Another Friday, another Top 5! In last week’s article, we discussed our favorite worldtimers available today. These watches can show 24 different time zones all at once and, therefore, have a unique form informed by this specific function. I also briefly discussed the difference between a worldtimer and a dual-time watch. While some of the latter may look like worldtimers, they still donR

The Awake CCT FS is the latest in military tie-in watches. This piece was made for members of the French Special Forces Command and Communications Company. It’s a limited edition with half of the units destined for members of the unit and half for the public.Awake watches aren’t new here on Fratello. We’ve reviewed quite a few and, overall, have come away impressed with the brand

Meet the latest Openworked Sandblasted watches from Speake Marin. Choose from titanium or red gold cases in a medium 38mm size or a more generous 42mm form. Regardless of your material or size preference, you’ll get an SMA01 movement with a micro-rotor inside Speake Marin's signature Piccadilly case. This classic case has been revamped by famous watch designer Eric Giroud, who also worked fo

It’s always a joy when a new watch arrives at the Fratello office. We open the box, get the watch out as quickly as possible, and then we discuss our first impressions. In the case of the new Ace Jewelers Frederique Constant Highlife Worldtimer Amsterdam, those first impressions were quite positive. But as I’m a born-and-raised “Amsterdammer,” immediately, I felt a special

It has been a while since my last article on the development of my debut watch, the VPC Type 37HW. Don't worry, the project is still very much on. This summer, however, was spent doing arduous behind-the-scenes work that wasn't exactly photogenic or glamourous. But now we are finally ready to start manufacturing the prototypes. The watchmaker's tools finally come out!Let me take you along for a qu

Never without a sense of whimsy, seconde/seconde/ returns with another collaboration just in time for Halloween. This time, Spinnaker offers the Fleuss diver as a willing host for this haunting. The 50 Phantoms tag on the dial is a tongue-in-cheek nod to the Blancpain that inspired the Fleuss watch in its original form and the prowl of specters plastered across the dial. The result is, frankly, mu

Admittedly, I’ve never covered a watch from Moritz Grossmann. A couple of weeks ago, though, I received an email that caught my attention. The new Benu 37 Arabic Vintage may look simple, but there’s plenty to uncover.The name Moritz Grossmann is steeped in history. In 1854, Grossmann established an atelier in Glashutte and began making some of the world’s greatest timepieces. Bef

It’s Sunday morning, so it’s time for another installment of Sunday Morning Showdown. This week, we will focus on two vintage-inspired dive watches from 2024. The Doxa Sub 200T came out this past spring, while the Oris Divers Date debuted just last week. Both celebrate the style of vintage divers from bygone eras. The brand-new Oris Divers Date links back to the mid-1960s, and the Doxa

After a long week, here is part 2 of the conversation with Chuck Maddox. You can find part 1 in the archives (use the Search field) or by clicking here.Part 2 is a bit more in-depth on watches, movements and the watchbusiness in general.Click here to go to Part 2 of my conversation with Chuck Maddox.

More and more haute horlogerie brands are demonstrating their haute-ness to make sure that you know how to be different from other fortunate watch collectors. Although I would feel very frightened with an expensive haute horlogerie timepiece on my wrist, there are probably enough fortunate people that don’t. During my trip to Singapore earlier this year, I have seen a number of haute horloge

A few months ago, I got an e-mail from Michael Clerizo, telling me that he had written a book called ‘Masters of Contemporary Watchmaking’. I hooked him up with Ernie Romers of WatchUseek to see if there was something possible with regards to the watch event WATCH2009 in Maastricht (on the 14th and 15th of November).Two weeks ago, I received the Masters of Contemporary Watchmaking book

Friend of the show, Maximilian Busser, just introduced the HM2.2 ‘Black Box’. A redesign of the famous Horological Machine No.2 that he did together with watch design icon Alain Silberstein.Maximilian Busser wrote in his e-mail that “In fact my first encounter with an Alain Silberstein watch dates back to my student years over 20 years ago: I was driving down a German Autobahn an

Omega’s Speedmaster family comes in many different variations, but always with that special Moonwatch DNA. In the 1990s and early 2000s, one of the popular Speedmaster models were the Speedmaster Automatic ‘Reduced’ watches. One of our friends, Andreas S. Gregoriades sent us photos of this wonderful Omega Speedmaster Day-Date Mk40 Triple Calendar watch.Omega Speedmaster Day-Date

Omega’s Speedmaster family comes in many different variations, but always with that special Moonwatch DNA. In the 1990s and early 2000s, one of the popular Speedmaster models were the Speedmaster Automatic ‘Reduced’ watches. One of our friends, Andreas S. Gregoriades sent us photos of this wonderful Omega Speedmaster Day-Date Mk40 Triple Calendar watch.Omega Speedmaster Day-Date

I travel around quite a bit for this watch thing. When I am not in a plane to Switzerland, I might be driving around to visit a retailer, brand or meet with (other) watch enthusiasts and collectors. Although I think I still have a life besides watches, my wife has different thoughts on this topic. Anyway, I don’t want to bore you with the regular recurring discussions on traveling that I hav

We've had a lot of Oris on Fratello Watches as of late and there's a good reason for that. In general, we really like the looks of their watches and the fact that they bring great value to the table versus a lot of Swiss brands. We admire the brand's independence, their offering of only mechanical watches, and also that they spell out pretty clearly on their site that they're not a manufacture. So

An UpdateI published this review exactly a year ago. I consider it one of the best reviews I ever did. Not because it is perfect in writing, or was the best read article on FW, but because it is?a watch that simply moved me.?But does it still move me, after one year and after trying the all stainless steel one and seeing the new Annual Calendar models? You can read that in the updated section, bel

As we introduced you to our Catawiki Favorites (Editor’s Choice) two weeks ago already (click here), this time we show you three different watches of our choice. A tough one, as we could choose from a nice variety of watches (and brands). However, this week we picked a Yema, Omega and Heuer.We have partnered with Catawiki to bring you a selection of interesting watches they’ve auctione

Last weekend, we have been notified that a watch collector had an uninvited guest(s) that took his watches (amongst other belongings). We try to help where we can, so the victim sent us an overview of his watches (as well as he shared it on his Instagram and on forums) that are missing.Please find below the full list of missing watches. Many of them have a serial visible, and some pieces are very

The world of watches is an adventurous one. Let’s discover my latest creation!We decided to go back to the roots of Watches and Pencils: From now, we will focus on the illustrations and give a little background story about each drawing in every episode.Dr. Watch And His In-House MovementThis time I wanted to create something around the definition of ‘in-house movement.’ I started