When it comes to creating affordable watches with a ton of vintage-inspired style, look no further than Certina. While the brand also produces some great contemporary pieces, the vintage charm makes the brand hard to beat. Just one of the many great examples is the stunning Certina DS PH200M. Its vintage style in combination with the modern execution makes it a great piece, and that’s what t

The Sinn T50 divers kick off 2023, and while these watches are very “on brand,” they weren’t necessarily expected. I’ll share my thoughts on that and get into the watches themselves. Bottom line: these are sweet additions to the lineup with great dimensions.As an adopted Frankfurter, I have a soft spot for Sinn. We both call “Mainhattan” home, and therefore, I k

No, I'm not going to pick a Nautilus. Neither the original 3700 nor the 5980 chronograph. Before I got to spend my unlimited budget, I cleansed my palate. I hit refresh and tried very hard to observe the immense universe of Haute Horlogerie in an open-minded way. But how do I pick three stars that shine brightest for me? I found out that when everything goes, the agony of choice kicks in, and comm

From the day Michel Parmigiani presented his brand's first-ever wristwatch, the Toric QP Retrograde, in 1999, the Parmigiani name has been tied to calendar watches. QP stands for “Quantime Perpetuel” - it was an in-house-developed perpetual calendar watch. A de facto house specialty, the annual and perpetual calendars are always on offer from the Fleurier-based watchmaker's collection

Another Friday, another Top 5! This time, we will continue where we left off last week and present even more great pre-owned options. In this mini-series, we want to highlight some less obvious picks from different brands. Some of these are watches you may never have heard of, while others might be good reminders of forgotten greats. Seeing what is out there on the pre-owned market is super intere

March 9th is a big day for the now-well-known resurgence of British watchmaking. This particular date is set aside for a new event, the British Watchmakers’ Day, in London. Thanks to Roger W. Smith, this year will be even more exciting thanks to a sealed auction, with the excitement starting at a 297,500 reserve price (equivalent to $348,000).Other British brands are also making limited edi

Cartier introduced three sizes of new Tank Must models in 2021. The Tank Must debuted in the 1970s, but we hadn’t seen any new models for years. Now it’s available again in “extra-large,” “large,” and “small” versions. The extra-large model features a self-winding 1847 MC caliber with central seconds and date, while the large and small models house b

Unless you have lived under a rock for the past three years, you know that the watch market has seen a huge influx of affordable GMT watches from various brands. The newest addition to the long line of releases is this Certina DS Action GMT Powermatic 80. While it is not the first DS Action GMT, this new version is a model with great potential. The classic GMT is executed with modern materials and

Mk II first released its Fulcrum dive watch in 2013. This is nothing spectacular in itself, although it is remarkable to realize that it was 12 years ago. The inaugural model was a 42mm dive watch inspired by the great military watches of the 1970s. The new Mk II Fulcrum 39 is an optimized version of that initial model. The most important update is a smaller case that’s more in line with its

Marginal gains - the world of Haute Horlogerie moves forward in little steps. That is already a miracle since mechanical watchmaking is in its private universe where functionality is not an essential survival tool. Still, the leading traditional watchmaking houses continue to push the technical boundaries. You don’t get a sense of evolution when you look at the three new perpetual calendar w

ABP Paris (Atelier du Bracelet Parisien) is a manufacturer of the world’s most exclusive leather watchstraps. Although you can order most straps via their web shop, the Fratellowatches team decided to visit their workshop in the center of Paris.ABP is currently lead by Yann Perrin and is a typical family business and have been around for 15 years. A few years ago, due to ever growing busines

Longines was so kind to lend us their Legend Diver Date timepiece for a while. This means that I can wear it for a while and our photographer Bert can take his time to shoot some proper photos of the watch.I have a weak spot for vintage watches, but I am not so keen on having them serviced or repaired to often. When you buy a vintage watch, you absolutely need to take into account that it will nee

Being a kid in the 1980’s, I grew up with digital watches. In fact, my first watch was a Casio that I got in 1986?during a holiday in the UK. Still have it and it still works. Today, my focus is a bit more towards mechanical watches, but I see no reason to neglect a good digital watch. Including Apple’s smartwatch (that we reviewed here) and the Z-33 or X-33 from Omega. All interesting

News from SevenFriday, the brand that was among the first (perhaps it was the first) that made huge noise on social media to get the word out on their watches. Now, we are facing their M3/01 release, the Spaceship edition.SevenFriday is not a new comer, but still a very young company with 2012 as their year of birth. After their previous releases, which we covered here, here and here, it became a

The only manufacture movement that is made in Austria comes from Habring2, the watchmaking company that is lead by Richard and Maria Habring. In 2015 I reviewed the Felix, with its in-house caliber A11B movement. Today I am reviewing the Habring2 Doppel-Felix watch, a rattrapante chronograph with in-house caliber A11RD movement.Where the Felix was a typical dress watch, beautifully but sober desig

Who’s not a fan of the Omega Seamaster 300M?I guess there are some of you out there. Especially hardcore Speedmaster fans. I get it; the Seamaster 300M collection is not as homogenous as the Speedmaster’s. But I guess this is part of its charm. It includes watches that still look great 25 years after they first appeared on James Bond’s wrist in Goldeneye (1995). Of course, over t

When renowned wristwatch veteran William Massena partners up with Unimatic watches, you get hot news that doesn't need a leaflet to tell its story. Allow me to introduce the Unimatic Modello Uno U1-ML6.I didn't even manage to blink an eye before seeing the iconic 6538 in the new Modello Uno U1-ML6. It was a lightning-fast call from my heart. And the more I look at the new Unimatic?Massena LAB pie

Could there be a better place than Dubai to launch a new dazzling watch created especially for Women? Absolutely not! There was magic in the air that night… The presentation of this new diamond pave timepiece during LVMH Watch Week had an almost?One Thousand and One Nights feel. Seeing as the Defy family has become Zenith's signature design of recent years, the ladies’ version might be

To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the discovery of the Antarctic continent (in 1820) and the 50th anniversary of the first production of the Soviet Raketa Polar watch (in 1970), the Raketa Watch Factory is relaunching the production of this historic watch model. This re-edition will be limited to 200 watches. Technical drawings that were found in the archives of the Factory were used to recrea

Welcome, one and all, to the preliminary round of March Mania 2021, here on Fratello. Are you a watch maniac like we are? If so, you’re sure to love our month-long feature. 96 watches reviewed last year line up for a battle royale like nothing that’s gone before. We need your votes. We want your comments. Help us decide the champion and share in its glory! Let the games commence…