Fratello On Air: Guido Terreni, CEO Of Parmigiani Fleurier
Rob talks to Guido Terreni of Parmigiani Fleurier. With over twenty years of experience in the industry, a decade of which was spent with Bvlgari, Terreni brought with him a definite vision to a brand that still benefits from having its iconic founder a living, breathing part of the company.In this podcast, Terreni explains how it is important to honor your existing customer by keeping the Parmigiani Fleurier product message close to a clearly recognizable core silhouette in order to add permanence to the client’s purchase....
Hands-On: The Brellum Wyvern GMT Chronometer
If you think back to a couple of months ago, you might remember my coverage of the release of the Brellum Wyvern GMT Chronometer. Three models were released, each with a different colorway, but all packed with great features. I finally got a chance to get my hands on one to test out. So how will this brilliant value proposition on paper hold up on the wrist? After two weeks of wear, I think I'll be able to give you a pretty good idea of just that!I was quite positive in my initial coverage of the Brellum Wyvern GMT Chronometer (which you can find here). Most of my positivity came as a result of the combination of what the brand presented on paper and in pictures. The watch not only offered a...
Every Winning Watch Of The 2022 GPHG
This year, like every other, November is a quiet month in the watch industry. The press trips are over, and the releases for the year, aside from a few exceptions (I'm looking at you, ), are already out. One can also say that the end-of-year unwinding, which will last until mid-to-late January, has begun. Before we call it quits, though, we have one last order of business. The GPHG (Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genve) takes place around mid-November to honor some of the most outstanding timepieces in our industry.This year, close to 100 timepieces competed in 15 categories for first place and, eventually, the ultimate goal - the Grand Prix.The Horological Brothers, Tim and Bart Gronefeld - GP...
Updated Wolbrook Automatic & Douglas Professional Skindivers
It wasn’t even four years ago that a passionate team of watchmaking veterans resurrected the watch brand Wolbrook and its sister brand Douglas. Mainly known for their Skindiver models, after 50 years, these brands’ tool watches are now once again assembled in France. Wolbrook watches had a reputation for their sturdy construction and good accuracy. They featured moderate prices and rugged reliability, and all movement parts were standard and interchangeable.This was also true for the resurrected models of 2019, assembled and regulated in France, housing off-the-shelf Japanese Miyota movements. Still, Wolbrook found a few points on which to improve its first new models. This artic...
?Watch Mods That We Love Tissot, Tudor, And More
Are mods divisive? Yes, and I’m not always a fan. These featured watches, however, are mods that I adore. Done right, officially or unofficially modifying a watch is fun, even taking our horological passion a step up to wrist-worn pop art. For others, mods are a chance to acquire a watch that is one of a few - or even one of a kind - and more like a piece of art than a micro-machine for telling the time. Perhaps it’s just what we need in a world of same-same vintage love and diver’s tools that never break the water’s surface.All brands in this article have been at it for some time, and we know them as niche manufacturers in their own right. With one exception, these a...
The Best Titanium Watches Currently Available
Last week, we published a list of the best titanium dive watches currently available. Obviously, though, the use of titanium is not limited to just those. This follow-up article will look at the best titanium timepieces that are not dive watches. The number of titanium offerings from all the brands out there is pretty overwhelming. There is a titanium timepiece for everyone from the affordable to the really expensive brands. So let’s take a look at ten outstanding titanium timepieces currently available.In last week’s article, it only made sense to connect titanium to dive watches. The properties of titanium make the material the perfect fit for adventures in the deep. In particu...
GPHG 2023: Surprising Results Or Predictable Splendor?
I love a good award show. Don’t we all? The red-carpet pizzazz of the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Gneve is the closest our biz gets to the Oscars. Sure, there are grumblings about closed-door fairness and entrant fees. But that doesn't take away from the wrist-worn stars of the show. And this year, the standard was jaw-dropping.With the rocketing popularity of Watches and Wonders and Geneva Watch Days, all seems good with the watch world. Gone are the days of digital presentations and Zoom calls, and even with a general inflation vibe and some falling secondary market figures, we're in a good place. GPHG 2023 proved my point, and in these inflation-laden times, I’ve put skepticis...
Seiko World Cup: Round 2 SKX009J1 Vs. SBDC001 Sumo
Welcome to the second match of this year's Seiko World Cup! Last time, high-end vintage and mid-range current Seiko collided. This time is a bit different. Today, two discontinued entry-level Seiko divers go head to head. This is the SKX009 versus the SBDC001, two watches with massive fan bases within the broader Seiko community. Let's see which comes out on top!It’s Matchday 2 of the Seiko Diver World Cup, folks. Put on your wetsuits; here we go!Thomas: Seiko SKX009J1When we were each asked to pick our favorite Seiko diver, I immediately called dibs on the SKX. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not saying it is the best Seiko diver ever made. I would certainly place the Willard and the 62...
Talking Watch Design With Max Resnick And Emmanuel Gueit
Isn't it fascinating how your life's trajectory can hang on decisions you make early in life? I picked a subject profile in high school that would later mean I did not qualify for Industrial Design school. If I had picked differently at age 15, there is a good chance I would have become a designer. Today, I am living out that desire nonetheless by dreaming up watches and collaborating with an actual designer, Max Resnick, to bring them to life. I love talking about watch design. Design is my key point of focus when I review watches. In my opinion, specs, build, and features always live to serve the watch's design.So I figured it would be interesting to have a casual chat with two highly expe...
Tailoring The Nomos Club Sport Neomatik 39 Tabac To My Taste
At the beginning of this year, I learned from my colleague Jorg that brown would be the color of 2024. That shocked me. I have nothing against the color brown in general, but brown watch dials never captured my heart, to put it mildly. So why did I want to try out the Nomos Club Sport Neomatik 39 Tabac? It’s because the radiant dial in tobacco brown had a metallic shine with hints of other shades that struck me. It made me wonder if I could find a strap to uplift the watch that came from Glashutte on a three-row steel bracelet.Well, 2024 is almost over, and although Jorg predicted a year full of brown-dialed watches, they seem to have stayed out of my sight of the field. I penned my ob...
Video: The Ulysse Nardin Freak Family: Find The Freak In You
It's not often you find yourself surrounded by no fewer than six Freaks. It happened to me recently. I did receive a warning that the watches were on the way, but how do you prepare for something like that? That's why, when I unpacked the box and had the pink gold Freak S, Freak S Noma, Freak One Navy Blue, Freak One in pink gold, Freak X Marquetry, and Freak X OPS laid out in front of me, I did start to freak out a bit. Six Ulysse Nardin Freak watches in one go are just a lot to take in. That's why we made a video (click the play button above), and here's an overview of the Freaks you’re about to watch in action.When former Ulysse Nardin brand owner Rolf Schnyder and watchmaker Dr. Lu...
New: Glashutte Original PanoLunarInverse And SeaQ Chrono
Glashutte Original has come with two new watches featuring bold, bright dials. The new SeaQ Chronograph Silver Screen is a sporty addition to the regular catalog. For those interested in a dressy limited edition with a guilloche dial, consider the PanoLunarInverse. Are you ready to check out both?With these latest models, Glashutte Original introduces two watches with silver-hued dials. They couldn’t be more different in terms of intent or design. However, both show off key brand styling and mechanical traits, and they should interest fans. A freshly dialed SeaQ Chronograph and a new PanoLunarInverse are available now.The SeaQ Chronograph Silver ScreenBefore discovering the PanoLunarIn...
#TBT IWC Mark XII
IWC. I have to mentally squint a bit now, but the simple recitation of those three letters brings me back to a really amazing watch era of roughly 25 years ago. Yes, I can still remember cruising watch shops with my Dad while on vacation or on the occasional weekend and we kept running into the brand. Of course, that wasn't just coincidence. No, my Dad was rather taken with a lot of the models that IWC had on offer back in the period. The brand had really reinvented itself by offering what I'd refer to as technically interesting, gentlemanly, sports/tool watches. They were damn expensive, but they oozed understated class. Even the marketing was clean, a bit technical, and left the watches to...
The Hour House A New Horological Destination In London
A while back, we reported to you about Skolorr, the curated online marketplace for watches from independent watchmakers. But as you know, not everyone is comfortable (yet) with buying a fine watch online. You still might want to see, feel and experience the watch for yourself, in the flesh. Especially watches from the independents, which often can’t be found everywhere, require a bit of closer inspection before someone will do the purchase.The Hour HouseTo serve those customers, entrepreneur Sky Sit and her team at Skolorr?jumped into the gap that disappearing multi-brand stores like Marcus (London) left and opened a showroom and VIP lounge in The Hour House. Located on Duke Street in ...
Minase : A Small Manufacturer From Japan
The cedar trees are tall and the rocks are sharp. The gorge is deep and the steam from the hot spring contrasts with the pile of fresh snow that has fallen during the night. We are in Minase River Gorge, in Akita Prefecture, Japan. Kilometers of endless forests, where nature is at its purest. Nestled in the middle of this unspoiled space is a little manufacturer, Minase, which bears the name of the village that it calls home. In this remote location, Minase produces some of the finest high-end watches in Japan.?For more information please visit: www.minasewatches.chMINASE SEVEN WINDOWSWith an annual production of only 500 pieces, Minase timekeepers were only available in Japan until last yea...
Only Watch 2019 Auction Results
Last Saturday, November 9th, 2019, the 8th edition of Only Watch was held during an auction-packed weekend in Geneva. The Only Watch Charity Auction was the end of a journey that started on July 1st with the presentation of 50 unique and especially for this occasion made timepieces.Thereafter the watches were exhibited during an extensive world tour covering Monaco, Dubai, Paris, London, New York, Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taipei, to arrive at the mentioned auction in Geneva last weekend.Only Watch 2019 credentialsAll 50 timepieces have been donated free of charge by their brands and or suppliers. 99% of the proceeds of the biennial Only Watch auction go directly to muscular dystrophy...
Apollo 8 The Best Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon Edition
When Omega introduced the Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon back in 2013, I was destined to buy one. An amazing full ceramic piece with their in-house developed chronograph. What more could you wish for? That came only five years later, with the introduction of the Apollo 8.Well, a year later (2014), Omega introduced the Grey Side of the Moon, which made a choice more difficult even. An excellent platinum-like dial with an anthracite ceramic case color. We reviewed the Grey Side of the Moon here. Then, in 2015, Omega did something they better couldn’t have done in my humble opinion, they released a few too many variations on the Dark Side of the Moon. There was the ‘black black,&...
Interview Aldis Hodge, Trustee Of The Horological Society Of New York
Fratello talks with actor, designer, and trustee of the Horological Society of New York, Aldis Hodge…Rob Nudds: Hi Aldis, thanks for taking the time to chat with us. It's a real pleasure to pick your brain. Tell me, when did you first fall in love with watchmaking? Does it run in your family? Were you exposed to it from a young age?Aldis Hodge: Hey Rob, it's a pleasure to speak with you as well. I actually exposed myself to watchmaking around 18 or 19 years old when I began designing watches. I picked up the interest as an alternative to my then architectural studies. Designing the aesthetics pulled me into learning more about how they functioned. A well-known design rule is that form ...
Our Seven Best James Bond Watches , Omega, Seiko, And...
The year 2020 has been tough on James Bond fans. It was a tough pill to swallow when No Time To Die was postponed for a second time. Like so many, I was more than ready to see Daniel Craig in action one last time as 007. And just when you thought things could not get any worse, the news came in on the 1st of November that Sean Connery passed away at age 90. The Scottish actor was the first and, to many, the best James Bond. In the light of Connery’s passing, we decided to create a list of our 7 favorite Bond watches.Discussing a list of Bond watches is as much fun as it is incomplete. Sure, you could cough up all the watches we have seen in 25 official Bond films, but that would not st...
Our Seven Best James Bond Watches , Omega, Seiko, And...
The year 2020 has been tough on James Bond fans. It was a tough pill to swallow when No Time To Die was postponed for a second time. Like so many, I was more than ready to see Daniel Craig in action one last time as 007. And just when you thought things could not get any worse, the news came in on the 1st of November that Sean Connery passed away at age 90. The Scottish actor was the first and, to many, the best James Bond. In the light of Connery’s passing, we decided to create a list of our 7 favorite Bond watches.Discussing a list of Bond watches is as much fun as it is incomplete. Sure, you could cough up all the watches we have seen in 25 official Bond films, but that would not st...