This week, we had the good fortune to visit Omega in Biel for a #speedytuesday get together. For certain, the occasion will always be remembered as the world debut of the resurrected caliber 321. But there was something else that was divulged during part of the program that truly piqued my interest the absolute truth on two of the other references that were tested by NASA when selecting what would

Today's #TBT on the Venus 211 is a special one as it is the first article from a new Fratello contributor, Tomas Rosputinsky (@rosputinsky_tomas on Instagram). Tomas is from, and lives in, Slovakia and has a taste for some rather eclectic vintage watches. In the future, we'll see pieces on both the new and old from him, but today we start with something decidedly dated. Welcome, Tomas!I think it w

I am very delighted to announce that we have a new team member here at Fratello. Let me introduce you to Rob Nudds, our Managing Editor.In the last year, we’ve made significant strides towards growing Fratello. Not only did our worldwide reach increase, but also our team welcomed several new members, such as Sky Sit, Andreas Ahrens, Jorg Weppelink, Tomas Rosputinsky, and Ben Hodges, to eithe

Not an homage to an existing watch model, but inspired by the cool cushion case diving watches of the sixties and seventies in general, the Aramar Walrus takes the brand in a different direction after a terrible start.Aramar Watch Co. is an independent designer and producer of wristwatches founded in 2010 and based in The Netherlands. Above all, Aramar is the brainchild of true watch fanatics. It

A little while ago, in one of our Hot Take articles, we already introduced the new Hamilton Khaki Pilot Schott NYC watch to you.As soon as this watch was released, I knew I had to line one up to review. I caught my first glimpse of this model in September when I visited Hamilton, but I wasn’t able to spend much time with it then. After the release, however, Hamilton kindly gave me one for a

New watches: who doesn’t love them? As fans, the latest releases keep us interested and thirsty for more. We’ve never had so much to choose from, but have we finally reached the point of “too much of a good thing?” Let’s discuss.Ah, the good old days… It wasn’t so long ago when most watch brands released their newest wares on an annual basis. Baselworld an

The year 2021 saw many significant changes come to the watch industry. Not many of them, however, felt quite as significant as Patek Philippe announcing that the 5711 Nautilus would be discontinued. Sure, this was followed by a number of releases in the Nautilus product line, including the now-infamous green and Tiffany blue-dialed versions. Nevertheless, the message was clear: Patek does not want

The start of the year is one of my favorite times for writing. Why, you ask? Well, it’s because the year is so fresh and new. There are no new trends yet for 2022; we still need to give the year a chance to find itself and decide what it wants to be. With that in mind, it’s the perfect time to appreciate what already exists with the clarity that the new year brings. Some of a brandR

With the introduction of the hand-wound Oris Big Crown Calibre 473, another important step in the evolution of the long-running Big Crown Pointer Date makes its appearance. The watch also shows Oris’s determination to stand out from a movement perspective once again. The Oris Movement Creation Program outdid itself with the introduction of Calibre 473. The movement, featuring a five-day powe

Sometimes we feature stories from our readers about their Speedmaster watches. This is a story from Jason, who inherited his grandfather’s watch, a beautiful Speedmaster Professional 145.022-69 with a straight-script case back. The thing is, he never knew about this watch until his grandfather passed away and he went through his belongings. Without further ado, enjoy this great story about a

Nothing. The concept of nothing - the empty set, zero - is easy to fathom when it comes to quantity. When it comes to the void - the distance between heavenly bodies, a force so powerful that even light cannot escape - the concept becomes more abstract. H. Moser & Cie. explores minimalism in many ways, chiefly in dials that are bereft of any decoration. More recently, the brand has used Vantab

It's that time of the year again when we turn around and have a good look at what caught our attention in the previous one. For me, a brand like with its mix of incremental changes and a single crazy 50mm+ diver's tool seemed almost irrelevant. Indeed, other brands were not holding back in what was an exciting 2022. Last year opened my eyes back up to Zenith. Whether or not 2022 was the brand's b

The year 2023 marks the 25th anniversary of Grand Seiko’s caliber 9S. Today, we celebrate said anniversary with the introduction of the Grand Seiko SBGH311 and SBGR325 models. These two new watches pay tribute to the original 1998 release in which the caliber 9S debuted. Both models feature dials inspired by the brand’s favorite geographical feature in northern Honsh, Japan - Mt. Iwat

Welcome to another episode of Fratello On Air. In this installment, Balazs and Mike touch on two topics. We start with the fact that Swatch Group has no intentions of following into the CPO market. Next, we talk about a recent article highlighting concerns about a questionable auction that took place in 2018. Sit back and relax while we work the mics.

I must say, 2022 was quite a busy one in my watch box. Three watches left my collection, and a whopping six new pieces (plus a bonus one) came in! So 2023 is definitely going to be about getting more familiar with the newcomers and less about adding more and more watches. Actually, that was also the plan for last year, but then, you know, things just kind of happened. But, as you’ll understa

I have the honor of kicking off a new series of articles on Fratello. This is Back to Basics, a series intended to explain the fundamentals of our hobby. The content covered may be familiar, even obvious, if you are a horological veteran. But with the watch passion spreading and attracting new people every day, this is our way of welcoming newcomers. In this first installment, I will cover the bas

If I had stuck to my 2023 watch resolutions, I would be either wearing a Breitling Spatiographe or a titanium Girard-Perregaux pour Ferrari chronograph while writing this. I'm not. That’s because I didn’t buy either of those watches. Instead, I bought other ones, and that taught me that I shouldn’t make any resolutions about buying specific watches. Instead, I'm going to be like

Within the last five years, to the delight of us watch geeks, we have seen several horological records broken, from power reserves to accuracy. And gone are the days of needing a 17mm thickness and a 45mm diameter to have a decent dive watch with a 200m depth rating. But a different lateral game afoot involves shaving and repositioning cogs, bridges, and gears. With shifting goals, who will win th

The new year had only just started when Swatch started sending new teasers into the world. “Ocean of Storms” ads were printed in various newspapers, and at the beginning of this week, the message was also published on the brand’s Instagram page. The ads also mentioned January 11th, 2024, the date of the first new moon of the year. Of course, all this information referred to an up

Another Friday, another list! Last week, we kicked the year off with a list of horological wishes for 2025. This week, we extend our list of wishes by focusing on some high-end brands. Some interesting developments in 2024 led to this new list. With personnel shifts and new introductions in the past year, we thought it would be a good idea to focus on the higher end of watchmaking and express our