Citizen Ambiluna EM100 A Sustainable Ladies' Trio
Citizen has released a new ethical watch series in its sustainable-concept women's collection, Citizen L. The Ambiluna EM100 boasts light-powered Eco-Drive technology, lab-grown ethical diamonds, and knitted fabric straps made of recycled ECOPET material. The three new EM100 models take inspiration for their design themes from the universal elements of Air, Earth, and Fire. The Fire model is a limited edition to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Citizen L.At one with natureCitizen L is a collection that has been touting sustainable manufacturing ever since the introduction of the Ambiluna line in 2016. Calling it a new style of luxury watch, the Japanese giant says the backbone of the Ambilu...
Omega Speedmaster Super Racing: Blazing The Spirate Trail
Thus far, we've seen only one Speedmaster introduction in 2023, the Super Racing model with Omega's Spirate technology. This watch is finally making its way to customers’ wrists, and we're curious to see how owners will experience the improved accuracy of this chronograph. We’re also incredibly interested to see what Omega watches will receive this new technology next.Omega Speedmaster with Spirate SystemDuring the introduction in January, Omega made it clear that its new Spirate technology will further improve its Master Chronometer-certified watches. With Spirate, the brand can regulate them to have an average daily deviation between 0 and +2 seconds.Omega has used the 44.25mm ...
The New Oris Collective Horology Divers "Seventy-Five"
When I first laid my eyes on the new Oris Collective Horology Divers “Seventy-Five,” I was pleasantly surprised to see a look that Oris said goodbye to a while ago. The Oris Divers Sixty-Five with the retro numerals returns in this collaborative effort as the cleverly named Divers “Seventy-Five.” This 250-piece limited edition is the result of a collaboration with Collective Horology. Its vintage-inspired graphical style is a perfect match for the color scheme that transports you straight back to the 1970s. It’s the return of an aesthetic that I, as a ’70s kid, greatly applaud.We know the Oris Divers Sixty-Five as the brand’s vintage-inspired dive wa...
Fratello On Air: The Status Of Our Collections
After a three-week hiatus, Fratello On Air is back with a new episode. This week, we’re talking about our collections, what we are currently wearing, and what’s on our radar. As always, it’s a recording with plenty of diverse topics. We invite you to kick back and enjoy the show....
#TBT Understanding Enicar Sherpa Graph Executions
I have had the idea for this article at least as long as I’ve known Nico Henke, a German-based collector who we can rightly call an expert on all things related to Enicar chronographs. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and, with Nico’s help, explore the phenomenal line of Enicar Sherpa Graph watches.Maybe you know Nico too, but you just don’t know it’s him. He is known around Instagram as @_jimjupiter, and he is also an author of the Enicar Sherpa Graph Reference Guide you can find here. Nico is always my number-one contact when I spot a nice Enicar chronograph I am thinking about buying. Over the years, we discussed multiple Sherpa Graphs I discovered listed in ...
Hands-On With The Flashy Two-Tone Ebel 1911 Globe
The Ebel 1911 Globe you see here is one of the most divisive watches we’ve had in the office lately. Only Robert-Jan and I like this glorious piece of late-1980s design brilliance, so it won’t surprise you that I volunteered to review the watch. Besides the fact that I like the flashy presence, it awakens vivid childhood memories from the ’90s with a little sprinkle of Miami-themed bliss. As you will understand, this watch is not just a stylish piece of horology to me but also a storyteller that had me wandering off to my younger days.As a watch writer, I typically follow a certain framework when reviewing a watch. It starts with the backstory, and then I’ll go into t...
Breguet Marine Tourbillon Equation Marchante 5887 Platinum/Black
Seven years ago, Breguet introduced the flagship model of its Marine collection, the Tourbillon Equation Marchante 5887. Two versions debuted in 2017 - one in 18K rose gold with a silver dial and the other in platinum with a blue dial. In 2020, another rose gold version joined the Marine collection, this time, with a brown dial. My colleague Jorg wrote an in-depth review of that watch.Breguet Marine Tourbillon Equation Marchante 5887 in platinumToday, Breguet introduces another variant of the Marine Tourbillon Equation Marchante 5887. It's the second version of the watch with a platinum case, but this one has a black hand-guilloche dial with a wave pattern. This dial gives the watch a timele...
Introducing: The Ulysse Nardin Diver Net Vendee Globe
The new Ulysse Nardin Diver Net Vendee Globe celebrates one of the most taxing sailing races. It’s also the most sustainable watch yet from the Swiss brand. Let’s take a closer look at this sporty and colorful diver.Ulysse Nardin is no stranger to supporting lengthy, challenging races. The Gumball 3000 comes to mind in the automotive world, but the company is also involved with sailing. The Diver Net Vendee Globe is made to support a race with the same name and marks the second time the company has supported the event. The demanding Vendee Globe happens every four years and is a global sailing race featuring boats with solo crews. The participants will cover more than 25,000 kilo...
A Second Date With The Nomos Tangente 2date
Let's start with a quote from the introduction article I wrote on the Nomos Tangente 2date. Here goes: if you wear this new Tangente on a first date, the chances you will land a second date are practically zero if the other person is into watches and a frequent contributor to the ‘date or no date’ debate online. Well, I was wrong because I went on a second date with the Tangente 2date. Why? Well, everybody deserves a second chance, and that includes watches. This is what happened.Hi, how are you? Glad you agreed to meet me again. I might have been a bit harsh the first time we met, but I just had a lot on my mind. Busy at work, lots to think about. You know how it goes; everyday...
Fratello Talks: Our Favorite Affordable Watches Vol. 2
Hello, and welcome to this week’s episode of?Fratello Talks. Today, we’re bringing back the fan-favorite topic of affordable watches. Nacho, Lex, and Daan picked one favorite under $1,000 from each of their collections. Our first time highlighting affordable favorites, we ended up with three divers - two from Seiko and one from Citizen. Today’s selection is a bit more varied and counts among it an integrated-bracelet steel sports watch, a titanium GMT, and a Bioceramic lookalike of one of the most well-known dive watches out there. Without further ado, let’s check out the watches in this episode’s wrist check....
A Mechanical Automatic Chronograph Under $900USD Tissot's Veloci-T Chronograph Reviewed
For my friends over at WatchUseek, I wrote an article on Tissot’s Veloci-T Automatic Chronograph. A very impressive timepiece which retails for $895 at your local Tissot dealer.If you are looking for a nice mechanical timepiece below the magic $1000 USD price, this Tissot sports watch is definitely worth checking out. I really love the small peek hole to enable the owner to look at the mechanical movement. This watch jumps in the gap that exists between quartz watches and mechanical (non-chronograph) timepieces of less known brands and the mechanical watches of the mid-segment brands like Longines, Tag Heuer, Sinn and so on. Tissot is member of the Swatch Group (that has brands from Fl...
Long Term Report: A. Lange & Sohne 1815
The 1815 was my first high-end piece, acquired back in 2003. I still remember the sleepless nights and moments of indecision during the course of the decision process. Several other pieces were also in contention: the JLC Master Geographic; the Chopard 1.98; one of the Patek Calatravas; the AP Jules Audemars Automatic.All images in this article can be clicked on for larger versionsSo why did I go with the 1815 in the end? Quite a number of reasons, actually. First impressions, the case had a heft that belied its size and none of the others quite managed to convey the same impression of density. Then there was the dial color; a sublime dark blue that under some lights was electric, and under ...
Exclusive Hands-On With Meridian
At the same time of the start of the SalonQP 2012 event in London, Fratellowatches introduces a new brand that will be shown for the first time to the public at SalonQP. Our own watch photographer Bert Buijsrogge recently visited Meridian in England to give you the full story on this new brand in case you couldn’t make it to SalonQP in London.Just a couple of weeks ago we received a phone call from someone, suppressed number of course, asking if we were interested to come to England to see some cool watches. England you say? Not exactly the center of horology anymore now is it? True, but it sure is the center of something else! Long story short, one week later the plane took off headin...
Speedy Tuesday Speedmaster Alaska Project (The Original Alaska II and the 2008 Re-Edition)
Speedmaster Alaska ProjectThe project name Alaska has little to do with the state, besides its name. Omega used code words for a lot of their projects. This was done not to wake-up other watch companies. You should know that the watchmaking community is not that big, people go to the same bars and restaurants and might overhear certain ‘confidential’ stuff. Especially in the 1960s?when Omega was working closely with NASA, they did not want to wake up employees from other watch manufactures for example. Omega often used city, country or state names for secret projects.Alaska ProjectThe Alaska Project actually begins by NASA engineer James H. Ragan. We already mentioned Mr Ragan in...
Preview of Geneva November 2017 Auctions
Back for their sixth Geneva watch auction season, Aurel Bacs & Livia Russo in association with Phillips auction house are on a pretty impressive winning streak. They are returning from a world-record shattering result (for a wristwatch) of $17.8 million when they sold THE Paul Newman Paul Newman Daytona in New York at the end of October. I specify wristwatch as to not offend Patek Phillipe's overall record in the watch category with the $24 million reached for the Graves Super complication pocket watch sold in 2014 at Sotheby's Geneva.I was lucky enough to be in New York to witness this historic moment and was amazed by the rest of the overall performance as well. For their first sale i...
#TBT Excelsior Park Monte Carlo A Unique Amalgamation
Today on #TBT we'll talk about a unique chronograph in the Excelsior Park Monte Carlo. As you'll come to see, the watch is more than the sum of its parts. That's a notable statement because this EP is truly a watch made of parts; think of it as the physical result of the old adage, when life you gives you lemons, make lemonade. Except in this case, the lemonade was created due to leftover lemons found elsewhere. Confused? Read onHere on Fratello, we've spent time discussing Excelsior Park. We've covered a watch branded with the name, but we've spent more time looking at watches produced by the brand for others, namely Gallet. To recap, Excelsior Park was a historic watchmaker that produced i...
All Winners Of The GPHG 2019 Live from Genve
We attended the GPHG 2019, the gathering of who’s who in the watch industry in Geneva last night.As we get closer to the end of the year, the watch industry is also slowly starting to prepare for the quiet(er) winter months. Aside from a few events like Dubai Watch Week and some other local smaller events, not much will happen. Usually, right after the new year starts, we'd set sail for cold and gloomy Geneva to take part in a week of SIHH madness. Not this time. As you might have heard, SIHH (from now on Watches & Wonder) will not happen until the end of April, right before Baselworld kicks in a week later. However, as you'd have it around this time of the year, industries look ba...
Hands-On With The Sinn 6060 F.A.Z.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (F.A.Z.) is one of the must-reads for each stockbroker in Germany's finance capital at the start of the day. They already cooperated before with Sinn watches, who are also located in Frankfurt.Therefore it was a logical step to dignify the 70th anniversary of the newspaper with a special edition watch from Sinn. At the Watchtime event in Dusseldorf, I had the chance to try the Sinn 6060 F.A.Z. Later on, the Frankfurter watch manufacture sent us the Sinn 6060 F.A.Z. watch for a closer inspection.Each year in October, German watch enthusiasts traveled to Munich to visit Munichtime (read our previous report here). Unfortunately, during recent years, the intere...
Day-Date Historical Overview Of 's Flagship
Millennials might associate the Day-Date with fictive characters like Tony Soprano, but there’s much more to this watch, of course. The Day-Date is the watch worn by Presidents, captains of industry, people from the entertainment industry, and all those who appreciate a timeless watch in precious metal.My first encounter with the Day-Date was relatively late. In the small village where I grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, there weren’t many people that spend on luxury items. They were all over on tv-series and movies, though, and advertisements. is known to have some pretty fantastic ads, and many of them included the famous Day-Date, featuring people like Arnold Palmer, Jack N...
Omega Speedmaster World Cup Group F: Gerard
Welcome to Group F of the Speedmaster World Cup. In the absence of Euro 2020, we thought our beloved readers might enjoy a tournament of a different kind. We've assembled eight groups (ACH), each governed by a different Fratello team member. Each writer has been assigned four watches, which they will pitch to you during the group stages.All we need you to do is vote for your favorite to move on in the competition. The next round will be the quarter-finals, which will see the eight group winners go head-to-head for your votes. The four winners progress to the semis. Following that, a third-place play-off will precede the final round, due to be held on Sunday, December 13th (get the wine in).G...