With so much Alpinist talk these days, I felt it was high time to take a look at what I think is the finest model in the model’s history. Feast your eyes on the Seiko Champion Alpinist J13043 and devour a few words while you’re at it.Just last week, we took a look at a couple of new Seiko Alpinist models that take their cues from the original 1959 Laurel model. I actually own that orig

Time to bring out and dust off the Fratello crystal ball and also read the tea leaves in the Hublot mug we have at HQ. With a stream of novelties on the horizon - Watches and Wonders is just a couple of months away - some veteran references will have to go bye-bye. It's the circle of watch life. And even , Patek Philippe, Tudor, Omega, and Grand Seiko can't escape it. The crystal ball and the tea

After the success of its Excellence Guilloche Main in 2021, Louis Erard is back with a new, follow-up model - the not-so-subtly named Excellence Guilloche Main II. Louis Erard continues to highlight traditional “metiers d’art” with its second hand-guilloche dial. It’s a celebration of a classic and traditional technique with strong ties to the watchmaking industry.This is t

With Nacho having kicked off this series with his picks, it’s now my turn to select three watches within a $10K budget. In all honesty, I was struggling with this concept. For me, the desire for a particular watch comes first, and how I budget for it is a secondary thought - it’s heart over mind. I’m keen to know if any of our readers have five figures set aside expressly for jum

We ask a lot of our watches. Sure, they have to tell the time, but we also ask them to look good and impart something about ourselves to the world. We also require that they go with us… everywhere. Water resistance - once an indicator of how well a watch could stand the rigors of daily life - has been incrementally cranked up to levels that most of the currently rated watches will never see.

The Longines ref. 5411 “Tuxedo” totally surprised me. It is as tiny as a piece of candy, but it feels robust, just like any of your Submariners. ?I bet 99% of watch collectors would never pack a 31mm Longines ref. 5411 on a vacation to an island in the Mediterranean Sea. First of all, 99% of collectors would not choose to go to Mallorca at the end of February just because it is still t

Over the last few years, elastic watch straps have gained mass popularity. They are available in almost every color imaginable and can be snapped up from several different sellers. Prices range from just a couple of bucks up to just below a hundred euros. If you're reading this, there's a good chance you own one of these straps. And there's an even better chance that you've seen them cropping up,

Until 2014, I didn’t own any Seiko watches. That might not mean anything, but I had been into watches since the mid-1990s. It was my colleague Mike Stockton who “influenced” me to buy several Seikos in 2014 (after he joined) due to his articles. I was very comfortable spending a few hundred euros on a Seiko watch, but he also tried to get me into Grand Seiko. At the time, it was

With Cartier's massive resurgence from the auction block to celebrity wrists, rectangular cool is back. And the same goes for the flippable magic of Jaeger-LeCoultre's Reverso. With the wide selection of Cartier and the JLC Reverso range, a big choice is yours for taking within the ranks of the two dominant brands. But look deeper, and you’ll find alternative rectangular chic from unexpected

Daan, Nacho, and RJ talk about traveling with their watches in this podcast. Being watch journalists, we travel a lot and often want to bring more than one watch. But with Switzerland as the main destination, it’s not as easy as you think. You need to be mindful of customs and the fact that they can stop you to ask if you’re “importing” any valuable goods. In this podcast,

Back in the first half of 2023, Ollech & Wajs informed us that a successor to the 1973 OW 8000 was coming. Even renders were available, but we love the real deal and, when possible, like to wait for a production model before making a judgment. And it’s good that we did this time because, in real life, the OW 8001 left a different impression than we’d gotten from the earlier rendere

I’ve truly enjoyed my time with various Ming watches. I’ve purchased a handful of them and have always marveled at the attention to detail and innovative use of materials. Since discovering them several years ago, though, I had never gone hands-on with one of the brand’s more expensive models. Today, I’ll share my thoughts on the Ming 29.01 Dubai Edition.The Ming watches th

Today, we go hands-on with a fairly wild G-Shock. The MTG-B2000YR Illumination City Limited Edition was released in late 2023 and is a colorful, feature-laden watch. It’s a higher-end piece, so expect loads of thoughtful details. Let’s venture into the world of bright lights!It’s not exactly news that G-Shock makes and sells loads of four-figure-priced watches. Still, I’m a

Ever since Hodinkee Editor-in-Chief James Stacey posted an image on social media of a Doxa Sub 200T Divingstar, I knew I had to do a hands-on with one. Yellow is a color that keeps drawing me back. The Divingstar had already been on my radar, but seeing it time and time again wore down my very limited resistance to trying out a watch I might want to actually own one day.Doxa is an interesting bran

Is it Sunday already? Yes, it is, and we'll make sure you have a good last day of the weekend with this week's episode of Sunday Morning Showdown. Daan and Lex will go head to head with two colorful chronographs. In one corner, Daan represents the Tudor Black Bay Chrono Flamingo Blue, which gives off serious Miami Vice vibes. In the other corner is Lex, who picked something Prince would’ve l

Many of the readers of Fratellowatches come from the United States according to our statistics. In that respect, we feel that this part of our readers are probably more familiar with Hamilton than we are. You should know, that Hamilton wasn’t very known in Europe until a few years ago when their PR machine started here as well. Especially with the Khaki models, they quickly conquered the mar

It is Speedy Tuesday and today we have Philip Kisloff giving his thoughts and opinions about the new Omega Speedmaster X-33 ‘SkyWalker’. This X-33 is already the 3rd generation of this astronaut’s timepiece. Where the 2nd Generation model was more or less a little update of the 1st Generation model, both in functionality and aesthetics, the 3rd Generation is a complete redesign a

Last year, Omega introduced the Globemaster on press day’s eve in BaselWorld (we reported here). The 39mm Globemaster comes in stainless steel, bi-color, (Sedna) gold and platinum and we had the chance to review the 18ct Sedna gold version (click here for my in-depth and somewhat emotional review on the Globemaster). Last October, Omega introduced the first Globemaster that was ready for del

If you've followed the vintage watch market to any extent, and #TBT for that matter, Enicar is a name that surfaces with relative frequency. The brand has become a darling to many collectors and for good reason; the watches were well built, uniquely detailed and generally well sized to current tastes. The bulk of the attention on the brand, though, has been centered on the chronographs such as the

AMG cars,?Lappi tires with 2mm spikes, IWC watches and ice. Very thick ice. The perfect ingredients for the AMG Winter Sporting Experience.Some weeks ago we received an invite from IWC Schaffhausen to join them on an event in the Northern Part of Sweden. Last time we went to Sweden we've been sailing racing yachts. We return again for some high paced action, but it will be on frozen water this tim