Sunday morning is showdown time. For this edition, two editors enter with colorful models from 2023. The Oyster Perpetual 36 Celebration features 50 lacquer bubbles representing the five colorful dial variations from 2020. The Day-Date 36 Jigsaw Puzzle employs champleve enameling for multi-toned puzzle pieces. With such an eye-catching dial, it s easy to miss the ten baguette-cut sapphires in six different hues, the inspirational keywords replacing the day of the week, and the emojis for the date window. In this vibrant showdown, there s plenty to discuss, but only you will decide the winner, so be sure to cast your vote. Special thanks go to Warky for suggesting today s matchup as well. I...
Today, we take a closer look at the Ollech & Wajs OW M-110 AS, a tactical watch with a surprising level of detail. This is my first time going hands-on with a watch from O&W, and I m excited. I ve admired the brand s watches from afar, but a chance run-in along with a clumsy move led to communication with the team there.Every so often, my clumsiness is fortuitous. A few weeks ago, I attended the World Time UK event at Heathrow Airport. I got up early that day, and my friend grabbed us each a cup of tea at the hosting hotel. I carried the covered paper cup with me while perusing the watches. When I came to Ollech & Wajs, I wanted a closer look at the brand s wares and decided to p...
Mr Jones Watches is on a roll this year. The perennial fun-watch favorite for many of us here at Fratello, the brand is diving deeper into the realm of mechanical watches for 2023. Not that long ago, we saw the release of A perfectly useless afternoon with an STP1-11 Swiss automatic movement inside. Now, at the end of the summer and beginning of autumn, Mr Jones is giving us many more with The Accurate, Beam me up!, and Enjoy the ride in mechanical form. In addition, a new quartz art piece named Short Fuse makes its debut. Finally, for those that missed out on the limited release earlier this year, Berry Late! makes a comeback in a larger run aptly named Berry Late Again!For those of us watc...
Admit it: youre also glad you dont have to wear that rubber strap or that clunky bracelet anymore. Now that temperatures are dropping in the Northern Hemisphere, the classic leather strap is ready to take center stage again. Its time for a classy dress watch. Should it have a precious metal case? Yes, lets limit this search by two things: the case should be in either gold or platinum, and the price cant exceed the $10K mark. Challenge accepted!To be very honest with you, I dont care much for the colder months. Give me warmth, sunshine, the beach, and salty water too. So when the leaves start to fall and I experience my first shiver from a cold breeze from the east, my mood dampens. The colde...
Another Friday, another Top 5! Last week s list focused on watches that you can buy for less than their official retail prices. The list mostly consisted of precious metal watches and triggered a lot of opinions. This week, we will take a look at our five currently available worldtimers. While the GMT is the preferred travel timepiece for many watch fans, a classic worldtimer celebrates the spirit of traveling in true horological style. So we ve selected our five favorites that stand out thanks to their functionality first and specific looks second. Or is it the other way around when you are creating a list of worldtimers? Well, it s time to find out.As a big fan of GMT watches, I do not al...
I tend to follow the smaller brands closer than big-box Swiss brands. And you know, thats just how my subjective watch brain ticks. When it comes to British brands like Fears, its close to a hi-beat passion. But never mind my puns. Have a look at the Brunswick 40 instead, this time in two dazzling new aquatic-tinted versions.Fears has had another good year with Nicholas Bowman-Scargill at the helm. And the last couple of years have seen a new head office appear in Bristol, the brand s ancestral home. At the same time, Nicholas has focused on diversifying sales channels, unlike many small brands. Fears has a direct-to-customer approach with an expanding network of brick-and-mortar ADs from Eu...
What better way to celebrate your 20th anniversary or birthday than by buying yourself a new watch? In the case of Chrono24 turning 20, the company decided to mark the occasion by launching the first luxury watch market index founded on real transaction data. Today, Chrono24 launches ChronoPulse. With two decades of historical analysis under its belt and the implementation of actual selling prices, Chrono24 created an index that can depict sales trends and market developments. Better yet, this data resource is free and accessible through the Chrono24 website. So if youre shopping for a new, pre-owned, or vintage (celebratory) watch, have a look at what other people are buying, then buy what ...
I recently had the chance to try the current Porsche Design Chronograph 1 in its classic guise. You may know that I am a total sucker for base models, so that would be my favorite version. But then the clever guys and gals at PD came up with something new - a Chronograph 1 that looks familiar enough but packs a little extra punch. Namely, the new Chronograph 1 Utility utilizes a high-tech titanium carbide case. This material promises the best that both titanium and ceramics have to offer.Of course, I would have been more than happy to borrow another 911 and test the new watch on the road. But that would have been more of an indulgence by now than proper horological reporting. So I packed my ...
Summer has been over for a while now, but we get a last glimpse of it with the all-new Titoni Impetus CeramTech ZrO2. With this release, Titoni expands its collection with six of these sports watches that combine stainless steel and ceramic cases and modern, attractive looks. As we expect from Titoni, the execution is impressive. We had a chance to go hands-on with the most colorful model in the range. Its light blue, yellow, and black combination makes this Impetus CeramTech ZrO2 an immediate standout. It s also a great reminder of summer.I ll be honest; when I saw an overview of the new Impetus CeramTech ZrO2 range, the one version we got for review would not have been my immediate pick. E...
There was one particular Vulcain model that was missing from my Cricket collection - the late 50s calendar model with the updated 402 caliber. And even after I found one, what a challenge it was to bring it back to its original glory!Not counting all the weirdos that I ve presented over the last five years, a mechanical alarm will always be my most beloved of all the traditional watch complications. Nothing beats the moment when that rattling sound explodes out from under your cuff.The concept that has endured decadesI swear, almost every time, my Vulcain Cricket catches me unprepared, surprised, and confused for that millisecond until I realize it is just my alarm watch. Well, it only does...
This must sound familiar: you ve decided to splurge on a new watch, and the salesperson is putting it inside its enormous, fancy-looking box. It makes the watch look like it s worth even more than it already is, and it kind of feels nice to carry the weighty thing out of the shop. But then you arrive home, take the watch out of that box, store it somewhere, and never think about it again. So, how much does watch packaging actually matter?I ll go over a few examples below, and then I ll have my say on what I think would be the best way forward. But this article is also a request to you, dear Fratelli, to tell us what you think about current watch packaging. Make sure to leave your views down ...
Yes, pilots need sturdy instruments on their wrists that are easy to read, even in the most difficult circumstances. But that doesnt mean that their watches should be just functional. A watch that performs flawlessly in the cockpit should also shine elsewhere. That includes places where looks matter and style is appreciated. With that in mind, we started working on a pilots chronograph that would effortlessly combine functionality with style. The result is the Fratello Fortis Flieger F-43 Bicompax Umber Brown Capsule Edition, an everyday pilots watch that is both incredibly instrumental and phenomenally handsome. This is the first watch in the Fortis Fratello Capsule Collection. This wat...
One of my favorite releases of 2022 was the Atelier Holgur Fr?mand. This stylish dive watch was the debut model from the new Singapore-based brand. Atelier Holgur s founders Matthew de Bakker and Asbj?rn Simonen-Andersen were dedicated to creating a modern and handsome diver s watch that stood out from typical offerings. The Fr?mand turned out to be a fresh take on the genre that was as much at home in the water as on land. As a follow-up to last year s inaugural model, the new limited-edition Fr?mand Edition Fumee sees a variation of the watch with two gradient dials, making it look even chicer.As I explained in last year s introduction article of the Atelier Holgur Fr?mand, we see many new...
Welcome to another episode of Fratello On Air where we discuss our recent picks of the best watches under $5,000. We apologize for the late publishing of this week s episode, but travel is back in season. Get ready for another candid episode with our usual pre-topic banter! This podcast player is blocked because you did not accept marketing cookies. Change cookie settings Recently, Balazs and I contributed to a running topic on Fratello about the best watches under $5,000. Articles like this always generate a fair amount of feedback, which we greatly appreciate. We discuss our picks, some of the feedback, and how the industry has changed. In particular, some of our favorite brands are no...
You may know about the Emoji watch featuring a jigsaw-puzzle-inspired dial that set the watch community abuzz earlier this year. Following hot on the heels of that whimsical release was another, more sophisticated jigsaw creation, one in a very different league. A unique piece equipped with a tourbillon, its dial is not merely a multicolor motif but a true jigsaw of an exquisite miniature work of art. It is the Savanna Tourbillon Tiger by the upscale brand Louis Moinet, now contending for the Grand Prix dHorlogerie de Geneve (GPHG) 2023.The Savanna TourbillonLouis Moinet s Savanna Tourbillon collection is a homage to the wilderness of nature. The dial of each edition is conceived as a true j...
Its no secret that I have a soft spot for the intensely Japanese watches of Kurono Tokyo. But this year, I had a master plan that involved a rectangular Swiss piece. It did not involve diving deeper into the fascinating world of Japanese independent watchmaking. Then the Kurono Tokyo Grand Urushi Aoyama Edition got to me.To quote the title of a TED Talk, You dont actually know what your future self wants. And thats one of the widely unknown reasons that your New Years resolutions often fail. For me, it means that I have bought new watches this year, none of which are rectangular or a dressy Cartier. But it does involve my first non-indexed dial, and its a real conversation starter.Kurono Tok...
Today, we bring news of a truly attractive timepiece with the release of the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph. The somewhat plainly named watch is anything but boring, though. After all, it s made of one of our favorite materials - gold! The watch is meant to put a cap on the 60th anniversary of the seminal chronograph, and I think it does so in splendid fashion.I ve keenly watched TAG Heuer s recent releases, and, overall, I ve witnessed positive developments. Watches like the recent Monaco Night Driver or the Carrera Glassbox are attractive and offer strong technical specs for the price. Still, there are pieces like the recent Carrera Skipper that have left me wanting due to specific dial det...
Dont take this article too seriously. It s the result of a wacky brainstorm at Fratello HQ, a wild conversation sparked by the release of a Fortis watch last week. Yes, you guessed it - the N-42 Novonaut Chronograph. I have a young-classic B-42 Official Cosmonauts Chronograph in my modest collection, and the new Novonaut very much presents itself as an evolution of the original design made for Roscosmos, the Russian Space Agency. Now that Fortis is not cooperating with Roscosmos anymore and probably for other obvious reasons, the original name was ditched for a new one. The made-up name Novonaut sparked the conversation about debatable watch names and uncovered some real, umm, gems…The...
Last year, Parmigiani Fleurier introduced the Tonda PF Automatic 36mm, extending its PF range to those with slender wrists and women. This new, gender-neutral diameter was warmly received. The rose gold model, adorned with diamond indexes, even garnered the Women s Watch Prize at the 2022 edition of the Grand Prix d Horlogerie de Geneve. Deservedly, it earned the recognition for its exceptional design and craftsmanship.This year, the Fleurier-based manufacture synonymous with quiet luxury expands the series with two 36mm variations. The first model in two-tone steel and gold marks a debut and adds a fresh aesthetic to the collection. Conversely, the second model hails from last years rose go...
The sophomore effort from plucky British startup Studio Underd0g comes in the form of the field watch. Field watches are a tentpole category of timepieces emphasizing simplicity, robustness, usability, and a pining sense of adventure. Historically, there is a military connotation, but for the modern day, field watches meet the practical qualities of everyday, active lifestyles. With Studio Underd0gs track record of putting a typically fruity twist on its chronograph, will the brand s second model stay fresh?I ve gone on record stating that field watches are as exciting as watching grass grow. Admittedly, it was a flippant statement that applied to some egregiously dull executions of the styl...
