Hands-On: Citizen Promaster Eco-Drive Diver Orca BN0230-04E
Did you know that orcas sometimes intentionally beach themselves? They do it to hunt for shoreline seals, for instance. It's a spectacular sight, but there’s quite a bit of risk involved, and seeing them struggle to get back to sea is a nerve-wracking experience. Last week, a Citizen Promaster Eco-Drive Diver Orca beached on the shores of Fratello - was it hunting for Fratelli? Finding the stranded 46 14.6mm Orca with a 50mm fin-to-fin length was quite a surprise. We soon found out we were not on the Orca’s menu, and after playing around with the 118g beast, we sent it back. Here, you can read about the time we spent together.The original Citizen Orca was discovered in 2006. The ...
The Best Watches Under $5,000: Daan's Picks
Every price segment has its king, and for watches under $5,000, it’s Tudor. Luckily, Thomas and Jorg already had their turns in this series, and both featured Tudor watches as their first picks. That’s good because now I can focus on other interesting stuff. Although the budget is quite comfortable, it’s certainly not an easy category. Generally speaking, the more expensive watches are, the less the price represents the material value of the product. I feel this becomes more noticeable with watches in the $2,500C5,000 range than with less expensive ones. That’s especially apparent with my first two picks.The fact that Thomas and Jorg already had their turns also makes...
New: IFL Watches G-Shock CasiOak Orca Limited Edition
It’s been a while since I’ve been up close and personal with IFL’s customized takes on the evergreen G-Shock, and this time, it’s personal. After all, I do live pretty close to the Arctic, so I feel an affinity for the CasiOak Orca.But we have plenty of readers far away from Europe, let alone the chilly Arctic region. Yes, I do feel a kinship with orcas and ice floes, but we have summer here too. And neither orcas nor polar bears roam our beaches. That would be pretty cool, but it’s beside the point of this cool octagonal G.Evocative and evolved dial artIFL Watches in Sweden has evolved from its first forays into custom Casios and is now a force to be reckoned w...
OMEGA Speedmaster pre-Professional 105.003
3rd Generation Speedmaster pre-ProfessionalIt’s Speedy Tuesday! Earlier this year, Bert and I went on a horological trip to Switzerland and visited the OMEGA museum in Biel. One of the people from the museum showed us a number of Speedmasters that they had on archive (that is: not displayed in the museum). One of them was this very early Speedmaster 105.003 also known as the 3rd generation of Speedmaster pre-Professional model. One can dispute that, as there were three reference numbers before the 105.003.The CK2915 as the very first Speedmaster, the CK2998 is the second generation of Speedmasters and then there was the 105.002. This watch is basically a CK2998, but at this time, OMEGA...
Passione Caracciola experience with IWC Schaffhausen
Earlier this week we joined IWC Schaffhausen for the start of the Passione Caracciola. An event which is easiest described as an oldtimer rally dedicated to German race car driver Rudolf Caracciola. We head off to Zurich where the event wil kick off, and at the evening before the rally begins we gather at the Grand Dolder Hotel.First stage on our agenda. Behind the scenes at?the recording of a new edition of 'IWC Schaffhausen talks to' starring Jochen Mass. Being?a well known race driver he?actually started his working life being a sailor, enjoying his travels around the world. Later on he managed to persuade his racing dream and was quite successful doing so. Now at the age of 68 he still d...
Now on Kickstarter: Blido Black Edition
Self-winding mechanical watches with iconic design 100% made in Switzerland at a totally un-Swiss price.While Blido Watch has only started-up in late 2017 with Kickstarter funding, the two initiators Pierre Nobs and Simon Husslein are very experienced and competent watch-guys and this shows in the product.Sketched with a few minimalistic strokes, the Blido is unique and archetypical; it just won the RedDot Design Award 2018.Click here to get to the Blido Black Edition Kickstarter campaign. In their second Kickstarter campaign currently online and active, the two protagonists introduce Blido ?core?, an astonishingly contemporary skeleton timepiece at an unbelievable price. Until the end o...
Photo Report Fratello Tourbillon Boutique
Here at Fratello, we obviously love watches, but we also love to meet with other watch enthusiasts. What better way to host an event for our readers in a beautiful place where you can enjoy some stunning masterpieces of German watchmaking?Baden-Baden, where you can enjoy the good-good life, is where we held our Glashutte Original event together with Tourbillon Boutique. A beautiful city in the Black Forest area in Germany, a popular destination for many tourists. But you will also find a lot of people from the area visiting Baden-Baden for their spas and beautiful surrounding nature. Last year, we already held an Omega Trilogy event in the Tourbillon boutique in Baden-Baden, and last Saturda...
The Hamilton Murph A Pretty Cool Watch For Under 1000 Euro
Earlier this year, we showed you the announcement of the Hamilton Murph. This watch is inspired by the Hamilton used in the Interstellar movie from 2014.Michael did a write-up on the Hamilton Murph and its role in the Interstellar movie, so I am not going into that in this article. I will be looking at the watch as such. Hamilton sent us the Khaki Field Murph Auto for review, including the limited box. Only the first 2555 pieces will come with this beautiful bright box, that was designed with the help of Nathan Crowley, the production designer of the Interstellar movie. After these 2555 pieces (with box) have been sold, the Hamilton Murph will come in a regular Hamilton box. We’ve been...
Legendary Vintage Bracelets Omega reference 1039
Our last special Watch Strap Review; Legendary Vintage Bracelets article was well received by you guys.Thanks for that. We thought it would be cool if we continued the series with yet another iconic accessory. This time we took a closer look at a brand most of us at Fratello has a thing for. No, it's not neither Seiko. It's the other brand. I'm talking about Omega of course. When it comes to George Clooney's favourite brand, we can choose from a bunch of different bracelets. One of the all-time classics were the 1171s that Omega used on both Speedmaster and Seamaster models. I'm sure we'll talk about that reference number soon. However, something more unusual, so to speak, is an earlier ref...
Patek Philippe Ref. 6007A-001 Calatrava Watch In Steel
New releases from Patek Philippe don’t always feel this new. We are used to seeing minor updates to a collection that often feels more entrenched than established. But that is fair enough. When you can arguably claim to be the G.O.A.T. why mess with a winning formula? However, with the release of the Patek Philippe Ref. 6007A-001 Calatrava watch in steel, the Genevan manufacture has shown it’s aware of how much times are changing.For the past five years, Patek Philippe has been working on a new manufacture in Geneva. The Plan-les-Ouates site was signed off in 2014 to aid Patek Philippe‘s desire to internalize as many aspects of production as possible. Some interpreted the m...
#TBT Vintage Medana Watch With The Tiniest Date Window
Early date watches have a?lot of charm. If they come with an unusual running disc instead of sub-seconds, you get a truly unique watch. Meet an early date Medana with MST 234 caliber. If you’ve ever tried to hunt down a decent early date watch - and by early, I mean earlier than mid-1940s Datejust - you learned two things. Its not easy to find a well-preserved example. And, perhaps unexpectedly, it turns out that the 1930s and the 1940s saw some pretty neat designs as the industry struggled to get its head around the date complication. If you dig deep… My lucky catch? An era-appropriate Medana. It comes with not only with a beautiful date integration, but also with truly rare ru...
Interview With James Thompson, AKA Black Badger
The watch industry, like its products, has a lot of moving parts. Millions of people around the world play their part in bringing our interest to life. But it is true that some people play a much more visible role in the task than others. Those characters that come to define eras of watchmaking should be championed. They should be listened to, learned from, and respected. Even if they did name themselves after a badger…If you’ve never met James Thompson, you should probably stick it on your to-do list. I don’t mean in a creepy, stalker kind of way. I mean in a nice, dignified, organic kind of way (like “accidentally running into him” at an event). Please, please...
Breaking News: Important Management Changes At Swatch Group
This morning, Swatch Group announced important management changes. Per July 1st, there will be new CEOs for Longines, Rado, Union, Tissot, Hamilton, and Certina. Besides that, there will be changes to the executive group management board and the extended group management board.It is important to note that all changes are internal. All roles have been filled by existing Swatch Group employees who’ve been working there for many years.Swatch Group management changesLet’s start with the changes in the management boards of the Swatch Group. Raynald Aeschlimann, CEO of Omega and member of the extended group, has joined the executive group management board. He will remain CEO of Omega, ...
Breguet Further Expands The Marine Collection With Six New Watches
For 2020 Breguet has chosen to expand its Marine collection. In March, we saw the release of a new rose gold Marine Tourbillon equation Marchante 5887. Today sees Breguet adding another six new watches to the Marine collection. Although not technically “new”, they are very welcome additions.The Marine 5517, 5527, and 5547 have been familiar faces in the current Marine collection that was introduced in 2018. To expand the collection, Breguet decided to introduce them with full gold bracelets.…my appreciation for the Marine collection had grown tremendously.It’s funny how things change over time. As I mentioned in my article on the Marine Tourbillon equation Marchante 5...
Is The Girard-Perregaux Free Bridge A Bridge Too Far?
I can look at watches with two mindsets: the first is the I want type, and the second is the I adore perspective. When it comes to a Tourbillon With Three Gold Bridges it's definitely the latter, since funding will always be a problem so I want mode remains switched off. But I do adore the unique, robust, arrow shaped bridges that dominate any GP built on that historical foundation. In recent times, GP started to improvise on the Three Gold Bridges tune. And I now wonder, is the Girard-Perregaux Free Bridge a bridge too far?The first golden bridge watchmaker Constant Girard - the owner of Girard & Cie. - built was the ring he put on Marie Perregaux' finger in 1854. When the two got marri...
The $40 Space Watch From Casio Right Under Your Nose (2021)
The heavens have always been a fascination of homo sapiens. Each culture throughout history, having moved past the hurdles of securing shelter, sustenance, and governance, has at some point turned its collective gaze to the skies, considered a font of knowledge and mystery for those adept at seeing. Modern humanity has fared no differently; now armed with technological and scientific developments, we ceased to be content with merely gazing. And so, man has been to the moon, and there will undoubtedly be more to come.Not all of us will go to space. In truth, we may even look upwards at night less often than our ancestors. But there are tokens now available to us, ambassadors of humankind's ne...
ArtyA Introduces The Wave A Limited-Edition COSC Dive Watch
After launching the world’s first sapphire dive watches, ArtyA rounds off its diver collection with a stunning novelty. The Wave, a COSC-certified dive watch, features an artistic enamel dial of concentric ripples. This new model comes in four variants, each limited to nine pieces. It is a hypnotic visual experience that will immerse you in a VR world where you are shrunk to the size of a minuscule pebble and lose yourself down the vortex of water into nothingness…Well, OK, it might not do exactly that. But what ArtyA's new model does do is add a new dimension to the brand's typically audacious statement timepieces. More importantly for the wearer, it allows a sensory connection ...
Introducing: Two New Accutron Spaceview 2020 Models
It's totally fitting to be writing about the newest additions to the Accutron Spaceview line while reading a book called The Brief History of Timekeeping by Chad Orzel. Orzel's book highlights several key moments in the development of timekeeping technologies that have occurred in the past 2,500 years, including Stonehenge-like structures in Northern Europe, sundials, clock towers, and the first mechanical movements.? Innovation has picked up speed in the past two centuries, and it seems that it has exploded since the 1950s. The Accutron Spaceview revolutionized timekeeping in 1960 and revisited its breakthrough technology in 2010.?It has been 12 years since RJ spoke about the reintroduction...
Hands-On: Rado Captain Cook Automatic Chronograph
Let's be honest, how many of you would choose to take the Rado Captain Cook Automatic Chronograph on a sailing trip around the world? The watch is named after Captain James Cook, the famous British 18th-century explorer and cartographer, but I doubt the watch's buyers follow in the famous navigator's footsteps. Twenty-first-century life for most doesn't include navigating thousands of miles across largely uncharted areas of the globe. Instead, we explore metropolitan areas and the great outdoors that is, quite often, not so great any longer. Still, it's nice to take a bit of adventurous nautical inspiration with you on the wrist. The Rado Captain Cook Automatic Chronograph in bronze is just ...
G-Shock Introduces The 40th Anniversary Clear Remix Line
This year is the 40th anniversary of G-Shock, and to say it’s going unnoticed would be a lie. We have seen a plethora of new commemorative releases from the Casio sub-brand, including the Remaster Black series just ten days ago. And the celebration shows no sign of slowing down, with G-Shock now introducing seven new Clear Remix models. The concept provides a true look behind the scenes and makes for a stunning series of watches.Basically, I just told you all there is to know about the theme of this series. The idea is as simple as they come, but the execution makes it brilliant. Showing the inner workings of a mechanical watch is something we now take for granted. Skeletonized dials a...