You can start your Monday morning with all kinds of coffee - and all kinds of watches, for that matter. Do you prefer a powerful espresso, a strong but creamy flat white, or a chilled Frappuccino? Luckily, there s a watch out there to match each drink. First is a unique Panerai Radiomir Guido Panerai & Figlio PAM01346 that comes up for auction soon. Then theres the bright white TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Team Ikuzawa by Bamford. The most exotic one of the lot, though, is the IWC Big Pilot s Watch 43 Tourbillion Markus Bhler with its spinning turbine on the dial.Why are the best things (watches) in life so very often out of reach? Take this Panerai Radiomir Guido Panerai & Figli...
Today, I have the honor of picking my favorite watches under $5,000. The rules are clear: pick three watches under $5,000 from current brand catalogs and one pre-owned timepiece, be it vintage, neo-vintage, or relatively new but pre-owned. Jorg, Thomas, and Gerard already picked their favorites. Their lists show that Tudor is the absolute king of this price range, and they also already featured many of the other obvious choices. So that s why I ll try to come up with a few more out-of-the-box options today.Sure, brands like Tudor, Longines, and Breitling offer some very solid watches for under $5,000. But those watches are on the wrists of many people. Therefore, they are certainly not the m...
What happens when the tales of old, filled with mythical creatures and spine-tingling legends, dance upon the wrist in a display of ticking artistry? This Halloween, the age-old craft of watchmaking takes a spellbinding twist. IFL Watches, the mastermind behind these playful, evocative designs, brings forth a trio of custom, hand-painted timepieces in the form of the Halloween Collection.Let me paint this picture for you - three custom hand-painted Seiko 5 Sports watches, each one limited to 100 pieces. Excited much? As a quick disclaimer, these are not official Seiko watch launches. IFL Watches creates custom hand-painted dials and releases them in very limited quantities. Still, these Hall...
Long has the Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical reigned supreme as the go-to understated, affordable, and classically styled field watch. The line has seen iterations in many different forms, from automatic to quartz models, titanium cases, chronographs, day-dates, and many other options. There are a total of around 64 references in the Khaki Field lineup. Now, the brand introduces the latest addition to its signature collection - the Hamilton Khaki Field Expedition. Available in both 37mm and 41mm sizes and three different dial colors, the Expedition brings added functionality never previously available in the Khaki Field line. Additionally, a few aesthetic changes have been implemented to bot...
The chronograph is intended to do one thing and do it well - measure elapsed time. Depending on the watch, only a certain amount of unbroken time can be measured (60 minutes, 12 hours, etc.). However, chronographs do the job adequately, despite their design limitations. My issue is that it s all a little…humdrum. Cluttered dials, limited measuring capacity, and an earnest emphasis on the usefulness of chronographs have left the genre feeling anachronistic. It s the 21st century (and has been for a while). I want to see some chronos that defy expectations.I ve recently been on a bit of a chronograph love trip. From the Fratello Nivada Grenchen Racing Chronograph to my recent review of...
Welcome to another edition of Sunday Morning Showdown. With a very special Speedy Tuesday in Tokyo behind us, the team that went to Japan is returning to the offices. Two of the Fratello members who held down the fort while the others were traveling were Thomas and Jorg. This gave them the perfect chance to talk about potential options for this week s Sunday Morning Showdown and pick two personal favorites. In the end, both men agreed on a battle of affordable daily wearers that are among the best in class under $2K. Thomas picked the Formex Essence ThirtyNine, while Jorg picked the Straum Jan Mayen. Who will win this battle of the affordable spec monsters? Time to find out!Today s contestan...
It s a new day, and we have another entrant in the ever-popular integrated-bracelet game. The Certina DS-7 Powermatic 80 debuts today, and it provides another affordable option for those seeking to reach back into the 70s. It s also a Swatch Group product, and that equates to an unavoidable comparison to the standard-bearer in everyday watches with integrated bracelets, the Tissot PRX. How does it compare?Over the last several years, the Swatch Group has done an admirable job of revamping the bulk of its more affordable brands. Rado, Mido, Certina, Hamilton, and Tissot have all undergone significant changes for the better in my view. Whether this relates to retro pieces or a general upgrade...
The Oris Artelier collection holds a special place in my heart. The very first luxury watch I bought was an Oris Art Blakey limited edition from that same collection. I still wear it quite regularly and enjoy its bass-drum-inspired dial a lot. I think it came out simultaneously with the James Morrison Academy of Music limited edition at the end of 2019. And since then, it has been awfully quiet around the brand s Artelier collection - until now!As Ben said in his introduction article for the Artelier S, the brand s Aquis, Big Crown, and Divers Sixty-Five models are much more popular. On its website, Oris also puts the Artelier collection last when presenting all its different lines. I feel t...
I have tried several Submariner watches over the years, from vintage to modern (ceramic). Again and again, though, Ive concluded that the Submariner is not my thing. I prefer the Sea-Dweller. Whether a 1970s reference 1665 or one of the models up to 2017, the Sea-Dweller is the model for me. However, my encounter with this Submariner 16618 with lapis lazuli dial changed my opinion on this generation of Submariners. Submariner 16618 Lapis LazuliRecently, we got our hands on a large collection of Submariner watches from one of our readers. Among them was this 1990s Submariner 16618 with a lapis lazuli dial. Now, the 16610 is my least favorite Submariner reference. Somehow, the dial of the ...
Praesidus has quickly made a name for itself as a producer of great modern remakes of classic military watches. Not too long ago, I had the pleasure of trying out the wonderfully weird A-5 UDT. This time, I had a chance to check out the brand-new Rec Spec MACV-SOG. Behind this new model is a tale of how Seiko dress watches bought at local markets turned into field watches during the war in Vietnam. As it turned out, they even proved to be excellent watches for the job. With the new Praesidus Rec Spec MACV-SOG, this story comes back to life.Let s start this review with the background of the MACV-SOG (or the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam C Studies and Observations Group, as it is known ...
Another Friday, another Top 5! Last week saw us picking out our favorite blacked-out watches that have come out recently. There seems to be a lot of love for blacked-out watches, which is great. This week, we will focus on recently released field watches. We have seen several new releases with great variations and different styles, but they are still very recognizable as the functional field watches that many of us love.With their origin in military trench watches, field watches were developed to be highly functional military timepieces that should do one thing very well - tell time accurately in the many conditions that soldiers faced. To do this, they needed to be water- and dustproof. Add...
Welcome to this week s episode of Fratello Talks. Today, we re talking all about Japanese watches. What makes them special, brands we enjoy, and why they keep the Swiss on their toes. We cover a broad range of brands and price points available from Japan. From the humble Seiko to high-end brands like Credor and Minase. Whether you are just starting your journey with watches, or you are a seasoned enthusiast chances are you ve already experienced the charm of Japanese watchmaking.We are also inspired by the timely launch of our second limited edition with Minase; the M-3 Nori, which is available for pre-order now on the Fratello shop. If you want to get your hands on a fantastic example of Ja...
A long time ago, my watch journey began with dive watches. I was lucky to grow feet in the water, and I loved everything related to the sea. Plus, Ive always been obsessed with watches, so the decision to buy divers was a no-brainer. Many of my watch friends own dive watches. Three Fratello writers GADA watches are divers. And much of the outstanding watch photography that populates Instagram is of dive watches. Moreover, we adore vintage and neo-vintage examples and, more specifically, skin divers. Though theres a lot to love there, I find that the Marin Instruments Skin-Diver offers something a little different. It is a skin diver that doesnt look like a vintage one. In other words, its a...
I have no stats on this, but I d bet that round and roundish watches beat square and rectangular watches in sales by a ratio of 9:1. And I m just as guilty as the next man of not buying one yet, even if it s only due to laziness on my part. But I ve had a change of heart, and in fact, it s hip to be square in 2023.Square or rectangular watches wear larger than their diameter suggests, especially OGs like the Monaco and Nomos Tetra. This is wise to remember in our world of buying online and focusing on diameters and lug-to-lug measurements. But my point is that 90-degree angles can be sexy, and they will stand out in a horological crowd packed with retro diver s watches.Cartier Tank Fran?aise...
The 1972 Porsche Design Chronograph 1 is revered as one of the great racing chronographs. It may not enjoy the mainstream adulation of a Speedmaster or a Daytona, but it is certainly a niche icon. Any designer would be lucky to have a watch like this in his/her portfolio. But F.A. Porsche was no ordinary designer. Before he drew the Chronograph 1, he already had a certain little sports car to his name. One, in fact, that bears his family name - the Porsche 911.I have enjoyed the combination of a limited-edition Porsche Design Chronograph 1 and a 911 before?on the Grossglockner in Austria. This time, however, I would spend more time scrutinizing the regular-production model of the watch. So I...
After seeing the new Zodiac Worn & Wound Super Sea Wolf Laser Tag limited editions, I immediately thought, Worn & Wound did it again! At the end of last year, Worn & Wound released the super cool Nivada Grenchen Worn & Wound Chronomaster Valjoux 72, a special watch housing that legendary chronograph movement. But aside from the caliber, what was just as remarkable to me was the aesthetic of that watch. It showed that an unusually cool combination of colors changed the look of the Chronomaster completely. Now the Worn & Wound team has done the same with the Zodiac Worn & Wound Super Sea Wolf Laser Tag Limited Editions. These two watches look bonkers and fun at th...
While the general watch-collecting population hunts MoonSwatches or Scuba Fifties, I am digging into a quartz Breitling Colt from the late 80s that nobody seems to care about. But they should! Let me tell you why.I am not on any medication, and I mean it. The quartz Breitling Colt Military PVD ref. 80180 is one of the best watches I bumped into recently. It wasn t on my radar, and I didn t know it existed. It came to me unexpectedly, and the second I turned it over twice in my hand, I knew it was a finely balanced watch.The first encounterOne day, I visited a friend who showed me his collection of about 50 watches, all nicely sitting in different boxes for six or eight pieces each. The coll...
Very often, watch brands introduce models that make us shake our heads. Whether its the diameter of the watch, a four-thirty date window, or a case thickness exceeding 11mm, enthusiasts are ready to rumble with the watch brands CEO, designer, marketing director, and almost everyone involved. I would not be surprised if many critical watch enthusiasts would like to take their position instead and show them how it is done.The Omega Aqua Terra Shades collection: not everyone s favorite here, but they sellWe are a critical audienceMost watch brands are tone-deaf to salty comments on their Instagram accounts, watch forums, or in the comment sections of websites like ours. Watch enthusiasts, inclu...
In our series of articles highlighting our favorite watches within a certain budget, we have arrived at watches under $5,000. The rules have carried over from the previous installments: pick three watches under $5,000 from current brand catalogs and one pre-owned timepiece, be it vintage, neo-vintage, or relatively new but pre-owned. A higher budget doesn t make it easier per se. The amount becoming more and more substantial requires more solid choices and might demand new criteria.Let s not wander too far from the article s subject, but when spending $5,000, it s not enough to merely like a watch. Relevance also plays a role. Are you spending your money wisely? Whatever that means, you shou...
If you know anything about Cuervo y Sobrinos, it s probably that the brand has Cuban heritage. While currently located in Switzerland, the brand s Caribbean roots give Cuervo y Sobrinos an interesting story to tell. On top of that, we see those roots perfectly integrated into the watches and the packaging. But the origins of the brand go even beyond Cuba. Ramn Fernandez Cuervo, the brand s founder, was originally from Asturias in northern Spain. Now the brand returns to its Iberian roots for the new Historiador Historic Endurance. The classic chronograph was designed for the Iberian Historic Endurance racing series and features a sleek racing-green dial. Time to find out more.Cuervo y Sobri...
