Those of you who follow me on Instagram might have seen that mid-February was a special time for me. Thanks to Tissot, I was able to scratch one thing off my bucket list and attend the 2023 NBA All-Star Weekend in Salt Lake City, Utah. As someone who grew up as a fan of basketball and the NBA, words can t explain how extremely unique these few days were for me. Funnily, though, I felt right at home, partly thanks to the fantastic organization of the NBA but also thanks to the Tissot US team (you know who you are).This article will be a bit of everything - a report on a press trip, a photo essay, some watch spotting, and a bit of basketball talk. From the feedback that Mike and I get on our F...
Welcome back, Fratelli! Today, I m back with the second half of my guide to independent and microbrand GMT watches. As I said in Part One, it wasn t possible to include every option out there in this list. Instead, I ve chosen to highlight some of the best that I ve had a chance to experience in person. The amount of options available on the market today is overwhelming, so I hope this guide will help you navigate the sea of GMTs.If you missed Part One, I highly recommend that you read it here. In it, I covered eight watches that utilized either the Seiko NH34 or Soprod C125 movement. This article will feature eight more watches powered by the exciting new Miyota 9075 traveler s GMT or the S...
G-Shock celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. It s hard to believe that the brand has been around for four decades, providing us with some of the most remarkable timepieces in watch history. G-Shock has evolved into a cultural phenomenon that is so much more than just a watch brand. It is part of street culture, movies, and fashion, but most of all, G-Shock plays a part in so many of our lives. Whether basic and sturdy or colorful and cutting edge, there is a G-Shock for everyone. Time to look back at some of the brand s highlights of the last 40 years.So many great brands and products start with a very simple idea arising from a very functional need. Its a well-known story that Casio e...
Finally, we get to talk about dial design! Once we finished the case and bracelet, we used our momentum to continue with the dials. As with the case, the desired design direction revealed itself quite quickly. We then took our sweet time to iterate on it and fine-tune it until it felt just right. In this installment of Building A Watch Brand, I am happy to share some of the decision-making involved in dial design. My original dial input has largely survived the scrutiny of my designer, Max Resnick. He did, as I ve come to expect, lift it several levels higher, so I can unashamedly say I love the result. I hope you do too! Lets get into it.The watch has also received a reference - Type 37HW. ...
The Streamliner by H. Moser & Cie is undoubtedly one of the most recognizable watch designs currently out there. In a sea of generic watches, the Steamliner instantly stands out from the crowd. The unique combination of the case, the bracelet, and the dial design make this a true original. And it has seen quite a few different iterations in the past couple of years. The great success of the Streamliner started with the amazing Flyback Chronograph. But the follow-up, the time-only Streamliner Centre Seconds Matrix Green, showed the true power and glory of the Streamliner s design for many watch fans. That glory now gets a new chapter with the stunning Streamliner Centre Seconds Smoked Sal...
If you re a brand like Breguet, you don t have to update or completely redesign your watches every couple of years. It s a brand that is very much about tradition, and it doesn t have to comply with the latest trends. Its designs are rather timeless and very much on the classic side. However, every once in a while, it s important to stay relevant and also update the movement inside a watch. So after almost 20 years, it was time to update one of Breguet s most important watches, the Quantieme Perpetuel from the Classique collection.I m a fan of Breguet s Classique line. I own a time-only watch, reference 5907, from that very same collection. I very much appreciate the rather simple but iconic...
Off-the-shelf stuff - how do you feel about it? Well, it has its advantages. I mean, a product thats available immediately and doesn t need to be specially made to suit a particular purpose comes in most handy. But is an off-the-shelf product a luxury product? Let me rephrase that and include something relevant for Fratello readers. Is a watch made by a brand that produces roughly a million watches per year a luxury watch? It most definitely is an off-the-shelf watch that wasnt specially made to suit your wishes. And isnt personalization a crucial element of enjoying luxury? The restomod is the ultimate feelgood watch that offers both familiarity and individuality. And it s luxurious in ever...
Currently, RR Auction is hosting its Space Exploration and Aviation auction. Ending on April 20th, 2023, the auction includes several watches that belonged to astronauts and cosmonauts. Among them are three 18K gold Speedmaster Professional Tribute to Astronauts watches. This is your chance to own a lovely horological piece of space-exploration history, assuming your pockets are deep enough.Just last year, NASA astronaut Wally Schirra s gold Speedmaster BA145.022-69 fetched US$1.9 million (including buyer s premium) from the same auction house. This might have triggered the other owners of the astronaut-owned gold Speedmaster Tribute to Astronauts BA145.022-69 to offer theirs for auction as ...
There is a reason that Fratello released a collaborative effort with Czapek in 2021: quite frankly, we love the brand (a lot!). And the Antarctique has played an instrumental role in that love, thats for sure. On its own, it is a sharp take on the hotter-than-July integrated-bracelet sports watch, but it has also proven itself an excellent vehicle for lateral projects. The open-worked Antarctique Rattrapante that Czapek launched in 2021 has been a milestone in the collection, but perhaps that stands to fall. With the Czapek Antarctique Collective P.04 Lanikai, searingly bright blue minimalism lifts the watch to a whole new level of cool.Collective Horology is itself a near-mythical collect...
Tissot has been making waves over the past two years with the PRX series. As some of you might know, I own a PRX Powermatic 80, and I love that watch. In my opinion, it is easily the best watch for less than $1,000. But despite the great success of the PRX collection, the brand is definitely not a one-trick pony. With the Seastar and Gentleman collections, Tissot has two more modern lines that offer stylish daily wearers that will not break the bank. The Heritage collection offers timepieces that are great homages to classic Tissot pieces. And when it comes to the more classically styled watches, Tissot offers multiple options. One of them is the Chemin des Tourelles collection. Tissot recen...
Fratello On Air returns after a bit of a layoff, and we discuss a number of things, including the new IWC Ingenieur. We re glad to be back with you, and we hope you enjoy today s candid show! This podcast player is blocked because you did not accept marketing cookies. Change cookie settings Folks, we re sorry that we ve been away for so long, but vacation, travel, and visitors have gotten in the way. Now, though, we re here and ready to discuss all sorts of topics. The new IWC Ingenieur is the greatest focus, but we talk about loads of other subjects. We kick it all off with some news about travel, a pair of game-worn Jordans, New Era MLB hats, and a visit to the mall in Boca Raton.Handg...
Scottish novelist James Matthew Barrie famously wrote, Dreams do come true, if only we wish hard enough. By his logic, it would seem that many a watch enthusiast wished hard enough for a sweet-spot-sized successor to Seiko s famous SKX dive watch. Two weeks ago today, Seiko introduced the new 38mm Seiko 5 Sports SKX Sports Style references SRPK29, SRPK31, SRPK33, and SRPK35. And judging by your reactions so far, this was indeed a wish come true. My wish of seeing these in the metal was also granted mere days after the watches were announced. So now I can share my impressions of these 38mm spiritual successors to one of the most ubiquitous divers of recent times. But other than their case sha...
What if watch enthusiasts were the primary target audience? My previous article on rising prices ruffled some feathers. Almost all traditional watch brands seem to be chasing ever-higher segments. And from the stream of comments from you, Fratelli, we could see that the watch enthusiast community does not wildly appreciate it. It raised a question for us: what if certain brands stepped off the bandwagon and focused purely on the aficionados?Of course, this is easy to judge from afar. We all feel we know best, but in the end, most watch brands have capable leaders making clever, substantiated choices. But sometimes you just wonder, what if?Watch enthusiasts as the target audienceI alluded to ...
There are 5.4 million people living in Norway, and the country s most successful movie, Fl?klypa Gran Prix (or The Pinchcliffe Grand Prix), has sold 5.5 million tickets since its release in 1975. The wrong conclusion is that every Norwegian has seen the movie that features the outrageous Il Tempo Gigante race car. But it is true that when the Von Doren Il Tempo Gigante Automatisk Kronograf arrived in the office, Laurits, our in-house Dane - I know, I know, hes not Norwegian, but at least hes Scandinavian - jumped for joy. Up in the Nordics, the stop-motion-animated movie made an enormous impact. Lets see if the tribute watch did too.The twinkle in Lauritss eye and the joyful way he talked ab...
At least for me, the new Perpetual 1908 was one of the biggest surprises at Watches and Wonders this year. Everybody knew that the Cellini line wasn t the blockbuster hit it was supposed to be from the very beginning. But I don t think many people suspected to completely discontinue the collection. As usual, people were more focused on predicting the next stainless steel sports watch that people would get waitlisted for. And yes, there were some new sports watches this year, but the one release that really captivated me was the Perpetual 1908.Not many people expected ?to launch a watch like this. If I had to guess, I d say probably just as few people actually bought a watch from that disc...
I bet it would be a hit if Tissot decided to relaunch these jet-turbine-like Visodate desk clocks. Dear Tissot, you re welcome.When Nacho texted me the other day to ask for an idea for this column, I didn t feel like I wanted to see another watch re-edition. I don t want to say I am fed up with them, but I instead decided to look into my archive folder to see if there wasn t anything more exciting to surprise you with. And here we are. It didn t take long until I bumped into another constant on my bucket list, Tissot s jet-turbine-inspired electronic desk clock.Image: @emeister on Omega ForumsThe potential of a desk clockWatches used to be tools first and foremost. But since we now have all ...
For our Sunday Morning Showdown this week, we will feature another new release from Watches and Wonders 2023. IWC s big introduction for this year was the new Ingenieur. With the revamped version of this illustrious watch, the Schaffhausen brand brings back a fan favorite. Finally, the Genta Ingenieur returns to the modern sports watch arena. Will it be a hit? That remains to be seen, but Jorg is fighting for it this week.In the other corner of the ring, Lex is backing the Zenith Defy Skyline that debuted last year. The watch has garnered its fair share of fans for its quality and design, but some people have criticized it for being derivative of Genta s icons. Does it stand a chance against...
It s no secret that I am a big fan of Isotope s Hydrium series. So whenever the brand releases a new addition to it, I am all eyes and ears. For the new Hydrium, Isotope owner Jose Miranda has a special trick up his sleeve. He combines the futuristic aesthetic of the Hydrium series with a NASA look to result in a watch that looks like it could be on the wrist of astronauts. Somehow the combination of elements results in another standout release from the London-based brand. Time to find out more about the Hydrium NASA that has been officially approved by NASA.It s been a little over a year since I got to witness the magic of the Isotope Hydrium series with the HydriumX Will Return. The watch ...
There is something transcendentally appealing about watches worn by people performing incredible feats. The Speedmaster, a watch worn by the astronauts who set foot on the Moon, is a familiar example. A more contested case is s association of the Explorer to the famous 1953 British expedition to the summit of Everest, a credit which should likely go to the Smiths watches alleged to have been worn by the expedition members. And speaking of Everest, the Certina DS-2 Chronograph Automatic watches I m looking at today have quite the tale tied to the vintage timepiece that inspired them. This time, it s not about the ascent but the descent. Yuichiro Miura s 1970 skiing descent of the world s hig...
Cartier s watches have several signature design features, as we know. There are, to name a few, the distinctive shapes and beautiful crowns, but my favorite are the elongated and stylish Roman numerals. The new Cartier Santos-Dumont XL watches that debuted during Watches and Wonders look like they are a true celebration of those very same numerals. Each version has a distinct case material, which pairs with a corresponding red, green, or blue mineral for the numerals. These watches already looked very attractive on paper, but in person, they really came to life.The Cartier Santos-Dumont made its first appearance in 1904. At the time, Louis Cartier created it for his Brazilian friend Alberto ...
