New: The Redesigned Chopard L.U.C Lunar One
Thirteen years after the introduction of the 43mm L.U.C Lunar One, a smaller, more refined update debuts this year in two variations. The rose or white gold case now measures 40.5mm across, and the redesigned Chopard L.U.C Lunar One comes with a blue or salmon dial. The name of the watch doesn't quite cover the complications it has. Apart from the expected moonphase indicator, the Lunar One is also a perpetual calendar watch with a large date, a 24-hour indicator, and small seconds.The world is most definitely getting smaller. The world of watches, I mean. A good example is the sizing down of the Chopard L.U.C Lunar One. The original 43mm version was impressive, but it also lacked finesse. I...
My 2025 New Year's Resolutions With My Tudor Black Bay 58
I bought the Tudor Black Bay 58 in blue as a present to myself for my 30th birthday. It’s a significant watch for me and one that I have worn a great deal. So it felt like a natural choice to take it on a trip to Australia’s Red Centre in the Northern Territory.This trip had me reflecting on the hobby and even my career in watch journalism more broadly. What would be my objectives in 2025? You see, when I started writing for Fratello, I had just gone through a stint of significant career changes. Fratello has been a steady constant in a period of significant personal and professional changes for me. Therefore, it seemed natural to reflect on my time writing for Fratello thus far,...
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph 42
You know we love the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak collection so you are probably not surprised by the fact that we will give it some fresh SIHH 2014 attention now. While the Royal Oak Offshore models like the ‘Safari’ or ‘Navy’ were always in 42mm (case diameter), somehow Audemars Piguet decided to emphasize on this by mentioning it in the collection name. It seems to be a common mistake that people think these watches are 44mm, but they weren’t & aren’t. The new collection also has a new reference number, starting with 26470 (instead of the previous and much memorized 26170).As you can see above, the Safari model is still there. Where the current or form...
Speedy Tuesday Speedmaster LCD Brought Back To Life
It’s Speedy Tuesday! After our in-depth hands-on review of the new Omega Speedmaster ’57 Caliber 9300 and introduction of the new Speedmaster Mark II on last week’s Speedy Tuesday, it is time to give some vintage love again. One of our loyal Speedmaster readers and fans, Santosh from the USA contacted us a few months back to tell us he had a non-working Speedmaster LCD caliber 1620 reference 186.0005 (we covered the Speedmaster LCD in the past, here and here). He already had been in touch with a service center, but the movement was just dead and there was no way it could be fixed. Our suggestion was to find a ‘donor’ watch on eBay or other source of vintage watc...
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 15400 Two-Tone
The success of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 15400 has to do with the upgrade this watch received a couple of years ago. In Le Brassus they decided that the 39mm Royal Oak 15300 was too small and needed a bit of an upgrade. While the 15300 was already an upgrade (introduced in 2005) for the former 36mm models, the 41mm size would appeal to a wider audience. The 39mm Royal Oak ‘Jumbo’ or ‘Extra-Thin’ remained to have the same size. Of course.Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Two-ToneThe first series of Royal Oak watches, the reference 5402 (basically the predecessor of the current 15202) had also been available in two-tone. The 15202 was and is only available in either stainle...
#TBT Omega DeVille Chronograph 146.017
It's always weird to write from the skies but here I am, tip-tapping away. What else is odd is that today's #TBT subject has been in my possession for less than 12 hours and I was so taken by it that I figured this week was as good a time as any to discuss it. You'll note that, once again, something in gold is on my wrist. I do promise this won't become an addiction, but I do implore you to drop your guard, if only slightly, for the yellowest of metals. I had to, you see, because today's watch is a seriously rare beast. Like any watch, they're out there, but they come up for sale ever so sparingly. In fact, between my Instagram feed and Fratello's, we both received numerous comments from col...
Introducing Seamaster Diver 300M In Ceramic And Titanium
Last year Omega introduced their new Seamaster Diver 300M watch. A watch that has been in the collection since 1993 and was due for a big update. A new movement, new case size, and a new dial for example, while maintaining the look & feel of one of their best selling watches. 2019 just started, and Omega throws in another variation of this new Seamaster Diver 300M.Seamaster Diver 300M In Ceramic and TitaniumWe have been informing you about the steel, gold & steel and titanium/tantalum/Sedna gold versions of this new Seamaster Diver 300M, but today Omega surprised us with a model made of one black ceramic and titanium. With a size larger than the regular model (41mm), this 43.5mm is b...
In-Depth Grand Seiko SBGA231G Review
The Grand Seiko SBGA231G from their Sport Collection is not the first model that comes to mind when thinking about their watches. Perhaps it is the very competitive market for diving watches, whereas in the market of all-rounders, the Grand Seikos seem to do pretty well. So why is it that we don't see not much talk about the Grand Seiko SBGA231G or SBGA229G for example? Is it because its looks are too close to those diving watches from Switzerland? Let's have a closer look at the SBGA231.Grand Seiko SBGA231GThe SBGA231G is the Grand Seiko' update of the Seiko' SBGA031. This means that after Seiko and Grand Seiko were separated two years ago, all models received a new dial that only indicates...
Podcast: Fratello On Air #10 LVMH, Auctions for Australia and the downside of IG
Our 10th episode of Fratello on Air is about last week’s LVMH Watch Week in Dubai, the watch auctions to help the recovery of Australia and the downside of using Instagram.After the mandatory wrist check (see below), Michael and RJ discuss these topics in this 50-minute podcast. Our Fratello-on-Air podcast can be played via Apple,?Soundcloud,?Spotify,?Google Podcast, and?Buzzsprout....
Hot Take: Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater In Sandblasted Rose Gold
One of the most popular models of recent years the Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater gets treated to a new case in sandblasted rose gold. The result? A bonafide showstopper both technically and aesthetically.The Octo Finissimo range from Bvlgari is refusing to rest on its laurels. It seems crazy to doubt that there is yet more to come from this impressively persistent manufacture, following a run of award-winning releases. There are many brands able to cause a stylistic stir. There are fewer, but still plenty of brands pushing the envelope on a technical front. Rarer still are brands combining the two with as much seamless grace as Bvlgari. Although still better-known to the wider world...
Speedy Tuesday: Speedmaster Professional Apollo 15 35th
Omega likes to celebrate some of the Apollo missions. Although you might think this is a recently-adopted practice of the last few years, it started in 1969 with the gold Speedmaster commemorating Apollo XI. Here we pick-up on a lesser-known animal - The Omega Speedmaster Professional Apollo 15 35th Anniversary model.Omega likes to celebrate some of the Apollo missions. Although you might think this is a recently-adopted practice of the last few years, it started in 1969 with the gold Speedmaster commemorating Apollo XI.Then, in 1976, Omega celebrated the 1975 Apollo/Soyuz rendezvous with a special Speedmaster, limited to just 500 pieces. Apart from some Apollo XI commemorative editions in t...
Spinnaker Cahill New England The Dark Side Of Daily-Wear Dive Watches
Dive watches come in all shapes and sizes. While the recent trends seem to be hinting that smaller, slimmer, more demure divers await us in the near future, there is still space in this crowded class for a big, brooding brute every so often. This is where watches like the Spinnaker Cahill New England come in. What I have here today is the older, now discontinued model, which you can still find on pre-owned sites going for a song if it tickles your fancy.Spinnaker makes a lot of reasonably priced, interestingly styled watches. The turnover of models and styles is pretty rapid, so you’ll quite frequently find updates to the existing range hitting the catalog in favor of their forerunners...
Hot Take: MB&F Horological Machine N9 Sapphire Vision'
Haute Horlogerie brands like MB&F to me are a bit like reading about the most beautiful supercars in a car magazine. You love them. You admire them. Maybe you even dream about owning one. But despite all that, chances are very small you’ll actually end up with one on your wrist. But MB&F makes us dream…I write about watches that are - at least - somewhat accessible, but sometimes I also have to force myself to stop and look at this other horological world out there. MB&F is the first manufacture that comes to mind when I think of watches that are out of this world. I hold these watches, which have such a strong connection with the brand’s founder, Max Busser, in...
Three Straps That Totally Changed My Aquadive, Echo-Neutra, And NOMOS Glashutte Watches
Recently, I spoke of my admiration for Forstner bracelets. My newfound love for flipping my watches from one band to another on the regular goes beyond a single brand, though. In fact, over the past year since I joined Fratello, I’ve taken to consuming straps like McDonald’s used to consume plastic straws. As a result, I’ve started wearing three brands I want to share with you today, along with a few snaps of the watches I wear them on and how the new straps have changed the watch head’s character entirely.As I said, I love Forstner. You can check out my effusive write-up on the Komfit, Klip, and Flat Link bracelets here along with some images of the watch heads I wea...
#TBT Buying A Seiko 6217-8001 AKA The Big Crown 62MAS
Are all legendary Seiko 6217-8000/8001 “62MAS watches the same? Is it just a different size of the crown or are there other details that you should pay attention to when checking out the first professional divers watch from Seiko?If you ever wondered about the 8000/8001 difference, it is not a country allocation or dial version code. The first four digits represent the movement and the other four stand for the case number. The Seiko 6217-8000 with a small crown was released in April 1965 and lasted for only two months. Blame the small crown that was not the easiest to grip while wearing gloves. It is quite rare today, thanks to its limited production span. Furthermore, it is getting ha...
Why We Need Luxury Solar-Powered Quartz Watches
The protest at Fratello HQ yesterday started out in good spirits with the more progressive editors marching through the office merrily and optimistically chanting,We want solar power! We want solar power! But it didn't take long for the situation to turn grim. That's when the purist defenders of the traditional, mechanical side of watchmaking started shouting slogans like, Quartz is dead! For a moment, it looked like things would spiral out of control, but in the end, we watch fans, no matter how fanatical, are reasonable people. And that's why we, in the end, and over a cup of coffee, pondered the question of both if or why we need luxury solar-powered quartz watches from , Omega, Breitling...
Introducing The Zenith Defy Revival A3642
Zenith has been very much on my radar since a get-together with other watch enthusiasts some months ago. In particular, the El Primero Revivals and Defy series caught my attention. That's why I recently tried on the Chronomasters A384 and A386-inspired Original, as well as the blue Defy in 41mm. Of course, I also looked at some pictures from when they were originally introduced in the 1960s. I found that the current Defy range looks especially different from its ancestors. I even thought to myself, Wouldn't it be great if Zenith introduced a modern Defy with a design much closer to that original version? Et voilaLast Sunday, Zenith shared a moving close-up of a watch that would be introduced...
Seiko Flightmaster: A Speedmaster+Navitimer-Inspired Love Child
We all know and adore the Omega Speedmaster - the first watch on the Moon, official watch for NASA astronauts. The Breitling Navitimer has its own prestigious history and diehard fans as well. It is the embodiment of the quirky yet beloved slide rule bezel. These two watches are pinnacles of aviation horology. However, they aren’t the best. Oh no, if anything, they are only thematic stepping stones to the true king of flight watches: the Seiko Flightmaster. It is the best of Speedmaster and Navitimer, with a few quirks and special features of its own.First off, I’d like to apologize to RJ for this article. From the website that brought you Speedy Tuesday, I bring you an article a...
The Best Military-Style Field Watches Currently Available
Field watches are often overlooked timepieces in today’s world of luxury watches. They are far from a luxury statement, and that’s exactly how they should stay. There is something really honest about field watches, defined as simple military watches that should do one thing and one thing only - tell accurate time. In the field of battle, keeping exact time was truly a matter of life and death. As a result, field watches are very simple timepieces with their own style and stories. They are stories untainted by extravagant prices and the urge to wear a statement of wealth. No, field watches are about as honest and straight-up as it gets. Time to look at some of the best field watch...
Seiko Speedtimer SRQ035J1 Video Review
It’s Friday, meaning we drop a new video! This week, Rob reviews this beautiful 42.5mm Seiko Speedtimer SRQ035J1 chronograph. This two-register chronograph features Seiko’s 8R46 movement and a design that hearkens back to a 1964 stopwatch.Seiko Prospex Speedtimer SRQ035J1For a more in-depth article about the background of the Speedtimer SRQ035 (and black-dial version SRQ037), click here. The article explains the historical importance of Seiko when it comes to automatic chronograph movements. It also elaborates on the similarities between the original 1964 stopwatch and this new Seiko Speedtimer collection.Click on the play button at the top to start the video, or click the link t...