Roarcraft Brown Leather Valet Tray, Pouch, And Watch Strap
I never wanted a valet tray. I didn’t think I needed one. Perhaps I don’t exactly need one. Perhaps, however, I get it now. I get why they’ve become a staple item on desks around the world. I get why the EDC nuts that drool over soft, welcoming beds for their pockets full of goodies rant and rave about the pluses of the good and minuses of the bad examples. Hell, maybe I’m becoming one too? A couple of weeks after using a valet tray habitually for the first time, I noticed how many more things I found myself carrying to and from it. And now I have a new problem… I might need a bigger one… Thanks, Roarcraft. You’ve broken me.I get approached by small ...
Money Buys You Luxury Watches Not Taste
Oscar Wilde once said: When bankers get together for dinner, they discuss art. When artists get together for dinner, they discuss money. I think you can swap the word artists for watch aficionados, to paint a pretty accurate picture of the state of the watch world nowadays. Talking watches has more and more become talking about money. And talking about watch prices is a shallow experience, a contest of figures that has no real content.Have you ever heard of affluenza? The word, that's also the title of a book about the dangers of overconsumption written by John de Graaf,?David Wann,?and Thomas H. Naylor,?contains both the word affluence and influenza and is defined by the authors as a painfu...
Are Watch Discounts A Thing of The Past?
More often than I would like, I find myself in a discussion about the resale value of a watch. I'd rather discuss why someone wants a watch. To understand where their connection and attraction to a specific timepiece comes from. But perhaps, for some people, the resale value is one of their reasons. Another topic I often see appearing is the purchase price of a watch. People throw double-digit discounts that (supposedly) can be had when buying watches, while others pay the sticker price, no questions asked.Authorized Dealers offering discountsIt wasn't that long ago that authorized dealers could often be found advertising their watches with discounts. Not only in the shopping windows of thes...
Greubel Forsey Double Balancier Convexe And Convexe S2
Greubel Forsey has downsized two of its impressive Convexe watches. That alone isn't something that would necessarily trigger us to write an article. An existing design is just scaled down, maybe re-arranged a bit, and Bob's your uncle. But not with these two. Downsizing Greubel Forsey-style is a beast of a different nature altogether.Most watches feature coin-shaped calibers in round cases. Scaling down is a matter of reducing the space around the movement, bringing everything in a bit. With Greubel Forsey, the caliber is an architectural structure that informs the entire case shape. So scaling down means redesigning the whole thing from the ground up. And if the thing you start with is alr...
Fratello's Top 5 Dress Watches Of The First Half Of 2024
Another Friday, another list! This week, we continue our quest for the best watches released in the first half of 2024. It’s all about dress watches for this new list. Have the first six months of the year been great for people looking to add a new dress piece to their collections? We take a look at the five best that we’ve seen. Once again, it wasn’t hard to come up with more than five great options, but it was tougher coming up with the final five picks. In the end, we agreed on five watches that we feel deserve a place on this list. Let’s find out which ones made the cut!But before we get into our list, it’s good to know that we once again looked at different...
Hands-On: The Excelsior Park EP 884-SI
Handling a time-only watch that bears the name Excelsior Park is odd. We are used to seeing that elongated bottom “E” stroke on chronographs almost exclusively. Yes, Excelsior Park had some time-only pieces in the past, but the bread and butter for the brand has always been chronos. Since its resurrection a few years ago, the new EP brand has only had chronographs in its collection. That changes now with the Excelsior Park EP 884-SI having finally arrived.The new EP 884-SI has been available on the Excelsior Park website since early July, with six different variants each starting at US$845 before taxes. I managed to get my hands on one. Here’s what I think of it.The brandEx...
Parallel Passions: The Watch Hobby And The Guitar World
Sometimes when we write articles at Fratello, we know exactly how they will land with our readers. Other times, we try something to see whether it strikes a chord. This is an example of the latter type of article. I consider myself lucky to have fallen in love with a hobby twice when so many never do even once. I turned my passion for watches into my work, but I have another hobby that I love just as much - playing the guitar. With several Fratello writers enjoying different hobbies, I figured we should compare them to our shared passion for watches. What is similar? What is different? And can we learn something we can apply to the watch world?I will kick things off with this article by comp...
The Chinese Timekeeper In Amsterdam
Last Wednesday, Fratellowatches joined the introduction of The Chinese Timekeeper' in Amsterdam. The event was hosted by Ace Jewelers (official and exclusive retailer in Europe) and to get in the right mood, Ace invited us over to Nam Kee, an award winning Chinese restaurant where the event was being held.After weeks of poor summer weather the Sun finally showed up – almost a hint for what was coming- so we headed over to Amsterdam to have a look at the Chinese Timekeeper (or CTK) watches. We were welcomed by Adrien Choux of CTK, Alon Ben Joseph (CEO Ace Jewelers) and Cliff Chan (owner Nam Kee).Adrien Choux of CTK brought a wide variety of the watches and gave a passionate explanation ...
The First Frederique Constant Smartwatch Now Delivered!
Yesterday, a Frederique Constant retailer in The Hague was the World’s first in delivering the Frederique Constant Smartwatch to a number of their clients. 10 watches to be exact, were waiting for their new owners in the boutique of Juwelier van Willegen in The Hague.To celebrate, Van Willegen invited the new owners to come and pick-up the watch from their boutique and have a drink with the others and talk (smart)watches. We already had a look at the Frederique Constant Smartwatch here?and soon will do a hands-on review ourself, as my colleague Blaise received his watch today as well for a couple of weeks of wearing and testing.On a desk, they laid out all models available. Tom Bekker ...
Watch Strap Review Part 9. Introducing: Equus Leather
Don't know about you, but I pretty much got addicted to straps by now. This is almost our anniversary article?of Strap Review, being number 9 in the series. This month we are traveling back to a country we have already visited. Some of you?might remember that the 3rd Strap Review article featured Stewart and his amazing straps by the name of Heuerville from the United Kingdom. Well, this time we are back in misty Albion to bring you another strap. Please meet Equus Leather.About EquusThe beauty of this series is that we get to meet so many interesting craftsmen from across the globe. From Europe to Asia to the US so many different approaches and techniques are combined to bring you the best ...
Junghans Meister Pilot Hands-On Review
Junghans Meister PilotAlmost 10 months after we first saw the Meister Pilot at an event deep in the Black Forrest we finally put our hands on one. Our loyal readers might remember that September last year we were?invited to Schramberg by Junghans. This small town hidden inside the belly of the forest is the home of Junghans from the beginning. We spent a wonderful weekend there filled with vintage cars, flying and a lavish dinner at which the company showed us their new signature pilots chronograph, the Junghans Meister Pilot. At that time, it was only available for the invited retailers as a limited edition but later as you would imagine, the company released it for the everybody. I visited...
Hands-On Grand Seiko SBGA373G (Spring Drive) Review [VIDEO]
Grand Seiko seems to be the community’s darling. Since?a few years, collectors and watch journalists are all over it and it seems to be increasing by the day. With ‘in-house’ GS ambassadors such as Joe Kirk, who happens to be Director of the Seiko Boutique Miami Design district and puts out beautiful images on his Instagram and Facebook account, we get to see how the community responds to the amazingly well-finished Grand Seiko watches.The enthusiasm for Grand Seiko is so huge, that some people do wonder what’s going on. Is it all paid-for content that is being published? Is Seiko giving away free stuff to press who talks positively about them? Grand Seiko is all over...
This Week in Watches July 27, 2019
Ahoj, hodinky kolektory! It’s This Week in Watches for July 27, 2019.So, we’re now in full vacation season mode here in Europe.? That means crowded airports, perhaps time for boring DIY jobs, and other fun activities.? I suppose a lot of these holidays leave a lasting impression after their culmination.? But I was recently thinking back on last weekend’s Moon Landing 50th Anniversary.? For sure, the mission and the actual landing represented incredible milestones, but think about what came afterwards.? Can you imagine having blasted off to the moon, either walking on it or orbiting it (let’s not forget Mr. Collins), and then returning to home?? Forgetting the quaranti...
Watch On Your Wrist? Fratello Instagram Contest 2020 Round 7
Welcome back to our Watch On Your Wrist? Instagram extravaganza! Tag your watch snaps with #fratellowatches to be in with a chance to win!Every week, we select four images. You can vote in the article for your favorite image. The winner moves on to the semi-final round (held every fifth week between the previous four weekly winners). Win that and you’re into the final, which will be held at the end of the year. There will be five finalists in 2020 and ten from next year on.Basically, if you like winning things - and there will be a prize for the champion of 2020 - this year represents your best shot. So get snapping, get tagging, and get sharing. And don’t forget to vote for your...
Dialed Back Diver: A Study Of The Unimatic Modello Uno Watches
When it comes to watch design, we often don’t know what we’d like to see next. Sure, we all want to be surprised by something new, something we haven’t seen before. A brand that has proven recently that something new actually can feel very familiar is the Italian brand Unimatic Watches. With the Modello Uno, Unimatic has shown that there is a lot to discover within the familiar aesthetic of the popular sports watch. We spoke to Giovanni Moro, one of the company’s founders, to find out more.Watch design is a fascinating topic to discuss. As some of you know, I have been working in design for the last fifteen years, and I love having a conversation about watch design. W...
Sternglas Ivo Watch A Big Date And A Small Seconds Dial
Symmetry. Symmetry and balance. Those are the things that leap out from the Sternglas Ivo when you first lay eyes upon it. The big date complication is typically German. As a surprisingly German Irishman, I also love it too. Centralizing the complication and pairing it with a generously-sized sub-seconds dial works extremely well in this instance. And, along with the crisp typography we’ve come to expect from this Hamburg-based brand, the dial comes to life.Sternglas is a brand connected to its followers. The company’s success has always been propelled by its community. In addition to that community of ardent fans propelling the success of the brand, so too are those fans able to...
Video: The Omega Seamaster PloProf 1200M And Why You Need One
In this video, I talk about one of my favorite wearers of the last two years. The Omega Seamaster PloProf 1200M, reference 224.30.55.21.01.001.I never thought I would say this, but the Seamaster PloProf 1200M could - despite the dimensions of 48mm x 55mm x 17.5mm and weighing nearly 280 grams - be my daily wearer. Yes, it is heavy and yes, it is a chunk of steel, but on the wrist, it wears relatively compact. In the video we made I explain to you all the details about the stainless steel Seamaster PloProf 1200M and talk about some of the PloProf history as well.Now discontinued, but it should still be possible to source one of these watches from an authorized dealer or boutique. This Seamast...
??Hands-On With The Speedmaster Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Set
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games are fully underway! And what better opportunity to have a look at this extraordinary set of watches? Omega already introduced (and released) them during the Summer of 2018 in anticipation of the 2020 Games. Little did we know back then that the Games of the XXXII Olympiad would be postponed. However, thanks to Omega’s precocity, we have been lucky enough to enjoy these watches three years in advance.Before we start, I just want to remind you that Omega introduced all five of these Speedmaster Tokyo 2020 limited editions separately, but also as a set. Each individual watch was limited to 2020 pieces, and only 55 sets were produced. They were all intended for...
The Serica 4512 California Is A Surprising Take On Familiar Watch
Serica is a young French microbrand based out of Paris. The brand released its first version of its military-style 4512 back in 2019 to great critical acclaim. After their initial success, the guys at Serica updated the 4512 last year. With new dial options and a new movement, the watch has seen some remarkable improvementstime to find out more about this great military-style Serica 4512.It was somewhere late last year when Thor from Time+Tide and I discussed some of our favorite new watches when the name Serica came up. Thor told the story of having the Serica 4512 W.W.W. (Wrist Watch Waterproof) for review and how impressed he was with the watch. Fast forward a couple of months, and Thor ...
Hands-On With The MING 17.09 In Blue
We're back again with the MING 17.09, but this time it's a hands-on look with a highly anticipated watch. Let's jump into itThese days, it's tough to discuss MING without stirring up some strong emotions. Proponents are huge fans of their designs, build quality and even the scarcity. Naysayers begrudge the use of third-party movements and the challenging ordering process. That process has had people up early or late with nothing but a sold-out sign on the screen. With the MING 17.09, though, the brand made an unlimited watch - sort of. Essentially there was an ordering window without restriction and, as a result, everyone I know who wanted one got one.The MING 17.09 is the last of the lineTh...