Introducing: The Cartier Prive Tank Normale Collection
Every year, Cartier adds a model to the Prive collection. This time around, we have the addition of the Tank Normale. No less than seven versions of the other Tank shape are being introduced, only in gold and platinum. These lofty Tanks, then, are anything but normale. Let's have a look at these 2023 Cartier Prive releases.I say that other Cartier Tank, but in reality, I should probably say the original Tank. This is a notion worth exploring in a little more detail.A tiny nugget of Cartier Tank Normale historyI do not want to regurgitate the entire genesis story of the Cartier Tank here. I am sure you know how the first Tank was released in 1917 and inspired by a Renault FT-17 tank. You are ...
Vacheron Constantin Introduces Three Retrograde Models
It’s been 12 months since Vacheron Constantin took over Watches and Wonders 2022 with the return of its brilliant 222. For 2023, the brand focuses on a theme that it has excelled at in the past - retrograde watches. Timepieces in this category are often an acquired taste as they forgo the usual watch layouts we have come to know today. But the retrograde-style watch is a traditional one with a certain magical quality to it. Vacheron Constantin has released three retrograde models from three collections to emphasize this. Let’s find out more.It’s easy to say that Vacheron Constantin has expertise in creating retrograde watches. Because of its rich history and tradition, the ...
Introducing The A. Lange & Sohne Odysseus Chronograph
Can A. Lange & Sohne successfully meld its standout Odysseus sports watch with its technical chronograph wizardry? Thinking about a chronograph version of the Odysseus made me hesitate for a second. I love the regular Odysseus so much that adding a chronograph function to it just didn’t seem right. But on second thought, it only makes sense that the brand would want to produce a chronograph variant of the Odysseus. But in good Lange fashion, the German maestros did not just add an existing chronograph movement to this sports watch and call it a day. Instead, the brand developed its very first automatic chronograph caliber for the new Odysseus Chronograph. The result is a chronograp...
Introducing: Oris ProPilot X Kermit Edition
Why are there so many watches without Muppets? [Cue an article full of inside Muppets’ references.] In short, The Muppets - the brainchild of Jim Henson - is a group of ridiculous, hilarious, often strange, and inherently lovable puppets that have graced television and movies for over 50 years. It may have been their chaotic antics and humor that relegated them to children’s quartz watches through the ’80s and ’90s, but the love for The Muppets is serious. Children who grew into adults watching and rewatching Muppet movies now have buying power. Oris, the Swiss watch company committed to making people smile, has partnered with the puppet franchise dedicated to the sam...
Tudor Unveils A New Pink-Dialed Black Bay Chrono
Less than two weeks out from Watches and Wonders, Tudor has jumped the starting gun with a pre-show introduction. This pink-dialed Black Bay Chrono is also the version of this model we’re seeing for the first time on the brand’s five-link (don’t call it Jubilee) bracelet. Its distinct shade of pink sets it aside from the classic black and white models and gives it a light-hearted yet bold twist. However, even the brand has acknowledged that this version of the watch will be as rare as it may be polarizing. “The Black Bay Chrono ‘Pink’ might not be for everyone, and that's OK because few of them will ever be made,” the brand says. But we at Fratello a...
Introducing: The Christopher Ward C63 Valour Chronograph
The speed at which Christopher Ward releases new watches is impressive. But it’s even more impressive that the brand maintains a certain level of variety that keeps every release fresh. There’s truly something for everyone in Christopher Ward’s rapidly expanding collection. The newest creation from the CW kitchens is the C63 Valour. This quartz timepiece was inspired by the watches used by the British military in the 1980s. With this release, the brand dedicates a watch to all three of His Majesty’s Armed Forces. And as we’ve come to expect from Christopher Ward, it’s done in style. It’s time to find out more.The story of the Christopher Ward C63 Val...
Bear Essentials: The Enduring Panda-Dial Chronograph
The style and fashion trends of the 1960s can mostly only be described as regrettable in these times of image consciousness and scrutiny on social media. Fashion faux pas like bell-bottomed trousers, tie-dye, and platform shoes have caused more than a slight blush to the cheeks of those who championed them back in the Swinging Sixties. Luckily for the 1960s, there are a few iconic exceptions to this, one being the classic sports cars of this decade. Others are the timeless black-and-white houndstooth blazer (a decent example of which I am still struggling to find at a reasonable price) and, most notably, staying on that color theme, panda-dial chronograph watches.A panda-dial Oyster Cosmogr...
Fratello Talks: The Best Watches Of 2024 So Far
Hello, and welcome to a rather unruly episode of Fratello Talks. It’s a Friday afternoon at Fratello HQ, and Nacho, Lex, and Thomas gather around the mics to list some of the best watches of 2024 so far. The guys have all picked three of their favorite releases from this first quarter and three additional honorable mentions. However, despite their best efforts, it doesn’t take long until the structure crumbles and their chat diverges into a discussion on some of their favorite (and not-so-favorite) new releases of the year so far. But before that, they share the watches currently on their wrists....
Hot Take: The Vintage-Valjoux-Powered Singer Heritage Collection
One of last year's biggest horological surprises for me was the Singer Divetrack, an incredible piece of engineering and design by Singer Reimagined founder Marco Borraccino. But I also quickly realized that its price of CHF 85,000 meant I could only admire it from a distance. That’s fine; I don't need to own everything I like. This year, though, Singer Reimagined is making me calculate my watch budget. Meet the Singer Heritage Collection chronograph, housing a movement based on a vintage (1974) Valjoux 236 column-wheel chronograph caliber. As you can see, this new Singer Reimagined is a two-register chronograph.The Singer Heritage Collection chronographBorraccino and his team were abl...
Introducing: The Fears Arnos Pewter Blue
Currently, the Fears collection consists of two cores - the round Redcliff and the cushion-shaped Brunswick. Today, with Watches and Wonders and Time to Watches right around the corner and both taking place in Geneva, brand refounder Nicholas Bowman-Scargill adds a third core to the collection with the introduction of the Arnos Pewter Blue. The inspiration for the curved rectangular case comes from Fears watches of the 1920s and ’30s. The new vintage-inspired Arnos features a round blue dial with a rhodium-plated hobnail pattern surrounding it.In 2021, for its 175th anniversary, Fears presented a watch called the Archival 1930. It was limited to 175 pieces because it housed a new-old-s...
Wood Piano Black and Orange Watch Box
As soon as you buy (or collect) a few nice timepieces, make sure to store them safely to protect them for dust, moisture, children, hungry pets etc. The best way to store your watches would be in a safe, so make sure you pick a watch box that will fit your safe or the safe you have in the bank.One of my favorite on-line accessory shops, watch-winder.co.uk, sells a few great watch boxes. I have ordered some watch winders from them before, but never a suitable watch box. Their black piano finish watch box with this orange effect for holding 8 timepieces was the way to go for me. The compartments are 35mm wide, which means every strap or bracelet will fit on the pillows. Since I have a collecti...
Hands-On With The Tudor Pelagos 25500TN
Tudor PelagosIn January, I received this Tudor Pelagos ref. 25500TN timepiece from our friends from Watchonista. They have created a wonderful page on the Tudor Pelagos on Watchonista and contains reviews written by Ariel Adams from aBlogtoWatch,?Ben Clymer from?Hodinkee?and yours truly.Tudor Stepped Out Of The ShadowAlthough Tudor is a sister company of , it has managed to become one of the most sought-after brands in recent years. Where Tudor used to be in the shadow of for decades, it has matured and became ready for the watch loving crowd. More important, the watch loving crowd showed that it is ready for Tudor as well. The on-going successful launches during the past few Baselworld ex...
Weekend Watch Lists Top 10 Divers Watches
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...
Toolwatch Measure The Accuracy Of Your Watch
Three guys – Marc, Sylvain and Vincent – who are working in the Swiss watch industry just launched their private project called Toolwatch. This project consists of a website that enables you to measure and track the accuracy of your wristwatch(es), without using expensive measuring equipment or doing the maths yourself using an atomic clock.The Toolwatch website allows you to – after free registration – to add watches to your own private profile. As soon as you did, you can start tracking and measuring the accuracy of your watch. You just have to sync your timepiece with the Toolwatch website. It can be a bit confusing at first – it was for me, so that doesnR...
Speedy Tuesday Speedmaster Customization, Yay or Nay?
Never tired of exploring the borders of the Omega Speedmaster Professional world, we bumped into an Italian company named ‘Moontime‘. We touched the topic of Speedmaster customization before (click here), but that was done on personal title. We never ran into a company that is specialized in Speedmaster customization in the way Moontime from Italy does.Moontime is a company which specializes in Omega Speedmaster customization. They promise that ‘the customizations are made by skilled goldsmiths’ and that they are of ‘excellent quality of materials and workmanship’. Also, they guarantee their modified watches for one year.Customizing watches is nothing new ...
Chrono24's New iPhone App Watch News From Blogs and On-Line Magazines
Until now the only well-known mobile app to feature various watch blogs and on-line watch magazines was Watchville. After?Fratello Watches left Watchville,?Chrono24 let us know that their app would be featuring an integrated overview of watch articles from various websites, including ours. A solution without ‘removing’ our advertisements (hey we need to make a buck), without incorporating their own advertisements?and one that gives us a ‘visit’ for every actual read article.?Music to our ears, especially since the Chrono24 app is widely known and used by hundreds of thousands of people.On the 15th of March, the new version became available in Apple’s AppStore. I...
Chopard L.U.C. 2017 Novelties From BaselWorld
Chopard L.U.C. 2017It's always a treat to visit Chopard when we are visiting?BaselWorld. Despite their success and status in the industry they managed to stay humble and friendly. This year Chopard showed us six new watches and all of them were amazing. Honestly, I could imagine myself wearing each and every one of them for a different reason. And so I did if only for a few minutes before the watches found their ways to the next table to mesmerize the other journalists sitting there. Big ShotI think we went backwards this year during the presentations. I saw the most expensive and complicated watch first. The L.U.C. Perpetual Chrono for example, a 45mm hand-wound platinum grand complication ...
Checking Out the Borealis Portus Cale a Highly Spec'd and Affordable Diver
Today, on Fratello Watches, we'll take a look at the Borealis Portus Cale, a diver's watch from a micro brand based in Portugal. We've featured a number of watches from smaller brands such as Straton, Gruppo Gamma, and Zelos, but Borealis is a new one for us. When heading to the company's site, the company, whose name is defined as the North, states it prides itself on selling affordable, well made watches in a variety of case materials and with either Swiss or Japanese movements. As for styling, just a brief look at the offerings shows that they're quite tool/dive watch focused.Borealis approached me via the Facebook Diver's Watches Group where Fratello Watches often writes articles for pie...
Hot Take: The Oris Aquis GMT Date One Of My Favourites
One of my favourite places to go during Baselworld is Oris. The laid-back atmosphere – whilst being in the midst of chaos – is impressive in their booth and, just as important, they keep introducing interesting and attractively priced watches like this Oris Aquis GMT Date.Just before I left for Baselworld, one of my friends ordered an Oris Aquis Date. Not per definition a watch guy (yet), but someone who likes to buy a good watch once in a while. I can see him slowly growing into becoming a watch collector, or at least as an enthusiast. The Oris Aquis is a great example of a watch that suits the needs of most people who are looking to buy that one good watch. An automatic movemen...
Bell & Ross Bellytanker Bronze An Unexpected Delight
After several years of not meeting with Bell & Ross, we sat down with the brand at Baselworld 2019 and we found a winner in the new Bell & Ross Bellytanker Bronze chronograph.I could say “Bellytanker” all day long – it’s simply that fun.? That being said, the word “belly” just doesn’t come to the forefront of watch-related names, but here we are with the Bell & Ross Bellytanker Bronze chronograph and in our brief time with it, we came away impressed.The New Bell & Ross Bellytanker BronzeThe Bellytanker name used in the?Bell & Ross Bellytanker Bronze stems from emergency fuel tanks hanging from the bottoms of older fighter planes.?...