Have you always been interested in the Dutch brand Batavi, but none of its watches have ever convinced you? Well, in that case, the all-new Batavi Atelier might make you pull the trigger this time. Just like the rest of the watches in the brand s portfolio, the Atelier packs a lot of value for the money. And, of course, the designs feature some original colorways. The watch is a little more on the dressy side this time, but, especially on the bracelet, it still looks plenty sporty. Let s take a quick look at the all-new Batavi Atelier.By now, we know that the Dutch brand Batavi is all about delivering a lot of watch for the price. Not only that, but it s also famous for its original colorway...
Legibility - it s one of those terms that gets thrown around liberally in the watch world. A good watch should be easily legible. Otherwise, it fails to serve its primary purpose. In particular, tool watches are kept to a high standard here. But how is great legibility achieved in watch design, and what myths surrounding legibility deserve busting?As much as we love intricate designs that make us gaze at our wrists for minutes on end, at its core, a watch should be instantly legible. It is a topic that seems obvious, but I think it is worth exploring nonetheless. Lets get stuck in!Legibility as a design objectiveBefore anything else, lets have a look at what legibility in watches actually en...
However colorful or eclectic my collection is, the Chromachron color-time watch by Tian Harlan has never been on my wishlist. Sure, I know I have my fair share of weirdo watches, but who would have thought that one with no hands and, seemingly, no way to tell time would get a feature in #TBT? Well, here we are…Michal Pastier, a former colleague and now a friend of mine, is also one of the most creative minds I know. He is the founder of the competing advertising agency Zaraguza and a branding agency called GoBigname. What I didn t know about him until recently was that he also fell under the spell of vintage watches. Our paths crossed again, and I helped to source a Chromachron color-t...
Options. Who doesn t like to have options? That s exactly what Code41 offers you with its new NB24 Chronograph Edition 3. You now get the choice of two different case designs. The first is the trusted NativeDNA case that the brand used for the previous two iterations of the watch. New this time around, however, is the brand s Stratom case, which brings a completely new look to the successful chronograph. The new NB24 Stratom Chronograph Edition 3 will be a limited edition of 200 pieces. The brand also introduced a new orange color option for the watch. Time to find out more.The NB24 Chronograph has been a great success for Code41. With its technical look, the watch is a favorite among the br...
Who says you need tons of color options for watches? A. Lange & S?hne is the perfect proof that you don t. The brand offers carefully created limited color options for every model. A great example is the new Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar. With the introduction of the black and platinum model, the brand has added a third variant to the lineup that is quite distinct from the first two. That s how A. Lange & S?hne ensures great diversity within a small range of offerings. The latest addition is the Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar in platinum with a black dial, and the result is stylish.The Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar first debuted in 2021 when A. Lange & S?hne presented two different version...
Lex, RJ, and Laurits discuss the Blancpain Swatch Scuba Fifty Fathoms that was introduced on September 7th and went on sale two days later. Here at Fratello, the opinions are very mixed on the Blancpain Swatch release. Can we call the Scuba Fifty Fathoms successful? It doesn t seem to be as successful as the MoonSwatch, but that s not a big surprise to us.This podcast player is blocked because you did not accept marketing cookies. Change cookie settings This video is blocked because you did not accept marketing cookies. Change cookie settings Longines ref. 5760Wrist checkWe do a quick wrist check before we start talking about the Blancpain Swatch collaboration. Laurits is ...
Don t we have enough dive watches? No, we don t. We never have enough of them. Diving is a popular theme for developing and designing watches, and the watch community loves models dedicated to diving. But can the newly introduced Circula DiveSport Titanium Madame Jeanette stand out from the crowd? I think it can, and here s why.Let s be honest: the ability to use a dive watch as a diving instrument isn t its most important characteristic for most of us. However, the ingredients that go into the design of a dive watch often make it attractive - readability, robustness, ease of use, and, of course, water resistance. Let s take the Circula DiveSport Titanium by the hand through these key elemen...
Welcome to Fratello Minase. Have you been here before, or is this your first time with us? Last year, we brought you the Fratello Minase M-3 Very Peri, a very purple exclusive edition. This year, we changed the recipe and created a new watch. Not only did we change the color of the hand-painted dial, but we also took a different approach to finding the perfect strap. Please enjoy the Fratello Minase M-3 Nori Exclusive Edition, an incredibly versatile watch with the tastiest green dial youve ever seen.This marks our third project with Japanese watchmaker Minase. Our first was a Divido in 2021, and the second was, of course, the Fratello Minase M-3 Very Peri Exclusive Edition, a timepi...
Its been almost half a year since our last Vulcain review. But we love the brand, both vintage and modern, and it has something new to offer. On the 21st of September at 4:00 PM CEST, Vulcain will launch the new Nautical. This article will take a closer look at this beautiful and rare diver.While one can argue that beauty is subjective, the Vulcain Nautical is undoubtedly a rare diver. How many dive watches have you seen with a mechanical alarm? I m guessing not many. And why do you need a mechanical alarm diver in 2023? You dont, just like you dont need a dive watch in the age of dive computers. But that wont stop us from admiring the beauty of these timepieces.1961 to 2023The Vulcain Crick...
I have written about watches for several years now, and like most of you, I am more enamored by the pure craftsmanship than time-telling itself. Sure, a watch has a base function as an instrument. But we have everything from phones to coffee machines telling us how time flies. What makes my heart sing is the mix of time-honored traditions and high technology, and going behind the scenes in Geneva made it all clearer to me.To me, whats inside the case is almost more important than the actual function of a watch, not to mention the time it takes to finish and assemble and finish a piece of Haute Horlogerie. Even mid-range mechanical watches require a human watchmakers touch, and that is more f...
I don t know about you, but I wasn t immediately convinced when the Blancpain Swatch Bioceramic Scuba Fifty Fathoms Collection came out a week and a half ago. I noticed that my attention went more toward the hype around it than to the watches themselves. But then, last week at a press event in Barcelona, I sat next to Gregory Kissling, Vice President of Product at Omega, who was also heavily involved with the development of the Scuba Fifty Fathoms. What he told me during that dinner made me a fan of this new Swatch collaboration.So, while I was in Barcelona, I tried to get one at the city s Swatch boutique. I stood in (a short) line a couple of times before the shop opened but without any ...
We re continuing our series of articles with our favorite watches under a certain budget. We re slowly increasing the budget and have arrived at our favorite picks under $5,000. The rules are simple: pick three current watches under $5,000 and one old timepiece, be it vintage, neo-vintage, or relatively new but pre-owned. As always, the challenge is accepted. I have the honor of kicking things off for this new part of the series, one that will undoubtedly trigger plenty of debate. So here we go!Finding the best watches under $5,000 is a proper challenge. If you ask me, this is the most difficult budget. There are a lot of sensible choices but far fewer that make my heart sing. Having said th...
A watchmaker once told me that designing a chronograph movement is more challenging than other complications or mechanisms (including a tourbillon). We often take a chronograph movement for granted, but it is a beautiful example of microengineering. The Omega Speedmaster chronograph (not all Speedmasters are chronographs, by the way) is already an exciting watch, but some variations come with an additional complication.Speedmaster Perpetual Calendar ref. 3650.10 from 1991 - Image: LunarOysterSpeedmasters with additional complicationsIn this article, I will touch upon several Speedmasters that had complications on top of the chronograph mechanism. I will leave out the Speedmaster X-33 as the ...
As someone who regularly covers new Oris watch releases, it s clear that I have a strong affection for the brand. My interest in Oris stems from the Divers Sixty-Five from 2015. For Oris, this mid-century-inspired dive watch was crucial for the brand s revitalization. The Divers Sixty-Five retro revival spawned many variants, including the range s first chronograph in 2018. Fast-forward five years, and the chronograph returns to the fray. However, the new stainless steel watch case now has a 40mm diameter, measuring 3mm smaller than previous iterations.Oris has strengthened by releasing vintage-inspired models such as Divers Sixty-Five and Big Crown Pointer Date. Additionally, the consistent...
Fratello On Air returns, and while we planned to discuss yacht timers, we never got there! It s a fun episode where we discuss Andrew Grima Omega watches, Doxa, the new Tudor Pelagos FXD, and the SwatchPain. We got a bit carried away on some of the subjects, but we think you ll enjoy our talks about some interesting brands and details. Enjoy, and yes, we will come back to regatta watches soon! This podcast player is blocked because you did not accept marketing cookies. Change cookie settings Before recording today s episode, we were a bit concerned about having a good topic for the show. Well, we needn t have worried because we actually had to cut ourselves off after more than an hour! I...
Today, we ll delve into a special watch that has gone up for sale in Hong Kong. A Roger W. Smith Series 2 is our subject, and as we ll see, it s a very special prototype version. This is a slightly different topic than what we re used to, but I think it s highly worthwhile. After all, Smith s watches rarely come onto the market, and when they do, we get an opportunity to see a truly special piece.I ll start today s article on an available Roger W. Smith Series 2 with a few anecdotes. First, this watch was brought to my attention by Charlie Dunne at Wind Vintage, and I appreciate the heads-up. Normally, a watch that is on offer for a minimum of $1.15 million isn t in my wheelhouse, but this s...
First impressions dont always last. My parting reflections on the Maurice de Mauriac Rallymaster II couldnt be further removed from the initial impact it made. Last year saw the first Rallymaster, a 40-piece limited collaboration between Racquet magazine and Zrich-based watchmaker Maurice de Mauriac. The watch was a tennis-heavy design in pastel pink. This year, the doubles partners have teamed up again for the Rallymaster II, with a limited pre-order window coinciding with the dates of the US Open. The production numbers are now locked down, but weve had the chance to go hands-on with this piece. Although the initial unboxing was another surge of pale pink, in reality, its no more than a t...
Ah, the trusty leather watch strap. If you are like me, you have rolls full of straps for your beloved watches. The strap can make or break a watch, so you may find yourself going down the strap rabbit hole at some point. Not all watch straps are created equal, though, so it pays to have some basic knowledge about leather. And that is precisely what I aim to provide you with today, so buckle up!We will have a look at tanning and some of the more common leather types. I will not go into exotic leathers; that is a subject for another day. So, without further ado, lets get stuck in.Long before a rawhide becomes a watch strap: tanningLeather isnt just dried animal hide. Before you can use it, yo...
On the surface, this new Tudor Pelagos FXD model may appear to simply offer a new colorway. But as any diver worth their salt knows, it s what s below the surface that s truly worth seeing. To highlight the deeper significance of this launch, Tudor flew a select group of journalists out to Panama City Beach, Florida. That s far from Fratello s home in The Hague and Tudor s Le Locle HQ. But this coastal outpost on the edge of the Gulf of Mexico is a special location as it hosts the Naval Support Activity Panama City (NSA PC). Here, you can find the US Navy Experimental Diving Unit, the US Naval Diving & Salvage Training Center, not to mention the nearby Tyndall Air Force Base. These insti...
There s nothing like a bit of watch controversy. Nope, Im not talking about the polarizing Blancpain Swatch Fifty Sistems Nudibranch Scuba - I just cant get the name of that watch right. The watch that caused some brains to short-circuit at Fratello HQ was the Chanel J12 Cybernetic. The disruptive shape of the watch was perceived as if it were something alien. I stepped into the Chanel universe to try to establish a connection with the watch while having a coffee together.The J12 Cybernetic is a limited-edition watch from Chanels Interstellar capsule collection. This series of timepieces contains interpretations of Chanel s different watch models inspired by science fiction, space, and tim...
