Dear Universal Genve, Bring Back The Polerouter
No vintage watch sits more prominently in my mind than the Univeral Genve Polerouter. There are certainly more popular watches and better-known vintage references. But the Polerouter is a pinnacle of (what I consider to be) the golden age of watch design. In recent years, it has become something of a cult classic. With the recent resurrections of vintage watch designs and companies, I think it’s well past time the Polerouter made a comeback for the 21st century.I’m not the only one that thinks this either. In an interview with Watchonista in 2022, Guillaume Laidet - the mastermind behind Nivada Grenchen, Vulcain, and others - talked about attempting to purchase Universal Genve ...
Grand Seiko SLGA019 Vs. SBGA481
Butter up your toast and pour yourself a fresh cup of coffee, but be quick with your breakfast because it’s Sunday morning, and it’s time to rumble! In this installement of Sunday Morning Showdown, we put two brand-new Grand Seiko Spring Drive models head to head - the SLGA019 and SBGA481. There hasn’t been a dull moment in Grand Seiko’s release calendar this year. However, with the sheer number of new models released during Watches and Wonders in March, it’s worth looking back at two models you may have missed. The only twist is that you’ll have to pick your favorite at the end. As much of an internal dilemma as that may be, Thomas and Nacho will do their...
How The Omega Speedmaster Became The Moonwatch
Last weekend, it was exactly 55 years ago that the Apollo 11 crew turned the Omega Speedmaster Professional chronograph into the Moonwatch. It may have actually been one of the first nicknames that a wristwatch ever received. As a watch enthusiast, you’ve probably heard the story of the Moonwatch a thousand times already. However, in case you're new to watches (or simply don't mind hearing it for the 1,001st time) read on for more on one of the greatest chronographs of all time.Omega Speedmaster 145.012-67 with caliber 321.Omega Speedmaster Professional MoonwatchThe Omega Speedmaster Professional did not become the Moonwatch purely by coincidence. Indeed, it was quite the opposite. One...
How The Omega Speedmaster Became The Moonwatch
Last weekend, it was exactly 55 years ago that the Apollo 11 crew turned the Omega Speedmaster Professional chronograph into the Moonwatch. It may have actually been one of the first nicknames that a wristwatch ever received. As a watch enthusiast, you’ve probably heard the story of the Moonwatch a thousand times already. However, in case you're new to watches (or simply don't mind hearing it for the 1,001st time) read on for more on one of the greatest chronographs of all time.Omega Speedmaster 145.012-67 with caliber 321.Omega Speedmaster Professional MoonwatchThe Omega Speedmaster Professional did not become the Moonwatch purely by coincidence. Indeed, it was quite the opposite. One...
Hands-On: The New Dietrich ED-1
Designing anything, including watches, is an iterative process. You move from one design to another, and every time, you get a bit closer to what you had in mind. I’m not a designer, but Emmanuel Dietrich, who founded the Dietrich brand in 2010, is. When you look at his previous designs, you can see that the new Dietrich ED-1 is a clear outcome of all those previous models. Spoiler alert: to me, it looks like Emmanuel took the best features of all those watches and put them into one.The Organic TimeIf you’re not aware of those earlier models, let me go through a few of them here. One of the brand’s first watches in 2014 was the Organic Time (OT). It was a big 46mm watch fea...
Talking About Watch Bracelets
Welcome to another episode of Fratello On Air. This week, we discuss watch bracelets and cover a wide range of subtopics about these important devices that fasten watches to our wrists. It’s another listener suggestion, and we hope you enjoy the show! For our listeners, the watch content begins after approximately 20 minutes....
New: Doxa Sub 300T Sharkhunter Clive Cussler
You may have missed it, but last week would have marked Clive Cussler's 93rd birthday. The famous adventure author wrote over 80 books and sold over 100,000,000 copies before passing away in 2020. Both Cussler and Dirk Pitt, his most famous protagonist, were known to wear Doxa watches. This spawned a fruitful relationship with the brand. Doxa celebrated the shared history with a special Clive Cussler watch last year. The brand now follows up with a second version.The latest Cussler edition is a Doxa Sub 300T with a black dial and distressed case and bracelet. There is plenty to unpack, so let's get into it!Doxa and Clive CusslerThe relationship between Doxa and Clive Cussler dates back to be...
Hands-On: Roger Dubuis Excalibur Monotourbillon Titanium
Please, come closer. It’s worth it. When you do, you can find that the movement inside the Roger Dubuis Excalibur Monotourbillon Titanium comprises 194 parts and features no fewer than 16 types of manual finishing. This results in a sophisticated and impressive watch that is both complicated and minimalistic; indeed, it is a paradox in the metal. Creating an open-worked flying tourbillon watch worthy of bearing the coveted Poin?on de Genve requires great skill. The Excalibur Monotourbillon Titanium showcases the Maison’s long-time expertise in creating skeletonized movements featuring mechanical whirlwinds. A hands-on with the see-through Excalibur reveals that transparency is k...
Happy Birthday Fratello!
On the 22nd of July, FratelloWatches celebrated its 2nd birthday. It all started on 22 july 2004. Like WristWatchReview, who also celebrated its birthday on the 26th of June, I will post some statistics for the interested people:229,400 unique hits measured since 3 October 2004,491 posts since 22 july 2004,736 comments since 22 july 2004,Post with the most comments is “Another Scam” with 102 posts,I bought and sold about 13 watches since 22 july 2004,DutchWebHosting.nl did an excellent job hosting this site with almost no flaws,I upgraded twice to a newer version of WordPress,Since 22 July 2004, I have had 1 BMW 3-er Touring, 2 Alfa Romeo 147s, 1 Peugeot 206,I wore my Panerai Ref...
The Original Omega Seamaster Jedi Chronograph
Omega Seamaster Jedi – Let's get this straight once and for all!When you start collecting vintage Omega watches from the 1970s and come across the big chunky Seamaster chronographs the top 3 models you will find are: reference 176.001, reference 176.007 (these 2 are basically the same) and reference 176.0005 or the so-called Omega Seamaster Jedi. This due to the fact that these models were produced in fairly large numbers, not too expensive to buy and you can find them all over the internet (eBay etc.).The next thing that will happen is that you start to like the chunky TV-shaped case of the Omega Seamaster Jedi 176.0005 and you slowly start to fancy that model over the others. You sea...
Linde Werdelin's Oktopus Goes Fr?mandskorpset (Danish Frogman Corps)
We can be very certain that most of the sports and tool watches end up on the wrist of someone who spends most of his days in artificial light, behind a desk and staring at spreadsheets or other boring software. A glance at their sports or tool watch might make them day dream for a few moments how it would be to really have to rely on your watch! Under water, in the forrest, in the sky, on the Moon, as a soldier in action or even as a three digit secret agent.For most brands this is OK of course, as they’ve sold the watch and that’s that. Although their watches might be up for the task, it will stay at day dreaming for most owners. For some brands, this must be a bit frustrating ...
Watch Review Davosa World Traveller Automatic
You probably?know that we have a strong?focus on watches that are available for the wider audience. Watches that represent excellent value for money. In my book a watch is considered a member of the above group if it has a mechanical movement and a?price tag up to $3,000 USD. The watch we are about to review today is no exception from this category. For your viewing pleasure: the Davosa World Traveller Automatic.Davosa World Traveller AutomaticI think the first time I came across this brand was an ad in one of those onboard magazines during a flight. To be honest I did not know if this was a resurrected old brand or a fairly new company. Well it's a little bit of both. Davosa was founded in ...
Watches & Pencils #17 Spider Dial
After the last Watches and Pencils episode about Panda dials I decided to briefly discuss another dial which is related to an animal: spider dials. Although there are?similarities they are quite different in terms of ‘creation’. The human decided to design and create a panda dial, while the spider dial is (partly) created by the forces of nature…How did the spider dial originate?Roughly in the 1980’s several brands delivered?watches with dials that would ‘crack’ after?time. Often they altered the?dial from a matt finishing to one with gloss finishing with an extra layer of shiny lacquer. Due?factory defects (wrong mixtures in the?lacquer) and weather condi...
Introducing You To The Oris Aquis Small Second Date
Today, Oris introduces a new variation on the Aquis collection. The?Oris Aquis Small Second with date feature. Let us stress that the ‘small’ in the model name has to do with the seconds and absolutely not with the size of the watch. A whopping 45.5mm in diameter for this Oris Aquis Small Second Date.The?Oris Aquis Small Second has the same design as the Aquis that was introduced earlier this year. Gerard did an interesting write-up on the new Aquis during his trip to Florida with Oris a few weeks ago, you can read it here.In short, the lugs and bracelet are a bit thinner than on the previous Aquis versions ?and the crown guards are a bit more tapered. These changes give the new ...
Speedy Tuesday Olympic Games 2020 Speedmaster For the Japan Market
Yesterday we received several messages about the Japanese Omega website displaying 5 new Speedmasters. Perhaps they’re not entirely new, but I will come back to that later. What should have been a ‘quiet release’ went crazy in the several Speedmaster groups on Facebook and the number of DM’s we received increased by the hour. It’s time to give some explanation about these 5 Olympic Games 2020 Speedmaster watches for the Japan market.Olympic Games 2020 SpeedmasterAs you probably know, in 2020 the Olympic Games will take place in Japan and of course Omega will be the official timekeeper. In celebratio of the 2 year countdown towards these games, Omega introduced a...
Introduction of the Hanhart Primus Nautic Pilot Bronze
Recently we found our way to Munich, the Bavarian capital, early in the morning. Upon arrival, we joined several other journalists for a typical local dish called Wei?wurst. Time to start the actual Hanhart Primus program.About HanhartWe were invited to join Hanhart for the presentation of their latest novelty. This small brand that has its roots in Switzerland and dates back to 1882. Starting as a watch shop, after 20 years in the existence they relocated the business to Schwenningen in southern Germany. Still close to the Swiss border they began a watch manufactory. Success didn't come until the youngest son, Wilhelm Hanhart, joined the company in 1920. Being into sports, he wanted to crea...
Hands-On Review Of The Breguet Classique 7337 Watch
Breguet expands its collection of Classique wristwatches with a new, blue, solid gold dial.For the past three hundred years, the name of Abraham-Louis Breguet has been one of the most revered in watchmaking circles. The man himself was a celebrity. He gave us a great many innovations that continue to impress today’s audience. And yet one of my most enduring memories of Breguet occurred only two years ago. I was at Baselworld 2018 and had stepped out of the Hamilton booth after my appointment. Greeting me in the center of Hall 1 was gigantic super-yacht (I swear it had not been there thirty minutes prior).The reason for the super-yacht in the middle of a convention center in a land-lock...
Mike's Top 5 Mistakes Most Make When Collecting Vintage Watches
I often speak with people who are either getting into vintage watches or are considering it. Often, people are afraid of making mistakes. Here’s a handy list of things to consider to avoid those pesky pitfalls.I think we can all agree that vintage watches are a wonderful way to expand one’s love of our favorite hobby. Whether you’re into patina, history, or collecting a certain sub-genre, there’s something for everyone. Besides, with around 100 years of wristwatch production under our belts, the choices are virtually endless. If it sounds like you can’t go wrong with vintage watches, that’s not exactly the case. You can make momentous mistakes, but I’...
The MING 20.11 Mosaic Watch, Featuring Schwarz Etienne (2021)
With everything going on at Fratello HQ over the last couple of weeks, this one nearly slipped under our radar. In the end, it didn’t, but we haven’t really had a chance to rave about it, until now. I am, of course, talking about the new MING 20.11 with the incredible mosaic sapphire dial. We are no strangers to MING’s watches here at Fratello. Our editor Mike is a big fan and even owns a couple of pieces. I have also reserved one of the recent 17.09 (blue) for myself, and I cannot wait to receive it at some point next year!MING is one of those brands that never fails to excite me with each new release. There are many watch brands out there that plod along with stuff that i...
Buying Guide: The Best Seiko Watches From The 1980s (2021)
We like to talk about vintage watches a lot within the Fratello team. While the daily routine is largely focused on the most recent developments in the world of watches, the most fun for many of us lies in the sometimes weird and often wonderful world of vintage watches. It's a world full of history, remarkable watches, incredible stories, and quirky details. It inspired us to come up with a series of articles focusing on the best watches per decade from a select group of brands. Some of them are priceless, some of them still affordable. In this installment, we will take a look at the best Seiko watches from the 1980s.While the 1970s were a decade filled with tremendous change in the watch i...