Another Friday, another Top 5! It s time for the third installment of our mini-series focusing on pre-owned sleeper watches. In it, we want to highlight some less obvious watches from different brands. Some of these are watches you may never have heard of, while others might be good reminders of forgotten greats. In this week s article, we will look at some great classics from the past. We have selected five different models that are not on the radar of most watch fans when we talk about their respective brands. Let s find out more.As a quick reminder, this series was inspired by our endless efforts to find the best pre-owned watches to spend our fictitious money on. We have made it a sport ...

Sometimes, a watch brings something very different from actual time-telling. And when it hits all the right notes, the watch might as well be an artwork for your living room, but its on your wrist and happens to tell the time.This is the modus operandi for the British company Mr Jones Watches and its fresh design output. We have reviewed The Promise of Happiness and A perfectly useless afternoon, both collaborative efforts with artists and illustrators. For me, this is an eclectic, fun, and deeply thought-provoking take on watchmaking. By going hands-on with the Tadaima, I am transported to one of my bucket-list destinations, Tokyo.The backstory of the TadaimaAt first glance, you will recogn...

Earlier this week, we covered the introduction of the new Christopher Ward C65 Dune GMT. It s a watch I can t wait to find out more about soon in a hands-on review. In the meantime, the brand has released another noteworthy new C65 Dune model. Christopher Ward and Oracle Time present the new C65 Dune Shoreline. It s a stylish version of the C65 Dune Automatic that will be produced in a limited run of 100 pieces. The watch celebrates the 10th anniversary of Oracle Time, which, for those who don t know, is a British watch-and-luxury-lifestyle publication. That s more than enough reason for a collaborative watch with British watch brand Christopher Ward. It s a celebration in style!It s refresh...

Zenith presented a fully redesigned and thoroughly modernized Pilot range at Watches and Wonders last year. Although many of our team members had a chance to try them on at the fair, we had not yet done a full hands-on article on Fratello. We figured it was long overdue! So, now that there is a new Boutique Edition Zenith Pilot duo, we set that straight.Our own Brandon, however, did write a very thorough introduction article last year. He went about as deep into the redesigned Zenith Pilot as one can go without having the watches in hand. I will, then, only very briefly reintroduce the basics before focusing primarily on what these watches are like in real life and on the wrist. If you want ...

Audemars Piguet is making sure its 5134 caliber gets a proper goodbye. The successor of the legendary 2120 movement is being discontinued…but not just in any watch. None other than John Mayer had the honor of coming up with one last dial and case design for a limited-edition Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar. In addition to that, the brand showed us many other new references during its 2024 Social Club event in Milan.They included a new Royal Oak Offshore with a white camouflage case. There s also a new Royal Oak automatic chronograph in yellow gold and three new Royal Oaks with flying tourbillons. But that s not all. We saw additional references and new technologies, and the brand also ope...

I dont know if there are any left today. Late-19th-century biorhythm theory, which got another 15 seconds of fame in the 1970s, is the pseudoscientific idea that people s daily lives are significantly affected by rhythmic cycles with periods. There is a 23-day physical cycle, a 28-day emotional cycle, and a 33-day intellectualcycle. In the 1970s, Certina created the Biostar watch to help wearers check what their biorhythms looked like in a second.An astrological warm-upI wanted a Certina Biostar just for the fun of it. It belongs in the same category as my Astromatic X, a fortune-telling watch from the mid-1970s. The astrology craze in the 1970s was huge. The first line of my excellent Astro...

After many months in the making, the VPC Type 37HW is here, and I have the distinct pleasure of penning this hands-on introduction. We often ask ourselves, Is it impossible to be original when endeavoring to design a new watch? Have all paths in crafting this functional object truly been taken? Have we seen it in all its imaginable forms? Today s launch of the VPC brand s debut model provides a resounding no as the answer to these questions. The Type 37HW is one man s project to create his ideal watch. The vision happens to come from someone who has spent plenty of time around watches, both old and new. Consequently, it provides a fresh and well-informed take on watch design. With an uncompr...

With the revival of watchmaking in the British Isles, the Alliance of British Watch and Clock Makers announces its first exhibition. The British Watchmakers Day will take place on Saturday, March 9th, 2024, at Lindley Hall (Royal Horticultural Halls) in Westminster. The event is dedicated to showcasing over 30 new and old member brands within the Alliance.Since its founding in 2020, the?Alliance of British Watch & Clock Makers has aimed to showcase the watchmaking resurgence in the British Isles (including the Republic of Ireland). Britain was once a dominating force in watchmaking during the 16th and 17th centuries. In the 18th century, Switzerland took over as the leader in watch prod...

The Seiko SPB143 is a veritable fan favorite among lovers of Seiko dive watches. And that s for good reason. It combined the mid-range quality we know from this level of Seiko offerings with subtle, timeless dive-watch aesthetics. Today, Seiko releases the spiritual successors to this watch. These are the standard-production SPB451 (blue dial) and SPB453 (black dial) as well as the special-edition SPB455 (with gilt-tone accents). The last one celebrates 100 years of the Seiko name on watch dials.We will get into all the nitty-gritty below, but let me kick things off with a spoiler: Seiko delivers some subtle updates that add up to make a big difference. I am quite sure these refinements will...

What brand do you turn to when youre looking for a watch with a classic design? Well, to be honest, there are many such brands out there. But one brand that certainly comes to my mind is Seiko. It looks like the people at Seiko think similarly about their watches because, today, the Japanese watchmaker is launching the Classic Series. For now, it s a collection of five watches that all share the same stainless steel case and bracelet. Three of them are three-handers with a date, and the other two feature an additional 24-hour sub-dial and an open heart.The inspiration for the new Classic Series comes from the soft and gentle side of Japanese design. When you compare these five new models to ...

Casio announced the release of the new and updated Mudmaster in September of 2023. The highly anticipated new series of Mudmasters promised not only a new case construction but also some firsts in terms of functionality. We had a chance to go hands-on with two new Mudmaster GWG-B1000 models in green and red. After reviewing the Rangeman and Mudman recently, it was nice to see if the new Mudmaster is the true Master of G. Reading through the description of all the Mudmaster GWG-B1000 is capable of, you would think you would not need another watch to keep you alive during your adventures. It s time to find out if that is true!Straight out of the box, the two G-Shock Master of G Mudmaster GWG-B...

Hot off the heels of the stealthy Chronomat from February, Breitling brings another muted-tone beauty for March. The latest exclusive limited edition for the UK market is the SuperOcean Automatic 44. Like the aforementioned Chronomat, Breitling pairs this SuperOcean s black dial with an anthracite hue. However, instead of chronograph counters, the SuperOcean features lacquered anthracite on the inner 60-minute scale. Juxtaposing the vibrant dials of SuperOceans latest generation, the new 500-piece limited edition cuts a contemporary look. You could say the new model is more boardroom than beach but still carries that surf-and-suntan spirit.In the main stainless steel collection, the white mi...

At Fratello, we have a particular taste for the creations of Japanese brand Minase. We have done two collaborations that seemed to resonate with many of you. Today, I would like to introduce you to another limited-edition Minase, though Fratello had no input this time. For this watch, Minase took its popular Horizon model and gave it the DLC treatment.Lets have a quick look at this latest introduction from Minase, limited to just 25 pieces.Minase Horizon GEN DLCThe inspiration for this limited-edition Minase model is the Japanese word gen (), which translates to depth, darkness, mystery, or black. Well, nomen est omen, am I right? Minase has blacked this Horizon out using a Diamond-Like Car...

If you are a regular reader of Fratello, you might be aware of my love for the Christopher Ward C65 Dune GMT that came out last year. The black-dial limited edition of 200 pieces was one of my absolute favorites of 2023. It s also a release that I unfortunately missed out on. However, the team at Christopher Ward shared that there would be a new version in 2024. That new version of the C65 Dune GMT is out now, and it features a sand-colored dial with khaki-green details. Is this the perfect follow-up to the watch that I missed? In other words, will this be my next watch? It s time to find out more.To answer that last question immediately, a hands-on with the new C65 Dune GMT will bring the d...

This is the story of how one prime minister s love of the sea connected him with a senior executive and inspired the gift of a Submariner. That prime minister, Harold Holt, was the leader of Australia at the height of the Cold War. His mysterious disappearance shocked the world.On Sunday, December 17th, 1967, Harold Holt was swimming off the Victorian coast with friends. As one witness later recounted, the swell was rough, a boiling ocean mass. But Prime Minister Holt was a confident swimmer. A spearfisher who often dived, he would reportedly practice holding his breath during Parliament. This was so he could dive deeper during frequent snorkeling trips. He?knew the area like the back of [...

Praesidus is one of the go-to names if you are looking for a vintage-inspired military watch. In a relatively short time, the brand has created a reputation for recreating some of the best military watches accompanied by great stories. Now Praesidus is ready to launch another new series of watches. The Praesidus DD-45 is inspired by some of the most famous military watches that ever existed. But this release is not just one watch. Praesidus will offer three different versions, allowing customers to pick their preferred aged aesthetic. Let s find out more!When it comes to military-inspired watches, the first name that pops up for me is Praesidus. That s not because of any actual military hist...

It was a long wait for many of you (and us), but here it is - the new Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch. We had the opportunity to go hands-on with this new white-dial Speedmaster, which was first seen on Daniel Craig s wrist last November.The white-dial Omega Speedmaster Daniel CraigAt first, people thought it was the Speedmaster in Canopus (white) Gold, but it quickly became clear that it was a new (prototype) Speedmaster watch with a white dial. Although Daniel Craig is a Speedmaster guy (and even owns a Speedmaster Speedy Tuesday edition), I am not too sure about the nickname Daniel Craig since hes so associated with the Seamaster 300M.Lets have a closer look at the new Speedmaste...

Jorg probably doesn t know this, but every time I see him walking into the office with a Unimatic on his wrist, I get a little more jealous. I m a fan of the brand s less-is-more design approach. Plus, the watches look like they can take a beating, and they have a ton of character on the wrist. But…there is one big but. Unimatic watches are always quite big and bulky. I know that s part of why they look and probably are so tough. But still, I always felt like Unimatic watches weren t made for my fairly average 17cm wrist circumference - until now, that is. The new Unimatic Modello Cinque feels like it was designed specifically with my wrist size in mind. Let s go hands-on with the bran...

Welcome back to another episode of Fratello On Air. This week, we re asking what would make us buy a Cartier watch. It s a good question because neither of your co-hosts owns a timepiece from the incredibly popular brand. As we ll see, the reasons have little to do with what s currently on offer and more to do with our wearing habits. This podcast player is blocked because you did not accept marketing cookies. Change cookie settings What would make us buy a Cartier? It s a good question, and with the popularity of the famed jeweler s watches at an all-time high, it s one that probably doesn t beg for loads of discussion. Yet, here we are without one on either of our wrists. We ll explore...

Some people just cant get enough. Enough of the right logo, that is. Logo luxury is still very much alive, no matter the attention quiet luxury received recently. Logos have a hypnotic allure to some people. People under the spell of the right monogram will want to buy into the brand badly, desiring everything with that logo on it. And thats what brands aim for. They don t want consumers to buy one or two items. No, they want to successfully integrate their brands with consumers and be a part of their lives constantly. Non-watch brands creating high-end watches is a great way of offering people a way to complete the look and integrate products with consumers lifestyles even more.Buying into...