I have a weak spot for Sinn Spezialuhren. Form follows function, like many German developed and designed products, in combination with a fair price is Sinn’s key to success. Except for the movement, Sinn develops a lot of high-tech solutions for real problems. What about their Diapal lubricant free anchor escapement (click here for our review), Tegiment technology process to harden the case

Remember Ikepod watches? Watches with a futuristic design that were out-of-the-ordinary. A number of their watches were designed by Marc Newson (who later also designed an Atmos clock for Jaeger-LeCoultre).My favourite model was definitely the Ikepod Hemipode Cunningham Chronograph, but to this day.. I am not even sure if this company still exists. In any case, the original founder of that company

It is Speedy Tuesday! Remember the Missions case that Omega produced in 1997? In total 50 of these cases were produced (5x HC (hors commerce), 5x EV (epreuves d’artistes) and 40x for the collectors out there). There is a slight difference in some of the cases regarding the design of the white cover.The 40 cases have 3 hatches on top so you can see three watches, the series of 5 has just one

Fromanteel Pendulum – Their First AutomaticFromanteel might be a brand that you’ve not heard of before, or at least not very often. Yet, this Dutch brand exists already for 7 years now and had their first appearance at Baselworld this year as well.Supplying only quartz watches in the past it wasn’t a brand as well which we at Fratello Watches took much notice of. Until last year,

Just recently, we found our way to Hamburg, which is the 2nd largest city in Germany and home of the third-largest port in Europe. With an invite from Certina in our pocket, we travelled there for an exclusive event, the launch of something big for this small Swatch Group brand.?The Certina DS-1 Big Date 60th anniversary with Nivachron hairspring.Upon arrival, we are welcomed at the event location

What would you buy if you would not be considering a , Omega, Patek Phillippe or Audemars Piguet? It’s a question that watch lovers all around the world know how to answer.They know there is more out there and they have preferences based on overall brand appeal, history, looks, reliability and technical innovation. But as long as I have been interested in watches and have had many great conv

Czapek was the final brand I sat down with in Geneva. Did I save my favorite till last? Yes, actually, I really did. I wanted my enthusiasm to remain high throughout the fair and, at the end of a long day, there was no better way to ensure I'd still be firing on all cylinders than to have a sit-down meeting with the brand I've been most impressed with over the past few months. Thanks, in large par

The first thing to land in our hands when we arrived at the Urwerk was the UR-100 full gold that I had in for review a few weeks back. Although it was old news to me, it was incredibly enriching to watch may colleagues discover (and quickly accept it) for the first time. I had (erroneously) expected it to misfire with the team. I had forgotten that I was sharing a table with the three Fratelli tha

Seiko knows a thing or two about quartz. And whenever a brand with such an esteemed pedigree within a certain field starts throwing around statements like “best ever”, I’m prone to sit up and listen. When it comes to the Seiko Astron SSH063, I’m glad I did.I’m a huge fan of Seiko. Who isn’t at Fratello you might ask. Furthermore, I’m not against a bit of b

It's the 25th anniversary of Parmigiani Fleurier, and the Val-de-Travers independent is celebrating in a big way. A total of seven new watches are being introduced, including three models in two different materials and a very special limited edition split-seconds chronograph. Variety is key here, as Parmigiani has all bases covered with these new releases. Starting with an ultra-thin two-hand time

Since 2006, IWC has released a watch to mark its support of Laureus Sport for Good, a foundation that helps bring the power of sports to underprivileged children and teens. This year, we get a very different type of release. Let’s take a hands-on look at the new IWC Blue Ceramic Pilot’s Watch.IWC is a global partner of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. As a result, fans of the bra

After no longer being able to add any more things to his Audi S4, Chris Culver got into watches as a way to keep “hunting” for more Audi stuff. Since landing his first Audi watch more than five years ago, Chris has grown his collection significantly and has some pretty fascinating pieces.Last summer I?shared the story about a very special quartz Audi watch, that I've owned since 2004.

Sinn SpezialUhren has been around for 60 years and it’s celebrating! How? By releasing a limited edition version of their most iconic watch: the Sinn 103. They call it the Sinn 103 Classic 12, referring to the second time zone bezel.During Geneva Watch Days, Sinn exhibited at the location in the city where the Baselworld organization had its little platform to promote its return to the watch

When I think about cartoon characters and watches, nothing stands out quite like Mickey Mouse. Over the past 90 years, he’s been featured on the dial of countless numbers of watches. From high-end pieces to inexpensive quartz souvenirs, Disney’s most popular character transcends culture. Today’s Gerald Genta Arena Retrograde Smiling Mickey Mouse definitely falls on the exotic sid

Roll up, roll up! The summer has hit The Hague, and Fratello is keen to celebrate. After the fizzing success of March Mania, we are back with a new knock-out competition conceived to find the very best summer watch out there, according to YOU, the Fratelli. And guess what? You can win prizes! No, there won’t be a watch available this time, but there WILL be some of the finest water-firing we

It wasn’t an easy path for Montblanc to get past the image of the luxury pen maker who tries to make the watch world believe that its watches would be anything else but decorative accessories to accompany its writing instruments. Let me guide you along through this deep dive into Montblanc’s complete brand history.It could be said that the name Montblanc as a synonym for luxury pens wa

It’s been a long time coming but I’ve finally been able to get properly hands-on with a few of Urwerk’s new models from 2021. Ones I’ve written up but hadn’t been able to really get to grips with. Thank you Geneva Watch Days for being an enabler to my ongoing battle with Urwerk addiction.Getting to finally go hands-on with these watches was great. As we all know, ther

Who would have thought that the last breath of the outgoing Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711 would be a bright turquoise matte dial with Tiffany co-branding? It exploded on Instagram with first buyers like Jay-Z feeding the public's insatiable desire for celebrities. But have we had enough of this lovely blue hue? Turquoise is a great way of making the summer last, even with no official connection to

The motto of the Dutch province of Zeeland is “Luctor et Emergo”. That translates to “I struggle and overcome”. Many people in the Netherlands believe that the saying, which has been inextricably linked to the coat of arms of Zeeland since 1586, refers to the struggle with water. That’s not the case. “Luctor et Emergo” refers to the uprising against Spanis

I’m actually quite happy with where my collection is at the moment. I now have about ten watches that all get their fair share of wrist time. However, along the way, I have considered many other watches than the ones I eventually decided to buy. Every now and then, one of them peeks around the corner to see if there’s still a spot for it in my collection. These are watches that are sti