Hands-On: The Omega Seamaster 300 60th Anniversary
It could be argued that since Baselworld 2017, the most highly anticipated new watch releases are actually a trio of very old watches. If you've been living under a proverbial rock I'll help to bring you current; I'm referring to Omega's 60th Anniversary group of near carbon copies of the original Speedmaster, Railmaster and Seamaster. Perhaps it's disheartening to new watch designers that these reissued pieces are the talk of the town, but I can assure you that they're very very good. Personally, and I've mentioned this, I have ordered the Speedmaster, but I could be happy with any one of the three. For testing purposes, though, we thought it wise to ask Omega to send different anniversary ...
Chopard L.U.C All-in-One In Detail
Some brands don’t like it when you talk about the price first, but it is the first thing people ask about when they see a watch. Before we go into that, let’s have a closer look at this Chopard L.U.C All-in-One that was presented to us in Basel last March. Limited to 10 pieces only, so we might be a bit late but the Chopard website doesn’t indicate this watch as ‘Sold Out’ or words with equal meaning.There are no less than 14 indications featuring a tourbillon, a perpetual calendar, sunrise & sunset times and astronomical orbital moon phase, with a 7-day power reserve. Boom! There you have it, it becomes clear that the Chopard L.U.C All-in-One is a grand com...
Tudor Black Bay Chrono Dark Hands-On (Live Pics and Pricing)
Tudor introduces the Black Bay Chrono Dark to celebrate its partnership with New Zealand’s national rugby team. It is a limited edition of which the number of available watches will increase over time, as it is related to the number of All Blacks players since 1903.Currently, there have been 1181 players in New Zealand’s national rugby team since its existence, so that’s the number of watches that will be made available by Tudor. That said, in countries like The Netherlands, rugby isn’t really a thing, so the association with the All Blacks isn’t relevant. If it were soccer, it might have been a trigger for Dutch people to go after this watch, for example, but i...
Video Interview with Bvlgari CEO Jean-Christophe Babin
During the Geneva Watch Days, we sat down with Jean-Christophe Babin, CEO of Bvlgari. We spoke to him about the event, but also about the new Bvlgari watches introduced.Bvlgari introduced us to the new Octo Finissimo Tourbillon, Gerald Genta Arena Bi-Retrograde Sport, and the new Bvlgari Bvlgari aluminum collection. Rob Nudds talks to Jean-Christophe Babin about the re-introduction of the Bvlgari Bvlgari (formerly known as Bvlgari Diagono).Interview with Jean-Christophe BabinClick here for more of our videos, and make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel. We also discussed the Bvlgari novelties in-depth during our most recent podcast (click here)....
Hands-On With The Sternglas Kanton
We are no stranger to Hamburg based brand Sternglas. Within a little over three years of its existence, the brand has built quite a name for itself. I had the chance to go hands-on with the Naos Automatik at the end of last year. In my review, I expressed my liking for the Bauhaus inspired design. Earlier this year, the brand upped its game with the release of the Kanton. It still features that recognizable design but the brand has equipped the Kanton with a Swiss-made movement. Let’s find out all there is to know about the Sternglas Kanton.From the moment I got the Kanton I was impressed with a couple of things straight of the bat. First, the watch comes in a nice black wooden box ins...
The Best Gold Speedmaster Watches According to RJ (2021)
I love my gold Omega Speedmaster, but it took me quite some time to warm up to the idea of having a sports or tool watch in gold. The Omega Speedmaster was initially meant as a tool watch, for sportspeople and scientists. We all know the old advertisements with the racing car and the Speedmaster featured as a timing device. To make one of these watches in precious metal was then not such an obvious choice. However, hindsight is 20/20 and we now know that there’s nothing quite as special as a Speedmaster in gold!Essentially, I still feel that a tool watch shouldn't be made of gold. Or, better said, a watch you will use as a tool watch. However, I also believe that a) you should buy and ...
Summer Splash WILD CARD Round 3: Oris, Scurfa, Panerai (2021)
Welcome to the third and final Wild Card round. Yes, this competition has spiraled into something much WILDER than we could ever have imagined, but we’ve got to roll with the punches and listen to the community. With the shadowy Kraken Kartel pulling the strings from 30,000 leagues beneath the sea, the Fratello Summer Splash has all the creative license it needs to grow in any way its participants demand. And so now we present the remainder of the Fratelli’s picks. I hope you enjoy sifting through them and picking your favorite as much as I did assembling the list.As with the previous two Wild Card rounds, the top two will go through to the Wild Card Decider, which will be publis...
Hands-On With The Limited Edition Seiko 5 Custom Beatmaker SRPH19K
For several months between October 2020 and January 2021, Seiko held an online contest where anyone could submit a potential design for a future limited edition Seiko 5 model. Over 48,000 entries came, 16 watches were chosen for voting and a watch emerged as the winner. The Custom Beatmaker SRPH19K is that watch.Seiko makes a lot of limited edition watches. Hardly a week passes without an announcement of some new color variant on any one of the hundreds of models made by the massive brand. The Seiko 5 lineup leads that initiative. When these watches first debuted a couple of years ago, there were something like 26 unique colorways. I declared that this watch already felt like the brand’...
??The Best Boring But Brilliant Watches: Patek Philippe Calatrava (2021)
I talked about the black Omega Seamaster Diver 300M Chronograph in the previous installment of The Best Boring But Brilliant Watches In The World, but now it's time for something completely different. The Patek Philippe Calatrava. The Calatrava started out as a humble dress watch, but it also has a more outgoing and exuberant side that might surprise you. However, at heart, a Calatrava remains a very traditional and soft-spoken creation.Forgive me for sounding pretentious, but a classic Patek Philippe Calatrava reminds me a bit of a Schubert piano sonata. If my dad reads this, he would be proud, because it's proof he didn't play me all that classical music for nothing when I was still a youn...
Longines Celebrates 190th Anniversary With A New Watch
Longines has a long-standing history, and this year marks its 190th anniversary. Reason enough for a proper celebration! Earlier this year, we were already very impressed by the Longines Ultra-Chron Diver with a high-beat movement, but this time, the brand is introducing something completely different. It is a slim dress watch with a 40mm diameter and a case thickness of just 9.35mm. More importantly, I think, it has no date display. Often, a date display kind of ruins a good dress watch. The Longines Master Collection 190th Anniversary watch comes in three versions, all with different materials and dials. There’s the steel version we have here for you, and Longines also decided to cre...
From Blatant Watch Hoarder To Satisfied Possessor
When I saw that another Fratello Collector’s Week was coming up, I realized that it was perfect timing. You see, recently, I’ve reached a state of reflection and calm about my watch-buying habits. After being a blatant watch hoarder for a little over two years, I feel like I’m getting better and better at finding the watches that match my style and taste. As such, I’ve become more of a satisfied possessor, enjoying the watches I own without constantly thinking about what should leave or enter the watch box. Let me tell you how I got here, and let’s also take a glance at what’s ahead.I find it hard to believe, but it has only been two-and-a-half years since...
Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Complete Calendar
The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Complete Calendar combines the best of both worlds - the underwater world and the world of complications. The result is an accomplished diver with a calendar that goes into great detail and even keeps an eye on the moon. But does combining the robust, no-nonsense qualities of a tool watch with the refined characteristics of a traditional Haute Horlogerie complication make any sense? Let's find out in this hands-on with the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Complete Calendar in gold and titanium.The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Complete Calendar is what happens when a standard Fifty Fathoms and a Villeret Quantime Complet 6654 crash into each ...
Balazs On Watch Collecting, Mistakes, And Grail Watches
I have talked about how I got into watches on multiple platforms in the past. I think we even covered the topic in one of our Fratello On Air podcast episodes. Sadly, there is nothing romantic about it. I cannot tell you how an heirloom piece sparked my interest, or how saving up for and buying a particular watch caused my enthusiasm to explode. Nope, nothing like that. Instead, I think I've always been interested in watches. For me, a watch is the only piece of jewelry that a man should definitely wear aside from a wedding ring. But if I had to mark the time I actively started to look into watches, I'd say it was around high school. Then I put the topic on hold until college.That's when I e...
The Ugliest Watches Out There: Our Editors Picks
Not too long ago, I was driving for many hours on the German Autobahn on my home to the Netherlands from Austria. When even I had had enough of all the schlager music on the radio, I tuned into AFN Eagle. It's a radio station for those stationed at the American Army bases in Germany. At one point, they were discussing the ugliest cars that can be seen on the road. AFN Eagle held a poll on social media, and the two cars that won were the Chrysler PT Cruiser and the Fiat Multipla (no surprises there). Anyway, it made me think of checking with my colleagues about what they think are the ugliest watches out there.And yes, I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but there are certainly watch...
Hot Take: The New Tudor Pelagos FXD "US Navy" In Black
While our in-house scuba diver, Nacho, takes a closer at the new Tudor Pelagos FXD “US Navy” in Florida today, let me run down the watch for you first.Quite unexpectedly (Tudor knows how to keep a secret, and the media is improving in not breaking embargos), Tudor introduces a new Pelagos FXD. It’s a Tudor US Navy or MilSub(“Military Submariner”)-inspired watch, wrapped in a black-dial Pelagos FXD.Tudor Pelagos FXD in blackTudor introduced the first Pelagos FXD in 2021, making it clear it was a Marine Nationale (MN) watch, which the brand had previously made for the French Navy. And now, there’s a new version in black instead of blue but without any specif...
#TBT Vulcain Y65 Monopusher Pulsation Chronograph
It’s not often that I don’t know what I’m buying. I couldn't even recall the last time that happened. Well, my Vulcain Y65 Monopusher had been sitting in my drawer for a few years, and honestly, I had no clue how special it was.Usually, I know what I’m fighting for when bidding fiercely, even when I’m bidding on a watch I have not seen before. In such a situation, once I am attracted, I first do my research, and then I know what I am after. The story with my Vulcain Y65 Monopusher Pulsation Chronograph deviates from this pattern.A happy accidentI have no eBay alert set for Vulcain. I don’t have an alert set for monopusher watches on eBay either, but I some...
The New TAG Heuer Monaco Night Driver Limited Edition
The TAG Heuer Monaco Night Driver is the latest limited-edition version of the brand’s iconic driver’s chronograph. It brings a decidedly new look and hits upon the luminous-dial trend that collectors currently seem to be enjoying. Let’s take a closer look and see if this new release is a roadworthy wrist companion.I took a gander at our TAG Heuer article archives, and the brand has been on a relatively steady streak with its limited-edition Monaco releases. Whether it’s the left-hand-crown Calibre 11 pieces or the in-house Calibre 02, there has been a flurry of models with all sorts of dial colors and case materials. The TAG Heuer Monaco Night Driver is the newest in...
Hands-On With The Gerald Charles Maestro 8.0 Squelette
Gerald Charles is not a brand we have covered a lot here at Fratello. Founded by the legendary Gerald Genta and named after his first and middle name, it is a brand that has been making waves, though. As a tennis fan, I have seen the watches on the wrists of tennis players like Hubert Hurkacz, Nikoloz Basilashvili, Jenson Brooksby, and, more recently, fellow Dutchman Tim van Rijthoven. Additionally, the brand got famous designer Octavio Garcia on board as the creative director. The first project they worked on was the development of the Gerald Charles Maestro 8.0 Squelette. We had a chance to go hands-on with the stainless steel version of the watch.Octavio Garcia is a name that many of you ...
Hands-On: The Reservoir Kanister Jump-Hour Watch
Cars and watches go together like spaghetti and meatballs. There is no shortage of racing-inspired watches, but aside from a chronograph with a tachymeter, the association has always seemed a little arbitrary to me. Maybe that’s because I’m not really a car guy. However, the visual connection between a dashboard register and an analog watch dial is an easy one to spot. Just take one glance at the Reservoir Kanister, and you’ll see exactly what I mean. The gradual demise of both has long been predicted in favor of digital displays, yet there is something undeniably charming about a physical needle arcing around a dial.Legend has it that this is never truer than in the case o...
Introducing: The Seiko 5 Sports Bruce Lee Limited Edition
Introduced in 1968, the Seiko 5 Sports line is celebrating its 55th birthday this year. To mark the occasion, Seiko now releases a watch in honor of one of the most famous Seiko 5 Sports wearers ever - Bruce Lee. Enter the dragon with the new Seiko 5 Sports Bruce Lee limited edition.Welllimited? This release is technically limited. But at 15,000 units, we have to ask what it takes for Seiko to consider something unlimited. In any case, let's dive in!The first Seiko 5 Sports from 196855 years of Seiko 5 SportsThe Seiko Sportsmatic 5 was introduced in 1963. The line of affordable watches was famously characterized by five traits, giving it its name. The watches were self-winding, featured a da...