Florijn, Dutch Glory! In the 52Mondayz line up this is the second watch brand with its origin in The Netherlands.The first one I covered was Fred Dingemand’s d.m.h., and now it’s the Florijn brand designed and produced by Hans Heuvelman. Teun Heerebeek mentioned the brand in his Watches & Pencils #20 before, we never dit a review on the watches though.The Florijn F03 on my wristFlo

Technological development has always been one of the key features of Tissot. Tissot has several achievements under their belts. Did you know for instance that they assembled the first non-magnetic watch in 1929? Or that Tissot was the first company to release watches made of plastic, stone and wood? Surely, once the brand from Le Locle became part of Swatch Group they were repositioned to serve th

Classic design, engineering precision and high functionalityClassic design, engineering precision and functionality are the guidelines for the outstanding Pilot Chronograph watches of ARCHIMEDE. The first Pilot Chronograph was rewarded several times: Winner and 3. place at the Golden Balance, 3. place at the award ‘Pilot watch of the year 2012’ of the German FliegerRevue.ARCHIMEDE inte

Between the introduction of the Speedmaster Speedy Tuesday “Ultraman” and the Speedmaster Hodinkee Limited Edition, Omega decided it was the perfect moment to introduce the Speedmaster Tokyo 2020 Limited Edition series. Only meant for the Japan market, but also outside this beautiful country, it received some press (also by us, of course). Omega will be the official timekeeper for the

Welcome, friends, to Wrist Game or Crying Shame, where we ask you to vote on whether a watch is worth its salt or simply worth what salt is worth.? This week, we’ll go (O)mega with the Omega Ploprof, but first…Somewhere over the Rainbow, way up high…? Well, you folks were clearly high on a little Zenith Rainbow because this child of the 90’s soared to a colorful 61% Wrist G

With the latest special edition release, the Breitling Aviator 8 Mosquito bolsters the brand’s lineup while taking a look backwards.The way of the (watch) world today appears to require a steady stream of new releases.? With near-instantaneous supplies of news, social media posts, and endless collaborations between brands and “influencers”, it seems that the only way to succeed i

Recently, we did a hands-on review of the new Longines Spirit watches. It is a pilot’s watch, new to the Longines Sport collection. We talk to Longines Head of Product Development Xavier Ligero about the Spirit and how it came to life.Our Fratello on Air podcast is available via Buzzsprout, Soundcloud, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Deezer,? Stitcher, and Spotify.

We’ve been teasing it for the past few days. We hope you were excited about this latest Seiko launch as we were. It’s been a long time coming, but we’re proud to announce a very special European exclusive from one of our favorite brands. The Seiko Prospex “Alpinist” SPB199J1 just hit the shelves of selected points of sale in Europe. Winter was coming. Winter is finall

We like to talk about vintage watches a lot within the Fratello team. Though most of what we write about is primarily focused on the most recent releases and developments, for many of us, a lot of the fun can be found in the sometimes weird and often wonderful world of vintage watches. It’s a world full of history, remarkable watches, incredible stories, and quirky details. It inspired us to

I do envy Laurent Ferrier's background. The man lived a rather full life before starting his own brand. As a Patek Philippe designer and watchmaker of over 30 years, he had time for Racing, coming third at the 24 hours of LeMans in 1979 ahead of Paul Newman. And this was well before he made his mark on the Independent scene. My life seems fairly devoid of panache compared to Laurent's achievements

Blued screws: we’ve likely all seen them before through display case backs. If not, we’ve probably heard the term used before, and it’s pretty self-explanatory. The real question is “why”? Why did watchmakers blue the screws of their movements? Well, as we’ve found out with many other finishing techniques, blued screws hold a functional benefit as well as an aes

We like to talk about vintage watches a lot within the Fratello team. Though most of what we write about is primarily focused on the most recent releases and developments, for many of us, a lot of the fun can be found in the sometimes weird and often wonderful world of vintage watches. It’s a world full of history, remarkable watches, incredible stories, and quirky details. It inspired us to

Seiko divers rank among my favorite watches of all time. I tend to believe that Seiko has carved out a relatively unique design language for a genre that spawns multitudes of copycats. Four-o’clock crowns, signature hands, and a penchant for simplicity are some of the traits that come to mind. The Seiko Ashtray?series that debuted in the mid-’80s is unmistakably a Seiko. However, it

I recently reviewed the Formex Reef GMT. As much as I admired that watch, it did not quite strike a chord with me. It was a tad too elaborately styled for my liking. I hinted that I would try another Formex that might be more up my alley. I strapped on the Essence Leggera FortyOne for a few days of testing but ended up wearing it for several weeks. In fact, the Formex Essence Leggera played a funn

We took these photos the day after the Greenland Grand Prix, where Fratello Racing Daelmans Dutch Stroopwafels Team took home some well-deserved points in the fight for the championship. Monday-morning testing is always tough, just like the first day of a workweek in a regular office, I presume. But it was also nice that we could test two Tudor Pelagos FXD Alinghi Red Bull Racing Edition watches w

You know the feeling, right? You finally get your hands on that dream watch after months of research and online prowling. It is now sitting proudly on your wrist, shining away with its perfect surfaces. You walk to the bathroom and then it happens - bang! The doorjamb and watch meet, leaving a big scratch on the lug. Ouch, that first one always hurts! Some manufacturers try to protect you from thi

What do you do as a brand when you’ve discontinued one of your references but people keep asking for it? Well, if you think anything like the people at Nomos do, you bring that reference back, of course. There’s a challenge, though, because you want to bring the design up to today’s standards and not lose the appeal that the original watch had. Well, don’t worry because the

When it comes to horological innovation, we often wonder if we have seen everything there is to see. Have we reached the pinnacle? Can watchmakers reinvent the wheel once again? It’s the mission of all serious horologists to do just that. But with watchmaking having been around for so long, most angles have been covered. Innovation is a noble thing to strive for but one that is notoriously h

Two years ago, British watchmakers Fears and Garrick joined forces. Together, they presented the aptly named Fears Garrick. Fears ensured the watch looked charming and elegant, like a true gentleman. Garrick was there to impress us with the exposed balance wheel and the overall finishing of the watch. Now the two parties are back with a new version - the Fears Garrick. This time, it has a frosted

Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend an event in London hosted by 289 Consulting. Roughly 25 brands attended, and we were free to sit in a casual, albeit dark, environment to view the newest watches. It was an enjoyable day with many highlights. A standout was the new Krayon Anywhere Arborea.Geneva Watch Days 2024 was so crammed with meetings that I could not make the Krayon appointment