Hands-On: The New Seiko 5 Sports SKX Sports Style
Scottish novelist James Matthew Barrie famously wrote, “Dreams do come true, if only we wish hard enough.” By his logic, it would seem that many a watch enthusiast wished hard enough for a sweet-spot-sized successor to Seiko’s famous SKX dive watch. Two weeks ago today, Seiko introduced the new 38mm Seiko 5 Sports SKX Sports Style references SRPK29, SRPK31, SRPK33, and SRPK35. And judging by your reactions so far, this was indeed a wish come true. My wish of seeing these in the metal was also granted mere days after the watches were announced. So now I can share my impressions of these 38mm spiritual successors to one of the most ubiquitous divers of recent times. But other...
Introducing: The Baltic Tour Auto 2024 Tricompax
Drivers, start your engines because the race is about to start! And this is not just any race - it’s the Tour Auto 2024, a classic road rally, also known as the Tour de France Automobile. The race uses France’s open roads and iconic race tracks, such as Le Mans, as its scenery. This year is the second time Baltic has been appointed as the official timekeeper for the event. What better way to celebrate this occasion than with a second limited-edition version of the Baltic Tricompax in collaboration with Tour Auto 2024?The first Baltic Tricompax LE came out in the summer of 2022 and had some serious ’70s racing vibes. Since then, the successful French watch brand also launche...
#TBT A Virgin-Like Zodiac Hermetic Small Seconds
Today, the Zodiac brand is predominantly associated with dive watches. But if we look back in time, we can find the Zodiac Hermetic family, which hides a few very interesting non-diving models. Among the Valjoux 72-powered chronographs and 24-hour Aerospace Jets sits one very appealing dresser that got my attention about four years ago.In Zodiac’s current watch lineup, there is just one model that doesn’t want to go diving - the Olympos. Its case shape is so individualistic, but Zodiac still decided to revive this devil with a mysterious hour hand. To my disappointment, the silver central disc with an hour hand didn’t make it to the present, and Zodiac replaced it with a st...
Watch Spotting At Watches And Wonders 2024
Walking around in everyday life, you might spot a watch or two. If you’re lucky, you’ll see something interesting on someone’s wrist. Depending on where you live and work, it will likely vary, but these encounters are not exactly common. However, from the minute we stepped onto our Geneva-bound plane, it was clear that this was not the regular crowd. On the contrary, this was the Watches and Wonders crowd, and everyone’s wristwear of choice reflected that. The watch spotting was on another level. A Vacheron Constantin Overseas Everest Chronograph on the shuttle to the plane was the first. Then came an IWC Portugieser Perpetual Calendar on the gentleman across the aisl...
Fratello Shop News: Apparel, Racing Straps, Watch Rolls, Pouches
We have added several new items to the Fratello Shop in the past few weeks, so it’s time for an update! We’re happy to present new strap variations, watch rolls, watch pouches, and the official #SpeedyTuesday caps in three colorways.Atelier Romane Fratello PouchesFor those who travel with more than one watch or want to keep their watches safe, we have several pouches in the Fratello Shop. Recently, we added watch pouches from Atelier Romane. After speaking with the brand’s owner Mickael, we worked out a small, curated selection of products that he and his small team in Paris could produce for Fratello. These are some of the finest leather watch accessories we have ever used...
Nezumi Studios Brings Back The Tonnerre Chronograph
Nezumi Studios is known for its big-value chronographs, and despite the rising prices of wristwear, this doesn't appear to be changing. After 13 years in existence and nine years of creating mid-century-inspired sports watches, the Stockholm-based brand is now an established player on the watch scene.David Campo, founder and lead designer of the Swedish microbrand Nezumi, has realized that change for the sake of it isn't always a good thing. Evolution is the name of the wrist game, and alongside offering a field watch and the latest Explorer-cool Aviera GMT, circa-40mm chronographs are what Nezumi does best. With the return of the Tonnerre, we see the brand sticking to its ’60s guns wi...
Looking Back At A Lukewarm Watches And Wonders 2024
A Watches and Wonders impression is best served cold. A little distance from the fair is necessary to transform impressions into organized thoughts. Six days should do the trick. So, what impression did the biggest watch show on Earth make on me? Well, going through my notes led to this story that includes some hot and cold watches I saw during an ultimately lukewarm Watches and Wonders 2024.So, this is what happened when Watches and Wonders 2024 opened its doors on Tuesday, April 9th at 8:30: everyone who had something to post - the fair welcomed 49,000 visitors, including 1,500 media folks - ran to , Patek Philippe, and Tudor, the brands that don't do embargoed press releases ahead of the ...
Fratello Talks: Watches And Wonders 2024
Welcome to this week’s episode of Fratello Talks. In this special long-form episode, Nacho, RJ, and Morgan discuss Watches and Wonders 2024. There’s much to unpack from this year’s fair, so prepare for an extended episode. The trio tackles topics including the general atmosphere of the fair, noticeable trends from brands and the industry overall, and many of the show’s notable releases. This year’s show was slightly slower than what we’ve seen in the past. Nevertheless, there were no fewer releases from the 54 participating brands. Do you want an idea of what it was like to walk the halls and touch (and feel) the watches? If so, tune in to this episode of ...
Hands-On: The New Ming 37.02 Ghost
We met with Ming at Time to Watches in Geneva and left excited about all the releases in the pipeline. In addition to some innovative higher-end upcoming introductions, the brand still knows how to cater to its core audience. The new 37.02 Ghost exemplifies this as an automatic, time-only watch, but it’s still infused with the exciting details we know and love from Ming.Ming wasn’t going to make a big splash about today’s 37.02 Ghost, but when I saw it in Geneva, I knew I had to cover it. Unexpectedly, CEO Praneeth Rajsingh offered to let me take the watch from Geneva to Florida while on vacation. It came with me to the Florida Keys, and while zero cloud cover may not be th...
Fratello On Air: Wrapping Up Watches And Wonders 2025
We’re back with another episode of Fratello On Air. This week, we’re wrapping up Watches and Wonders. We’ve had time to think about the show, the adjoining events, and the watches. You’ll hear our impressions and some good old banter. For our listeners, the watch content begins after 30 minutes....
Audemars Piguet Rubber Clad
Thanks to Dutch on-line dealer Watch-Site, I was able to photograph a few nice Audemars Piguet watches this weekend. One of them is the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph a.k.a The Rubber Clad a.k.a ref. 25940SK.OO.D002CA.01. So in short, the Rubber Clad.At least here in The Netherlands, the Offshore models by Audemars Piguet are the new Daytonas. All the football players, TV personalities etc. have one. Even when you think you are only about to become famous in the (near) future, you’ll need one of these. ??On a more serious note, these Rubber Clads are a hype. It seems that large watches are here to stay in 2009 as well, as this Offshore Chronograph measures 44mm in diam...
Peter Roberts Concentrique Grand Complication 5
Chances are small that you’ve heard about Peter Roberts before, unless you belong to the inner circles of England’s south-eastern watch enthusiasts. Although he has quite a resume, he does not seem to be the guy that is all over the web or actually wants to be all over the web. With 45 years of experience in the watch industry though, you could say he’s a watch vet.Being the first WOSTEP student from the UK, having worked at IWC and in Switzerland and being the head of repairs at one of the high-end jewellers in London is certainly impressive, but you probably don’t know Peter Roberts from that part of his resume as well. You might know him being the Technical Direct...
Weekend Watch Lists Top 10 Watches Over $ 50.000 Euro
It's weekend! We decided to come up with some easy-to-digest content for the weekend, as you've probably been doing enough reading all week. From now on, we will publish our Weekend Watch Lists feature every weekend, to show you overviews with information about the consumer watch market. Our overviews are based on data from on-line watch consumers. Per list we will indicate the countries from which we used the data, as this will vary to keep it interesting. It will be interesting to see how much taste in watches can differ per country and continent. Data is retrieved from Chronolytics.ch, watch market research company that operates under the flag of Ebner Verlag (publishing house of magazine...
Speedy Tuesday Hands-On With The Omega Speedmaster CK2998 Reference 311.33.40.30.02.001
It was the first time that we actually received a couple of requests to feature this CK2998 on Speedy Tuesday. I already mentioned the Omega Speedmaster CK2998 in this article from a few weeks ago, but that was before BaselWorld started and we didn’t had the opportunity to play with the watch.Although the watch has been sold out (to retailers) already and I’ve read a couple of remarks on Instagram, Facebook and forums that people hope it will be the same ‘good investment’ as the Speedmaster Professional Silver Snoopy Award from last year, I definitely believe there are some important differences that need to be mentioned.However, let’s have a look at the Omega S...
Hands-On With the Seiko SLA017 Diver A Tribute To The 62MAS
One of the watches I was looking forward to at this year’s BaselWorld, was the Seiko SLA017 diver from their Prospex series. A limited edition and tribute to the legendary Seiko 62MAS.Seiko SLA017 DiverAlready before BaselWorld, the news leaked that Seiko was up to some good with a re-edition of the famous and legendary 62MAS, or reference?6217-8000/1, from 1965. We wrote an in-depth article about this first real?diver from Seiko, in this article by Michael Stockton. Except for some images from some BaselWorld catalog, there wasn’t much information around this watch.In Basel, we had two meetings with Seiko. We sometimes do that. We are with a team of six people in Basel, so we ne...
Hands-On With The Zenith Defy Classic
I like to keep things simple. I know there’s a skeletonized dial version of the Zenith Defy Classic, yet I prefer the reference with this beautiful blue dial. It doesn’t distract that much from the beautiful case design and its combination of brushed and polished finishing.Zenith is that sympathetic brand from Le Locle, where Berti and I went to a few years ago to have a look inside the manufacture. You can find our report here (with lots of images). Ever since (and before), a Zenith is high on my list, but I always only considered to buy one of the El Primero models. Like the colourful Rainbow Flyback Chronograph from the 1990s. Does this new Defy Classic change my wishes for a ...
A Look at the Underappreciated Seiko 6105-8000
If you've been reading #TBT since its inception a few short years ago, and Fratello Watches in general for that matter, you know that we're fans of Seiko divers. Within our series on vintage watches, we've taken a look at a wide array of the Japanese brand's models meant for the undersea. From 70M Sports Divers, shrouded Tunas, to the legendary 62MAS, we've covered many. Today's piece is just one more piece of the brand's lineage and it's a good one. The Seiko 6105-8000 is today's focus.When the Seiko 62MAS was released in 1965, it marked the brand's entry into the diver's watches segment. With 150M of water resistance and a rotating external bezel, it was, on paper, a watch that met the nee...
The Best All-Arounder I've Worn In A Long Time Seamaster 300M
It is not always easy to be a watch critic. There’s a lot out there that is not really good or making a difference. We shift a lot of the stuff that we come across on forehand, to present you at least the watches we think are interesting for you to read about. Sometimes, there’s a watch out there that does make a difference. The (new) Omega Seamaster 300M in steel and Sedna gold is exactly a watch like that.?Then, it becomes very difficult to write a review without making it look like a promo.But believe me, it isn’t. Omega has no influence in our editorial work and neither has any other brand. When that day comes, I will start doing something else as this freedom is a huge...
Sunday Morning Showdown: Seiko Prospex Automatic SRP777 "Turtle"
In this Sunday morning column, two of our writers go head-to-head in an epic showdown for the ages. Strong opinions and hysterical hyperbole are welcome (so feel free to join in with the fun in the comments section below). And don't forget to let us know which watches you'd like to see torn to shreds/effusively exalted next week. We'll try and feature as many of our readers' choices as we can. This week we celebrate/denigrate everyone’s favorite hero in a half shell, the Seiko Prospex Automatic SRP777 “Turtle”.It’s hard to hate such a solid, well-built, well-regarded beater like the SRP777. For the price, it’s even harder to get something “better”. B...
Hands-on with the Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT in Titanium
The dust clouds have barely settled after Watches & Wonders 2021, where Bvlgari introduced another record-breaking marvel. The all-new Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar is the seventh record-breaking Octo Finissimo. While this breaking of records is without a doubt spectacular and does wonders for the reputation of the brand, in the end, it’s all about having people buy your watches. Without a doubt, the one Octo Finissimo to end up on most people’s wrists is the Automatic version in steel. But another great option is the titanium Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT. I had a chance to go hands-on with it to find out how good it really is.Back in January, I also wrote the introduct...