Distressed “vintage” straps are cool, whether you fit them onto a dive watch, a sports watch, or, as in my case, a military field watch. The Serica 4512 is a broad-lugged, tough little nugget of a watch, and it comes on the delicate Bonklip bracelet. While flimsy in appearance, it is very comfortable and a retro-perfect fit for the watch. That said, I do love a nice strap on a field wa

You would think that Yema would make a lot of noise when it’s about to release a diver with a 300m depth rating, a helium escape valve, and in-house movement for less than $1,000! Well, I would, I can tell you that. And yet, the new Meangraf Sous-Marine really snuck up on me.I have to say that the release of the Yema Meangraf Sous-Marine Y60 was a surprise. First of all, it was not distribut

It's no secret that I am not the biggest fan of watches or what the brand has come to represent. Still, what I didn't get was why anyone in their right mind would completely rebuild a brand-new to their own spec. Surely, such a thing is sacrilegious, no? Rusty by Artisans de Genve, however, is so good that it has the power to turn even the staunchest advocate of pure originality to “the d

Here at Fratello, we are always happy to express our honest opinions on watches and watch brands, even though they can often differ. You probably read Lex's opinion on the Tudor Black Bay Pro yesterday. As he hinted at in the article, we didn't all agree. Though our thoughts on the watch itself align, we disagreed on the dilemma of its inspiration. And therein lies the beauty of watch enthusiasm.

I’m thoroughly sick of all the chatter we hear from start-up brands about how they are going to turn the established order on its head. How they are going to “disrupt” the luxury industry. Or even worse, how their product deserves attention for its “uniqueness” despite being composed of off-the-shelf parts from a forgotten corner of some fly-by-night factory in the ar

Another Friday, another Top 5! In this series, we take one classic watch and choose our five favorite references ever produced. Four of these references will be based on the historical importance of the specific watch in the grand scheme of things. Though there may be some overlap, it's not a question of which references are the most collectible or of the highest value on the market. The fifth pic

Hi, my name is Vincent, and I am weirdly obsessed with GMT watches. So much so, in fact, that I wanted to write a two-part guide on 16 GMTs from independent/microbrands. As you certainly noticed, GMTs are the thing, the must-see show in town, the latest and greatest trend. This is true for both larger Swiss and Japanese brands as well as the smaller, younger ones that you may or may not have heard

Since we here at Fratello love watches and collect them ourselves, we also like attending get-togethers (or GTGs) and discussing them. Doing so often leads to interesting discussions about watches and insights into why people chose certain ones. It’s like a live comments section but with drinks and bites (yes, you can also have those while participating in the comments section). For this art

Handling the new Vacheron Constantin Overseas Moonphase Retrograde Date during Watches and Wonders 2023 got me thinking. I started pondering a guideline for customers who try to navigate the most erratic and emotional segment, the high-end integrated-bracelet sports watch. Prices of these watches have rapidly risen sky-high, but have their specifications done the same? When you pay more than $10K

When we think of watches, our minds are often first cast to Switzerland’s many manufacturers. But Germany makes fantastic timepieces, and perhaps it is worth giving Switzerland's larger northern neighbor a look too when on the hunt for a new watch. Let’s look at some German watches!Switzerland has a proud tradition of watchmaking that we often celebrate here on Fratello with tours of w

The Patek Philippe Calatrava 6196P was a surprise at Watches and Wonders 2025. It’s been a long time since the brand introduced a clean, simple watch at a big annual show like this, and it was welcome. Today, we’ll take a closer look at this gem.For Patek Philippe, 2024 was the year of double denim, and I must say it was forgettable. I’ve grown to love this brand from a vintage s

Less than a month ago, I found myself in a White Lotus-esque setting on an island in Thailand. I’ll spare you the details of the moment I stepped on a frog with my bare foot, but the scenery was incredible (it was my first time in Thailand). Still, I was there on a three-day mission! Louis Vuitton was announcing its collaboration with watchmaker Kari Voutilainen. The two parties are producin

Fortis is a brand that is constantly on the move. In the last six months, we have seen new versions of the Novonaut N-42, a new model range with the Vagabond V-40 GMT, and even new movements. For its latest releases, Fortis introduces two new Flieger models with black cases in two sizes. But the biggest news is that all four watches are powered by the new Fortis manufacture Werk 7, which was devel

Two days ago, I turned 29 years old (to help you out, I was released in 1977). When I was a young kid, I remember getting a hand wound watch from my parents. But I never wore it. It had a small round case and a canvas strap. My first ‘real’ watch that I really wore was a Casio. It was in the time of the first G-Shocks. But these G-Shock models were too big for my little wrists (I was a

Although most novelties are already covered on the TimeZone Basel 2007 Forum, tomorrow????I will post an overview of – what I think – are the nicest new time pieces. And then, on to the SIHH 2007 starting tomorrow in Geneva.Universal Geneve with microrotor, 43mm model. The large watches aren’t over yet! ??

It wasn’t until they unveiled the Bremont Submarine 500 wrist watch on January 23rd 2009. Before that time, there was only slight coverage on this relatively new watch brand from the U.K. The brothers Nick and Giles English are responsible for this brand and its watches, which are being produced in Switzerland. All watches are hand-made and the production is limited. The brothers English are

I am enjoying a blue periodPablo Picasso, the iconic Spanish painter created a series of paintings between 1901 – 1904 referred as his, blue period. This epoch of the artist's life was reflected in sombre paintings employing predominantly blue or blue-green hues.Picasso was said to be suffering depression during this period and his choice of subject matter included images of beggars, prostit

It’s Speedy Tuesday! We’ve been waiting to publish an article on this new Omega Speedmaster Professional X-33 reference?318.90.45.79.01.001, also called Skywalker. It was a surprise to us actually, that Omega was developing a 3rd Generation model of the Marswatch. We’ve been a big fan of the Speedmaster Pro X-33 and covered it many times. We actually did?a write-up on the Speedma

On the morning of Day Two at Baselworld, team member Blaise and I broke off from the rest of the Fratello crew and ventured into Hall 2 to meet with a brand that enjoys a true cult-like following: Squale. Both of us were interested to meet with the brand that produces fairly priced dive watches that have changed little design-wise from their heyday in the 1960's. The result of our meeting was a fu

Compared to a decade ago, Seiko (and Grand Seiko) achieved to be on the radar of many watch enthusiasts. And where other (Swiss and German) brands used to smirk a bit upon hearing the name Seiko, they now pay close attention.Just before Baselworld, we saw the new Seiko Prospex LX SNR029J under embargo. For those who are not familiar with this, it means that we could have the press release in advan