Welcome to this special installment of Fratello Talks. This is the Watches and Wonders 2025 debrief episode, where Nacho, RJ, Daan, and Lex share their highlights from this year’s show. We also discuss just about every brand and novelty released at the fair. Honorable mentions go to some of the novelties released at the other events that took place in town last week. It’s not unfair to

I already shared my thoughts on this year’s BaselWorld show a few weeks ago (in this article) where I briefly mentioned Chronoswiss. Like many other brands, Chronoswiss grabbed back to one of their original models: the Regulateur. However, Chronoswiss restructured their collection of watches and uses two pillars: Sirius and Timemaster. These names were used for specific watches in the past,

After the Baselworld storm and some other side projects calmed down, I found some time to work on this tasty episode. This time we zoom in on one of the biggest and most bespoke watches of the flower-power seventies: Breitling 1806 Navitimer., a.k.a Fried Egg. To?me it's more a gigantic pan with two fried eggs:ColossalWith its 48mm in diameter this octagonal shaped watch was probably the biggest o

A few years ago, Omega started to upgrade the box and accessories you’d get with your Speedmaster Professional. Inside the huge watch box, you’d find?a NATO strap, loupe, changing tool and.. a VELCRO? Brand strap signed ‘SEB12100030-202’. However, if you already have your Speedmaster, there are some options to purchase a VELCRO? Brand strap for your watch. Let’s have

Yesterday, Hodinkee published a wonderful interview with the legendary Mario Andretti. A number of watches were discussed with Andretti, but not the Rallye watch that he bought privately. We thought it would be a nice addition to mention this Rallye watch once more in this article.Part of the fun of collecting vintage watches is to research them. Get to know their story. Perhaps find a famous pers

Join us for the Fratello x ORIS Baselworld 2019 Novelties event on April 25th in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.We would like to invite you to join an evening with ORIS and Fratello in Amsterdam on April 25th. During this evening, ORIS will present to you their Baselworld 2019 novelties in the ORIS boutique in Amsterdam.Besides all ORIS novelties from the Baselworld 2019 show, you will be meeting the

You don't need to be a hardcore Ghostbusters fan to consider the Seiko Voice Note an entertaining acquisition.If you get the Seiko Voice Note and match it with a Ghostbusters costume equipped with a proton pack, you might accrue some fame at this year's Comic-Con. Why? The devil is in the detail. Three out of four Ghostbusters heroes were seen with this wacky Seiko on their wrists, which indisputa

There isn't a single household without at least one Prim watch, or so says an old saying from former Czechoslovakia.We all live in different corners of the world. We all speak different languages. And we certainly all have our local heroes and legends. I am not just speaking about people. Often, there are local brands that no one 200 meters beyond the border of the country care about. But within t

Hublot did what Hublot does and made a splash with its colorway swathe of new releases this week. Asa devoted follower of the brand, it is my pleasure to present the Hublot Big Bang Integral Ceramic novelties, the Big Bang Integral Tourbillon Full Sapphire, and the Classic Fusion Orlinski Blue Ceramic.Let’s start with what is fast becoming a “bread and butter” range for Hublot. W

Hidden away in the other launches section of the Cartier press site, the new Santos de Cartier was kept company by the new Indomptables de Cartier and the new Ballon Bleu releases. The new Santos, however, was a watch that I wrote off in my head as far too big and a bit too flashy. The first case measurement of 47.5mm told me everything I needed to know. Or so I thought Seeing the watch in person

One of the fun things about working at Fratello is the number of different watches that come through our doors. You might think we’d get sick and tired of it eventually, but you’d be wrong. Not every watch that passes through my hands is excellent, and indeed, some are downright shoddy, but these examples have never dampened my enthusiasm. One bad apple doesn’t spoil the bunch. S

After spending more than a week in Switzerland, I'm making my way back to the Fratello HQ coffee corner. And boy, do I need a good cup of high-caffeine joe. I didn’t just visit Watches And Wonders in Geneva, no. Right before I locked myself in the Palexpo for almost a week, I also got the chance to visit and stay at the architectural marvel that is the Audemars Piguet-powered/funded H?tel de

Hmm, that’s one heck of a handsome family. Well, I certainly wasn't referring to the Hemsworth brothers. That was my gut reaction to seeing the new Rado Captain Cook dive watches. They have this wholesome look that has even me dropping my usual mean-girl defenses.The Rado Captain Cook has been wooing us with its ’60s retro vibes since its revival five years ago. First introduced in ste

Fifty-three years ago, on April 11th, 1970, the Apollo 13 crew set course to the Moon. What NASA astronauts James Lovell (Commander), Jack Swigert (Command Module pilot), and Fred Haise (Lunar Module Pilot) couldn’t have known was that a major problem would occur just two days later. The Omega Speedmaster Professional played a vital role in the crew’s safe return and has led to the hig

It had been a while since I last reviewed two Beaubleu watches, but then the brand contacted me to review a new timepiece. When I was asked to review the Parisian brand’s Vitruve Date Steel, I was intrigued by its looks. The characteristic overall style of the Beaubleu case with the round hands stands out immediately. But for the Vitruve Date Steel, the brand combined it with a monochromatic

Thanks to a watch friend, I finally had a chance to put this watch on my wrist. The Lip Galaxie is stunningly clean and simple. In real life, it looks even better than it does in pictures. Here is my recap of the 24 hours I was granted with this distinctive French watch. But first, allow me to provide a bit of context…In April 1973, Lip faced a crisis amid the Quartz Revolution, which led to

My theoretical-wrist-grail taste has evolved, as has the watch-collecting community. In the face of unavailability and client-selective ADs, independent choices have come to the fore. And despite the shaky world markets, plenty of potential buyers are looking for alternatives outside the big-brand catalogs.Debuting back in 2010 with distinctively minimal luxury and the world's best-looking spear h

It’s very difficult to come up with an original watch design these days. Almost everything has been done by now…or so we tend to think. But every once in a while, we come across a new watch that proves the opposite. The new Herms Cut is exactly one of those watches. It has a very subtle case shape, which is characterized by four cuts on both flanks, top and bottom. It comes on an inte

You might be just a few clicks away from the new Hublot Big Bang Unico Ice Bang. It's an online exclusive only available through Hublot's e-commerce boutique, and it's also a limited edition. Just 100 pieces of this black ceramic watch outfitted with a soberly contrasting bezel in tungsten will be made. If you want something more colorful, there are also the dark green and bright orange Big Bang U

By now, Frederique Constant is famous for its no-nonsense Swiss-made watches. The brand’s Classics collection is at the forefront of its philosophy of offering high-quality watches at a relatively affordable price. This week, at Watches and Wonders, two of the collection’s models are receiving some significant updates and upgrades on both the inside and out. Let’s take a look at