The Best Summer Watches At Three Different Price Points
It’s summer, and while the Swiss watch industry takes the month off, we’re picking our favorite watches once again! This time, however, we’re not sticking to a specific budget. Instead, we’re keeping the theme consistent but aiming at three different price categories - sub-$1,000, sub-$10,000, and a no-holds-barred, unrestricted category. The goal is to see how varied our picks are while showing some of the best summer watches out there today.One thing to note is that we’re not sticking to a stringent definition of “summer watch.” We’ve decided to play it by ear and leave the interpretation of the term up to each writer. You may see anything, f...
Introducing the Linde Werdelin Spidospeed Titanium
Linde Werdelin is a brand that we’ve been covering from their (and our) early days on. Not only because Jorn Werdelin, Morten Linde and their entire team are great people, but also – of course – because they truly have something to show with their modern sports watches.This time – and we already had a little sneak preview – Linde Werdelin presents the SpidoSpeed Titanium. A watch that was made based on the original Linde Werdelin design code: a sturdy sports watch that has?a clear focus on construction and functionality. Everything unnecessary has been cut away from the Grade 5 titanium. To what’s left, Linde Werdelin makes sure to finish it in the best wa...
Hands-On With The Glashutte Original Senator Chronometer
One of the watches that impressed me most during Baselworld was the Glashutte Original Senator Chronometer with blue dial in white gold (reference?1-58-01-05-34-30). Blue dials are hip & happening again since a while, and Glashutte Original decided to jump on that bandwagon with this Senator Chronometer with this distinctive dark blue grainy dial.The danger with dials that have a color other than silvery white and black is that they might become out of fashion at some point, or that you simply get bored by it after a few years.?In the 1990s?we saw a lot of colored dials like red, yellow, green etc. No burgundy red or racing green with a sun burst pattern, no, just red and green. These wa...
Dutch Made Showcase And Meet Revolo, a New Dutch Brand
A bit of horological news from The Netherlands. The Netherlands? Yes, the country that brought you Christiaan van der Klaauw, Gronefeld and some more. Watchmaking and The Netherlands go way back, to the 17th century actually, when Christiaan Huygens invented the pendulum clock in 1656 and a few years later, the balance and spiral spring in watches. In 1673 Huygens published his book “Horologium Oscillatorium”, his major work on pendulums and horology.Now, I happen to live in the exact same street as where Huygens lived and worked and every day I am surrounded by statues and buildings that remind me of watchmaking. However, only few people outside The Netherlands know of have hear...
UNION GLASHuTTE Belisar Chronograph Sport
Incredibly sporty, truly authentic and extremely versatile. The Belisar Chronograph Sport makes a striking impression in many ways, from its carbon bezel to its screwed-down rubber flanks but even more impressive is its ability to sport a new look every day. Three interchangeable straps make this watch the perfect accessory for any occasion. Its inner drive comes from the UNG 27.01 mechanical movement with a power reserve of up to 60 hours.The watch features a vintage strap made of calfskin leather, a black rubber strap and a reinforced fabric strap. They can be changed easily and thus create a new look matching every style. The design features a bezel made of carbon. This material with its ...
Why You Can't Go Wrong With The Datejust
When I started collecting watches in the late 1990’s, my watch dealer – and now Fratello contributor – Gerard told me that I needed a Datejust. “Can’t go wrong with a Datejust as they always work. With anything.”. A short and simple statement from someone who had – by that time already – seen and tried it all. A few years later, just after graduation, I got my first Datejust. It was a vintage Datejust from 1969, with reference 1600, on a jubilee bracelet that was clearly added later. I managed to find a couple of extra bezels, including the fluted white gold one, so I could change it to a reference ‘1601’ when I felt like it. It w...
Why You Can't Go Wrong With The Datejust
When I started collecting watches in the late 1990’s, my watch dealer – and now Fratello contributor – Gerard told me that I needed a Datejust. “Can’t go wrong with a Datejust as they always work. With anything.”. A short and simple statement from someone who had – by that time already – seen and tried it all. A few years later, just after graduation, I got my first Datejust. It was a vintage Datejust from 1969, with reference 1600, on a jubilee bracelet that was clearly added later. I managed to find a couple of extra bezels, including the fluted white gold one, so I could change it to a reference ‘1601’ when I felt like it. It w...
Artisans de Genve
You probably have heard of Artisans de Genve lately, with La Montoya, their last customization project where they offered to modify, for the first time in the world, a 4130 movement into a skeleton.The independent and innovative watchmaking workshop based in Geneva offers an exclusive service of watch modification for private customers. The modifications are made exclusively upon request in a very limited capacity, in their workshops in Switzerland. Artisans de Genve gathers the best Swiss experts and manufacturers around essential values of savoir-faire, excellency and uniqueness.Artisans de Genve aims at ensuring a direct and personal communication with its clients to the very last det...
52Mondayz week #23-2020 Fortis Aeromaster PC-7 Team Chronograph
I’m wearing the Fortis Aeromaster PC-7 Team Edition Chronograph this week. A watch on loan which makes one realize how privileged at Fratello we are with the possibility to wear so many different watches. To be honest, I probably wouldn’t have considered this watch. But wearing it for a more extended period proved me wrong in that.The Fortis PC-7 Chronograph is part of a set of two watches launched to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the equally named Swiss Airforce aerobatics team. Two weeks ago, we had an in-depth review of the other watch in this set, the Fortis PC-7 Day-Date. A comprehensive report like that of the Day-date will provide you with more technical, historical, a...
Watch Strap Review 42 Two Stitch Straps Four Years Later
Almost four years have passed since we first talked about Two Stitch Straps on the pages of Fratello Watches. A lot has changed for both parties during that time. It was always inevitable, however, that we revisit the young company based in Serbia to check out its new designs. Enter; Two Stitch Straps Vol. 2.Ivan and I see each other from time to time, during watch fairs mostly. Although he doesn’t live too far from my hometown in Hungary, we have yet to catch up there. We chat every once in a while on the phone, and he even accompanied me to one of my meetings at the last Baselworld. That was back in the Swatch Group days - a distant memory now. To keep me abreast of developments in t...
MILUS Archimdes Is At Home On Land Or Sea
I’m a sucker for compressor or compressor-style cases. But that doesn’t mean I had any intention of going easy on the Milus Archimdes when I heard I’d be getting it on my wrist for a couple of weeks…Everyone’s got a weakness. Mine is a double-crowned watch case. I’m not sure when it started. I’m not even sure which model turned me on to the compressor in the first place. All I know is that my legs go all wobbly whenever I see one in person - even better on my wrist.From a proportional perspective, I would have regretted not getting the chance to see it in the metal. Archimdes reminds me of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris, which is about the highest pr...
Breguet Celebrates The Tourbillon's 220th Birthday This Year (2021)
Don’t call it a complication (because, technically, it isn’t). Despite that weird fact, the tourbillon mechanism is one of the simplest to understand yet complicated to create that our industry has to offer. Invented to eliminate (or reduce, at least) the effect of gravity on the isochronous performance of a watch, the tourbillon has achieved almost mythic status over its 220-year life. And, as it reaches yet another milestone in its history, it seems only right to acknowledge and celebrate its inventor: the peerless Abraham-Louis Breguet.June 26th, 1801. It sounds like any other day, but it was on this day that, after ten years of hard work and patient development, Abraham-Louis...
An X-33 and Speedmaster Rattrapante for 5K inclusive? (2021)
The treasures are still out there! Last week, I wondered for a while if everything Speedmaster-related was skyrocketing (no pun intended) out of reach, but I quickly found out that this is not the case. Yet.Two of my favorite Speedmaster watches are up for grabs (hey, everything is relative these days) for a total of $5,000. I am talking about the Speedmaster X-33 and the Split-Seconds (or Rattrapante). The X-33 reference 3290.50 is even considered to be a Speedmaster Professional, and the Rattrapante reference 3540.50 seems to be sharing a very similar case design.#gallery-1 {margin: auto;}#gallery-1 .gallery-item {float: left;margin-top: 10px;text-align: center;width: 50%;}#gallery-1 img {...
Girard-Perregaux Three Bridges Aston Martin Edition (2021)
I gave a rundown of all the watch brand and Formula One team partnerships for the 2021 season following the Imola Grand Prix in April. When it came to Girard-Perregaux and Aston Martin, I came up short. These two iconic marques only began the collaboration this season. So with the ink still dry, we were still eagerly anticipating the new Girard-Perregaux watches to celebrate the co-branding. Until now: Introducing the Girard-Perregaux Tourbillon with Three Flying Bridges - Aston Martin Edition. But is this the best watch to perpetuate to the cachet of Aston Martin? Let’s find out.Girard-Perregaux Tourbillon with Three Flying Bridges - Aston Martin EditionThe blending of performance car...
Two For Tuesday: Tudor Silver Vs. Ceramic (2021) Who Wins?
I must say that I’m rather intrigued by what Tudor is doing with its Black Bay lineup. Instead of going down the path of more steel editions, the brand has shifted gears into some relatively different types of materials. We pit two of the newest releases against each other to see what you think. It’s the Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight Silver versus the Black Bay Ceramic.That’s right, within the last month or so, Tudor has given us the Black Bay Fifty-Eight Silver and now the Black Bay Ceramic. Don’t forget the Gold Black Bay either! Seriously, the odds were on new GMT versions with a Coke edition seemingly an even money bet. I was even hoping for a proper Root Beer, but ...
The First Fully-Analog Casio G-Shock Frogman (2021)
The analog display is something completely new for the adventurous Frogman. From digital to analog is reverse evolution some might say, but looking at revolving hands works very instinctively for numerous people. It seems like the development of “do-all” professional diving gear is taking an unexpected (but strangely satisfying) U-turn in the case of the newest Frogman watches. So, hands up for the first fully analog generation of the Casio G-Shock Frogman! Resistance is futile; it's going to conquer the sea with or without you.Our in-house photographer Bert is the proud owner of a digital Casio G-Shock Frogman, and he loves that asymmetric watch because of its size, design, robu...
Is Getting A Discount On A Watch A Thing Of The Past?
We all know that list prices are often not set in stone. Except for when you’re buying a limited-edition or waitlisted piece, getting a discount on a brand-new watch is almost a given. The only question is how big of a discount you can get. But this situation could be changing as we speak. Luxury watches are in demand more than ever before, and brands are trying to sell more and more watches directly to consumers. ?This means that it may become more difficult to get a (big) discount on a brand-new watch.I’m not actually that much of a bargainer myself. I bought my first three brand-new watches without a discount. The first one was the limited-edition Oris Art Blakey. At that time...
The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms X Fathoms Calls A Peli Case Its Home
Not so long ago, I found myself sitting around a long table at Blancpain HQ, eating lunch and chatting with the top brass about the unfathomable success of the Fifty Fathoms family. The centerpiece to this enjoyable lunch was an imposing black Peli case that glared at me so hard from a few feet away, it damn near put me off my chicken. The conversation eventually fell away from my ears. The room that had, seconds earlier, been brimful with chatter became silent. Without warning, it was just me and the Peli case, eyeballing each other as if my life and its purpose depended on it. I was the first to crack. I turned and addressed Marc Hayek directly, cutting him off mid-sentence: “Yo, Mar...
Capturing The 1990s With The Oris Holstein Edition 2022
Two years ago, Oris introduced the Holstein Edition 2020 to celebrate the brand’s 116th birthday. I had the chance to try out the full-bronze edition of the Divers Sixty-Five, and it was one of the most fun watches I’d worn in a long time. Last year, Oris introduced the Holstein Edition 2021, a celebratory version of the Big Crown pilot's watch with a movement from the brand’s 400-series. This year, the brand decided to bring back the Oris Full Steel Worldtimer that debuted in 1998. Time to bring back the style of the 1990s with this special timepiece.What do you think of the design language of the ’90s? Within the world of watches specifically, it sparked a certain s...
What Is An In-House Movement, And Does It Matter To You?
Whether a movement is in-house, proprietary, or supplied by a third party often results in heated discussions amongst watch enthusiasts. Is an in-house movement better than a third-party movement, and can a brand really call a movement “in-house” if it doesn’t produce it on-site? In this article, I will touch upon all these topics and try to shed a bit of light on this often-murky subject. And of course, it will also be a tad opinionated.When I first got into watches in the mid-1990s, I loved looking at the mechanism that made the watch tick (or sweep). Whether that was a Swatch Automatic or an A. Lange & Sohne Lange 1 didn't matter. Of course, the difference between th...