Every brand should be built on passion. More often than not, the first passion of watch company founders is watchmaking itself. What adds real flavor to the dish, however, are the secondary passions and interests of a brand’s creators. In the case of French brand Depancel, the obsession remains within the mechanical realm. The new Depancel AUTO RS collection continues the brand’s estab

For a while, when I was a kid, I think I was the teacher’s pet. I’m not entirely sure how comfortable I am with acknowledging that, but in hindsight, I’m sure it must be true. I hadn’t realized how easy I’d had it until I started to analyze the position of the (three) Nezumi Voiture watches in my collection. At last. I’ve found my kindred spirit…Everybody

Last year saw the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Bauhaus movement. Many watch brands also celebrated with the release of a special Bauhaus edition watch. But there are brands that celebrate Bauhaus design every day. One of those brands is the Hamburg based brand Sternglas. They just released their Sternglas Zirkel Edition Bauhaus as a special celebration piece showing the symmetry tha

For this week’s Speedy Tuesday we have an interview for you with Peter, or PC as his friends call him. However, to most of you #SpeedyTuesday followers on Instagram, you’ve probably come across his account by the name of @watch_ors.With over 2500 posts he gathered roughly 7500 followers on his Instagram account. It will become immediately clear he’s a Speedmaster enthusiast, alth

These days, we seem to focus on the newest watch releases with a longing eye towards whatever might come next. We lap up the debuts and move on quickly. Furthermore, we also pine over those watches that are impossible to buy (ahem, ). It’s time to take a deep breath and realize that there are some truly great watches that are readily available and are, dare I say, modern classics. Let’

Every so often, a press release hits the inbox that looks so familiar you almost ignore it as old news. And then, because a little voice in the back of your head calls out and stays your cursor as it hovers over the trash can, you look again and you realize that this is actually something new. It is something that, while new, looks so much like something that should have already existed you genuin

In this installment Fratello EDC, Thomas shares his everyday carry essentials. We have a look at the stuff he needs to get through the day. Let's stick our curious little noses into his bags and pockets!I do not particularly like to pack a whole lot of stuff. Unfortunately, as a watch journo, you need quite a few things on a daily basis. I am also slightly neurotic when it comes to my daily items.

Long gone are the days when I sneered at the mention of a Chanel watch and dismissed it as a fashion item. I remember sitting at a fine London bar some years ago with my WOSTEP-trained watchmaker-turned-marketer friend from Audemars Piguet and, unavoidably, talking shop. After a few decadent cocktails, my Dutch courage compelled me to blurt out how much I liked the BoyFriend Skeleton. Then I went

Hey! You're wearing the new Nezumi Voiture ref. VM1S.601 chronograph, the neurobiologist enthusiastically said during last Saturday's Fratello get-together. I was quite surprised by that. Nezumi is not a mainstream brand, and the lights in the bar were dimmed. Still, he identified the watch as soon as it met his gaze. Later, I found out that the neurobiologist has a scary knack for remembering ref

Tissot has had a connection to the NBA as well as other basketball organizations for a long time now. For this, having at least one watch in the collection that celebrates this partnership is a must. Still, the brand went a bit further. Tissot does not only associate a watch, the SuperSport, with its affiliation but also a new collection of straps.The NBA (National Basketball Association) is one o

Are you ready for round three of the Fratello Summer Splash 2022? Well, ready or not, it's about to begin. This year's contest is all about finding the best colorful watches to keep you happy all summer long. Sure, warm weather and long days might already put a smile on your face, but a brightly colored watch on your wrist always kicks things up a notch. Much like a bold pair of sunglasses, a Hawa

Do you approach other watch wearers in the wild, or are you hesitant to do so? We often see others wearing incredibly nice watches on their wrists, but we only comment on them once in a while. Lex remembers making a comment to someone wearing a full-gold Cartier Santos 100 with a very special strap. And RJ commented on someone’s , but that wasn’t well-received. In this episode, we talk

Summer is upon us, and it holds a special place in our hearts here at Fratello. Why, you may wonder? It’s pretty simple: the sun graces us with its warmth, the outdoors becomes inviting once again, and most importantly, we’re thrilled to announce the release of the remaining Fratello Nivada Grenchen Racing Chronograph collection.Brace yourself for an exquisite selection of timepieces a

I promised you more Gallet vintage watches this year, so here we go. After years of hunting, I found my ultimate non-lumed Gallet Multichron 12 “Snow White.” As a warmup, I do recommend reading my story about the lumed Gallet Snow White, which I published almost four years ago. They have something special in common. To give you a hint, focus on the 12-hour counter. But we will get to t

The Sinn 104 is a watch that is near and dear to the hearts of many collectors and aficionados. I know that for many of them, it was their first and/or only foray into higher-end watches. I considered buying one many years ago too but never got around to it. So I am ashamed to admit I had never handled one. I felt it was about time that I see what the fuss is all about, so I asked the folks at Sin

It's late June in the quiet mountain town of Zermatt. A bustling ski resort in winter, summer is a relatively quiet time up here, with only hikers and mountain bikers making the pilgrimage to the Matterhorn's unofficial base camp. Fittingly, it’s this alpine backdrop that Alpina has selected to celebrate its 140th anniversary, and it wouldn't be a proper celebration without at least one new

It’s always exciting to discover a new watch brand, even more so when it was founded in your hometown. As we’re practically neighbors, I sat down for lunch with Vincent Bakker, one of the three founders of Calgari, to learn more about this Amsterdam-based brand and its watches. The adventure started by selling off-the-shelf watches, but soon, the founders wanted to develop designs of t

Two of the colorful new Hamilton Khaki Navy Scuba watches are easy. One comes in yellow and the other one in orange. But the third one is a bit more puzzling. Is it pink? No, I think the right name for the color Hamilton so boldly decided to use is magenta, a purplish-red hue. You could say it's a shade of pink, but because of the different saturation, it looks bolder and stronger than pink. Why d

Monaco is one of those cities you really have to visit once every while, just to breathe the atmosphere of luxury lifestyle and jet-setters. Fans of independent watchmaking now have a new (or other) excuse to pay Monaco a visit… The launch of independent watch manufacturer Les Ateliers deMonaco!The Ateliers DeMonaco Carre d’Or is a watch that should remind us of the famous and most exc

Treasury CabinetWhile many watch collections – like ours – are stowed away somewhere in the safe environment of a local bank, there are other more attractive ways to safely store your beloved timepieces. During a trip to London?some time ago we actually had some spare time to explore London. So apart from making sure we tested all local bars we actually spent some time window shopping