How Tudor Finally Got Its Story Straight And Found Its Soul
It’s only a few weeks after Watches and Wonders 2023, and looking back at the event, the brand I was the most excited about was Tudor. With its recent releases, the brand has created a significant number of great watches that I would love to add to my collection. But it was with the Tudor Black Bay 54, a watch that is not on that list of wants, that I realized I found the soul of the brand. Finally, after years of paying tribute to a mixture of greats from the past, the brand is ready to embrace single references and create modern versions of them. For me, this was the last piece of the puzzle that led me to fully embrace my love for Tudor.Loving a brand is a very personal thing. For m...
Serica Introduces The Updated Version Of Its 5303 Diver
The product should always be front and center within this world of watches we love so much. And that doesn’t only apply to new products. Improving existing products is also part of the game. I always greatly appreciate it when brands put effort into making their existing products even better, especially if the original was already a great watch. That’s exactly what Serica has done with the new generation of its popular 5303 dive watch. The newly improved 5303 range comes with an updated, slimmer movement. As a result, it is also equipped with a soft iron cage for increased magnetism resistance and a Grand Chronomtre certification. The Serica 5303 just got even better.If you read...
#TBT Visual Glory With The Must De Cartier Tank Art Deco 1616
Next year will mark 30 years since Cartier released the Must de Cartier Tank Art Deco. Maybe I should feel embarrassed that I don’t recall ever seeing it before. But the moment I spotted it last week, I instantly fell in love. If it weren’t quartz and in the ballpark of $10,000, it would be mine already.Find me a man or woman who doesn’t like the Cartier Tank. This classy watch is so individual and original that it is difficult, maybe impossible, to find a single thing that would keep you from liking it. At the same time, Cartier is not a brand that I would expect to put a colorful dial in its classiest model. That’s probably why I never looked into the brand’s ...
The Sarpaneva Dragonskin The First Dial Of Its Kind
Today, we’ll take a brief look at the Sarpaneva Dragonskin, a watch that owes its existence to a fellow watch journalist. It’s a fascinating watch with a great story. Plus, it brings together watchmaking and artisanal materials. What could be better?Justin Mastine-Frost is the Director of Digital Content for Sharp Magazine, one of Canada’s leading men’s lifestyle journals. He’s also a longtime watch journalist who has developed relationships with several founders of watchmaking companies. One of his favorites happens to be Sarpaneva. The Finnish watchmaker has a spectacular reputation for nouveau-gothic watches featuring bold designs and fantastic finishing. Jus...
New: The Credor Eichi II 50th Anniversary Special Edition
Seiko has possibly the widest range of entirely in-house-manufactured watches in today's market. Everything from Spartan Seiko 5 watches to highly complicated Grand Seikos will be found. Since 1974, the company has even had a Haute Horlogerie branch in the form of Credor. And for those who are quick at arithmetic, that is precisely 50 years this year. That’s a cause for celebration!Credor introduces a special edition of its Eichi II watch to mark the occasion, limited to 30 pieces. Let's have a closer look at this latest creation.The Credor Eichi IICredor introduced the original Eichi in 2008. It was a 35mm dress watch with a power reserve indicator at 10 o’clock. The 2014 Eichi ...
How Events Like Watches And Wonders Influence Writers
Although I have worked in the watch industry for years, this year marked my first trip to Watches and Wonders. When I was a vintage dealer, I simply had no business at the fair, and I had to skip it in my first years at Fratello due to personal circumstances. This means I went into it with quite a bit of experience but also with a newbie mindset to the event itself.When our shop manager Laurits asked how events like this influence us Fratello writers, I felt I might be the right one to pick up the gauntlet and try to answer that question.The influence of seeing the watches in real lifeThe first reason why attending events like Watches and Wonders is crucial for us is so that we can handle al...
Hands-On: Patek's World Time Date 5330G And Nautilus 5980/60G
You've seen the press pics, and you've read the comments. Now it's time to slip on and try out the double-denim Patek Philippe duo - the World Time Date 5330G and Nautilus Self-Winding Chronograph 5980/60G. I had to find out how these somewhat controversially styled watches felt and wore in reality. While I was at it, I also managed to get a little time with the Aquanaut Travel Time 5164G, which comes in grayish-blue attire that reminds me of faded jeans.The comments under the introduction article for the new Patek Philippe World Time Date 5330G and Nautilus Chronograph 5980/60G and their jeans-look straps were not casual like denim, to say the least. Sure, the new white gold and blue Aquana...
Fratello Talks: Swatch Group Novelties
Hello, and welcome to an on-location episode of Fratello Talks. Today, Nacho, Daan, and Lex are coming to you from the Watch Valley event in Utrecht, where Swatch Group novelties for the first half of 2024 were unveiled. They’ll run through some of their favorites and give opinions on the different brand’s new watches and directions, with a sprinkle of the usual banter. You’ll have to excuse the difference in audio quality; it comes with the territory of recording outside the Fratello studio. What doesn’t change is that we kick things off with a wrist check!...
Introducing: The Meteor-Inspired Orient Star M34 F8 Date
I would be lying if I didn't admit to being a big fan of Japanese craftsmanship, especially the emphasis on artfully inspired dials. Orient Star is the top-tier division of big-box brand Orient, a well-known entity if you're already into watches. The biggest draw is that Japanese brands have a particular design mindset and quality ethos, as we can see with the new Orient Star M34 F8 Date.Orient Star is making a comeback, and it shows. We've already looked closely at the celestial inspiration behind the new M Collections, and these two new M34 F8 references are very significant. In our watch rabbit hole, we all know about the big value of Mako divers and the evergreen Bambino. But this time, ...
Weekend Watch Lists Top 10 German Watch Brands
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 of magazine...
Speedy Tuesday Hands-On With The Speedmaster Moonphase Co-Axial Master Chronometer in Platinum
A few Speedy Tuesdays ago, we showed you the new Omega Speedmaster Moonphase Co-Axial Master Chronometer collection, except for the version in platinum. This limited edition of 57 pieces only (referring to 1957, the founding year of the Speedmaster collection), with a case made of platinum,?using red liquidmetal(tm) for its bezel and has a platinum dial. Using a platinum dial and red accents made me think of the introduced?Globemaster Annual Calendar in platinum as well.More background information on the Speedmaster Moonphase watches and calibers as well as an introduction of the Speedmaster Moonphase Co-Axial Master Chronometer can be found here.You can ask yourself whether a Speedmaster sh...
Hands-On Tudor Heritage Black Bay Chrono
One of the watches that got most talked about during BaselWorld is the Tudor Heritage Black Bay Chrono. Not only because it is a totally new addition to their Heritage collection, but also because Tudor made an interesting move regarding the chronograph movement of this watch. It is based on the Breitling B01 chronograph movement. Let’s have a look.Tudor Heritage Black Bay ChronoSince a few years, Tudor organizes a special event on Tuesday evening right before the BaselWorld exhibition starts. This year, the event was bigger than ever in terms of participants who were all able to witness the next big thing at Tudor: the introduction of the Heritage Black Bay Chrono. Feeds on Instagram ...
The New Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Geographic WT Limited Edition
Earlier this year, during the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie in Geneva, Jaeger-LeCoultre introduced their new Polaris collection to the world. We’ve been raving about them a number of times, including this hands-on review of the most popular one: the Polaris Memovox. Today, Jaeger-LeCoultre introduces us to the new Polaris Geographic WT limited edition, where WT stands for ‘World Time’. Of course.Inspired – like all the others – on the 1968?Memovox Polaris watch, Jaeger-LeCoultre now comes with another practical complication in their Polaris Geographic WT. I’ve been a sucker for world timers since years, and the regular Geographic models (be it...
#TBT With the 1968 Citizen 2812-Y Seven Star Diver
It was one of those normal Saturday afternoons. You know, the kind where you're fiercely duking it out with another bidder who likely hails from a country across the world. It's likely that anonymous foe and I couldn't even communicate using the spoken word, but yet, there we were, raising our bids in stupidly small Japanese Yen-based increments, thereby extending the auction each time by a set number of minutes until the thing went roughly an hour past its scheduled end mark. He (I'll take a guess that it was a he) had likely pissed off his better half, if he had one we're watch nerds remember, because it was easily 10pm in Japan extending towards 11. Me? I was on the way to sending my wife...
Seiko's First Diver The Seiko SilverWave J12082
Today, we take a look at the Seiko SilverWave J12082, the very first dive watch from the celebrated Japanese brand.I was recently on my way back from a long Easter weekend in Bordeaux (where, surprisingly, I'll long remember the world-beating experience of ingesting crustaceans and shellfish over drinking wine), when I stumbled upon a review of the new Alpine A110 sports car on one of my favorite sites: Jalopnik.? I'm used to witty, entertaining articles on the site, but this one truly struck me.? First off, the A110, from everything I've seen and read, looks to be an outright winner and one that comes from left field as most have their eyes on the Germans or Italians when it comes to lightw...
Vacheron Constantin Fiftysix With New Sepia Brown-Toned Dial
It was only a few years ago, in 2018, when Vacheron Constantin introduced its Fiftysix collection. The line was not running with a new idea. It was instead a freshly developed interpretation of a vintage Vacheron Constantin watch. The reference 6073 came to the market in 1956, hence the model line name.The inspiration for the case of the 6073 was the shape of the Maltese cross. It also happens to be the logo of Vacheron Constantin as well. The Fiftysix timepieces reinterpret this and many other features of that vintage reference in a “retro-contemporary style.” For this year’s edition VC released the Fiftysix with a new sepia brown-toned dial and a matching calfskin leather...
Sunday Morning Showdown: The New A. Lange & Sohne Odysseus
In this Sunday morning column, two of our writers go head-to-head in an epic showdown for the ages. Strong opinions and hysterical hyperbole are welcome (so feel free to join in with the fun in the comments section below). And don't forget to let us know which watches you'd like to see torn to shreds/effusively exalted next week. We'll try and feature as many of our readers' choices as we can. Are you ready for round two? Next up is the A. Lange & Sohne Odysseus with a sumptuous new dial.While you may still be drooling over the A. Lange & Sohne Zeitwerk extravaganza we featured this morning, we’re coming right back at you with the second post in our SMS double-header. That̵...
Sunday Morning Showdown: A. Lange & Sohne Zeitwerk Old Or New?
In this Sunday morning column, two of our writers go head-to-head in an epic showdown for the ages. Strong opinions and hysterical hyperbole are welcome (so feel free to join in with the fun in the comments section below). And don't forget to let us know which watches you'd like to see torn to shreds/effusively exalted next week. We'll try and feature as many of our readers' choices as we can.Here's something a little different for you, dear readers. Previously, in Sunday Morning Showdown, two writers have adopted polarized positions on a single watch. Today, we're taking that idea and messing with it. Instead of one writer rating, while the other spends their time hating, we've picked one f...
Every Watch Brand Sponsorship Deal For The New Formula One Season
With the 2021 Formula One season starting on schedule, I check out the watch brands that sponsor each manufacturer. Some of the partnerships are new for this year, whereas some are dyed-in-the-wool. There are even F1 teams without a watch sponsor as the season gets going. But no matter the case, I cover each team and weigh in with my thoughts on whether they are a good fit for the chosen watch brand.Did you check out Episode 6.0 of the Fratello WASP Podcast? If not, open your podcast player of choice, and have a listen as you read along. I made a guest appearance to give a rundown on the first European-originated sport to feature in the series. Previously Rob and Balzs focus on the North Am...
Seiko Prospex Naomi Uemura 80th Anniversary Limited Edition Watch
The first thing that comes to mind when I look at 99.9% of all Prospex models is: damn that's a lot of watch! They're bold, they're big, they're present, they're robust, and, last but not least, a Prospex diver gives you a lot of bang for the buck. The new Seiko Prospex Naomi Uemura 80th Anniversary Limited Edition Watch models in deep blue and (unlimited) dark gray, provoke the same initial reaction. But luckily this write-up will go a lot deeper than that.The “professional specifications” diver's watches from Seiko have quite the reputation. In the field and with the desk diver's crowd. Makes sense. Seiko has been at the forefront of the development of diver's watches for decad...