As the title shows, this week’s Sunday Morning Showdown is between the Seiko SPB317 and the Baltic Aquascaphe Titanium. But this showdown doesn’t just involve two particular watches. On top of that, it’s also about the differences between the more established brands and the new kids on the block. It’s impressive heritage versus young bravura. It’s being too big to han

Today, Omega is expanding its Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch collection with two new bicolor/two-tone models. It’s an exciting day for those who may have wanted the latest movement and updates but found the all-steel models too boring and all-gold versions too expensive. In other words, these two new Moonwatch variants could be the perfect middle ground.For a long time, aside from specia

I am happy to bring you another installment of Back to Basics, the series aimed at newcomers to our beautiful watch hobby. This time, we will have a closer look at watches’ spec sheets. A spec sheet serves as the manufacturer's effort to capture a watch in numbers and facts. But what do these mean, and how should we value them in our evaluations of a watch and, ultimately, purchase decisions

Maybe it's because the Seiko Astron is the world's first GPS solar watch that I have a weak spot for it. From the moment the very first ginormous 47mm version came out, I was sold on the idea of having a watch that connects to the GPS network and gets all its necessary energy from light. In particular, I strongly believe that using a solar-powered quartz movement is the way to go. I know I'm not t

On the 6th of June this year, it will have been exactly 80 years since D-Day took place on the beaches of Normandy. By that day’s end, 156,000 Allied troops successfully stormed the French beaches during Operation Overlord. To commemorate this historic day, Praesidus releases the special C-47 A-11 D-Day. This version of the brand’s A-11 field watch features a dial made from two “

Bas van Dorp emailed me the following story:Some months ago, I went snowboarding for a week with some friends. As everyyear, I just wear my Omega Speedmaster Pro during snowboarding. I figured thata Speedmaster Pro should be able to deal with this quite easily.However, after a few days on the slopes, I noticed a rattling sound comingfrom my watch. It sounded as if something had come loose. Ooops!

Today, I had a drink with some watch friends and one of them was wearing this Cartier Santos 100 Carbon. Geo, the owner and moderator of the Cartier forum over at Revo-Online, handed over the watch and I was blown away by the stealth look of this otherwise ‘classic’ watch brand. The stainless steel case had a ADLC treatment, the bezel and crown have been made out of titanium and the fo

Earlier this year, during a visit to Munich, I walked into this little watch shop near the city center and I was amazed by the collection they had. Tried on an AP ROO Diver and decided that could become my next watch, or at least earned a spot in my want-list. I am talking Meertz World of Time in Munich here. A cool watch store with a lot of vintage , Jaeger-LeCoultre Atmos clocks and a lot of ot

Omega Speedmaster Pro ‘Moonwatch’This is our second Speedy Tuesday on Fratello Watches and this week’s pick is the Omega Speedmaster Professional with reference number 105.012 and caliber 321 movement. Every Omega Speedmaster enthusiast knows that this is the same model that went to the Moon on the wrist of Neil Armstrong (we covered it here).Besides the pictured Omega Speedmaste

It can easily be told that I love watches with black dials. I just mentioned that only 5 of the last fifteen 52Mondayz watches were not equipped with a black dial. This week will be number 6, the Sinn 656 L.Sinn 656 L, ref 656.015 52Mondayz, week #23During Baselworld 2011 Sinn presented a 656 with, what on first sight looked, a cream dial. It was a prototype just to test the water. Sinn wasn’

It’s not everyday that you get to drive an AMG but with the launch of the new IWC Ingenieur Chronograph Sport Edition for the 50th anniversary of AMG we received an invite that brought back memories of our AMG on Ice experience earlier this year. Only this time we went to the AMG headquarter in Affalterbach, near Stuttgart in Germany. With a tight schedule in multiple countries we travelled

One can be creative on many different levels. Today we want to introduce Bruno Balic to you. Bruno creates stunning renderings of objects, including the Speedmaster chronograph.Besides following certain people on Instagram, I also follow everything #SpeedyTuesday of course. I see the most beautiful images that people made of their Speedmaster or Speedmaster collections. About two weeks ago, I came

Frequent readers know that, here at Fratello, we love things related to space travel. Probably ignited by the Omega Speedmaster Professional, a.k.a. the Moonwatch, however meanwhile extended to general astronautics. Of interest are space crafts like rockets, space shuttles, manned satellites, and more.The entrance of the exhibition at the Champs Elysees side of the Grand PalaisLa Lune Exhibition i

When you think of Urwerk the first thing that comes to mind is their hi-tech and futuristic designs. Just one of those exotic brands that you will recognise from a mile away. And all of that right from Switzerland which is more known for its ski resorts rather than sunny beaches. Yet the name of this creation makes up for that. Time to meet the Urwerk Black Cobra.Urwerk Black CobraEver since the f

This is now my fifth article in the Pre-owned Picks column, and I thoroughly enjoy scouring Chrono24 for inspiration. This week I am looking back in the not too distant past at three modern timepieces from Jaeger-LeCoultre.Readers may notice I often side-step the likes of the GMT Master II Pepsi or the Daytona Cerachrom. That is not to say these are not worth the time to seek out. Quite the oppo

Although it’s one of the more straightforward horological complications, the alarm function is still rare among modern timepieces. Then again, most watch complications are obsolete these days. We can use our phones instead of a chronograph, a moon-phase, triple date, and, of course, timekeeper. But watchmaking is not always about practicality. Sometimes it’s about style and tradition.

Nowadays, it seems everybody wants something that is exclusively their’s. In the upper echelons of watchmaking, this can go as far as unique pieces created for extremely wealthy clients. But what about for the rest of us? What do those of us with shallower pockets do when we want to put our individual stamp on a timepiece for ourselves or a loved one? The time-honored art of engraving is sti

Sometimes a few press images are enough to know if the watch you were going to receive would hit that sweet spot for you or not. This does not happen often, but it certainly was the case with the new Klokers Klok-01 Blue Note. I got the watch, and it was everything I expected. And then some.The watch came in stylish but straightforward packaging, just what you expect from a brand that makes watche

During the pandemic, we all inevitably became online shoppers. Now, in many countries, the third wave is abating. Finally, we can go shopping again. But do we want to?Visiting the high street near your home now, after you couldn’t do so for months, because everything was closed, will probably leave a bitter taste in the mouth at first. You will notice all those shops that didn’t surviv

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 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 w