Massena LAB Geometer A Surprisingly Private Release
It’s not even March and I have no doubts that we are looking at one of the most unexpected reissues of 2022. The mid-’50s “pre-Speedy” chronograph, the Rodania Geometer, rises from the grave of horology once again. This time, it’s under the surprising Massena LAB label.The entire watch community enjoys contemplating what is going to hit the market in a given year. Especially when it comes to anniversaries, everybody gets very excited and shares their wild guesses. But I bet nobody saw the Geometer coming back this year. Sorry, this century. And nobody saw it coming back to life by William Massena’s hands. But ooh boy, what a witty release it was!Not Rodan...
The Best Vintage Tissot Watches
Composing a Best Of article is never an easy task. You need to have an excessive knowledge of the brand you are about to dissect. Model lines, various executions, and one-off pieces, if they exist, all have to be part of the pool you are choosing from. On top of that, one must keep in mind that Top XY or Best Of lists are subjective topics and, as such, need to be taken with a grain of salt. Well, I'm no Tissot expert by any means, but I've been a fan and collector of the brand for a long time now. So much so that when I was asked to compose this article on the best vintage Tissot watches, I was happy to take on the task.My method was pretty simple: instead of focusing on my true favorites, ...
Buying Guide: The Best Sinn Watches From The 2000s
We like to talk about vintage watches a lot within the Fratello team. Though most of what we write about is primarily focused on the most recent releases and developments, for many of us, a lot of the fun can be found in the sometimes weird and often wonderful 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 watches per decade from a select group of brands. Some of them are priceless, and some of them are still affordable. In this installment, we will take a look at the best Sinn watches from the 2000s.By the turn of the millennium, Switzerland had...
MoonSwatch Mission To Moonshine Gold: What's Coming?
Just moments ago, Swatch uploaded a MoonSwatch teaser: Mission to Moonshine Gold and March 7 it says. It also lists several locations all over the world. Are you ready for a new spin on the Swatch Omega MoonSwatch?Dej vu: Swatch manages to completely steal the show with the announcement of the MoonSwatch, just days before Watches and Wonders 2022. Now here we are, one year later, a few weeks before Watches and Wonders, and Swatch is at it again.The first question that crossed my mind was: will the impact be as large as last year? It is fair to doubt it. The MoonSwatch was wildly successful and the talk of the town. Releasing a couple of new versions or putting a new spin on the existing con...
Two Years On Living With Tudor's Black Bay Fifty-Eight
The Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight in blue drove the watch world a bit nuts when it came out in 2020. I was one of those who, though wary of the hype, tried the watch on at a boutique and fell in love. I've now had the Black Bay Fifty-Eight for two years, and I wanted to share my thoughts on this watch.The ocean is making that unmistakable booming sound, where large waves rolling off from the Pacific connect with the shorelines near where I live in Sydney, Australia. It's a summer's evening here, and though it is late in the day, the Sun is still shining lazily over sheer cliffs. I'm walking down with swimmers and a pair of goggles in hand, ready to partake in that evening ritual of a post-work...
Hands-On: The White-Dial Omega Speedmaster Daniel Craig
It was a long wait for many of you (and us), but here it is - the new Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch. We had the opportunity to go hands-on with this new white-dial Speedmaster, which was first seen on Daniel Craig’s wrist last November.The white-dial Omega Speedmaster “Daniel Craig”At first, people thought it was the Speedmaster in Canopus (white) Gold, but it quickly became clear that it was a new (prototype) Speedmaster watch with a white dial. Although Daniel Craig is a Speedmaster guy (and even owns a Speedmaster Speedy Tuesday edition), I am not too sure about the nickname “Daniel Craig” since he's so associated with the Seamaster 300M.Let's have...
Hands-On: Unimatic Modello Cinque U5S-A
Jorg probably doesn’t know this, but every time I see him walking into the office with a Unimatic on his wrist, I get a little more jealous. I’m a fan of the brand’s less-is-more design approach. Plus, the watches look like they can take a beating, and they have a ton of character on the wrist. But…there is one big “but.” Unimatic watches are always quite big and bulky. I know that’s part of why they look and probably are so tough. But still, I always felt like Unimatic watches weren’t made for my fairly average 17cm wrist circumference - until now, that is. The new Unimatic Modello Cinque feels like it was designed specifically with my wrist s...
What Would Make You Buy A New Cartier?
Welcome back to another episode of Fratello On Air. This week, we’re asking what would make us buy a Cartier watch. It’s a good question because neither of your co-hosts owns a timepiece from the incredibly popular brand. As we’ll see, the reasons have little to do with what’s currently on offer and more to do with our wearing habits....
Buy-In Required: Non-Watch Brands That Stand Tall
Some people just can't get enough. Enough of the right logo, that is. Logo luxury is still very much alive, no matter the attention quiet luxury received recently. Logos have a hypnotic allure to some people. People under the spell of the right monogram will want to buy into the brand badly, desiring everything with that logo on it. And that's what brands aim for. They don’t want consumers to buy one or two items. No, they want to successfully integrate their brands with consumers and be a part of their lives constantly. Non-watch brands creating high-end watches is a great way of offering people a way to “complete the look” and integrate products with consumers’ life...
Introducing: The Ming 21.01 "Project 21" In Tantalum
As a materials engineer, I get excited whenever a watchmaker uses an atypical material. Over the last decade, carbon and ceramics have become more prevalent for watch cases. However, aside from new gold alloys, it has been relatively quiet on the metals front. Using tantalum isn’t new, but it’s so uncommon that it deserves attention whenever a watch brand chooses it. When one of my all-time favorite brands decides to work with the notoriously challenging metal, I’m more than interested. Project 21 is Ming’s latest creation, and despite its exclusivity, it can lay claim to the title of my favorite watch of 2025 thus far.I’m an unabashed Ming fanboy. This small in...
Introducing: The Parmigiani Tonda PF Platinum Stone Blue
In the spring of 2023, Parmigiani Fleurier introduced an all-platinum version of the popular Tonda PF Micro-Rotor. Even the sandblasted dial was platinum, and it had a date window at 6 o’clock. Then, in the spring of 2024, the brand from Fleurier, Switzerland, introduced the Tonda PF Micro-Rotor No Date. The omittance of a date window on that version made the Tonda PF look even cleaner and more understated than it already was. Now, as we creep up on spring 2025, Parmigiani Fleurier has combined those two versions and presents the Tonda PF Micro-Rotor Platinum with a casual Stone Blue dial.Wearing a Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF shows another watch enthusiast that you know your stuff. Th...
Celebrating 30 Years Of The G-Shock DW-6900 "Triple Graph"
In 1995, Casio added the DW-6900 model to its G-Shock line, marking an evolution in the design and functionality of digital watches. With its round case, Triple Graph display, and front-mounted light button, the DW-6900 quickly became a favorite among watch enthusiasts and professional users. Its 30th anniversary in 2025 is a good moment to reflect on the DW-6900’s legacy, its impact on culture, and the special DW-6900TR editions released to honor this milestone.The birth of the DW-6900The mid-1990s were still a period of transformation for wristwatch technology. Besides the square DW-5000 and DW-5600 series, Casio sought a watch that combined robustness with a unique aesthetic appeal....
New: Three Herms Arceau L'Heure De La lune Watches And More
There is no time to waste. The watch department at Herms has been very busy - busy enough to release no fewer than six new watches ahead of next month's Watches and Wonders. The novelties include a 12-set limited edition of three Herms Arceau L’Heure de la Lune watches in surprising colors plus two new versions of the Arceau Le Temps Voyageur watches. Another new model is the artistic Slim D’Herms Cheval Brosse, a limited edition of just 28 paintings - sorry, watches.The Arceau L’Heure de la Lune has existed since 2019 but still looks fresh and original. Even so, Herms felt inspired and created three new versions of the poetically complicated travel watch. The three var...
The Battle Of The Jumbos AP RO 15202ST vs IWC Inge SL1832
Watch designer Genta designed a number of watches that turned into icons. Best example is the first stainless steel luxury watch he designed in 1972, the Royal Oak for Audemars Piguet. Later on, he repeated this with his Nautilus for Patek Philippe and the Ingenieur for IWC. All these watches are being referred to as ‘Jumbo’, as they were considered to be HUGE then. Today, we seem to be laughing at 39/40mm diameter watches. One of the readers of Fratellowatches, Martijn, has two of Genta’s cult watches and sent me some photographs.The IWC Ingenieur SL1832 ‘Jumbo’ is part of Martijn’s collection of IWC watches. Recently, he added a white dial Audemars Pigue...
Ace & Dik Turns Into An IWC And Santoni Boutique
I’ve been a fan (and wearer) of Santoni shoes for quite a long time and I was thrilled to see IWC introducing a new Portofino watch with a Santoni strap. Last week, the Ace & Dik boutique in Amsterdam turned into an IWC and Santoni shop for two whole days. Host of the evening, Alon Ben-Joseph and his colleagues, provided a great platform for admirers of Italian and Swiss craftsmanship. Two people from Santoni were present as well, to answer questions about their products and to demonstrate how their shoes are being made, colored and polished.Visitors of the boutique were able to try on all IWC watches and to see the new Santoni straps (and shoes) for themselves. The 45mm Portofino ...
Photo Essay: Arcadia AC01-V2
Arcadia is the boutique brand of the Fleurier Watch Company that was originally found in the 19th century and brought back to life in 2007. With three types of collections (four if you include the watches made on request), Arcadia is able to?fulfill the demand of all sorts of watch consumers. Arcadia has a Contemporary line of watches to which the reviewed AC01-V2 ?belongs, a Vintage collection that grabs back to chronographs of yesteryear and a collection especially for ladies.We received an Arcadia AC01-V2 for review and we’d like to share the pictures we took with our readers.This AC01-V2 chronograph by Arcadia has this unusual shape and is packed with all kinds of cool details. The...
Gronefeld One Hertz Just Went Platinum
After winning the?prestigious TimeZone’s 2011 Watch of the Year award and their appearance on national television in The Netherlands (click here to view the item), Gronefeld Exclusive Timepieces introduces their One Hertz in Platinum.Gronefeld received a lot of coverage here with their One Hertz ‘secondes mortes’ ?timepiece over the last year. Not only because the watch is just plain beautiful, also because we believe we are going to hear a lot more from brothers Tim and Bart Gronefeld from Oldenzaal, The Netherlands. This small independent watch manufacturer is the cream of the crop and now TimeZone also acknowledges this, it can go pretty fast with these guys.We have done...
Micro brand Mercer Watch Co Brigadier
On a weekly basis we receive quite a bit of introductions to new (micro) watch brands. Somehow, it seems that there is a huge interest in them as they are able to quickly raise enough funds to start producing watches after they showed their plans to the public. One of the reasons is perhaps that a lot of these micro brands are able to keep the price very reasonable at the end. Not everyone has $5000 USD to spend on a watch, we are pretty well aware of that after our huge survey last year. See the chart below, which shows that 20,62% of our readers is spending (and obviously interested) in watches with a price tag below $ 1000 USD. Enter micro brands. Besides being able to choose from a varie...
Sinn EZM 1, the uncluttered 52Mondayz week #10 watch
The Sinn EZM 1, my 52Mondayz week #10 watchLast week was a week full of Speedmasters. However one way or the other a lot of Sinn came on my way as well. As their agent for The Netherlands I’ve had a long working relationship with Sinn. Starting in 1994, when Helmut Sinn was still on the helm, and ending my agency in 2013, when I closed my shop to concentrate on my journalistic activities.We’re still good friends, and quite some people still find me to obtain information or asking advice on Sinn watches. Service, repair, spare parts, or even advice on buying a new watch. That was the case last week as well, which made me wear the Sinn EZM 1 ‘Einsatszeitmesser’.When Sin...
Seiko 62MAS The First Professional Diver Watch By Seiko
In a few weeks, BaselWorld 2017 will unveil a number of novelties we have all been waiting for. One of them is the re-edition of Seiko’s 62MAS diver. The rumors are piling up and we now ‘know’ that there will be a re-redition of the 62MAS with an 8L movement and a cheaper variant with 6R15 movement (SPB051J1 with bracelet and SPB053J1 with rubber strap).62MAS Re-edition?previewWe thought it would be good to have a look again at the original, the 62MAS from 1965. Michael Stockton wrote this article back in 2015, but let us refresh your memory by publishing it again (or in case you missed it at all). Without further ado.Original Seiko 62MASAsk a vintage Seiko collector about ...