In the second installment of our watch-exchanging mini-series, I'm taking RJ's Omega Speedmaster Replica 3594.50 for a spin. Replica? I hear you say. Yes, Replica, because back in 1997 when the model was first launched, that word did not have the bad connotation it has now. And to be fair, the Replica is some sort of replica of the very first Omega Speedmaster, the 1957 CK2915. I cherry-picked the

If you are a Fratello regular, you should need no introduction to Minase's flagship Divido collection. Over the years, different members of the team have weighed in with a unanimous conclusion: the Divido is a (now not-so-hidden) gem. Exceptional casing and finishing aside, the Divido's dials come in three different styles - plain urushi colors, gold-dust urushi maki-e, and hand-painted shibo-urus

Summer has been over for a while now, but we get a last glimpse of it with the all-new Titoni Impetus CeramTech ZrO2. With this release, Titoni expands its collection with six of these sports watches that combine stainless steel and ceramic cases and modern, attractive looks. As we expect from Titoni, the execution is impressive. We had a chance to go hands-on with the most colorful model in the r

There was one particular Vulcain model that was missing from my Cricket collection - the late ’50s calendar model with the updated 402 caliber. And even after I found one, what a challenge it was to bring it back to its original glory!Not counting all the weirdos that I’ve presented over the last five years, a mechanical alarm will always be my most beloved of all the traditional watch

This must sound familiar: you’ve decided to splurge on a new watch, and the salesperson is putting it inside its enormous, fancy-looking box. It makes the watch look like it’s worth even more than it already is, and it kind of feels nice to carry the weighty thing out of the shop. But then you arrive home, take the watch out of that box, store it somewhere, and never think about it aga

On this week’s episode of Fratello Talks, Lex, Morgan, and Nacho take a look at the Tudor Pelagos FXD. The guys have all four references so far lined up for a closer look. However, it’s not just the FXD that takes all the attention. We start with a look back at the birth of the original Pelagos and how the line expanded to include this fixed-bar dive watch. Since its introduction in la

Depancel has been inspired by 1970s car-racing designs since 2018. The new Allure Chronograph MecaQ in its reduced 36mm size extends this connection even further. Not only are the red and orange hues found on the three sub-dials and the tachymetric scale quintessentially 1970s, but the integrated bracelet also reinforces this feeling.Depancel Allure Chronograph MecaQ 36mmLet’s start with a b

A few weeks ago, I joined Chopard on a trip to the Dordogne region in France. There, I could sit down and talk with Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, co-president of Chopard, and look at some of the L.U.C watches the brand has planned for 2025.Chopard Co-President Karl-Friedrich Scheufele - Image: ChopardThe past, present, and future of L.U.COther brands also do these previews, often closer to the launch

H. Moser & Cie. is not the type of brand that revels in its heritage. The brand's catalog consists of forward-focused offerings that are hardly ever sentimental in this sense. This is quite admirable as there is plenty of history to lean on, but the Schaffhausen-based company prefers to lean on its present-day prowess. Enter Massena Lab. William Massena's collaboration laboratory challenged Mo

Alan collects vintage wristwatches, amongst his collection are a lot of Timex watches and a vintage Explorer and Submariner. He describes his own site as:Watch pictures, diagrams, unusual images, watch info, stories and more……Enjoy!

Omega has this almost annoying habit of introducing Limited Edition Speedmasters for about every event. However, try to get a NASA patch model (such as the Snoopy Award edition or any of the Apollo 11 editions) and you probably feel stupid for not see that one coming ??Speedmasters are, besides being linked to the NASA programme, also connected to racing. Initially, the Speedmaster was created as

You merely look after it for the next generation. With this slogan, Patek Philippe seduces you to take the plunge on one of their magnificent watches. It creates some kind of justification to spend a tremendous amount of money on one time piece that could have bought you half a dozen other Swiss quality watches.One of my favorites is the Patek Philippe Nautilus (ref.5711/1A) in its purest form: st

When we first saw the Tudor Heritage Black Bay a few years ago (2012), we knew that Tudor had gold in its hands. An amazing timepiece that was inspired by Tudor’s own heritage (we did a report here and here on their vintage pieces). This year, just one day before the BaselWorld exhibition opened, we were invited to witness the new & old collection of Tudor. They decided to come back with

The watch I am about to discuss today is not new to this website at all. Over the years various generations (3 to be precise) of X-33 have been discussed on the pages of FratelloWatches. We did reviews; covered watches worn by astronauts and even did write-ups on personal stories connected to this model. Some love this watch, some say it's not true to the heritage of the Speedy Pro and I say it is

Jacques Cousteau – L’OdysseeA few days ago, The Odyssee (or L’Odyssee) movie has been released in France. It is a biopic about the life of Jacques Cousteau, his wife Simone and his sons Philip and Jean-Michel. It won’t be in the theatres before January 2017 here in The Netherlands, but it will be on my to-do list that month.From the Wildbunch (distributor) website:“Su

Breitling Navitimer All BlackToday on #TBT, we'll take a look at an all-time classic, the Breitling Navitimer All Black. It's a watch that I never thought I'd have a chance of owning, but thanks to fellow Fratello member Gerard, and especially to my wife, I've been fortunate to add a beauty to my collection. It's funny, it was almost a year ago this time that I wrote about another Navitimer that I

In all honesty, even though I love this brand from Glashutte, I don’t own a NOMOS watch (yet) nor was there one – seriously – on my radar. Reason? They are too small for me (or I am too big for them), that’s basically the reason. Now, NOMOS introduced 14 new watches as being part of their ‘At Work Series’.These new NOMOS At Work Series are not entirely new thoug

It is my great pleasure to announce that the inaugural Speedmaster World Cup will kick-off on Fratello on Saturday the 24th of October (that’s THIS weekend).In the absence of Euro 2020, we thought our beloved readers might enjoy a tournament of a different kind - The Speedmaster World Cup! We've assembled eight groups (ACH), each governed by a different Fratello team member. Each writer has

What I have learned from your Speedmaster stories so far, is that there’s often more involved than just buying a watch. Sure, there are people collecting Speedmasters for no other reason than love for this chronograph. But so far, the stories we’ve received are also about emotional reasons to buy a Speedmaster.This week, we have a story from Rosier about his Speedmaster “From The

Who amongst our readers has proclaimed that their luxury wristwatch purchase was an investment? Okay, that was just a wall of noise. Let me refine the question. What about justifying the cost because you can pass the watch on to the next generation when the time is right? Alright, I hear you - this is a crowd I can work with.Even for affluent people, putting down big bucks for a flashy timepiece i