As an unrepentant strapaholic, I read all of my fellow editors’ Strap Check articles with great interest. I'll also be honest and admit to buying way too many straps, for sure. I'm changing them willy-nilly, but have mostly given up on NATOs. They are cool in the summer, but I take watches off for swimming and showering, and those extra five seconds of fiddly off-and-on procedure drive me bo

The new Tudor Ranger field watch is clearly related to its bigger (not in size, but in price) brother, the Explorer. I vividly remember the first time I saw a Explorer in the flesh. It must have been the late 1990s. I was on a train, and the guy across me was wearing this vintage Explorer. I asked him about it, and he told me he had already had his Explorer 1016 for a long time.However, we all k

The year was 1919. The location was Grenchen, Switzerland. It was then and there that Titoni inaugurated its in-house watchmaking facilities. Through generations, the historic Swiss manufacture has been resolutely creating impeccable-value offerings destined for overseas markets. Staking its claim back on European soil in recent years, Titoni has brought us incredibly attractive styles thus far. F

Let's assume you are one of the lucky people who still have their summer vacation in front of them. You want to treat yourself to a nice watch to take to the pool and the beach, something truly bright and summery but also well off the beaten tracks. Well, the team at IFL Watches has something pretty compelling for you! This is the Oris Divers 65 Candyman.It is bright, it is fun, and it is still a

Another Friday, another Top 5! Last week, we discussed the best currently available integrated-bracelet sports watches without a budget limit. As many of you remarked, there were many more options outside the five watches mentioned. This week, we’ll focus on one brand specifically that is hot property at the moment. Throughout the last couple of years, Longines has shown a great focus on rec

It’s been a while since I last visited New York City, but just one look at this new watch had me checking flight tickets right away. La Petite Seconde Metropolis, presented by Louis Erard in collaboration with Amr Sindi - aka The Horophile - clearly took its inspiration from the architectural giants of The Big Apple. It’s bold and gracious at the same time and combines craftsmanship wi

Audemars Piguet is a watchmaker that needs little introduction, and just yesterday, AP introduced four new Royal Oak and Royal Oak Offshore references in collaboration with designer Matthew Williams of 1017 Alyx 9SM. Alongside them is a unique Royal Oak to be auctioned for charity. These new Royal Oak and RO Offshore models offer a unique aesthetic in both yellow and white gold. And while I'll nev

This is the first installment in a series of articles designed to make sense of what micro/independent brands are from the brands’ perspective. Here, we'll look at general traits that brands have in common, how they see themselves, and what values they work hard to uphold. Many words have been written and spoken about this subject before. And most of the time, the same information or points

The year was 1998. It sounds like only yesterday, doesn't it? Well, it was the year when Google was founded, the development of the International Space Station started, Bill Clinton had his relations with Monica Lewinsky, and Brandy & Monica and Shania Twain ruled the pop charts. So this is the backdrop against which Grand Seiko debuted its 9S family of movements. To celebrate that 25-year mil

As more and more of my Fratello teammates come out with their picks, it gets challenging to compose a list of the best watches under $3,000. I get that these are subjective lists, but we do not want to discuss the same brand and model repeatedly. I tried to be creative here while keeping my preferences in mind. You’ll see that my list also includes new, barely used, and vintage options.Nivad

I’m not exaggerating when I say that the new Chronosport is one of the most anticipated releases from Nivada ever. The brand that knows how to create a re-edition did it again, and the watch community could not be happier about it. As always, we had the chance to go hands-on with the new Nivada Grenchen Chronosport, and I could not refuse. It took some time for the prototype to arrive, but i

Welcome to this Sunday Morning Showdown “Summer Edition.” Last week, we put two high-end golden travel timers up against each other. This week, two stainless steel divers from the more affordable side of the watch spectrum will battle it out. Both the Seiko SRPE05 “King Turtle” and the Certina DS Super PH1000M STC (short for “Sea Turtle Conservancy”) are based o

Yesterday I received a velcro strap, made by Carl over at gasgasbones.com. This strap looks really great on my vintage Speedmaster and gives the watch its authentic ‘astronaut’ look! Today I wore the watch on the velcro strap while co-driving a classic Austin Healey 3000 from 1963. Both the driver and myself were wearing Speedmaster caliber 321’s.This strap is the ‘V1’

The Omega Speedmaster Professional is the watch that seems to be the back bone of my watch collection and interest in mechanical wrist watches. It is the watch that started the whole madness for me. That’s probably why it is in the header picture of this website anyway ?? I have to admit though, that there are periods that I almost never wear mine and that it gets almost no attention at all.

It’s Speedy Tuesday! At the beginning of this year, I had the honour to meet NASA astronaut General Thomas P. Stafford. There we sat down, in the OMEGA boutique in Sochi. What to ask the man who probably has heard all questions a hundred times? However, General Thomas P. Stafford broke the ice by pointing at my Speedmaster Professional X-33 and saying “I wrote down the specs for that w

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to try another Seiko, the Grand Seiko SBGH001J.? I requested to borrow this watch from Seiko after I already had a bit of Grand Seiko experience with their SBGV009 timepiece (read my in-depth review here).That particular model though, had a quartz movement. You must know, that the Grand Seiko comes basically in three flavours: quartz, spring-drive and mechanic

Glashutte Original ManufactureLast week, Bert and I traveled from The Netherlands (our home country) to Glashutte in Germany. It is only a one hour flight, from Amsterdam to Dresden. In Dresden, a driver awaited us with a welcome sign and a shiny black BMW 530. We’ve seen worse. As it was end of the day, we went straight to this beautiful design hotel (QF) and had diner with Rene Marx (Head

We break down the newest additions to the Panerai Luminor Due lineup.It’s late August and we have news of five new Panerai Luminor Due models.? That strikes me as somewhat of a curious time of year to release a fairly large number of new models, but with summer over and people now turning their attention to the back end of the year (i.e. the winter and possibly bonus season for some) perhaps

We take time with the Rado Golden Horse 1957.If you're following along here at Fratello, you'll note that this is the second review of a Rado within a rather brief period of time.? Recently, I reviewed a green-dialed Golden Horse, a watch that I concluded would make a great daily wearer.? I'll keep saying this until the effect wears off, but it's really nice to have Rado in the mix of brands that

Every watch nerd knows a few WIS (Watch Idiot Savant) terms. They are interesting because they are made up by us, watch lovers. In this episode, I want to zoom in on another famous definition: safe queen.First, we talk about the term itself and then take a look at some queens of Fratello team members.What Is A Safe Queen?This question has gone through my mind for several weeks now. Watch related w