It is a surprisingly cold summer night in Malm?, Sweden, probably because of the mist hanging over the Baltic port town. You are waiting for the ferry to take tourists and locals off to the northern German city of Lbeck. Glancing down at your watch to note the time, the trusty Certina DS-2 tells you the ferry should be coming into port in a matter of minutes. Its silvery dial glistens under the low-hanging streetlight at the dockyard.The value of vintage CertinaIt is scenes like this that I envision when I think about vintage Certina watches. When it comes to humble yet very well-made watches, Certina is one of the first brands that come to mind (alongside names like Tissot, Seiko, and Long...

Another Friday, another Top 5! In this series, we take one watch or watch series and choose our five favorite references ever produced. Today, it s time for the last of three articles on the Seiko 5 line. Last week, I focused on our favorite Seiko 5 Sports limited editions ever produced. The result was a colorful list of Seiko 5 Sports references that show the great diversity of the line. But this week, we ll have a look at vintage Seiko 5 models. These watches are both great first vintage pieces and sought-after models by collectors. It s time to look at the top five vintage Seiko 5 references ever produced.After two lists with modern Seiko 5 Sports models, it was about time to go vintage. ...

The Air and Space Museum is located within Paris-Le Bourget, Europes leading business airport, and it was the perfect venue for the introduction of the new Breguet Type 20 and Type XX watches. Two massive Ariane rockets, a gigantic Boeing 747 jumbo jet, and an even bigger Airbus A380 dominate the scenery. Its inside the terminal building with its elegant Art Deco architecture that the worlds of Breguet watches and flying machines come together. But after walking past several Breguet creations and seeing the exhibition of three generations of military Type 20 and civilian Type XX and XXI timepieces, I saw that the fourth and latest generation was absent. I needed to be patient until much late...

I have probably given the Porsche Design Chronograph 1 the best possible chance of impressing me. I tested it in its natural environment, a Porsche 911. And then Porsche let me loose with that watch/car combination on the Grossglockner-Hochalpenstrasse, the natural environment of the 911. Admittedly, I am not the biggest fan of press trips. Some may look glamorous, but they often involve a ton of waiting and awkward conversations. But this one, I must say, could have been worse - a lot worse.Join me on a pacy drive from the Porsche Design headquarters in Zell am See to the new Mankei drivers hideout on the Grossglockner.Image: Grossglockner.atThe Grossglockner-HochalpenstrasseLet me start by...

The answer to these questions is probably - spoiler alert - to earn money. But apart from that, what do brands typically expect when they launch new collections or additions to their portfolio? Yes, sure, in the end, it s all about selling more of their products, but there can be different underlying motives as to why brands release so many watches.In the realm of luxury watches, with a seemingly never-ending stream of new timepieces hitting the market, enthusiasts, and collectors are spoiled for choice. Many renowned watch brands consistently release a plethora of models, leaving us wondering why they maintain such a fast-paced production schedule. In this article, I ll explore the reasons ...

In this week s episode of Fratello Talks, Nacho, RJ, and Thomas discuss the matter of in-house movements. What is an in-house movement? Which brands produce/use them? And how much do they matter to the guys when buying a watch? If you want the answers to these questions, listen to the episode below. It s a hot and much-discussed topic among our audience.This podcast player is blocked because you did not accept marketing cookies. Change cookie settings Wrist check!Before we jump into the discussion, it s time for a wrist check. We start with Thomas, who is wearing a 3D-printed model/prototype of his VPC Type 37HW. You can read about the first steps for the fledgling brand and its debut pr...

Lets face it, collaborations are very popular in the watch world. Brands ranging from micros to historical Swiss household names join forces with clothing companies, organizers of vintage car races, or real-life adventurers. Each watch born from these collaborations is unique, but when our good friends at ADPT (a subsidiary of Worn & Wound) and Vero (an American independent brand) do a collab? My, oh my, we are in for a treat! ADPT makes colorful and playful all-purpose watches and Vero distinctive tool watches. The two entities decided to create the ultimate summer watch that pairs a unique color scheme with robust specifications. This winning combo results in a watch like none I ve eve...

Youve probably seen the news on the Frankenstein Speedmaster CK2915 that fetched 3.3 million US dollars. It was, supposedly, an all-authentic, first-generation Omega Speedmaster in impeccable condition with a tropical dial. It fetched the highest amount ever as it was Omega s destiny to have it for the brand s museum in Biel, Switzerland. Or so it seemed…It must have been devastating to find out the watch was a put-together - a Frankenstein watch. This news has been all over social media in the past few days after Bloomberg reported on it based on an in-depth article in the Swiss newspaper Neue Zrcher Zeitung. However, if?youre a bit deeper into watches, you might have read the excell...

I was hunting down the Tissot ref. 40528 with a pulsation bezel for a few years. You either can t find them at all, or you find them with chewed-up dials and broken bezels. I got lucky about two years ago.?I remember it quite well because I won the auction just a few days before my son was born. The watch was listed at an Italian auction house. This particular example got under my skin because of its consistent wear and honest condition. As you ll see below, there was dirt around the edge of the bezel and the pushers, so the watch undoubtedly saw some real life. What I liked the most was that it was not worn beyond the thin line where the watch becomes too tired. Judge for yourself how my Ti...

Today, Ulysse Nardin introduces a new azure colorway for its Diver Net and Diver X Skeleton models. If, like me, you re unfortunate enough to have experienced a short-lived streak in the cloud computing industry, the word Azure will remind you of the Microsoft platform. However, if you remained untainted by this association (until now), you ll likely think of a particular coastal area in the south of France, or even a lovely bright blue shade of clear skies. For Ulysse Nardin the it s latter. It s this attractive shade that the brand has applied to two of its dive watches. Their release today is no coincidence, as June 8th is World Ocean Day.The brand s relationship with the world s oceans c...

Is it too soon to be nostalgic about the early 2000s? The turn of the millennium brought about the digital revolution with the onset of the iPod, broadband, and social media. The evolution of technology continues to shape our lives today, but the advanced acceleration makes devices from 20 years ago seem antiquated. Just hold an original iPhone in your hand and compare it to the latest model, and it s hard to believe it wasn t that long ago. The tech era also inspired many of the traditional products of the time, with futuristic shapes and forward-thinking designs appearing everywhere. An early example of the 2000s Matrix-style aesthetic is the Seiko Sportura Kinetic Chronograph, featuring a...

In 2019, the Seiko 5 Sports line was revived. Since then, weve seen loads of releases, and several have looked back upon the brands historical catalog. Today, in celebration of the Seiko 5 Sports 55th anniversary, we get four retro releases. Well spend most of our time, however, on one of the models because its something different and very refreshing.Yes, it was 2019 when Seiko decided to bring back the Seiko 5 Sports line. I recall this well because I was sitting by the pool in Cyprus when the email hit my inbox. Here was the replacement for the much-loved SKX series - sort of. Regardless, I sent a quick WhatsApp to RJ, and moments later, I was cranking out an article on the 20+ variants th...

Grail watches, complete collections, exit watches - are these ever actually attained? I attained mine, or I think I did. Aside from still needing to sell off a few unloved pieces languishing in the drawer, with my most recent acquisition, I felt the sweet relief of the watch bug leaving me. I have the watches I want, and I don t want more, I felt. I even pitched an article about it, which you re reading now. The trouble is, I ve since seen a watch I want. So the question is: is there a difference between wanting and wanting to own? Furthermore, is a collection considered complete when it s complete for the time being or complete forever? Because future Thomas is unpredictable and probably ir...

All right, the moment is here. My time has finally come to choose and tell you about my go anywhere, do anything watch. I ve tried to postpone this decision because I feel it s a very difficult one to make. After all, I feel like different occasions ask for a different watch on the wrist. That s exactly why I and so many others don t own just one but various types of watches. But if I had to choose my one and only GADA watch, it would be my very versatile Cartier Santos Galbee XL reference 2823.The other watch in my collection that I could ve gone for was the Explorer 114270. And as it was so hard to choose between these two watches, I even asked you, dear Fratelli, to help me out. But the ...

Over the past couple of months, we have seen quite a few new Casio G-Shock introductions that celebrate the 40th anniversary of the brand. It s been great to see the creativity in all of these new watches. But in the end, it s all about the biggest icons that the brand has produced that make for the greatest anniversary models. For this special Remaster Black series, G-Shock came up with a very cool concept, releasing four of its biggest icons in stealthy black versions with the reference numbers of the 49 most important G-Shock models stamped on the strap. These four models offer a great timeline of 40 years of G-Shock and might just be the best anniversary models that have been released ye...

Those of you who follow me on Instagram (@ferenczibazs) or listen to the Fratello on Air podcast know that my Ming 17.09 journey is very well documented. I love the watch, especially since Mike showed me his collection. After riding the vintage wave for many years, I began to develop an itch for new watches. Ultimately, I boiled down my picks to two models, the Ming 17.09 being the second. If it weren t for the podcast, getting this watch would have been much more challenging, but in the end, I scored it. Let me explain how.You need to know the whole story to understand the journey and how I ended up here. As a side note, this is probably my most documented watch purchase ever. But it s alre...

Bad watches dont exist anymore. Any modern watch from a reputable maker will perform decently and survive everyday life. Does that mean that we can buy watches worry-free, or are there still things to avoid? In todays article, I want to explore some misconceptions about quality, and in the process, we may find ourselves being a little overcritical sometimes.Were not talking about quality in the sense of finishing or exotic materials. Rather, we are talking about the build quality that determines whether a watch can handle daily life.Bad watches dont exist anymoreAs a former vintage dealer, I know many people who wear nothing but 50-to-60-year-old watches (well, yes, and clothes too). They do...

While I was off on holiday a week and a half ago, RJ and the editorial team decided to tackle the topic of go anywhere, do anything (GADA) watches. Now that I m back from my go anywhere, do anything scenario, I feel I m more than prepared to share with you both my definition of the term and my GADA watch itself. When it comes to the latter, let s not beat around the bush. It was only ever going to be my Omega Seamaster Professional 300M ref. 2254.50.00. It s my latest purchase and a watch that has been enjoying a six-month (nearly) exclusive honeymoon on my wrist. Other than the watches I ve worn for my duties as a watch journalist and the occasional (yet rare) times when I ve worn another o...

For some of you, Breguet is most famous for its Classique collection or perhaps even the Tradition line, which debuted in 2005. However, for many others, its the Type 20 (or Type XX) that sings to them most when talking about Breguet watches. The French Air Force commissioned this chronograph in the early 1950s, and it has won the hearts of numerous enthusiasts since.Seventy years ago, the French Air Force needed a chronograph wristwatch for its pilots. A watch was an important piece of equipment for calculating remaining fuel and flight time, doing specific maneuvers, and so on. These intense mid-air operations required an accurate watch with a chronograph complication. The French Air Force...

Before social media became a platform for watch enthusiasts and collectors, we hung out on some of the (many) watch forums online. At some point, Omega Forums arose, using a very user-friendly interface for its members to participate in watch-related discussions. Although the name implies that it s about Omega, the site also hosts forums for fans of Longines, , Zenith, Seiko, Universal Geneve, and others.I thought it was about time to interview co-founder Ashley Budgen of Omega Forums. I ve met him on two occasions. The first time was 10 years ago during a Speedy Tuesday event in the Netherlands, and the second time was during a Speedy Tuesday event in Singapore in 2019. Ashley is a wonderfu...