Summer is here and that means divers are in; we take a look at the Orient Kamasu.With the Orient Kamasu, we have a serious contender for best inexpensive automatic diver.? It just so happens that this watch, like the Seiko SKX007 and Citizen NY0040, also hails from Japan, where making affordable bulletproof divers seems to be an everyday affair. Orient, up until very recently, was seen more as the

For years I thought my first Speedmaster would be the classic Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch as it is the watch with the most incredible story of all watches.And obviously, it is the watch the Speedmaster legacy has been built on so it seemed only logical that a brand new Speedmaster Professional or a Speedmaster Professional from 1977 the year I was born were the go-to models for me whenever

Through the years, we’ve seen many incredible watches. But some of them certainly love the camera more than others do. Cases, colors, reflections, you name it. All manner of things can affect a watch’s performance in front of the lens. To commemorate my favorites, I’ve put together this list of the Top 10 most photogenic watches.Being able to capture them in all their beauty is a

I regard myself as an enthusiastic cynic. I don’t like much, but what I do like, I love. The Norqain independence 20 watch has some elements that really speak to me and others that don’t appeal personally. Fundamentally, though, this watch heralds a brave new dawn for the brand as it raises the curtain on the Kenissi era. And if first impressions are anything to go by, it’s going

A tough Casio MQ-30W from the 1980s, a quirky one-hander Zeno Solo from the 1990s, and a promotional “lugless Audi from the early 2000s. Open your mind and have fun with three special picks from my collection.It's listed in the 1984 Casio catalog. That makes it just one year younger than me. Coincidentally, it shares its birth year with my 1984 VW Golf II. The Casio MQ-30W is hidden in a sec

Some luxury watch brands don't get talked about nearly enough. It's a real shame because some of them are actually working their socks off to contend with the bigger names in the industry yet barely getting a pat on the back for doing so. Does this then mean that it all really hinges on the name on the dial anyway? Whilst the leading names of the watch industry have certainly earned their hype in

Guys, we need to talk about something. The watch industry is facing a crisis. A crisis of color. It may not seem like it, but trust me, it’s true. After all, in recent years, we’ve been thrown into an ocean of blue dials vaster than the Atlantic itself. We’ve seen so many green dials, you’d think a squadron of laughing leprechauns launched the world’s largest dye bomb

The wait is finally over! The Seiko Prospex 1959 Alpinist Re-Creation SJE085J1 has finally reached the summit. In other words, it's out as of today. Keep in mind that only 1,959 numbered pieces of this watch are available worldwide at a retail price of $3,000. So, now I ask: is this relatively faithful reissue of the first-ever Alpinist model from 1959 worth it? Let's dive deeper into the psyche o

Ah, Bulova. A brand with 145 years of watchmaking history and releases that are hit or miss. From collections honoring the iconic American motorcycle brand Harley Davidson to neat WWII re-creations, Bulova has a knack for releasing contradictory collections, some of which are subpar and others objectively cool. The brand jumped on the bandwagon of leafing through old catalogs to see what would be

Cuba may be an unlikely place of origin for a luxury watch brand. One such name, however, indeed originated from the Caribbean island all the way back in 1882. For a long time, Cuervo y Sobrinos was one of the most prominent jewelers in Latin America. Located in the heart of Havana, the prestigious boutique would count distinguished figures as faithful patrons, including Winston Churchill, Albert

Today's review is quite a special one. Gerard and I took on the task of reviewing two Vaer dive watches, the Arctic and the Meridian. To do so, we decided to work together but also split up. I'd stay here in The Hague and wear the Vaer Meridian in my day-to-day activities at Fratello HQ. Gerard, on the other hand, would take the Vaer Arctic to Croatia for a week of scuba diving. I know, I know It

This is the battle you knew that was coming. Both RJ and Daan fell in love with Breguet at a get-together late last year. It only took them a few months to add the watches they admired to their collection. And now that they’ve had the time to wear them for a little while, it’s time to put them up against each other. Today’s Sunday Morning Showdown is probably more a matter of tas

Close your eyes and imagine a watch; what do you see? Chances are it probably has a few general characteristics: it's round, worn on the wrist, and fairly monochromatic. Many of us might think of something like a Submariner or a pilot's watch (I think of something close to my IWC Mark XV when I perform this mental exercise). But few would probably think of a Doxa dive watch like the Army model wh

It’s the last Tuesday of the month, which means?we’re introducing a new Speedmaster strap in collaboration with the Swedish brand REM. We decided to choose a leather color we had never used before and feature an engraving of the lunar surface in a contrasting shade.The inspiration behind the Lunar Crater strapLunar craters are circular depressions on the Moon’s surface created pr

What better way to celebrate astronauts going to the Moon than with a watch? To honor the Artemis II Space Mission launch, which aims to send four astronauts to the Moon by 2027, the Mu:n Orion is getting ready for its send-off in September of this year.Allow me to clarify: the Mu:n Orion is not a tool watch, so the four astronauts set to travel to the Moon by 2027 will not wear this watch as a ba

Welcome back to Fratello On Air! This week, we discuss thinning out our watch collections. It’s a tough topic because only one of us has ever sold a watch! We’re happy to take on the subject, though, because it’s easy to pile up watches that see very little wrist time. For our listeners, the watch content begins approximately 23 minutes into the episode.

At last year’s edition of Watches and Wonders in Geneva, TAG Heuer introduced its new Carrera Chronograph collection with the so-called “Glassbox” design. We are big fans of the regular 39mm version in its blue and black/silver configurations. Maybe that’s why we didn’t dedicate too much attention to the 42mm blue-dial tourbillon version that came out at the same time

Since a few days, WatchUseek, one of the bigger watchportals on the internet, lead by Ernie Romers, just got improved and restyled. A few months back, WatchUSeek installed new forum software which makes it easier to post and manage your threads, and now, the whole site got restyle by a U.K. web design company. See for yourself and make sure to register and post!

2011 is the year of Omega’s Seamaster Planet Ocean. Although this company from Bienne also introduced an interesting new Speedmaster Chronograph (more on that one here), their focus is clearly set to the new line up of Seamaster Planet Ocean watches. The introduction of the Seamaster Planet Ocean on Capri (Italy) in May this year, was more than impressive (click here for a?lengthy?report wit

We love BMW but we’ve to admit that we aren’t that familiar with BALL watches. Since a while, BMW has a partnership with this watchmaker from the USA who has its roots in the world of rail roads. Timekeeping was very important in those early rail road years, to prevent terrible accidents from happening (again).Our friend Christopher Beccan from Bexsonn (watches x whisky) wrote an excel