Happy Monday to you, Fratelli, and what a Monday it is! Today is the start of LVMH Watch Week, and that means we’ll see a plethora of new watch releases. The group’s watch brands - TAG Heuer, Hublot, Bvlgari, and Zenith - all have a bunch of new stuff up their sleeves. So allow Jorg and I to kick the week off with a few of the first new watches that caught our attention. In Jorg’

Watchmaking doesn’t have its own version of The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but it should. Who do you think would find their names added to the annals of watchmaking legend if it did? I bet not too many of you named the watchmaking sensation that is the one and only Svend Andersen. I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Andersen last year at his atelier in Geneva, and today, I finally get to go

“New and improved.” I’ll bet you’ve heard that before. How often is it just “sales speak” for “new and not really much different at all but we’d like your money, please, thank you very much”? Often, I’d say. Here though, in regards to the “new and improved” Forstner Flat Link, I can guarantee you it is both of those things in

Together with the Swedish strap maker REM, led by Totte el Siddig and Roger Clementz, we’re very excited to introduce to you the first Fratello REM collab for the Moonwatch. Every month in 2023, we will have a different themed strap for the Omega Speedmaster. We designed all of these straps together with REM, and each will be available in a limited run. The first strap for this year is suita

I love hearing about other people’s choices in watches, but it’s about more than just the outcome for me. How and why someone chose to buy a certain watch is often far more interesting. It leads to a different perspective on how people make choices, and being either a specs person or a design fanatic has a big influence. Of course, there’s more to buying a watch than simply weigh

Once you have a few nice watches, one of the first things you buy or receive is a watch box to store them in. Now we want to hear the story behind yours. Tell us what watches are in your watch box, and share what they mean to you. It should be a fun read, and I am sure it will inspire other readers to go look at some of the watches you shared in your story. There’s no right or wrong; just te

Recently, Certina provided me the opportunity to get my hands on a revived classic, the DS Super PH1000M. I love Certina, and I believe it’s a brand that does not get the kudos it deserves. This article is about the watch from which this new release took its design cues, and it has an incredible backstory.Last month, I brought you the story of Cabot Watch Company's (CWC) role in providing wa

As a keen observer of the independent side of Japanese watchmaking, I felt honored when Precision Watch Co. reached out on behalf of Jiro Katayama. Katayama-san is a small-scale watchmaker I have been following for a few years. What I find fascinating is his self-taught watchmaking, a quality he shares with Hajime Asaoka that beggars belief.As only the second Western journalist to get all the deta

For most of us, having a budget to work with is a reality in this passion for watches. As a result, increasing prices are not without personal side effects. Until recently, the go-to brand under $4K was Tudor. With prices going up, however, that reality has shifted. It’s safe to say that it could be your go-to brand under $5K nowadays. A fitting cliche is that you can only spend your money o

It’s great to kick off the new year with a watch from one of my favorite brands. The Aquastar Benthos H2 is a welcome release that should appeal to a wide audience. It’s affordable and, best of all, fits beautifully.The original Benthos 500 was a highly innovative mechanical dive watch that debuted in 1970. With its chronograph-like operation and slow 60-minute elapsed-time counter, th

Some of my earliest watch-collecting memories concern vintage Heuer. The ’60s chronographs, with their captivating names, left an indelible mark in my subconscious. How could they not? The breadth of choices, from clinical (the Carrera) to zany (the Monaco), has always been a veritable feast for the eyes. Yet, have watch collectors ever witnessed a sub-series of watches so prone to over-inte

With TAG Heuer being the Official Timekeeper of Formula 1 again, the five versions of the new TAG Heuer Formula 1 Chronograph in titanium don't come as a surprise. There are four regular mechanical chronograph models plus one tribute watch in cooperation with the Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 team.No, you're not mistaken: we only received three of the five new titanium versions of the TAG Heuer Formul

The SIHH 2017 is over and we’re left with mixed feelings. If all SIHH brands knew how to make us smile like A. Lange & Sohne seems to be able to do every year, there wouldn’t be any issues. This year, A. Lange & Sohne showed their 1815 Annual Calendar watch, and it immediately became the talk of the exhibition.Walter LangeIt was a bit of an awkward moment, when A. Lange & S

How often do you need to explain your love for watches? I’ve noticed that I don’t mind explaining why I like watches so much, or explaining what I am exactly doing all day as a watch journalist. It is understandable because – believe it or not – not everyone is into watches or even familiar with mechanical watches. A lot of people are also unaware of the fact that there is

Somewhere in 2014, Balazs wrote an article on two possible sleeper watches. His explanation back then: “A sleeper is a watch that has no significantly high price tag today but is likely to gain value or become more sought-after in a few (more) years time. This could be because of historical significance, because it was produced in a smaller number or maybe because – like everything in

When it comes to beer, I generally favor brews from the smaller companies. These brewers offer beer styles and flavors that often appeal to less people overall, but provide a greater amount of satisfaction to a select group of drinkers. The other note about these brewers is that they were once but a tiny part of the marketplace, but times have changed. This is kind of how I feel when it comes to m

A chronograph watch is a practical wearable measuring device that can record intervals of time upon the will of the owner of the chronograph watch, as well as telling the time of the day.Chronograph Mechanism ExplainedA stopwatch or a timer is different from the chronograph, it's an instrument that only measures short intervals of time, this is a much simpler type of time recorder as it lacks the

Between the introduction of a new watch and the actual delivery to the market can be quite some time. Weeks, months and sometimes even over a year. It is one of the biggest frustrations of watch consumers.In some cases, it is understandable that it might take a little longer, when specific materials are used or when a watch is completely hand-built and hand-finished. The Panerai Submersible BMG-Te

Happy weekend folks! It’s time for This Week in Watches for January 25, 2020. Let’s begin…Parmigiani Fleurier Kalparisma with Snow SettingWell, we hope you like ice because our first piece for This Week in Watches just happens to be the Parmigiani Fleurier Kalparisma with “Snow” Setting. The front of this 42.57mm x 30.15mm white gold watch is absolutely layered in rou

A brilliant idea in a sci-fi package: Meet the Citizen Multizone 7400-70015C with five pushers and seven hands. What you see here today is the world's first multi-band radio-controlled watch. And what a mindblowing gadget it is. Thanks to Citizen and their ref. 7400-70015C creation, we can once again travel back in time, this time to 1993.Quartz Time It wasn't premeditated, but the first two watch