Five years ago, at Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (aka SIHH, the predecessor to Watches and Wonders), Audemars Piguet shocked the watch world. When AP launched the all-new Code 11.59 By Audemars Piguet collection, the reception was lukewarm at best, but most reactions were straight-up negative. In particular, the dial design got a proper beating. To be fair, I didn't care much for it e

It’s been a week since we flew back from Watches and Wonders 2024. These last seven days have served well in processing everything we saw during the show. As much as the consensus might be that this year was a bit slower than the last two, there were still plenty of new watches. Brands seem to have aimed more at doing a spot of housekeeping and subtle refinement (with some notable exceptions

I appreciate a manufacturer that listens and responds to customer feedback to evolve its products. It seems obvious to most that this should be the case. But you may be surprised how many companies mindlessly ignore criticism to focus on churning out the same stock. Thankfully, Artem continually seeks improvement to maintain its customer base and expand its horizon. As with Artem’s Loop-Less

Yesterday, I finally watched volume 2 of Kill Bill. The first part was great in my opinion, and the second part is nice, but not great. In fact, the only reason to see it is to finally witness how Bill is being Killed.Anyway (to keep it on-topic), in part two I noticed this Daytona she (Uma Thurman) uses to check her predictor-stick. At first I thought it was cool that she has such a nice masculi

It is Speedy Tuesday! Just a few months ago, Bert Buijsrogge and I visited the OMEGA museum in Biel, Switzerland. With the focus on Speedy Tuesday, Bert took some photos of the Speedmasters (and Flightmasters), Apollo suit and NASA equipment (including the Moon buggy prototype). If you remember correctly, we already did a report on the OMEGA museum a while ago (click here), but lacking the photogr

Speedmaster Pro Racing 3570.40It’s Speedy Tuesday! The moment you’ve all been waiting for. This week’s Speedy Tuesday is about the Speedmaster Professional Racing models, both old & new. You probably know the re-edition that OMEGA did in 2004, the reference?3570.40.00 Speedmaster Professional. Last week, we received photos from one of our readers’ (Martijn Hofman) Speed

Truth to be told, my knowledge is limited regarding American watch brands. Of course I know the big brands, some of their mile stones perhaps a bit more in detail, but that’s basically it. Not that I am not interested in them, but since I live and work in Europe and am being ‘covered’ in Swiss and German watches here, there are not many occasions I can use to learn about them. Wh

A pink gold chronograph with a black dial. To me, that’s the perfect combination for a chronograph that can be worn during diners, on formal occasions but perhaps even with a nice pair of sneakers and a polo shirt. The A. Lange & Sohne 1815 Chronograph in this article is not entirely new, but this combination of pink gold and black was introduced to us in Geneva, earlier this year. Actua

Part of the appeal of the Jazzmaster collection is the beautiful balance of contemporary aesthetic and traditional watchmaking expertise. In 2019 Hamilton welcomes brand new automatic chronographs as hero pieces in its most refined collection. Their understated style is a style statement in itself.The contemporary H-21 automatic chronograph movement boasts a date function as well as a seamless 60-

We show you the Top 10 Speedmaster articles in the last 12 months with the most reads.This means, of course, that more recently published articles received less ‘views’ than the ones that were already there 12 months ago. However, it will give a pretty good idea of what you like to read here.The Speedy Tuesday articles appear every week on Fratello, since 2012. We’ve written more

Today, on #TBT we take a look at a Citizen Crystron Diver, a truly satisfying watch that won’t break the bank. In fact, a visit to the bank might not be necessary.I never tire of highlighting the tit for tat behavior exhibited by Seiko and Citizen. These days, the heavyweight Japanese duo duke it out but it’s less obvious because they’re also battling it out with others. But back

Greubel Forsey is known for taking functions a step further. They look at the way other brands have dealt with such complications, scratch that, and reinvent the way we see or use the “same” thing.Greubel Forsey consistently receives positive reviews. The brand’s revolutionary approach has proven to be successful in the past, especially with the QP equation, which has won 2017&

HYT’s only model family that does not bear any chemical symbols, the SOONOW (as in Soon Now), is now a family of 5. Black and grey base tones with a touch of color, that’s what signifies the SOONOW collection typically. However, now there is a new addition, the most vibrant of them all - the HYT SOONOW DROP THREE.With its exciting and audacious colors of orange, turquoise, and burgundy

Not so long ago, I shared my thoughts on the new SYE MOT1ON meca-quartz chronograph, which brand founder Arnaud was kind enough to let me go hands-on with. I found it to be creative, proportionally interesting, and a satisfyingly executed concept. As I’ve made patently clear in the past, I’m a fan of the current meca-quartz “movement” we’re seeing in this $300C$600 br

Now that the Watches & Wonders dust has settled, it is time to have a closer look at some of the new watches. One of the most discussed watches is definitely the new Tudor Black Bay Chrono M79360N.Truth be told, I saw the Tudor Black Bay Chrono M79360N first on pictures, not in the flesh. A day after its introduction, we received the new Tudor Black Bay Chrono M79360N watches in our office, ho

My favorite Tag Heuer silhouette receives a new facelift with the TAG Heuer Monaco Green Dial Limited Edition release. Green dials have been a bit of a hype colorway this year, and you know what? I'm entirely OK with that. I'm not one to jump on the bandwagon, but when a brand does the hype color as nicely as this, I can only sit back and admire the view.This tasty green-dialed beauty is limited t

The Seiko Astron GPS KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS Limited Edition SSH097J1 shows a design that is inspired by Ludens, a signature icon of the Tokyo-based creative studio. Game creator Hideo Kojima established the studio in 2015 under the slogan From Sapiens to Ludens.Let's start with an ultra-short Latin class: the Latin word ludens unfortunately has no direct equivalent in English, as it simultaneously ref

Not everything with a century-old history in the watch world comes out of Switzerland. There is one thing in the US that has stood the test of time - the Horological Society of New York. Founded in 1866, HSNY is one of the oldest continuously operating horological associations in the world. We had a few interviews with its movers and shakers in 2020. Now, it is great to once again witness the Soci

We all know that the watch world is awash with endless tales of hyperbole, obfuscation, and the occasional bits of outright misinformation. Many of us have heard the stories of watch movements being used in pricey timepieces with manufacturing or design origins not exactly living up to that which is claimed. We've also become all too familiar with the blatant fantasies that are often attached and

If you read my story a couple of weeks ago on the brilliant Seiko Credor Phoenix chronograph, you might think I'm mad. And yes, I also recently penned a story on consolidating a collection, based on my own process of “downsizing”. Then why am I on a spending spree the week after, buying not one, but TWO off-the-beaten-path Credors? I didn't mean to, honestly, but the wishy-washy workin