To me, the Nivada Grenchen Chronomaster will always be the Valjoux 23-powered Aviator Sea Diver. Call me old school, but that was my fav from the many Nivadas that left Grenchen back in the day. For many, however, a watch without a date just won’t cut it. I hear you, and so did Nivada. The Chronoking was supposed to fill that void. It’s only fair then that we get a re-edition of the vi

Well, it took me a while to buy into the idea of having my very own Apple Watch. But I’ve finally decided to bite the bullet and I’ve gone and ordered one. Luckily, Fluco furnished me with a bunch of tasty leather straps to try on a loaned Apple watch so I had a chance to test them out before mine lands in my mailbox.I’ve never been against wearable technology. I’ve just ne

A little while back, I had the distinct pleasure of recording a video with my partner in crime, Franziska. As an industry professional herself, she’s no stranger to the pages of Fratello, having contributed articles of her own in the past. However, it is our shared association with NOMOS Glashutte that not only brought us together but also inspired this video. In it, we discuss how watches s

This year was a letdown, to be truthful. I was expecting - no, demanding - a joyous, amazing year filled with nothing but celebration and the burning of face masks, but alas, this was not the case. But even with the pandemic still roaming the world, Bvlgari was poised for the start of “revenge spending” with some rather tempting releases in 2021.That’s right, a trend that has spa

As we come to the end of 2022, we can conclude that it has been a year of many great watch releases. We can also say that limited and special editions are still very much a thing. They have become incredibly popular in the watch industry and are often linked to low production numbers. When we started talking about a list of the best special editions of this year, we quickly realized that any list

This week, I bumped into some pretty exciting watches when hunting for today’s Pre-Owned Spotlight. I have to admit that my colleague Mike pointed the Omega out to me. It’s a beautiful 1959 white-dial Ranchero, a collection that Omega introduced in 1958 based on the Railmaster, Seamaster 300, and Speedmaster that debuted a year earlier. The other two watches are from IWC. One is a mode

It wouldn't do Audemars Piguet justice to call it a one-trick pony. Still, it's tough not to. The dominance of the Royal Oak is undeniable. And there certainly is strength in numbers as well. With 122 RO references in the current catalog compared to 75 Code 11.59, Royal Oak Offshore, and Royal Oak Concept models combined, the Royal Oak is, without a shadow of a doubt, the backbone of the brand fro

Within vintage circles, the Universal Genve Polerouter looms large as one of the most revered watch designs in history. Of course, with a name like Gerald Genta at the drafting table, that makes a lot of sense. Now a book is available, simply titled The Polerouter, and it is a magnificently detailed tribute to the entire history of these watches.I reckon that most fans of vintage watches could co

I love it when a brand is brave enough to be different from the rest of the industry. To go against trends and, by doing so, create new ones takes courage, and in the end, the market will tell if the move was correct. Regardless of what the brands say, the customers will decide if a watch succeeds or not. Nivada Grenchen is one of these companies that dares to be different. That’s why I was

Some of you might already be familiar with Wren Watches. The New York-based passion project is the brainchild of Wrist Enthusiast founder Craig Karger. A lawyer by trade and watch enthusiast by heart, he started with a Wrist Enthusiast Instagram account that quickly amassed a loyal following. After expanding Wrist Enthusiast onto multiple platforms, the next step was a watch brand. Wren Watches st

Last month, the IWC Portugieser Eternal Calendar won the famed “Aiguille d’Or” Grand Prix at 2024’s GPHG. Because of its innovative complication, it’s a watch worth revisiting. However, you can also visit this timepiece in person at the new Amsterdam IWC boutique.We briefly looked at the IWC Portugieser Eternal Calendar after it debuted at Watches and Wonders 2024. Th

Imagine yourself sitting or standing in a concert hall. The band or orchestra performs what clearly is the last song of the night. After the final note, though, the crowd goes wild and keeps clapping, hoping the concert won’t end just yet. Finally, the performers decide to play one more song - the encore. Sometimes, that encore is premeditated, but other times, the musicians have to improvis

What do you do when you, as the owner of a watch company, have a thing for square watches? That’s correct: you create a square watch. That, in a nutshell, is the origin story behind the Patek Philippe Cubitus. The launch of the first all-new product line in 25 years was a significant moment not only in the brand’s history but also for Thierry Stern, who is both the owner and director o

Straum’s recent release of the Micro-Adjust Clasp for its bracelets is a godsend. It’s the accessory I knew I needed but perhaps not quite how much. As a proud owner of a Jan Mayen Fratello Limited Edition, I was excited to see how this upgrade would enhance the watch’s overall experience. Spoiler alert: it does not disappoint.Out of the box, the Micro-Adjust Clasp arrives in a s

Not too long ago, I noticed ‘Cult Watches, the world’s enduring classics’ in a window of a book store in The Hague. It is a book by Michael Balfour, whom I think is also responsible for more horological titles.I flipped through the pages and looking at the pictures and stories of all-time classics (Speedmaster, Submariner, Navitimer, Nautilus, Royal Oak, Tank and so on..) I was i

All images in this post may be clicked on for larger versions.You would be forgiven for thinking that the big number in its own box is the date, and the two hands on the dial are for the minutes and hours; and perhaps that strange little stubby hand in its own round window off to the top is in fact for power reserve, or perhaps continuous seconds.You’d be wrong.For starters, the watch is act

The definition of ultra-thin just got a new meaning when Piaget introduced their Altiplano 38mm 900P timepiece earlier today. It is the world’s thinnest mechanical watch with a hand-wound movement. A watch that merely measures 3.65mm in height. The 900P reference finds it roots in the very first ultra-thin movement made by Piaget in 1957, caliber 9P.Piaget has a thing going on for ultra-thin

It’s Speedy Tuesday! Our successful Speedy Tuesday Event that we organized on the 29th of October in ESA-ESTEC’s official visitor centre Space Expo led to a number of Speedmaster purchases. Even up till now we receive e-mails and notifications from people who bought a (new) Speedmaster as the Speedy Tuesday Event inspired them to do so. We are happy to hear these stories and some of th

Yesterday I joined the press conference in the Cite du Temps in Geneva about the new watch certification based on new quality standards for the Swiss watch making industry. This news was communicated by Omega and METAS (Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology), more specifically by Nick Hayek of the Swatch Group, Stephen Urquhart, Andreas Hobmeier?and?Raynald Aeschlimann of Omega and Christian Bock o

Within the world of the small pilot's chronograph, the Benrus Sky Chief is king. Ok, that's a bold statement, but I think there's some merit behind it. I read a decent number of forums and ingest all sorts of vintage watch-related social media, and something has always stood out to me about the Sky Chief; there are very few apologists about the watch despite its diminutive size. Well, I had only s