch features the brand’s first-ever carbon fiber case. This is a beautiful dive watch with an outstanding movement.Longines reintroduced the stainless steel Ultra-Chron in 2022, and it was praised for its 36,000vph movement and design, which evokes the 1968 original. Now there’s a new variant. The Ultra-Chron Carbon follows a similar form but looks strikingly different.The Longines Ultra-Chron CarbonThis watch uses the brand’s first carbon fiber case and pairs it with a titanium crown, bezel, and case back. Due to this, the 43mm by 48mm diver weighs just 80 grams. A dom...
Hands-On With The 'Blue Side Of The Moon' Omega Speedmaster Co-Axial Master Chronometer Moonphase
Happy New Year! Let’s kick off this first Speedy Tuesday feature with some awesome photos done by our very own Bert Buijsrogge. We received the Speedmaster Co-Axial Master Chronometer Moonphase “Blue Side of the Moon” recently, and we thought it would be fun to show you some details.Blue Side of the MoonIt started with the Dark Side of the Moon in 2013, an awesome and surprising piece coming from Omega at the time. Using their in-house developed chronograph movement (caliber 9300) in a full ceramic watch. The success was amazing. Not only did it sell very well, it was also very much appreciated by the collector’s community. A tough crowd, as you know.? What happened n...
Hands-On With Two Hamilton Intra-Matic Smoked Dial Watches
Christmas is always that perfect time to wear a dress watch. Or better said, the time you realize you really need a dress watch in your collection. Last Christmas, I was actually prepared and instead of wearing my Speedmaster or Submariner, I found myself wearing a dress watch almost the entire holiday period. Of course, you don’t just purchase a (dress) watch to wear it during Christmas only, but I can think of more appropriate occasions where you might prefer a more classic watch over a sports watch. Then, there are people like my younger step-brother for example, who wear a dress watch every single day of the year. It is not for me personally, although I do wear my Globemaster a lot...
You Asked Us: Is vintage watch maintenance necessary?
Again a rather complicated issue, when should one service or overhaul vintage watches in a collection? Mark sent us the following question on vintage watch maintenance.You Asked Us: Is vintage watch maintenance necessary?From: MarkSubject: Vintage watch maintenanceMessage Body:Would you recommend a maintenance schedule for vintage watches? Even if they seem to be running fine and have not been serviced for many years?I have a small collection of watches, some of which have not been serviced for 25 years but seem to be running fine. Would you suggest “preventative maintenance” or should I adhere to the philosophy “If it works, don’t fix it”?A clear question, howe...
Ghost Dial Buler Wrigley's Watch
I read about this complication a few years ago, but never stumbled upon it. Until last summer, when I accidentally found a Buler in a Royal Oak-styled case.It's early 2020 and most of us are refusing to accept the fact that Christmas is over. So I thought I might take it easy on you and offer a bit of vintage fun. To cheer you up before getting ready to dive back into your daily job routines. Flipping through my archive, I stumbled upon a really unique mechanical piece. It's not the movement, it's the idea again that amused me so much. Twice a minute, or 120 times in an hour, the dial is visible for a few seconds only, otherwise clouded in darkness. Maybe it's too daring call it a complicati...
Hands-On with Christopher Ward C65 Trident
The dressiest diver you can get. Limited edition Christopher Ward C65 Trident with an in-house movement that runs for five days. It looks as impressive on pictures as it does when reading the specs. Impressive enough to make me ask the Christopher Ward representatives to send us one of the 150 limited edition pieces for a hands-on review. They did send one and after 2 weeks on the wrist, I am just as impressed.Christopher Ward C65 with a power reserveSince I can remember I've been fascinated by the power reserve complication. Yes, some might consider the complication a bit fancy and/or superficial. Some question its relevance in an automatic movement. I too have phases where I forget about m...
A Perfectly Useless Afternoon Watch By Mr. Jones
Are you afraid I got heatstroke? Well, who hasn't these days… The moment I bumped into A Perfectly Useless Afternoon Watch, I fell in love. Despite the fact it's a quartz watch. The amazing lugs and a witty dial are a great reminder to overheat from all the hard work and to just have an easy time during this exhausting period. Let's take a break.When I met my wife, she already had two watches in what has since become a bulging collection. The first one was (and still is) a Cartier Tank. The other one was a funky quartz watch by Mr. Jones Watches that she fell in love with during her studies in London. I said WAS, because since weve moved to our new place, we are not really sure of its ...
Laventure Sous-Marine Hands-On Dive Watch Review
My fondness for the Laventure brand is, by now, probably well-known. I’ve been an avid supporter of Clement Gaud and his watches since I first stumbled across the Laventure Marine on Kickstarter what feels like an eternity ago (it was actually June 2017). Buying off (mostly) renders as I was then, I had no way of knowing what kind of product I would receive. Would it live up to the lofty expectations its uncommonly high price tag had unavoidably fostered, or would it fall short and be consigned to the ranks of “what if?” As I’ve expressed ad nauseam, the former bore out. My satisfaction with the green-dialed Marine (I snagged the last one available, ha!) made the deci...
My 1980s Citizen Eagle 7: An Entry-Level Datejust Clone
Happy New Year, my dear Fratelli! I hope you have all had your fill of delicious food, good company, and perhaps even a cocktail or two. We find ourselves in the post-2021 hangover, and I, for one, am ready to get over this past year, hoping for 2022 to be a little bit brighter. Not that it was all doom and gloom, but I think we can all agree that 2021 was, globally speaking, a bit of a write-off. However, this year is already looking good, with the team here at Fratello getting ready to bring some amazing content your way. That said, let's start with something a little odd. Something from my early days of collecting. I'm talking about my Citizen Eagle 7.It's been a minute since I wrote abou...
Unimatic Shows Great Flexibility With The Modello Uno GMT
We know Unimatic for introducing a wide variety of designs. In particular, the brand’s Modello Uno has seen many different iterations based on different collaborations, ideas, and concepts. It has been great to see how brand founders Giovanni Moro and Simone Nunziato have successfully created instantly recognizable Unimatic watches despite mixing things up rigorously. The brand’s latest proof of flexibility in its design language is a string of new Modello Uno GMT releases. Over the past two months, we have seen three completely different versions of the piece that all look striking. Is a Modello Uno GMT the obvious answer to my craving for a GMT watch? It very well may be.ItR...
Hot Take: Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 70th Anniversary Series I
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the first modern diver’s watch in the world, the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms. We did a run-down of its history just recently (click here), so we will examine this new anniversary limited edition in this article without further ado.Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Series IAs Blancpain did in 2003 for the 50th anniversary of the Fifty Fathoms, the brand is now introducing a model commemorating its 70th anniversary. This new version will be available for three separate markets in three series of 70 watches each. Series I will be for the EMEA market, while the others will be for the Asian-Pacific market and the Americas. The new Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Series I i...
Watch Resolutions For The New Year
The first rule for sticking to new year's resolutions is write it down! And that's exactly what I'm doing right now. Come 2024; you can hold me accountable for my watch actions just by finding this article and reading it back. My watch resolutions for the new year don't include buying a Patek Philippe or a . Yet they are ambitious but also attainable, practical, and, last but not least, fun. Because in the end, watches should bring joy. For me, 2023 will be about reliving and materializing sweet memories. My new year's resolution is to have fun within a set budget by buying watches that are a blast from the past.New year, new watches. But which watches? No matter what will launch this year,...
Pre-Owned Spotlight: Scratching The Tudor Itch
Buying a pre-owned watch is an excellent way to access watches that are (long) discontinued or just to let someone else take the hit on the retail price. In this series, our editors show you some of the pre-owned or vintage finds they found interesting. In this Pre-Owned Spotlight, RJ shares several vintage and modern Tudor watches that are being offered.There’s one Tudor that keeps calling my name, the Pelagos LHD. For a long time, before the brand’s re-launch in the United States and Europe ten years ago or so, I ignored the Tudor Submariners and other models, as they were using parts except for the movement. A bit exaggerated, of course, but a Tudor Submariner looked very sim...
The Speedmaster: 2023's Best-Selling Mechanical Chronograph
A few days ago, Chrono24 published a short overview of the best-selling watches on the platform in 2023. The three brands that sold best were , Omega, and Seiko. Quite surprisingly, Swatch ranks number four on the list. But Chrono24 also did a drill-down per model, and then it turned into a slightly different order.Chrono24 salesChrono24 has approximately 100,000,000 page views per month, and it sold $2,000,000,000 worth of watches (figures based on 2020), so it’s by no means a small player. Today, there are over 550,000 watches for sale on the website, so it made me wonder if there’s a link between the supply and the demand (or sales). If there are a lot of Datejusts on offer, ...