Tudor has officially moved out! For decades, Tudor has shared s Geneva headquarters. It was long overdue for the brand to have a dedicated HQ and production facility. After several years in the making, this Friday, Tudor officially opened the doors to its new manufacture in Le Locle. This big news comes just a couple of days before Watches and Wonders, where the brand will unveil its much-awaited novelties for the year. It s crystal clear that Tudor has been on a roll in recent years. Ever since the Black Bay Fifty-Eight took the watch world by storm, blazing the trail for a shift towards smaller watches, the brand has done nothing but establish itself as a key player, especially among uppe...

Chrono24, the largest worldwide marketplace for luxury watches, launched a Watch Collection tool back in 2017. It allows you to keep track of your collection and gives you an indication of the current market value of your watches. Thus far, over 1.3 million watch enthusiasts have added their watches to the Watch Collection tool, resulting in a total of 3.7 million watches with a value of $46.6 billion. But wait, there s more.Watch Collection tool - for investors or collectors?In the last few years, we ve seen a huge demand for , Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, and so on, to a point that it became less fun collecting watches from those brands. Not for everyone, of course, especially those wh...

The Fratello team will be in Geneva from March 26th to April 1st to bring you the latest news on releases from Watches and Wonders 2023. This year marks only the second time that this exhibition is physically available for the press, and well be there to show you the latest from all your favorite brands. So if you want all the information on the latest releases from the watch world s biggest brands, Fratello is the place to be! Starting Monday morning, we ll begin to break the news on the year s most anticipated releases.Unlike last year, Watches and Wonders 2023 will open its doors to the public with a two-day In The Salon event towards the show s end. The Watches and Wonders In The City ev...

Another Friday, another Top 5! In this series, we take one classic watch and choose our five favorite references ever produced. Four of these references will be based on the historical importance of the specific watch in the grand scheme of things. Though there may be some overlap, its not a question of which references are the most collectible or of the highest value on the market. The fifth pick is our Fratello favorite that considers the current market price and collectability, potentially making it a sleeper reference. As such, the last pick could be described as our wild card. This week, we ll take a look at the Seiko Turtle. What are the best references in the history of this famous Se...

Considered Louis Erards flagship collection, the Excellence welcomes a new model to showcase the heritage brands highly popular pursuit in metiers dart collaborations. In a limited edition of only 99 pieces comes the Excellence Marqueterie boasting a micro-marquetry dial in four shades from two types of wood. Painstakingly handcrafted with surgical precision by renowned artisan Bastien Chevalier, the marquetry dial comprises 70 elements housed inside a 42mm polished steel case.A new phase for Louis ErardFounded in 1929, Louis Erard saw its most recent revival in 2003 and has been under the strategic direction of Manuel Emch (former Jaquet Droz and Romain Jerome CEO) since 2019. The Swiss ind...

After January, Watch Strap Review took a break. As you might have seen (or heard if you tune in to Fratello On Air), I ve been busy with other things, including our new Fratello Nivada Grenchen Racing Chronograph watches. But I m back with another brand, this time from France. Atelier Romane has been on my radar for a while now. So I contacted the folks there, and they were happy to support this article. It took us time to get into gear, but finally, I m ready to talk about Atelier Romane and its fantastic leather goods.Atelier Romane has tons of designs in stock if you are looking for a watch case or roll. But this time, I m only going to focus on the companys versatile selection of leath...

Blue, black, silver panda, reverse panda, and salmon dials in an authentic re-edition with a 38mm case… Will the Vulcain Chronograph 1970 s get your attention?I stopped keeping track of re-editions, and I suggest that you stop counting too. They keep coming, which implies that the market is not overfed with them. What really puzzles my mind is the question of why one single car manufacturer hasn t released at least one of its ultimate car designs as a perfect reproduction - I m talking old-body curves with a new engine inside. Just for the fun of it, I would like to see some 1960sC1970s Alfa Romeo Giulia GTVs, Porsche 911s, or BMWs come back and observe what they would do to the brands...

Fratello On Air is back again this week, and although we are late, we are here! This episode features several topics, including a new Vulcain chronograph, the Speedmaster bracelet, TrueDome crystals, and small watches. It s a conversation you won t want to miss! This podcast player is blocked because you did not accept marketing cookies. Change cookie settings We struggled with German Wi-Fi this week and are coming to you a few days later than normal. Thankfully, this episode was largely problem free. Three more days gave us the time to add some more thoughts, and we bring you a varied discussion, highlighting the new Vulcain chronograph and some good vintage discussion in general. We ho...

Love or hate it, the MoonSwatch certainly stirred things up this year. Here at Fratello, most of us are fans of the watch, and nearly everyone was able to get one (or several) from the Swatch boutiques. But I m wondering what the next step for Swatch will be. Will we see more collaborations with other brands, or will we see a few new variations of the MoonSwatch?Creating new MoonSwatchesI dont believe that the latter will happen. Likewise, I m not a fan of the idea of Swatch doing a similar collaboration with another brand or model. Ive seen the Swatch-made prototypes of a Seamaster 300M and a Blancpain in bioceramic, but to me, neither really came across as a Swatch. Instead, they just look...

Yema is a brand that continues to surprise us by releasing new chronographs every few months. Each new collection takes inspiration from a car race, an iconic person, or a famous automobile. The last one is the inspiration behind the new Rallye 5 Turbo. This mechanical chronograph is encased in 39mm of steel and inspired by a famous French car, the Renault 5 Turbo. As a Frenchman and a watch enthusiast, I find it pretty neat that Yema draws inspiration from iconic French stuff. As we will see below, Yema found its muse in the cars geometrical design and almost Ferrari-red color.While the Superman dive watch brought Yema back to the international horological scene, the brand also has an expan...

Some brands have a certain style, cachet, and image that set the tone for our perceptions of them. Neither nor AP would have the cachet they have today without a divers watch and a certain octagonal bezel. For most brands, the halo models fit nicely within their collections. But with the storied Swiss brand Ulysse Nardin, there is a high-tech, evolved twist. This is the origin and evolution of the Ulysse Nardin Freak.Ulysse Nardin is a brand with classic watchmaking in its blood since 1846, known for a juxtaposed mix of classicism with the Classico line and sports cool with the Diver and Marine ranges. But unlike most premium Swiss brands, Ulysee Nardin also plays in the same field as avant...

If you re after a simple watch with lots of charisma, you should definitely look at some vintage Jardur military pieces. Here is a watch that fits that perfectly fits that description - a 34mm beauty with a salmon dial.With a budget way south of $500, you can discover some pretty amazing time-only vintage pieces branded Jardur. If you re lucky enough, you can sometimes even find them for just north of $10. I follow them on eBay, even after I scored this one maybe three years ago. I was just too lazy to delete my email crawler, so eBay keeps me fed with new listings once they go live. And I ll tell you, they don t come every week or month, but they do pop up quite regularly, at least a few ti...

I have a soft spot for Furlan Marri and the two people behind it. Enviably known for their well-planned success and pin-prick accurate marketing, the truth is that Andrea Furlan and Hamad Al Marri do the work themselves. But they are so good at embracing social media and visuals that their efforts look like those of far larger brands. The watches are created through the passion of two grounded enthusiasts but have sparked many hype discussions. To me, this says a lot about how old-fashioned we still perceive the small-brand ethos to be. Well-planned success is sometimes frowned upon, but Furlan Marri now smashes the hype with a new three-piece mechanical permanent collection.Quite often, mic...

If youre anything like me, youve had more than enough of the dingy gray days of winter. But I have good news: weve reached the end of March already, and spring is officially here! NOMOS has announced two new colorways for the fan-favorite Club Campus to mark the occasion. Some of you might know NOMOS as a Glashtte-based watch brand specializing in rather serious and monochromatic Bauhaus-inspired watches. However, as many of you already know, theres another side to the brand, one that tends to shine brightest in the Club Campus line. The new Cream Coral and Electric Green hues are stunning additions to the springtime bouquet of colors that NOMOS designers have introduced in this model. So p...

Until Fratello s own Dave Sergeant told me about Behrens, I had never heard of this Chinese watchmaker. But Dave s enthusiasm for it sparked my curiosity to discover more about Behrens watches. After reading about the special timepieces that the brand has produced, the next step was experiencing one up close. Behrens was kind enough to send us the top-of-the-line Perigee for a hands-on review. This unique timepiece features the brand s first in-house-produced movement with unique architecture and impressive complications. Time to find out more.It s hard nowadays not to find out about small brands quickly. With social media as a driving force behind anything new, brands are fired at you left ...

Panerai has always spoken to me. There is something about those cushion cases and characteristic dials that lures me in. However, I have not yet gotten around to adding one to my collection. So for today s picks, join me on the search for my dream pre-owned Panerai.I have to state that I prefer to see Panerai doing the basics right. It is not a brand from which I expect fancy complications and exotic materials. So I have picked out some simpler versions, which are closer to their historical military forefathers. Furthermore, I will stick to some younger models. With older generations, you need to do solid homework regarding authenticity, which I cannot reliably do from a distance. I do not w...

It s only a few days before Watches and Wonders 23 in Geneva, and we re getting in the right mood! Exhibiting brands have been sending over their news under embargo, except the obvious. In this podcast, Lex, Nacho, and RJ talk about the expectations we have and what we re looking forward to!This podcast player is blocked because you did not accept marketing cookies. Change cookie settings Wrist checkDuring this podcast, it s all sports watches! RJ is wearing his mid- 90s Sea-Dweller with a tritium dial and hands, and Nacho is rocking his Breitling Emergency (you can enjoy the sound of the digital minute repeater on the podcast as well). Lex is sporting the Oris ProPilot X, a titanium w...

If only I could recall what I was thinking back in 1986. I honestly dont know what made me buy the Sir Swatch (SUOB169) that year. Unfortunately, my memory is not as good as that of Bret Easton Ellis. The author s most recent book The Shards, an autofiction novel about a group of privileged Los Angeles high school friends set in 1981, reads like he experienced everything yesterday. Back in 1986, I was in high school too, but my situation differed from Ellis s quite a bit. First, I didnt drive a Mercedes convertible, and second, there was no serial killer nicknamed The Trawler roaming the town I lived in. I did like preppy stuff, though. I wore polo shirts and Top-Siders, for instance, just l...

I have long said that the UR-100 is URWERK s most traditional watch. In terms of sizing and wearability, it definitely is - or was. Now, 26 years after first debuting at Baselworld in 1997, URWERK has revisited the zeitgeist with the new UR-102 Reloaded. A round watch from a brand that is, these days, not known for watches resembling anything close to round.Notice I say revisited rather than reissued. The UR-102 Reloaded is a modern interpretation of last century s watch. It s definitely a UR-102 when you look at it, but it s also very 2023. But let s start with some context.Where it all beganFelix Baumgartner and Martin Frei started URWERK in 1997. That same year, they revealed the UR-101 a...

It s an exciting time to be a Doxa fan! This week, the brand announced the new Sub 200 C-Graph II, offering a contemporary 42mm case and a subtly luminous dial with a sunray finish. As with most of Doxa s dive watches, there are six dial colors to choose from, so you can pick the one that matches your style best.Available from April 2023, this new smaller chronograph offers a size that will fit most wrists. It s a notable step away from the brands 2020 Sub 200 C-Graph model, which was quite large at 45mm in diameter. Doxa says the new Sub 200 C-Graph II is for extreme diving adventures, like cave dives. But we are sure it will look equally fantastic on your wrist while snorkeling or hanging ...