Have you ever seen or heard something and said to yourself, Why didn t I think of that? That s exactly what I did when I saw the press release for this collaboration between H. Moser & Cie. and Studio Underd0g. At first glance, these brands couldn t be any more different. The first makes high-end watches, often from various precious metals and with complicated, hand-finished movements inside. The latter designs affordable and frivolous watches mostly inspired by food and powered by off-the-shelf movements. However, they both share a true passion for watchmaking and, more importantly, are not averse to a joke now and then. Both companies have already turned a few April Fools jokes into...
Both Frederique Constant and Alpina grace us with multiple releases during Geneva Watch Days 2024. Alpina adds a skeletonized version of its Alpiner Extreme to the lineup and surprises us with classic silhouettes joining the Heritage collection. Frederique Constant focuses on the Classics line with a tourbillon and a moonphase model, both with spectacular dials. Additionally, the brand adds three different versions of the Classics Carre?e Small Seconds for fans of rectangular watches.It s always fun to see what new introductions Frederique Constant and Alpina come up with. In recent years, the latter brand, which FC acquired in 2002, has focused quite a bit on sporty tool watches through add...
Doxa is always one of the brands we keep a close eye on when Geneva Watch Days rolls around. This year, the brand has not disappointed with two major pieces of news. The first is a new left-hand-drive Sub 300T Professional Aristera. The second is the collection-wide rollout of the Sea Emerald green colorway. The dashing green shade, which debuted in the Sub 200T introduced earlier this year, is now available across the Sub family, including the Sub 200, Sub 300, Sub 300T, Sub 600T, and Sub 300 Carbon.Returning to the main matter at hand, let s talk about destro watches. The term comes from the Italian meaning right and refers to the wrist on which these left-crowned watches are meant to be w...
Christopher Ward might have another hit on its hands. The brand s new C60 Trident Lumiere is an impressive titanium dive watch with a dial that cranks legibility in the dark up to 11. And that s not the entire story. This new addition to the Christopher Ward collection perfectly blends specs with looks, which is why it will undoubtedly win fans over quickly. I had a chance to find out all there is to know by going hands-on.The new Christoper Ward C60 Trident Lumiere was officially announced yesterday. If you pay attention to daily watch news, you might have already seen it because it certainly is hard to miss. When we first got the press kit from the English brand, several Fratello team memb...
In the 1999 movie The Talented Mr. Ripley, the character Dickie Greenleaf, who takes over Tom Ripleys life, says, ‘See Venice and die, is what they say? Or is it Rome? Well, Dickie, the city youre looking for is Naples. But I have to admit I also thought Goethe once wrote that it was Venice.?I would offer an alternative by writing, Or you could buy a watch from the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Enamel ‘Venice Series because they are to die for. ?The three new creations from the Metiers Rares atelier have a link to JLCs participation in the Homo Faber Biennial exhibition in Venice this September. The watches honoring the host city have case backs featuring three of Claude Mon...
The Oris Aquis is one of the brand s most successful watches. Its modern and muscular looks are a hit. No wonder the people in H?lstein put a lot of effort into bringing out new versions every so often. This April, a new version of the Oris Aquis Date was presented with updates regarding ergonomics, aesthetics, and performance. Now it s time to give the Aquis Chronograph that very same treatment. Spoiler alert: no, this new Aquis Chronograph is not powered by Oris s Calibre 400 but by a modified Sellita SW510 automatic chronograph movement.The previous version of the Oris Aquis Chronograph housed the ETA/Valjoux 7750. In the meantime, the Oris Divers Sixty-Five got fitted with the Oris 771, ...
This past June, Breitling invited me to its Chronometrie facility in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. The tour offered an opportunity to see the various Breitling manufacture calibers in different production states. The meticulous yet efficient nature of the assembly leads to a robust and reliable B01 chronograph movement along with modules for calendar and GMT functions. For Breitling s 140th anniversary, the Swiss watchmaker builds on this impressive repertoire with the new caliber B19. This technical tour-de-force mechanism includes Breitling s first-ever manufacture perpetual calendar chronograph. The B19 also has an incredible power reserve of 96 hours on a full wind. With such a prestig...
Making its Geneva Watch Days debut, Norwegian independent brand Micromilspec has announced a new watch. Launched as a civilian model, the Milgraph is a serious military-inspired chronograph that packs a lot of functionality onto the wrist. It provides a column-wheel-operated chronograph movement with a GMT function in a blasted titanium case. At first glance, there s a lot to like. Many of our readers may be unfamiliar with Micromilspec, so let s take a closer look.Who is Micromilspec? is a fair question. Established in 2019, the brand built its reputation on making custom watches for the military, first responders, and special clients. Understandably, these projects were secretive and not m...
We re in the thick of Geneva Watch Days 2024. For some brands, this means debuting novelties. Today, Armin Strom brings us the Dual Time GMT Resonance C First Edition, an all-new take on the brand s well-known complication. Folks, this one s a beauty.Armin Strom is no stranger to creating highly complicated Haute Horlogerie timepieces. The private brand operates within the same tier as MB&F, Urwerk, and more. Sometimes, I like audacious watches from these companies, but I adore them when they re more than an open dial and a smattering of movement parts. I can appreciate technical wizardry, but why not combine this with a captivating design? Armin Strom has managed to do that with its new...
In January 2022, Ressence introduced the Type 3 BBB, a Black, Black, Black version of its oil-filled mechanical watch. My colleague Dave dubbed it the brand s best model yet. However, Ressence limited the production of the watch to that year only. If you were looking for an all-black Ressence Type 3 after that, you were out of luck; there was just the regular non-DLC-coated production model. But that changes now as the Belgian brand has introduced the Ressence Type 3 BB2, another Type 3 with a matte black mid-case and almost monochrome dial.The Type 3 is a clear example of how Ressence combines its minimalist design philosophy with state-of-the-art technology. Yes, the watch might run on an ...
Sometimes a watch release catches us by surprise. Other times, it triggers a response like Didnt that already exist? To call it predictable would sound overly negative, but sometimes a release is just so perfectly on-brand and sensible that it doesnt feel new, even if it is. This is one such release. Czapek marries its flagship sports watch, the Antarctique, with one of its signature dial materials, aventurine. The result, the Czapek Antarctique Polar Sky, looks as if it has been here all along. And that, my dear Fratelli, is a good thing.Czapek releases the new Antarctique Polar Sky in four limited editions. There is a 40.5mm model as well as a 38.5mm Antarctique S with the new dial. Next, ...
I liked the Pontiac Jumping Chronograph instantly. I remember spotting Pontiac watches multiple times, but I never had an urge to jump on any. So I took this as an opportunity to also look briefly into this sonorous-sounding brand s history.It took me some time to realize why the Pontiac Jumping got my attention so swiftly. Just for the fun of it, before you go on, look at it, close your eyes, and tell me, what chronograph does it remind you of the most? I could name a few similar-looking models, but there is one that comes to my mind first. Blame the bold frame around the date, orange hands, and minute totalizer with a 45-minute mark sitting between 10 and 20. It s the Nivada Dato ref. 4368...
Hello, and welcome to Fratello Talks! Today, Nacho, RJ, and Thomas share their vintage watch wishlists. As you can imagine, these guys spend a lot of time thinking about watches. But when they re not writing about the latest releases, they re often lusting after (and hunting down) vintage watches online. It s a hazard of the job. Today, inspired by RJ s latest object of desire, the guys lend you insight into the timepieces on their current lists of vintage (and neo-vintage) favorites. But before we get to that, let s see what s on their wrists today.This video is blocked because you did not accept marketing cookies. Change cookie settings This podcast player is blocked because you did not ...
As the watch world holds its breath ahead of Geneva Watch Days, Tudor has taken the opportunity to debut a new blue colorway for the Black Bay Chrono. This latest iteration also features the fan-favorite five-row bracelet, which only made its way onto the model earlier this year. First introduced in both panda and reverse panda, the latest version of the Black Bay Chrono received an unforeseen splash of pink. Today s blue colorway is slightly subdued and, arguably, more on-brand.Does it feel like dej vu to you? Because it sure feels like it to me. Two years ago, on August 30th, 2022, just ahead of GWD, Tudor announced one of its most acclaimed and popular models, the Pelagos 39. This downsi...
When you think of Vacheron Constantin, the Fiftysix might not be the first watch you associate with the brand. Models like the 222 and the Overseas will probably come to mind first. However, like those, the Fiftysix is based on one of Vacheron Constantin s true heritage pieces. Besides, it receives the same attention to detail and finishing. Vacheron Constantin has just introduced another rose gold version of the Fiftysix, and for the first time, it features a black dial.The Vacheron Constantin Fiftysix s design is inspired by one of the brand s vintage models from, unsurprisingly, 1956. That model had very handsome lugs based on the brand s logo, the Maltese cross. The Fiftysix s lugs look ...
Do you think theres a small group of tourbillon collectors out there who operate like Pokemon trainer Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town whose goal is to become a Pokemon Master? His motto is Gotta catch em all, and if the same goes for self-proclaimed Tourbillon Masters, visiting a Roger Dubuis boutique will help them bag different types of tourbillons. To keep things fresh, the brand from Meyrin on the outskirts of Geneva just released a quartet of watches that might be an interesting catch. These new Roger Dubuis creations are the gem-set Orbis in Machina Central Monotourbillon, the Excalibur Double Tourbillon Cobalt Chrome, and two single-tourbillon Excalibur watches in pink and white gold wi...
I had studied it for months. I knew everything there was to know about it. The only issue was that I had never seen one in real life. The only way to get my hands on one was to order it online. So that s what I did. It took its sweet time since I had asked the vendor to retrofit a domed sapphire crystal. Then, one fateful day, the mailman arrived with a parcel. I opened it, my heart racing. A brand-new Seiko SKX009J1 emerged. I remember my first thought was, Hm, it is quite ugly. But it didnt matter. This was my first watch - or, first mechanical watch, I should say - and it would be my gateway watch. I was in. I was doomed.All watch collectors and enthusiasts can tell you a story like this....
Well, that is what I wrote when I started this story, genuinely believing that I would have a problem choosing. But as many times before, RJ, Mike, and others have finished their Best Watches Under $10K stories and stolen my chosen thunder.The $5KC10K segment is not easy for me as my taste annoyingly tends to hover far above my budget or in the $1,000C3,000 world of strict reality. But as Ive decided to try to find focus and variety within my collection, a few gaps would easily be filled on this still-generous budget.Cartier Santos-Dumont WSSA0046Ill first confess to being a closet Cartier fan. I somehow feel that the brand gets an extraordinary amount of hype and doesnt need any help. But t...
Here at Fratello, we have a soft spot for things like G-Shocks, handcraft, and everything related to space exploration. It sounds like a weird combination, but it all came together perfectly well in the IFL Watches Fratello CasiOak Moonlander watch.This video is blocked because you did not accept marketing cookies. Change cookie settings IFL Watches Fratello CasiOak MoonlanderAs you probably know, the first G-Shock model debuted in 1983, and it s hard to imagine a horological world without it today. In 2019, Casio introduced the G-Shock 2100 series, which enthusiasts quickly dubbed CasiOak due to its specific Audemars Piguet Royal Oak-like shape. This model (GM-2100BB-1AER, to be ex...
Last year, I had a hands-on experience with the fun and affordable Orient Bambino 38. The watches were limited editions and available in four colors, each with a brown nubuck leather strap. To me, they seemed quite dressy with their soft pastel colors and the relatively formal-looking strap. Now Orient tries to make the Bambino 38 feel a little more casual by adding a stainless steel bracelet and more saturated colors on the dials. Let s take a quick look.I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Orient Bambino 38 last year. I think it s a great offer for a mechanical watch at its affordable point. These three new Bambinos have a lot in common with those earlier models and build on the success o...
