Exploring Evergreens: The Hamilton Khaki Field Auto
Welcome to Exploring Evergreens, a new series here on Fratello in which we get our hands on watches that have been around for over a decade - or long enough to feel ubiquitous - and ask ourselves if they’ve managed to stand the test of time. We’ll address whether they’re still relevant, how they feel today, and, ultimately, if they’re worth their current prices. In some cases, when the authors own/have owned the specific pieces, they’ll dig into how their feelings about them have evolved and whether or not they still deserve a spot in their collections. We’ll cover anything from the truly timeless and budget-friendly classics to vintage and neo-vintage hea...
Fratello On Air: Sending Out 2023 And Moving On To 2024
A very happy new year to all of you from your co-hosts at Fratello On Air! We’re back with our first episode of the year. Now that 2024 is here, we discuss some of the trends we expect to see while sending out 2023. It was quite a year with plenty of drama and plenty of new watches. We hit the high and low points....
Jorg's Watch Resolutions For 2024
Happy New Year, everyone! I have the honor of kicking off a new series with my watch resolutions for 2024. We started writing down our watch resolutions in several articles last year. This year will be no different as the Fratello writers will look back at last year’s resolutions to find out what happened to them. Additionally, they will share their plans for this year regarding watches. I am pleased to kick this series off with my plans for 2024.Let’s start with a small confession. When I think about my plans for the year ahead, they are somewhat the same as in 2023. The past year saw a major change in my personal life, so I did not have a strong focus on buying new watches, let...
Fratello Readers' Choice: Omega Speedmaster White Dial
Last week, in the year’s final episode of Fratello Talks, RJ, Lex, and Nacho presented their favorite watches of 2024 to you under six predetermined categories. In the episode’s accompanying article, there was a poll through which you, dear Fratelli, could vote for your favorite watch among the 18 nominees. After a week of voting, it’s time to unveil which watch takes home the honor of being the Fratello readers' choice for the best watch of 2024!The watch that won the competition did so with an impressive 26% of the votes. That’s impressive indeed because number two got 11%, while number three earned 9%. All right, without further ado, here’s the top three of y...
Are Anti-Hype Watches Worth Your Time?
Anti-hype watches provide an opportunity to look further afield at options that fly under the radar despite hailing from renowned brands. Today, I am looking at examples of such watches that I would consider adding to my private collection. When thinking about anti-hype watches, it was important to me to explore options I found interesting, physically attractive, and emotionally appealing. But first, I think I need to explain what I mean by “anti-hype watches” and how I came to formulate this list.Yes, anti-hype watches are worth your time?Before we begin, I want to make a very brief case as to why anti-hype watches are worth your time. The idea that we gravitate towards what is ...
Fratello Talks: Watch-World Predictions For 2025
Welcome all to a new year and a new season of Fratello Talks, your favorite watch podcast in the whole wide world. What should we expect from the world of watches in 2025? Nacho, RJ, and Lex share their predictions on today’s show. Some of these are wishful thinking, but others are educated guesses based on anniversaries, notable dates, and insider secrets we swore blood oaths not to break. Okay, maybe nothing that secret will be revealed. But it’s still worth tuning in because some of these predictions may just end up coming true (or be hilariously wrong). Being aware of some of the anniversaries taking place, which may be celebrated with corresponding releases, will certainly g...
Watch Collector #7
Member *2112 of WatchUseek and ofcourse owner of the great dedicated Sinn 142 (I am wearing my 142St.S today!) website shows off his collection! A nice variety of watches he has here, vintage and new! Almost every watches (except for the Sinn 142 maybe) reflects a great balance between design and functionality. *2112 writes he getting rid of the AquaTimer soon.. Too bad, because it definately makes a statement in his collection!...
Double Red Sea-Dweller
Yesterday evening, I received an email from Daniel of the LondonWatchCompany.com, a specialist in selling es (vintage & new). Since I am on the look-out for a 1977 (my year of birth) Submariner ref.1680, I found this site to be quite interesting. In the links section, I found a website called ‘DoubleRedSeadweller.com’. This site also sounded very interesting, since I only knew about www.redwatches.com formerly known as www.redsubmariner.com. This site has been renamed after a dispute between claiming the name ‘Submariner’ and the owner of the website.Anyway, the website describes the Double Red Sea-Dweller (here) and has a lot of information about COMEX models a...
James Bond watches
Just two days ago, I received an e-mail from Dell over at www.jamesbondwatches.com telling me that he is in the progress of creating the most comprehensive list of timepieces used in EON Productions (by Albert R. Broccoli) a.k.a. the 007 movies. His website is all about timepieces in Bond movies, so you’ll find the known big brands like , Omega, Seiko, Pulsar and Breitling, but there are also a lot of ‘unknown’ watches used in these movies. If you are able to identify the unknown watches or can be more specific about some of the used timepieces, please participate!Picture of this Omega Seamaster Professional 2531.80 by Antiquorum.comYou can find the complete list at: https:...
InDetail: A Closer Look At The Ulysse Nardin Marine Chronograph Annual Calendar
One of my first encounters with Ulysse Nardin was in 1999, when Gerard showed me his?Ulysse Nardin GMT Perpetual watch. He wrote about it recently in detail, on Christmas day (find it here). At the time, Gerard’s watch shop in The Hague was official retailer for Ulysse Nardin, so once in a while when I visited his store (more often than he probably liked) I had the opportunity to have a closer look at these watches.At some point, when he didn’t carry Ulysse Nardin anymore in his shop, I didn’t come across them much. Until I started to write about watches on this website. Somehow I lost interest in the brand, especially when the brand from Le Locle came up with things like...
#TBT Universal Geneve Polerouter A Design Triumph
Welcome to 2019 as we kick things off with a review of a vintage favorite in the Universal Geneve Polerouter. Today's #TBT comes hot on the heels of yesterday's review of a pair of dress watches, the retro-inspired Hamilton Intra-Matics with smoked dials, so we're keeping on theme. The Polerouter is a far more famous name, though, and we'll take a look at what I think is a truly fetching example.Nearly three years ago, we went hands-on with a stainless steel Polerouter Jet, a more angular and modernized offshoot of UG's flagship line. That watch featured a faceted case, slender lugs, a simple dial, and the novel Microtor movement. Our example today is a more typical Universal Geneve Polerout...
Pre-Owned Picks A Jaeger-LeCoultre, Ebel, Omega, and Panerai
This week, we have three wristwatches from Ebel, Panerai, and Omega for you, and one Atmos clock from Jaeger-LeCoultre. We also had included a GMT-Master II 16710, but that one got sold before we could publish this article. Is it safe to assume the hype for is still ongoing in 2020?Happy New Year! In 2020 we continue our Pre-Owned Picks series in collaboration with the largest watch market platform in the world. Chrono24, based in Karlsruhe, Berlin, New York, and Hong Kong. The weekly picks are from our editorial team, Chrono24 ensures we receive images from the mentioned offers in a good resolution and without their watermark(s).Pre-Owned Picks Of Week 1This week is kinda special. I decid...
Top 11 Watches Under 1000 Euros
Creating a best-of list is always a nice challenge, especially when making a list of affordable mechanical watches. The number of watches that could be on the list is enormous, so we have set up a list of 11 of the best watches under 1000 Euros currently available.We made a Top-13? list in 2016 that you can find here and a lot has changed since then. Several new brands have popped up that have made some serious watches within the 1000 Euros price bracket and some of the top watches on our previous list have gone on to have list prices that are now above the 1000 Euros mark. So we had the chance to update the list to give you an idea of the many options that are out there under 1000 Euros. Th...
Sunday Morning Showdown: James Bond Omega Watches NOT Seen On Screen
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 last Bond match up, we return with a second one. One that matches up two lesser talked about Bond watches… So let’s rev up the Aston Martin once more and discuss the Omega Seamaster Diver 300M “James Bond” vs. Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra.It was only last week we had ou...
The Best Dress Watches? Vacheron Constantin Has The Answer
You might think that finding the perfect dress watch is one of the easier tasks that might present itself to a watch collector during their journey through our shared hobby. After all, a dress watch is about as stylistically simple as they come, right?Generally held to have just two or three hands with an uncluttered, timeless dial, the dress watch genre sounds one of the simplest to master on paper. However, as time has passed, so too have the boundaries of what is considered “dressy” expanded. Nowadays, while dress watches still tend to be made from precious metals, their dials can have a little bit more going on and still pass the eye test. To illustrate this point (which will...
Back To Work Week Office Watches To Start The Year Off Right
As the dizzy haze of Christmas and New Year’s dissipates, we face the grim reality of returning to work. The only option is to work from home for some of us, preferably still in sleepwear. But with restrictions lifting in certain regions, office managers enforce presenteeism, requiring us to suit up and commute. To make the journey more palatable, here are my choices for the best office wristwatch.Well, firstly, what is an “office watch”? We’re used to pilot’s, diver’s, and explorer’s watches. It is less common, however, to relegate timepieces distinctly to an office or work environment. Brands often prefer their models to emanate a tough and endurin...
Video: Sternglas Hamburg And Marus Automatic Watches
We filmed this video in the run-up to Christmas, as we searched fr budget-friendly entry-level watches for the whole family. While the big day has passed, those of us left with a few coins jangling in our pockets might well be looking for an affordable acquisition to scratch that New Year/New Watch itch. Sternglas might well have the answer.If you want a fashion-friendly and wallet-conscious option for the budding watch enthusiast, I can wholeheartedly recommend German brand Sternglas. Will this brand set the horological world alight? No, it certainly will not. But will it provide you with a solid, well-designed watch for the same kind of money as you'll likely be asked to pay for some frivo...
Mike's Watch Wishes For 2022 , Omega, Breitling, & More
It’s that time of year when we’re all either looking backward or looking ahead into the next year. 2021 is gone (thankfully) and 2022 is here (fingers crossed about this one). So, let’s spend some time talking about some watch wishes for 2022 from a selection of brands.The new year ahead of us means a whole 12 months of watch releases to come and possible new trends. I have no clue what the color of choice will be this year, but I suppose the recent emergence of light blue will hang around for a while. Plus, I’m sure that limited editions, collaborations, and the retro trend are here to stay. But those things won’t make my list of watch wishes for 2022. Instead,...
Long-Term Review: Speedmaster Silver Snoopy Award 50th Anniv.
The Silver Snoopy Award 50th Anniversary watch came out over two years ago now (on October 5th, 2020, to be precise). However, as you know, the delivery of these watches is slow, and I got mine in early 2022. As the deliveries are still ongoing, I thought it would be nice to share my experiences after a year of ownership with it and update you with some afterthoughts.Omega Speedmaster Silver Snoopy Award 50th AnniversaryBack in 2020, we had a prototype of the Speedmaster Silver Snoopy Award 50th Anniversary in our office so that we could create some video/photo content in time for the official October 5th release. But this also allowed me to wear it a bit and see if I liked it enough to orde...
The New Junghans Meister Fein Automatic Erhard Edition
Junghans is synonymous with affordable minimalism. Within watch circles, the brand’s flagship Max Bill line has a reputation as the epitome of Bauhaus design. The Meister designation is reserved for the finest watches in the Junghans collection, and the Meister Fein line of timepieces is an elegant take on a minimalist dress watch. It is fitting, then, that Junghans chose this line to mark a significant occasion for the brand in early 2023.A bicentennial celebrationErhard Junghans was born on New Year's Day, 1823 in the Black Forest in Germany. This year marks what would be his 200th birthday. Erhard Junghans established his watch company in Geisshalde in 1861, laying the foundation fo...