Hey there, and welcome to this week s episode of Fratello Talks. What are some of the most underrated watch brands out there? That s the question that Nacho, RJ, and Daan have chosen for today s discussion. And though there are indeed many brands that may not receive the praise and recognition they deserve, the guys have chosen to focus on just a handful. For the sake of brevity, they also specify that their picks are limited to larger, more mainstream brands that they believe to be underrated. Being such a subjective topic, it s one that always results in a polarizing and interesting discussion that we know you ll enjoy. But before we get into it, let s see what s on the wrist today.This vi...
Every once in a while, you see a watch that raises more questions than it can answer. The Nomos Tangente 2date is such a watch. The biggest question is, Why? Since an answer isnt immediately at hand, more and more questions arise. Is this a watch that can keep track of two different dates? Is this watch meant to be worn on a second date? What do you do on a second date? Everything is up for debate. And just when you thought the heated date debate couldnt get any hotter, the Nomos Tangente 2date shows up.Even Nomos itself has more questions than answers regarding the new Tangente 2date. This is from the press release: Why have only a single date display when you can keep track of the days in ...
Lets start with some perspective: fewer than 700 human beings have ever been to space. Of them, only 24 went to the Moon. And of those 24, only 12 set foot on its rocky surface. Edgar Mitchell was number six. Most wore NASA-issued Speedmasters, which are property of the US government and will not be sold. However, some astronauts wore secondary private watches under their suits, and this GMT-Master is one of them.This is Edgar Mitchells space-worn GMT-Master ref. 1675, and it was most likely on his wrist when he became the sixth person to walk the surface of the Moon. RR Auction brings it to market as we speak, which is a great excuse to explore this fascinating story.Mitchell strapping on...
While enjoying a coffee at a family restaurant, Walter Sobchak told Jeffrey The Dude Lebowski, You want a toe? I can get you a toe. Believe me. There are ways, Dude. You don t wanna know about it; believe me. Hell, I can get you a toe by 3:00 this afternoon - with nail polish. Now change toe into GMT-Master II and with nail polish into a Pepsi, and you get an imaginary yet plausible conversation between a well-connected gray-market dealer and a desperate customer looking for something challenging - no, nearly impossible - to get. This particular kind of customer is probably not a lifelong watch enthusiast but, instead, a FOMO-driven fan of everything clearly and prominently luxurious. But th...
On this very day, October 1st, 25 years ago, I bought my first Omega Speedmaster watch. I was a student at the time and obsessed with watches, specifically, Omega Speedmasters. My first purchase was a Speedmaster 145.012 with caliber 321.One evening, I was cycling in the city center of The Hague and passed a watch shop. I turned around and stopped in front of the window. Two Omega Speedmaster Professionals were on display among many other new and pre-owned watches. One was a Speedmaster Professional 3590.50 with a caliber 861, and it was just a few years old at the time. The other was the Speedmaster Professional 145.012 with caliber 321 inside and on a simple black leather strap. Though it ...
What could you do to make a time-only watch distinctive? How about letting the case rotate up to 90 to adjust the dial to the ideal position when driving? You don t even have to be a petrolhead to appreciate Dutch independent watchmaker Laurens de Rijke and his latest collaboration with Guy Allen.Designs make watches different, and changing a design is the least you need to do to have a new watch brand. That s why we have tons of watch brands today. Then there are those who look not only at a watch s design but also its function. And those are the watchmakers I admire the most. They started not because they didn t find a watch they would like or because they wanted to get into the watch bus...
Welcome to another episode of Fratello On Air! This week, we discuss the increasing number of claims about movement production and wonder whether it all truly matters. In-house, in-house-designed, and third-party are only some explanations we hear about movements and their origin. It s gotten a bit nutty! For our listeners, there s horology content interspersed initially, but fast-forward to 23 minutes for uninterrupted watch talk.This podcast player is blocked because you did not accept marketing cookies. Change cookie settings Do you remember when life was simple and watch movements were either in-house or off-the-shelf? It was never the case, but we didn t care so much - or we weren t...
Here in the Netherlands, it seems the cusp of winter is upon us. Last week, we were still enjoying the summer weather in T-shirts and shorts. Right now, though, I m wearing jeans, a shirt, and a merino wool vest, and I m still cold. We simply skipped the fall season completely and went from 25 degrees Celsius to 10 within a week. The light blue dial of the new Seiko Presage Style60 s European Limited Edition SRPL19 suits this new climate very well. In summer, it ll look nice and fresh, like a clear blue sky, while in winter, it ll remind you of ice-blue glaciers.Seiko s Presage Style60 s lineup takes inspiration from the legendary ref. 5719A chronograph, which Seiko released for the 1964 Tok...
The new Lorier Worn & Wound Astra Stargazer is the latest limited-edition collaboration from the New York City-based publication. The partnership is close to home as Lorier, a well-known microbrand, also hails from the Big Apple. They ve created an affordable, very cool watch that should sell faster than the newest SoHo clothing drop.I m a big fan of Worn & Wound. It s one of the founding titles in watch media, and I like the site s coverage of small, independent brands. The folks there have put their love of these microbrands into action with many collaborative releases. I still remember a titanium piece with Boldr that dropped during the holidays several years ago and kicking mys...
It s been roughly 18 months since Lorca founder Jesse Marchant unveiled his debut watch. Praised by the press and enthusiasts alike, the Model No.1 GMT presented a unique take on a multi-time watch. Instead of following the typical GMT category codes, Marchant created a watch much more characterized by its overall vintage-inspired elements. The result was a design signature that not only gave the Model No.1 GMT character but also essentially defined the brand. The introduction of the Model No.2 Chronograph is proof that this signature translates perfectly to one of this year s best chronographs.When we had the Model No.1 GMT in the office, unfortunately, I missed it. Consequently, I didn t g...
Four IWC Pilots Watch Chronograph Edition Polaris Dawn models in white ceramic with space-blue dials are back on Earth. Along with their wearers, they launched from NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 05:23 EDT on September 10th, 2024. The four members of the crew and their watches safely splashed down off the coast of Florida at 03:36 EDT on September 15th. Jared Isaacman, Kidd Poteet, Sarah Gillis, and Anna Menon spent nearly five days in orbit and completed their first commercial extravehicular activity (EVA). With their feet back on the ground, the crew handed over the four IWC watches because they will go up for auction at Christies New York to raise funds for the lifesaving work o...
Formex is arguably one of the most underrated watch brands out there. If you have had the chance to handle any of Formexs watches, you know they are very well-made spec monsters at sharp prices. Today, the brand releases its take on a pilot s watch with the Formex Stratos UTC. The big news? The Formex magic doesnt stop at the exterior this time.In fact, the party piece of the new Formex Stratos is its caliber, an ETA 2892 base with a custom Dubois Depraz module on top. The result is one of the most user-friendly flyer GMTs out there. Lets have a closer look!Pushing through time zonesSo, what makes the movement inside the Formex Stratos UTC so special? Well, it takes the time-zone control awa...
The 140th anniversary of Breitling has brought with it three stupendous watches. Navitimer, Premier, and Super Chronomat Perpetual Calendar pieces in red gold celebrate the milestone. We ve managed to get our hands on each of them, so look forward to in-depth reviews of all three. Today, we start with the largest of the bunch, the Super Chronomat. However, this beast is a real beauty.Breitling does a nice job of releasing new watches regularly. Many are new color variants, but we ve also seen our fair share of entirely new models. This year, for the brand s 140th birthday, a trio of highly complicated watches have entered the scene. Each model is limited to 140 pieces, and because they re ma...
I am a big fan of vintage Tudor, as many of you will probably already know. Tudor, to me, is a brand that represents the very best of Hans Wilsdorf s vision of creating mechanical excellence but without the posh baggage of . The vintage Tudor Prince Oysterdate Jumbo will scratch the Datejust itch but with a wonderful and modern case size.Some out there will poo-poo vintage Tudor in the same way they discount modern Tudor - as the poor man s . Frankly, the fact that this continues even today doesn t bother me one bit. It actually means we have sleeper vintage bargains like the watch we will look at today. That watch is the Tudor Prince Oysterdate Jumbo with a 38mm case. Datejust ref. 1601A fa...
Last weeks Sunday Morning Showdown saw two very dressy watches pitted against each other. We continue the formal streak this week but in a much more wallet-friendly manner. These two dressy numbers were positively received here at Fratello, even if they dont represent the ultimate in horology. The big question today is: if you want to buy a reasonably priced formal watch, do you go with Frederique Constant or Raymond Weil?Dont grab the pitchforks and start lamenting that these arent direct competitors just yet. We know, we know-different sizes, different prices, different kinds of movements, different everything - apples and oranges, right? Well, not exactly. If you own a collection of heavy...
Last year, TAG Heuer released two colorful versions of its 42mm Carrera Chronograph. Of course, the watches took inspiration from car racing. This year, the brand continues on the same track with a new limited edition that is only available in Europe. Although this one is also colorful, it s a bit more toned down and sophisticated than the ones with orange and red detailing from last year. It almost looks like its green sunburst dial was inspired by the color of a Porsche Carrera, and the brown sub-dials could be the leather seats inside of it.Maybe I m a bit biased after seeing a short video clip that was shared alongside the press pictures of the new TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph European ...
In late August, A. Lange & S?hne invited me to the Concours of Elegance at Hampton Court Palace, southwest of London. This was my third time attending this show and auction of rare classic cars, and this time had the best weather by far. Arriving early, we witnessed the opening parade of all the exceptional automobiles as the owners drove them to their designated spaces. The beautifully maintained vehicles lined up alongside the ancient yew trees within the Tudor palace gardens. As the backfires and rich fuel filled the atmosphere, I was transported to a time before computers on wheels. If only I could bottle that smell. While the purpose of my being there was for A. Lange & S?hne s ...
At one time, the marine chronometer was among the most important of all instruments. It helped determine a ship s position by measuring longitude. Glashtte Original, originally known as Glashtter Uhrenbetrieb GmbH (GUB), was a famed maker of these instruments. The Senator Chronometer takes inspiration from these ship clocks but transports the form to the wrist.The Glashtte Original Senator Chronometer isn t a new watch, but today s model represents a new color variant within the line. It s classic yet modern with its cool gray and blue tones. We ve had the opportunity to go hands-on with the watch and enjoy its beautiful details.An original Glashtter Uhrenbetriebe (GUB) marine chronomete...
Another Friday, another list! This week, we leave our lists of watches with famous movements behind and focus on the Submariner. As some of you will know, , Wallpaper*, and Nicholas Foulkes collaborated on Oyster Perpetual Submariner: The Watch that Unlocked the Deep. The book came out last week, and it brilliantly covers the history of s famous dive watch. One of the nice features of the book is an overview of the production numbers per reference. We reviewed the numbers and selected the rarest stainless steel Submariners for this list. It will give you a good idea of just how scarce some of them are. Some of the numbers might surprise you…We were surprised and delighted to find th...
Christopher Ward teamed up with seconde/seconde/, resulting in a rather quirky version of the C65 Aquitaine. Let me introduce you to the C65 Desk Diver limited edition. Unlike most of seconde/seconde/s subtle jabs at the watch world, this is a full-on tongue-in-cheek redesign of the C65 diver.Christopher Ward will produce 500 of these C65 Desk Divers. Each is priced at $995 / $1,295 / US$1,195 on rubber or $1,160 / $1,510 / US$1,395?on the Bader bracelet. Both versions come with an additional Delugs rubber strap in bright yellow. Lets have a closer look!C65 Desk DiverI am sure you have heard the term desk diver before. If not, it refers to the completely over-specced nature of most dive watc...
