Bovets watches are not typical Fratello or Fratelli fare, but they are undeniably impressive creations. A haphazard meeting introduced several novelties to us that placed hand skills front and center. We had the chance to watch an engraver creating components for the House of Bovets latest creations before our eyes. He made it look simple. Its not. Im looking forward to having a crack at it when I visit Bovets manufacture. Im also looking forward to sharing with you all the mess I make of it. Hopefully, it will be incredibly embarrassing. A laugh at my expense is a laugh nonetheless-Off the wrist, I really cant stand the ostentation of the Bovet. My mind tells me its all way too much and no ...

Sometimes, a brand lives and dies on the character of its people. H. Moser & Cie is headed-up by the charismatic (and charmingly self-deprecating) Edouard Meylan (or sexy Ed as I call him by virtue of his incredible tan). Regrettably, I didnt get the chance to meet him (again), but its probably just as well as I likely would have said something to that end and embarrassed my team and undone 16 years of RJs hard labor in a moment. Luckily, the new Streamliner gave us something more constructive to discuss…Showing us the H. Moser novelties instead was Claire, who not only communicated the techniques and thinking behind the creations but so with a genuine passion for the products and ...

The designer famous for his octagonal and stainless steel luxury sports watches also had other tricks up his sleeve. Bvlgari introduces a new version of another Gerald Genta classic: the Arena Bi-Retrograde Sport.After the recent Octo Finissimo introductions (click here), I wondered what Bvlgari would show to us during the Geneva Watch Days. A few days in advance, I saw the brand s Bvlgari Bvlgari watches in aluminum. So I reckoned that besides those, a new Octo Finissimo would be the news. And that s the case as well, of course, but Bvlgari also surprised us with this Gerald Genta Arena Bi-Retrograde Sport 103448.Many years ago - I believe sometime in the early 2000s - when Gerard Nijenbrin...

Originally founded in 1934, Airain was part of the Lebois and Dodane brands. Montre Airain, was it was called, became one of the official suppliers for the French army.Today, we know the Type 20 watches perhaps best for being part of the Breguet collection (Type XX). But after the second world war, there were seven brands that were creating these Type 20 chronographs for the French Air Force and Naval Air Force. Besides Breguet and the aforementioned Dodane, Montre Airain was also one of them.Type 20 ChronographToday, owner and reviver of the Lebois & Co brand, Tom van Wijlick, let us know that he will also revive the French-based Airain brand. And, more importantly, stick to the origina...

Im going to be straight-up honest and level with you (and any UN reps that are reading this): I wasnt excited about the visit to Ulysse Nardin. While I have a passing fondness for the brand that started my silicon obsession with the Freak what feels like a million years ago, those days, and the wide-eyed watchmaker that believed that by 2020 everything would be made from silicon, are long gone.But I came away from the Ulysse Nardin boutique impressed. Partly by our genial host Marie and her open, humble presentation, but also by the watches - especially the crazily high-end pieces. Don t tell the three suitcases full of tool watches I have in storage. I might have a new love…If you kno...

A flashing light and an unusual movement? Thats a must-have watch for me. Imagine, back in the day these models had a price tag higher than the finest mechanical Citizen pieces back of the 1970s. Still, not many collectors know of them today. But what fun they are to play with. Meet the Citizen Crystron Quartz 8600.I?guess that younger collectors might really struggle to understand what this weirdo movement was for in the?life of common people. There is a?pretty decent red light that flashes every 60 seconds on Citizen Crystron. It blinks for a?short moment every time the second-hand passes by the 12. No need to be a Harward graduate to understand it signals the minutes and thus blinks 60 ti...

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 Id still be firing on all cylinders than to have a sit-down meeting with the brand Ive been most impressed with over the past few months. Thanks, in large part, to the Czapek Antarctique steel sports watch.The release of the Czapek Antarctique Terre Adelie was a big one. It took my year by storm, upending everything Id been expecting. Ive already elevated that watch into the pantheon of this generations greats.I feel that weve been looking at the same thre...

Wrist Game or Crying Shame returns with a look at the dearly departed Submariner Hulk 116610LV. We think you ll enjoy this one. But first…There was no Wrist Game last week because we were off galavanting in Geneva for the city s first ever Watch Days event. Sorry about that, but I was too busy stuffing my pie hole with melted cheese in the form of, um, melted cheese. But the week prior, I gave you the Sinn EZM 12 Rescue Watch. It turns out that this handy watch needs no saving because it saved the day with a 74% Wrist Game win. I hereby predict that today s Submariner Hulk 116610LV will (or should) land with 0 Wrist Game votes. Then again, some doofus didn t vote for Derek Jeter to b...

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 that own the Speedmaster in Moonshine gold. As it turns out, the UR-100 could not have landed in the company of a more sympathetic audience. But it was the UR-T8 that blew us away…A unique UR-T8 for charity. Amazing design? Check. Hand-engraving? Check. Dinosaurs? Of course… This UR-T8 boas...

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 brand bias - of giving my tried-and-tested favorites a lot of rope. And whenever Seiko releases a new watch I always sit up and pay attention unless…it is one of the Astron releases. And it s not because they aren t my favored mechanical marvels. I have plenty of quartz-powered watches in my collection and love them to bits.It s also not...

When does an update, you know that the new version will be the same but better. In 2009, did the last significant upgrade of the Submariner. First the bi-color model, then the Date model (2010), followed by the classic Submariner (2012). But is it also nicer? That s of course in the eye of the beholder, but initial opinions seem to vary since the news broke.When introduced its previous versions, the Submariner maintained the size of 40mm. But gave its diving icon beefier lugs, and - more importantly - a ceramic diving bezel.? It was a very welcome update, in my opinion, but I am biased since I didn t like the last aluminum bezel Submariner Date (16610). I didn t like it at all. The 11661...

About a month ago, we introduced to you the Omega Speedmaster Alinghi. I read a lot of comments on the fact that a Seamaster wasn t used for this partnership, and I get that. However, Omega sent us a Speedmaster Alinghi for a hands-on review, and here are my thoughts about the watch. And the partnership.Omega introduces this watch as a special edition. Meaning there is no unique number on the case, aside from the serial number. That means this watch will be in the collection for a certain (unknown) amount of time. My guess is that it is more or less the same as with the Speedmaster Tintin, although there was no partnership there (as we know all too well). Perhaps this watch will be in the co...

Fortis is not a new brand. In fact, it is one of the oldest and more significant brands of the last century. Originally founded in 1912 (a good year for watches; a bad year for behemothic ocean liners), Fortis made its name by producing the first automatic wristwatch in 1926. That s a pretty important step in the history of our industry. And now, more than 100 years since its birth, the company is experiencing something of a renaissance under the direction of current owner Jupp Philipp…Philipp is, first and foremost, a fan of the brand. He grew up with and around it. He has treasured the company s heritage as any museum curator worth their salt would their collection. When Fortis Uhren...

Our visit to Chopard during the Geneva Watch Days event took us out of Geneva central to Meyrin.There, we visited the Chopard manufacture, which is home to:A) A really sexy Japanese garden.B) The kind of bar I think every boozehound would kill to have in his man cave/her she lair.C) A well-appointed and curated museum detailing the history of the brand.The star of the show here was the Alpine Eagle collection. It was the first time Id had the opportunity to handle these pieces myself. And, I must say, there were some very nice touches Id not noticed before.Aesthetically, the stand-out features of the collection are the dial and the steel itself. Firstly, the dial pattern is - and I hadnt rea...

We knew it was coming. We didn t know what it was exactly, but we knew the Sub was going to get a little bit of attention this year. We d heard some pretty crazy theories thrown around (with the blue/blue Submariner renders doing the rounds on social media last week and whipping everyone into a frenzy), but the reality is in line with what we expected. A new movement. Slight revisions to the lugs. This generation s Kermit (which should clearly be known as the Green Lantern). But a couple of updates have caused a stir. Let s dig into those briefly here…Reworking the lugs was a good idea. No, it was necessary. The boxy Maxi-case lugs were an absolute shower, as Terry-Thomas would say. I ...

Yesterday we were contacted by a watch fan showing us this photo of Mark Knopfler wearing a watch that appears to be a Speedmaster. We had a close look and it is definitely a Speedmaster. Mark Knopfler was already seen with an Omega Speedmaster some years ago in a music magazine, but that was a regular model (3570.50 or similar). This time, Mark Knopfler is wearing a gold Speedmaster.There is a small chance that the reflections and colors in the photo make it look gold, while it is the stainless steel version (that we ve discussed here and here). However, for now we ll assume Mark Knopfler is wearing the gold edition of the Omega Speedmaster 57 Replica (or re-edition) that Omega released in...

We introduced you to micro brands in earlier articles here on Fratello Watches. Dutch distributor FORaSEC supplied us with a watch from?micro brand Melbourne Watch Company. This Australian owned and operated brand has been founded in 2013 and since then have released watch models Flinders an Hawthorn by using Kickstarter to fund these collections. Their third and latest project was Portsea. The watch that I have on my wrist today. The Melbourne Portsea comes in three flavors, two stainless steel watches with either blue or a white dial and a rose gold version with a white dial.Melbourne Portsea BlueI received the Melbourne Portsea with the blue dial which comes on a blue leather strap. The w...

I guess it is safe to say that we are all awaiting for the James Bond Spectre movie to be released later this year. As you know, Omega has been their ambassador since 1995 (Golden Eye) with their Seamaster 300M watch. In Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, the Seamaster Planet Ocean took over the role of the Seamaster 300M and in Skyfall, Bond?started to wear the?Seamaster Aqua Terra next to the Planet Ocean.It was expected that Omega would release another James Bond limited edition for the James Bond Spectre movie, as they ve done so in the past. Although I expect James Bond to wear both an Aqua Terra and a Planet Ocean – or perhaps a Seamaster 300 as well? – in the Spectre mov...

This watch was already shown as a pre-SIHH 2015 release a while back, but nothing beats to see a watch in the flesh. I suspect that this watch was chosen to be a shown to the public as a pre-SIHH release for a few reasons, one of them is that it is commemorating the 185th anniversary of the Baume & Mercier manufacture in 2015 and that it is a limited piece. So orders could be given in time. Another reason might be that Baume & Mercier s SIHH 2015 presentation had a strong focus on the Classima collection. We will get back to the Classima collection soon, but first we ll have a look at this Baume & Mercier Clifton 8-Day Power Reserve 185th Limited Edition watch.Baume & Mercier...

Seiko MarinemasterLast year, I bought a handful of Seiko watches. Mainly just for the fun of it, but I quickly learned that these are quite serious watches in terms of what they have to offer. I bought a Seiko ‘Baby Tuna SRP231 after I saw it for the first time in the Seiko boutique in Amsterdam. I decided to ‘import it myself to save a quick buck (but FedEx did a friendly gesture of handing it over to customs so I didn t have to declare it myself, or to be sure that they are getting their kickback-fee from Dutch customs). Next up was a Scuba 200 meters (SBDC001) also known as the ‘Sumo , a SKX007 and a vintage 6309-7049.Now, it is here!All great watches that list well be...