Chrono24, The World's Largest Online Watch Market, Acquires Australian Competitor WatchChoice
Fratellowatches just received this press release:Chrono24 strengthens its number one market position in Asia, Australia and the US as the leading online marketplace for luxury watches like , IWC, Breitling and Audemars Piguet.Karlsruhe/Melbourne, Nov. 22nd, 2010, In February 2010 Internet entrepreneurs and watch enthusiasts Dirk Schwartz and Tim Stracke acquired Chrono24, the world’s leading Internet marketplace for luxury watches. Now they have taken over Australian competitor WatchChoice to advance Chrono24's international market leadership, especially in Asia and English speaking markets.Chrono24.com was founded in 2003 and attracts more than 1.2 million visits per month. Over 500 p...
Dubai Watch Week A New Standard Has Been Set
We were invited to come to the Dubai Watch Week and after a short discussion, Balazs and I decided to go and see what it is all about. Dubai Watch Week has been going on for a couple of years, and this year for the first time in a completely different setting (according to them).The Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons retailer in Dubai organizes Dubai Watch Week. A family owned business that is well-known in the region, and who carry an amazing number of brands. From big & affordable names to the likes of MB&F, F.P. Journe, Patek Philippe and other independent haute horlogerie names. Although you would think so, the stated aim of Dubai Watch Week is not to sell these watches or explicitly do mo...
The Marc & Sons DWFB Limited Edition A Fun Camouflage Diver
Today, we'll take a look at the Marc & Sons DWFB Limited Edition, the newest collaboration watch between a micro-brand and the Diver's Watches Facebook Group. As you can certainly see, this is a different, more whimsically styled, type of watch versus past pieces from the group that now boasts over 47,000 members. On the other hand, you'll see that it contains some fairly impressive specs that make it a serious tool watch in hiding.The Marc & Sons DWFB Limited Edition comes from the German brand founded in 2006. They advertise themselves as providing high-quality watches at affordable prices. Their large catalog of tool watches, including this piece, all state that the watches are Ma...
#TBT Omega Cosmic Moonphase
When I started to explore vintage Omega watches I was instantly hooked by their chronographs. To me, a chronograph is one of the coolest and most usable features a watch could have. This was the reason – or perhaps the fact that my first Omega with a complication was a caliber 1040 chronograph. Still to this day I hold those watches near and dear to my heart. So, as I dwelled into the wonderful world of vintage Omegas I came across a model line that, to me, was the epitome of vintage Omega dress watches, and there were many. It was the Omega Cosmic line. Now, I'm not talking about the late 60's early 70's cushion-case (Seamaster) Cosmics and Cosmic 2000s. Though I had a few of those to...
New Oris Artelier James Morrison Limited Edition
Oris pays tribute to a living legend, James Morrison with a new time-only wristwatch. No, not that James Morrison, who serenades BBC Radio 2 listeners. Instead, the Australian jazz trumpeter and multi-instrumentalist who at only 57, has amassed respect and adulation from contemporary and big band jazz fans alike.Starting with the Andy Sheppard watch in 1996, Oris have a track record of jazz inspired watches in their classic Artelier range. Oris Chairman, Ulrich Herzog, has a deep love of jazz and Oris have previously sponsored the London Jazz Festival. Jazz standard composer, Thelonious Monk’s syncopated rhythm style influenced his namesake watch that had offset indices on the dial. Th...
Footshop & Prim featuring a unique watch complication
This small collection of 12 watches only is very limited and aimed at the sneakerheads. If it weren't for the quartz movement powering the Prim x Footshop Time for sneakers' watch, I think they’d also reach the watchnerd audience.??Watch manufacturers invite ambassadors from different parts of the world to put their faces to a particular watch, representing diverse communities and lifestyles. In the better, albeit less often case, they are invited to design the watch as well. Collaboration watches (as we shared recently) are nothing new, of course. Today we present a collaboration with a truly unique twist!Does it strike you as useless or even ridiculous? Maybe. I call it even a bit bi...
Omega Speedmaster World Cup Quarter Final 2: Tintin Vs. Alaska Project 2008
The Speedmaster World Cup Group Stage is in the books. It’s time for the head-to-head contests to begin. Over the next two weeks, we will run two quarter-final match-ups each weekend. One on Saturday; one on Sunday. Our intrepid warriors made it through blood baths of their own making, but now they need your help to fight another day. Only one man can progress from each quarter-final to the next stage. The choice of who receives that honor rests with you. Let battle commence…This quarter-final is defined by adding a bit of color to the trusted Moonwatch. Red and white to be more precise. From reading the comments and looking at the number of votes, you guys like a Speedmaster wit...
Parmigiani Fleurier Oliver Smith Jeweler Bespoke Tonda Watches
Scottsdale and Aspen-based Oliver Smith Jeweler this year celebrates forty years of being in the watch business. And what better way to get the party started than by releasing a special watch? Well, with two very special watches, of course! Enter the Parmigiani Fleurier Oliver Smith Jeweler bespoke Tonda GT and Tondagraph GT limited editions. Twenty pieces in total reflect the jeweler's creativity and inspiration from nature.Reaching out to Parmigiani Fleurier to create something celebratory was a no-brainer for Oliver Smith, Founder and Creative Director at Oliver Smith Jeweler. Smith is an admirer of the creative genius that not only is a skilled restorer of antique timepieces and successf...
Stunning Sub-Dials From Longines, Zenith, Omega, And More
Here at Fratello, we love to write about our favorite watches. We are big fans of the chronograph, with many articles dedicated to this seemingly humble complication. In fact, right now, we are running another one of our super-popular competitions, “The Fast And The Fratelli”. This competition is dedicated to determining the best racing chronograph of the last ten years.Now, this article is not dedicated to chronographs per se, but rather, something that the majority of chronographs have. That’s it - sub-dials! “How could you write a whole article about sub-dials?” I hear you cry. Quite easily! With sub-dials forming such an essential part of so many watches, I ...
The Fast And The Fratelli: Hamilton Vs. Studio Underd0g
Welcome to The Fast And The Fratelli. The goal? To find the best racing chronograph of the past ten years. The rules? Each editor selects two watches that must be able to track elapsed time for at least one minute. The watch choices must feature a tachymeter scale, and their movements must be mechanical. And most of all, each watch must be thoroughly fantastic. But we'll leave that up to the Fratelli to decide.Without further ado, let's take a look at my picks. I decided to go with two totally different watches, covering two ends of the spectrum. One is classic and understated, and the other is far more out there. The thing they have in common? They're both underdogs in the competition (one ...
Rado Captain Cook Ceramic My First Look And Impressions
I’ve been more intimately acquainted with most modern Rado watches than most people would care to know. And trust me, although the very recent stuff is pretty smartly designed, the semi-modern output from the late nineties to 2010s was… Well… Let’s just say, it was sent to try us. Manufacturing watches out of ceramic has come a long way since those days, and Rado has always been at the forefront of the practice. Those early attempts were creatively executed, but now we’re seeing signs of a master maker settling down into its field of expertise. So are these new flagship models in the Captain Cook range worthy of flying the flag for the famous Swiss brand? Let...
Best Boring But Brilliant Watches Cartier Tank Louis Cartier
If all tanks were made by Cartier, we’d have the time to live in peace. Such were the famous words of French designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac. He's so right. Everybody prefers a (boring) life of peace over the horrors of war. Cartier's Tank is like a gun with a flower in the barrel. And of all the Tanks that Cartier built, the Cartier Tank Louis Cartier is probably THE Tank. It followed the Tank Normale in 1919, and it was the second Tank that Cartier launched. Even in its modern guises, the watch is still relevant today.All Tanks in the Cartier collection stem from the same idea. The design takes inspiration from a Renault tank in service with the French Army during WWI. Imagine l...
Hands-On: Oris Big Crown ProPilot Coulson Limited Edition
Climate change is not about the world getting hotter. It's several accelerated changes that are knocking the cycles off balance. Environments are simultaneously drying out while rising sea levels risk flooding. Responding to these peak weather events requires dedicated task forces stationed in the most affected areas. That's where Coulson Aviation comes in. This Canadian aerial firefighter crew tackles wildfires across the globe in places of threat. Using a variety of aircraft, vast quantities of water extinguish fires near built-up settlements. But it's not just about responding to the issues. As part of Oris’s Change for the Better campaign, the brand seeks to help others understand ...
Hamilton Releases The Murph 38mm
Today, Hamilton releases the Murph 38mm. But let’s rewind for a brief moment to 2014. It was then that Christopher Nolan cemented his reputation as a master of chronology. We had seen the producer/director play with time before in classics such as Memento and Inception. The 2014 epic Interstellar was a movie only he could make. Nolan approached Hamilton and requested two watches. One was a standard Khaki Aviation Pilot Day Date, the other a custom design that would feature heavily as a plot prop. The latter became known as the Murph watch.Hamilton released the Murph to the public in 2019. It was received with great enthusiasm but was also often criticized for its size. At 42 52mm and n...
A NASA-Issued Speedmaster 145.012-68SP Up For Auction
On December 11th, Phillips will auction off a very special Omega Speedmaster Professional ref. 145.012-68SP. The reference number alone may not seem very special, but what if we told you that this watch was issued to NASA in 1968 and used during training for Apollo, Skylab, and even Space Shuttle missions?The Speedmaster Pro 145.012-68SP that will go up for auction in December is one of the watches that Omega sent to NASA as part of their agreement. As you probably know, NASA qualified Omega’s Speedmaster 105.003 with caliber 321 in 1965. Omega then shipped these watches to NASA for use during training and in space (the last watch worn on the Moon was a 105.003, on the wrist of Gene Ce...
What Kind Of Watch Restoration Can And Should You Get Done?
One of the major appealing factors of vintage watches is the way they show their age. Often called patina, it encompasses the subtle marks that hint at the many adventures the watch has been on - yellowed lume, a scratch here and there, maybe some discoloration of the dial or fading of the bezel, and so on. Modern watch restoration technology, however, allows us to turn back the clock. We can make vintage watches look new or even aged precisely the way we want them.That raises some questions. What kind of restoration can be done nowadays? And, of equal importance, should you do it? In this article, I will show some examples and try to help you answer that question for you and your specific v...
New: Code41 Anomaly-01 Collector Edition
It was back in 2016 that Code41 first launched the Anomaly-01 via a Kickstarter campaign. The debut went well, and since then, the brand has had success in making a number of watch models with a wide variety of price points and functions. Today, though, is about celebrating the beginning with the Anomaly-01 Collector Edition.Recently, I wrote about the Code41 Mecascape, a mind-bending piece of horology. It led me to take a closer look at the brand and its different offerings. There’s a wide array on the Code41 website, including a tourbillon. However, the Anomaly-01 is the watch that is responsible for the brand’s success. When it was first launched in 2016, it easily blew away i...
Dubai Watch Week 2023: The Releases You Might Have Missed
With Dubai Watch Week 2023 behind us, it’s time to revisit more releases. The event first took place in 2015, and it has quickly grown into one of the annual highlights on the horological calendar. This year, people who attended the event agreed that it was bigger and better than ever. We saw a plethora of great releases from the show, many of which we featured here on Fratello for those who weren’t in Dubai. But there were also some glorious new timepieces that we did not cover but that do deserve a place in the spotlight. Let’s take a look at a few of them today.Dubai Watch Week has quickly become an event to look forward to. In the past couple of years, some of the horol...
The Ming 37.04 Rose Gold Is A Step In A New Direction
The new Ming 37.04 Rose Gold is the independent company’s first-ever foray into using precious metal. Perhaps that’s surprising considering the vast array of innovative materials that have found their way into past releases. Yet here we are and, folks, this is a beauty, albeit one for those with deeper pockets!In August 2022, Ming released its 37.04 monopusher chronograph in titanium. A hundred pieces of this model were made and sold out online as part of the brand’s Special Projects Cave. The watches featured a guilloche dial underneath a layer of sapphire. The result was a beautiful watch with lovely, wearable proportions. Thankfully, the team at Ming chose to give us a s...
Balazs And Mike Talking Vintage Excelsior Park, Gallet, And More
Welcome to another episode of Fratello On Air! This week, we’re excited because we’re recording from the same room, and we’re in London. In fact, we’re in the Square Mile! Today, we’re talking about vintage Excelsior Park watches, movements, and the related brands that used the movements. Enjoy this vintage deep cut!...