It s almost a wrap for 2023, a year loaded with new watch releases. After a turbulent past few years, the industry has gotten back on track. We witnessed new releases almost every week. Some were weak, and others were ambitious. For the most part, however, we saw brilliant new timepieces pushed to the market, so putting together a subjective list of the best ones of the year was going to be relatively easy to do - or so I thought. Luckily, I got a bit of help.Just a few weeks ago, in one of the episodes of Fratello On Air, Mike and I shared some of our favorite new watches of the year. I will talk about those, but I have some more that I enjoyed seeing this year.The best watches of 2023: Bvl...

Sunday Morning Showdown has become a Fratello tradition. Every Sunday morning, two Fratello writers go head to head, fiercely defending the timepieces of their choice. It s become a favorite among Fratello writers, and you, the Fratelli, also seem to enjoy it a great deal. In this second overview of the year, we look back at some of the most remarkable battles of the second half of 2023. Thanks to your input, we were able to continue the series with some fresh perspectives. On top of that, it led to some pretty interesting battles. So let s look at some of this year s most heated Sunday Morning Showdown battles.While most Fratello writers are taking a much-deserved holiday break, it s nice t...

What does a 1960s skin diver have in common with a modern $500 diver? How about hiking and a quartz field watch or, better yet, Art Deco and a Flieger? What all of these random things have in common is the fascinating world of micro and independent horology. Those who have created your favorite watches in the past 10 years were inspired by something they saw, or they wanted to convey their very intimate vision of what horology could be. Watch design is art, and, as such, the artists behind the watches are each motivated by something unique. What pushes them to sit at the (sometimes) proverbial drawing board??This article is preceded by one dealing with general facts about micro and independe...

In previous best watches released in- lists, I favored the outliers - the fringe releases that need highlighting. I stand by all my watch picks from prior yearly roundups, so much so that I ended up buying some of the watches featured. This year, however, could be my most uninspiring selection of watch choices, and that s okay. I shouldn t have to be adventurous. I should only be true to my tastes and honestly assess where my watch game is right now.However, due to price and availability, I won t pick up at least two of these watches. One has the potential to wind up in my watch box. I m pretty sure you ll be able to figure out which watch that will be. After many years of collecting watches...

Another Friday, another list! We have come to the last Friday of the year, so this will be the last Top 10 list in our 2023 roundup series. Today, we re looking at the best dress watches. It only makes sense to cover the best dress watches of the year during the holiday season. While it might not be the category that gets the most attention, it does see some amazing releases every year. Having said that, we had to come up with 10 phenomenal examples to populate this list, and for many people, that might be a challenge.Let s face it: most of us don t always focus on dress watches. Sports watches tend to make up the majority of releases that we see every year. Consequently, we also tend to cov...

There s no doubt about it: the watch hobby is an expensive one. Buying a luxury watch easily sets you back a few grand or, potentially, a lot more than that. Last year saw several acquisitions and changes within my collection, and, to make matters worse, my wife and I also bought a new house this year. So buying new watches wasn t anywhere on my list of priorities in 2023. That was fine after such an eventful 2022, but as is the case for most of us, there were a few times that I couldn t resist adding something fun to the collection. Let s take a look at my bonus watches of 2023.If you read about my watch resolution for this past year, you could already tell that it wasn t going to be a very...

Gilles Lipovetsky is a famous French philosopher of aesthetics who, while recently talking to Spanish newspaper El Pais, said the following: Luxury used to be the rarest, most beautiful, and the most expensive. Today it is also bad taste, ugly, vulgar, and even obscene. But when does good taste turn bad? Lets examine the fringes of good taste in watches with photos of pieces from some well-respected, rebellious, and avant-garde brands.Lipovetsky recently published the book Kitsch in the Hypermodern Era. The word kitsch is of German origin and in English means worthless, trashy art - think of a velvet portrait of Elvis in a gold frame, a good example of bad taste, in my humble opinion. In Lip...

Taking a watch meant to go into outer space and actually testing it there only seems logical, right? That s exactly what the ambitious people at Fortis thought. It s why they embarked on a mission to test watches in space. The brand was part of the Swedish Space Corporation s SubOrbital Express 3 rocket mission, space testing 13 special Fortis Stratoliner Supernova watches. That unique journey was filmed and is part of the new documentary Microgravity – How Earth can benefit from Space, now streaming on Amazon Prime. We talked to Fortis Marketing Manager Andreas Bentele about the documentary. He also unveiled the next steps for the brand in creating a timepiece that can go to Mars.If y...

In our #TBT series this year, we featured a quartz Breitling Colt, a unique design by Tian Harlan, and pleasingly original names like Telefoot. We highlighted never-before-seen complications like a Medana with a rotating day crystal, rare pieces like the Heuer Autavia with rounded numbers, and even virtually unknown models like the Gallet Big Date Chrono. It s time to take a look back at the top 10 vintage watches that inhabited our #TBT column in 2023.The surprising Breitling Colt ref. 80180It was never on my radar, but since I first put it on my wrist during a random visit from my friend, it felt like it was made for me. It is adventurous and masculine but also quite sleek and decent to we...

When it came to picking my entries for this Best Watches Of 2023 series, I decided to dig deep - far deeper than I did for a recent podcast with Balazs, in which my initial picks were all from the last several months. That s a challenge in a watch market where our attention span is often short. So yes, I ve done my best to consider the past 12 months. Get ready for some surprises!This was an interesting year in the world of watches. There were a lot of color variations on a familiar theme. Those can be nice from time to time, but like so many of us, I like new models. Therefore, my picks for the best watches of 2023 are essentially all new, and, even more, they come from a wide selection of ...

Maybe you remember that I once came up with an iron rule: if it s over $10K, it must be less than 10mm thick. In the explanation that followed, I mentioned the Chopard Alpine Eagle 41 XPS. This 41mm steel Alpine Eagle iteration, with a sophisticated Monte Rosa salmon-pink dial and small seconds at 6 oclock, made the cut with great ease. Not only is it very slim, but it also features the in-house caliber L.U.C 96.40-L with a micro-rotor. When the watch landed on my desk at Fratello HQ, I grabbed my chance to go hands-on, wear it, and see if it lived up to its specs.Value for money. In the world of luxury horology, theres always tension when it comes to that. Still, there must be some correlat...

Last week, we created an overview of all the Seiko releases we covered in 2023. It only makes sense to follow that up with an overview of the Grand Seiko releases we wrote about this year. While Grand Seiko does not release as many new models as Seiko in a year, the brand still adds many references to its collection. As we all know, with a stream of reference numbers as names, it can be hard to remember which watch is which. That s why we created an overview of all the Grand Seiko goodness that came out in 2023.This year, Grand Seiko celebrated the 25th anniversary of its caliber 9S. The brand released the mechanical calibers 9S55 and 9S51 in 1998. These two movements marked a turning point ...

Several specialized manufacturers are currently hard at work producing the parts for the samples of my VPC Type 37HW. Everything we have worked on over the past year is coming together as we speak. To say that fills me with a mix of anxiety and excitement is an understatement. We have, however, fine-tuned a few details still. And, I have an exciting new feature to announce - an ultra-hard coating on the entire case, bracelet, and clasp.The latter is something I have been silently working on for almost the entire year. There are many different options out there, but it isnt quite as straightforward as ticking a box on an order form. So I kept it quiet until I was completely certain of what I ...

We all make choices every day. Most of us, however, probably dont decide to buy a luxury watch all that often. So when you do, you d better think it through properly. You might experience the agony of choice. It happens sometimes - for instance, when you have to choose between a Pepsi and a Batman. It also happens when youre spoiled for choice, like when there are 217 Seamaster references to choose from. Picking the right Fifty Fathoms out of 102 references could be challenging as well. And there are numerous other brands with seemingly overflowing catalogs. But did you know that with more choice, expectations increase while the level of satisfaction decreases? Should watch brands take note?...

Just before Apollo 17 astronaut Eugene Cernan stepped up the ladder of the lunar model to leave the Moon at 5:34 GMT on December 14th, 1972, he did something that made almost every daughter in the world jealous. He knelt and scribbled TDC - his daughter Tracy s initials - in the lunar dust. Her initials are still there and probably will be for millions of years. Eugene Gene Andrew Cernan is known as The Last Man on the Moon. His book, with that title, came out in 1999 and mentions the watch he wore on the lunar surface - the Omega Speedmaster Professional.Last Man on the MoonFor our last collaboration of this year, REM and Fratello decided to come up with something that suits the month of De...

Mike and I are celebrating Christmas with our loved ones this week. But this is the last Fratello On Air of the year, and we had to go out with a bang, so I recorded a talk with fellow watch enthusiast, New York Times bestselling author, and all-around nice guy Gary Shteyngart. Enjoy this special holiday episode!This podcast player is blocked because you did not accept marketing cookies. Change cookie settings Gary, a fan of Fratello On Air, is a delight to talk to. As he s passionate about watches and horology in general, I had an easy job. Aside from Garys state of the collection, we touch on several topics. Nomos gets mentioned alongside brands like Patek Philippe, , and Grand Seiko. ...

Happy holidays, everyone. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to a smooth start to the new year. Most of my colleagues have already shared their favorite watches of 2023 with you, and now its my turn. I noticed that 2023 was packed with watch releases. Besides the introductions during the exhibitions in Geneva and elsewhere, it felt like our mailbox was flooded with press releases every single day of the week. However, I didnt see many new watches that triggered me to pull my wallet out of my pocket. On the other hand, I didnt see a lot of (really) bad watches either.Also, as a Speedmaster collector, this was the second year in a row in which I didn t buy a Speedmast...

It s not every day that we receive a review watch that makes our entire team line up to give it a try. Breguet delivered the Classique Repetition Minutes (French for minute repeater) ref. 7637 and graciously allowed us to go hands-on with it for a while. I wont say it was the best time of my life, but wearing this watch certainly made me smile a lot.My appreciation for BreguetIt s no secret that I am an admirer of Breguet. Not only did this brand and its founder play such a crucial role in many horological inventions and designs, but the craftsmanship of Breguet s watches today is also incredibly impressive. My appreciation increased when I visited the Breguet manufacture in Le Chenit, Switz...

Watches and photography are two fields of interest that inexplicably and inevitably attract the same kind of like-minded enthusiasts. That s why some of you may very well be keen to hear about my experience with the new Nikon Zf. Released to the public in October of this year, it s the latest addition to Nikon s range of full-frame mirrorless cameras. We ll get into all things specs later on in the review. Still, for now, all you need to know is that alongside the camera body, I was well-equipped with the Nikon Nikkor Z 24C70mm F/2.8 S, Nikkor Z MC 50mm f/2.8, and Nikkor Z 28mm f/2.8. I swapped out my usual photography setup and got to work. A word of warning: this is going to get technical ...

Mickey Mouse or Kermit the Frog? That s the question at the heart of today s Sunday Morning Showdown. Watches are usually quite serious objects. First and foremost, they need to accurately tell the time and be made of sturdy, well-finished material. And for most people, that s enough. But some people are looking for something extra - a little something to make them smile when they look down at their wrists. Both the Oris ProPilot X Kermit Edition and the Unimatic Modello Uno Mickey Mouse are specifically made for this purpose. But which one does that job better?It s good that there are still brands out there that take the risk of launching something unexpected and fun. It keeps this hobby li...