We like to talk about vintage watches a lot within the Fratello team. While the daily routine is largely focused on the most recent developments in the world of watches, the most fun for many of us lies in the 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 w

The Dynamic might not be the first watch that comes to mind when asking for a re-edition. As a matter of fact, it might not even be “a watch” to most, except for maybe the vintage guys. And even some of THEM raise an eyebrow when I sport my beloved Dynamic. Yet, this watch has so much character, it’s incredible. I’m fairly sure Omega will never bring back the Dynamic, but o

Welcome, one and all, to this week’s Sunday Morning Showdown! In this series, we take two watches that share some key features, or that at least exist in the same conceptual ballpark, and pit them against each other. This week, we have a fantastic showdown for you all. Two divers, both of which feature exotic materials for their cases, go head to head and battle it out for the win. It's also

In today's edition of Pre-Owned Spotlight, we’re going lightweight neo-vintage! Nacho likes to set increasingly specific challenges for us, and I think this might be my most particular one yet. But hey, I like a challenge. And, as a matter of fact, I immediately had a couple of serious contenders in mind.I will limit myself to models introduced in the 1990s and 2000s and, obviously, to light

Did you know Detroit, Michigan, USA is a precious place riddled with gemstones? Motor City is the city where Fordite comes from. No mining is needed, though, since Fordite is hardened old automotive paint that's reclaimed from car factory assembly lines. The Arcanaut ARC II – Fordite is a Danish-made watch with a handmade dial crafted by James Thompson, co-owner of Arcanaut and founder of Bl

Titoni’s Seascoper series made a lasting impression on me last year. Back in November, I reviewed the stainless steel version of the Seascoper 300, and I loved that watch. The comfort, build quality, and COSC-certified movement made for an incredible package at well under $2K. For the money, it simply is very hard to beat. But what about its carbon bigger brother? The Titoni Seascoper 600 Ca

Quite unintentionally, my interest in watches in the budget segment (under $1,000) has grown quite a bit in recent years. It could have something to do with the fact that the prices of more reputable ones have been going pretty wild lately. Or it may also be because some of the latest versions of established models are simply not available. I’ve also noticed that I care less about brandsR

Though often overlooked in the Seiko catalog, the Presage collection contains some good watches, including the Cocktail Time and Classic models. My favorites, though, are the Style60’s watches, so I was happy to take the new SRPL07 and SRPL09 for a spin. As it turns out, these steel-bezel versions are my new favorites in the Style60’s series.At first glance, it seems that the Seiko Pre

Is the hype for luxury sports watches with integrated bracelets over? If you look at a benchmark in this market segment, the steel Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Jumbo, which sold for four times retail at the height of the wave, is now going for just twice the price on the secondary market. So, yes, the ultra-hype might have died down, but that doesn't mean high-end watches with integrated bracelets ar

The team at Fratello continues its yearly quest to highlight some of our favorite watches available on the market today. We are currently deep into exploring those that we consider to be the best watches under $2,500. After missing out on the sub-$1K picks, I’m pleased to provide my two cents at this price point. It’s still within what I’d consider my comfort zone (albeit less so

Just two months ago, Chronoswiss announced a new, modern design direction at Watches and Wonders 2024. Don’t worry, hallmark characteristics such as reeded bezels and onion crowns still exist. However, the watches look more contemporary. Today’s three new ReSec Manufacture models continue the theme and bring bold dials for good measure.In late March, Chronoswiss debuted the Strike Two

Last week, I attended the Omega event on Capri, a small island near the city of Naples in Italy. Omega invited me, and a number of other journalists, over to this beautiful island to join their Seamaster Planet Ocean introduction and announcement of a special collaboration.To start with the latter, Omega and environmentalist/filmmaker Yann Arthus-Bertrand are collaborating on creating a film about

Gumball 3000 Anniversary EditionFratellowatches was present on the Gumball 3000 grid in Copenhagen last weekend. With Hublot being the official sponsor for this 15th anniversary edition it was definitely not the only brand on the wrist of the drivers.?The?Gumball 3000?is an annual 3,000-mile (4,800?km) road rally which takes place on?public roads, with a different route around the world each year.

Last Friday?we visited the Watch 2016 event, held by Dutch retailer Schaap -/- Citroen at the Okura hotel in Amsterdam. This event, from Friday 20th of May (VIP evening) till Sunday 22nd of May, is being organized for a couple of years now, showing the SIHH and BaselWorld novelties to those who don’t have access to these Swiss exhibitions.Brands like A. Lange & Sohne, Baume et Mercier, B

In the last few days, I've been posting a couple of gold watches on my private Instagram account (@rjbroer). Not to test or try something, but because I've noticed I've grown into this precious material. Owning a couple of gold watches myself, including the Speedmaster Professional Stafford', I've come to appreciate the material more and more. Even yellow gold. And bi-color. Not too long ago, I wa

A year ago, Vertex introduced their M100. A watch that paid tribute to the military Vertex watch that was part of the famous dirty dozen. Only 600 pieces were made of those, and only available via an exclusive invitation and referral program. Now, there’s the Vertex M100B. Vertex M100BInterestingly, the current Vertex company is owned by the great-grandson of the found

Earlier this year we visited the Breitling roadshow in Zurich, Switzerland, and had a sit-down with CEO Georges Kern. He was incredibly open to us (as you can read here) and the new collections were well received, including the new Navitimer 8 models.World’s leading online marketplace of watches Chrono24, did a profile on Breitling and put it in an interesting infographic. We would like to s

Italian collector (and Universal Geneve aficionado) Mr. A and I researched the Film Compax 22522. A watch with only 7 known examples, it is?considered a grail in the UG sphere. Let’s have a closer look at this rare reference.But before we do so, a brief background for those who aren’t that familiar with Universal Geneve. Universal Geneve (UG) was founded in 1894 and soon rose to become

Independent German watchmaker Stefan Kudoke expands into a new field with a clearly classical Haute Horlogerie approach at an attractive price.Stefan Kudoke has made his mark trough creative and artistic skeletonising and engraving of watch movements to create art pieces for the wrist whose purpose to indicate the time is secondary at the most. Now he has added a completely different collection of

If you’re looking for a great story, check the attic. Zenith knows this all too well as the story of the revival of the famous El Primero movement revolves around the attic of their Zenith Manufacture building. In 1975, now Zenith legend Charles Vermot hid all the technical plans and tools necessary to produce every component of the famous El Primero movement.? Among them, a box of prototype