Sometimes we feature stories from our readers about their Speedmaster watches. This is a story from Jason, who inherited his grandfather s watch, a beautiful Speedmaster Professional 145.022-69 with a straight-script case back. The thing is, he never knew about this watch until his grandfather passed away and he went through his belongings. Without further ado, enjoy this great story about a family heirloom.The forgotten MoonwatchDespite being a fan of watches and familiar with his grail watch, the Speedmaster, Jason never identified the watch in the pictures of his grandfather as a Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch. The reason for this, probably, is that his grandfather used to wear the wa...

Nothing. The concept of nothing - the empty set, zero - is easy to fathom when it comes to quantity. When it comes to the void - the distance between heavenly bodies, a force so powerful that even light cannot escape - the concept becomes more abstract. H. Moser & Cie. explores minimalism in many ways, chiefly in dials that are bereft of any decoration. More recently, the brand has used Vantablack, the darkest man-made material ever created, to enhance this feeling of nothingness in its dials. It is spectacular in its results and is now available in a watch that is more suitable for everyday wear, the Endeavour Centre Seconds Vantablack.The Endeavour line is Mosers take on a simple, roun...

Its that time of the year again when we turn around and have a good look at what caught our attention in the previous one. For me, a brand like with its mix of incremental changes and a single crazy 50mm+ divers tool seemed almost irrelevant. Indeed, other brands were not holding back in what was an exciting 2022. Last year opened my eyes back up to Zenith. Whether or not 2022 was the brands big comeback is up for debate, but I m pretty convinced that this is more than a hot take.In 2022, Zenith gave us a beguiling mix of heritage and pop-culture collabs that were missing from most other brands. Most big premium Swiss makers tend to fall into one of two camps, carefully fettling heritage gr...

The year 2023 marks the 25th anniversary of Grand Seiko s caliber 9S. Today, we celebrate said anniversary with the introduction of the Grand Seiko SBGH311 and SBGR325 models. These two new watches pay tribute to the original 1998 release in which the caliber 9S debuted. Both models feature dials inspired by the brand s favorite geographical feature in northern Honsh, Japan - Mt. Iwate. In fact, it s not the mountain itself but rather the sky around it that has lent its beauty to adorn the dials of these two latest creations from Grand Seiko. But before taking a closer look at the watches, it s only right to remark upon the importance of the anniversary they exist to celebrate. Back in 1998...

Welcome to another episode of Fratello On Air. In this installment, Balazs and Mike touch on two topics. We start with the fact that Swatch Group has no intentions of following into the CPO market. Next, we talk about a recent article highlighting concerns about a questionable auction that took place in 2018. Sit back and relax while we work the mics. This podcast player is blocked because you did not accept marketing cookies. Change cookie settings Yes, it s another week, and that means another podcast. This time, we re talking more about CPO programs as well as a questionable auction. Balazs is taking care of business in Karlsruhe, and Mike has literally just arrived back in Frankfurt...

I must say, 2022 was quite a busy one in my watch box. Three watches left my collection, and a whopping six new pieces (plus a bonus one) came in! So 2023 is definitely going to be about getting more familiar with the newcomers and less about adding more and more watches. Actually, that was also the plan for last year, but then, you know, things just kind of happened. But, as you ll understand, my watch budget has pretty much been exhausted for now. So, for 2023, I m more or less bound to simply enjoy the watches I already own, and that s certainly no punishment!I m very happy with the additions from last year, and I do feel they deserve all the appreciation they can get. Besides, it has als...

After the announcement of our second collaboration with Oris last week, the watch went live for sale this past Tuesday. I am so happy to see so many great responses to this special edition of the Divers Sixty-Five. Some of you asked us to give some more insight into how this watch came to life and the steps that needed to be taken during the design process.Oris is a great brand, and we were incredibly happy with the collaboration on the Big Crown Pilot watch in bronze that we did in 2020. But to do a second collaboration, there needs to be a solid foundation or reason to do so. And for that, we need to leap back in time.The 2015 resurrection of the Oris WaterproofWhen Oris introduced the Div...

Recently, I spent some time with the Omega Seamaster 1948 in platinum. This is a style of Seamaster that I am very familiar with. In fact, I own two from the 1950s in the same case shape, and I absolutely love them. So what if you take that recipe and execute it to modern specs with a healthy serving of platinum? Does that make the ultimate Seamaster? Or does the magic get lost in the process? Lets find out!This is the 70th-anniversary Omega Seamaster 1948 limited edition in platinum. It was introduced in 2018, and it is limited to 70 pieces worldwide. Interestingly, there are still some available. But, then again, it is a niche product at an even more niche price point of $47,800.The Seamas...

I wonder if any active MI6 agents feel attracted to the new Omega Seamaster Diver 300M James Bond 60th Anniversary. Maybe the Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) Richard Moore, or C, has issued a memo to not just spies but to all working at the service to not buy the watch because it is a dead giveaway. In that case, Omega misses out on 3,644 potential buyers. Luckily, the new Seamaster Diver 300M that was introduced last November in London will reach numerous watch and James Bond fans to make up for the missing MI6 staff. I had a brief encounter with the watch and scribbled down my first impression of it. You will also find notes on the naughty #FR2NCK MULLER Vanguard featuring t...

Whenever I browse marketplaces and dealer websites, I tend to return to the classics. My classics don t need to be the same as yours, of course, but a Sea-Dweller and IWC Portuguese Chronograph are classics to many watch enthusiasts. It surprised me to see that the price development on the IWC Portuguese Chronograph has been quite soft. I wish I could say the same for the Sea-Dweller, but perhaps I should also not let the amount that I paid for one 20 years ago affect my opinion too much.In addition, I included a watch from Jaeger-LeCoultre. This one was on my wishlist for a long time but somehow disappeared over the years. Last but not least, I also added something from Tudor. My previous ...

Being into horology seems to be akin to being an archeologist and coming across the latest and greatest discovery every day. Two weeks ago, I thought I had found the best-value GMT watches from independent brands. But today, Im coming to you to suggest another one. And whatever you thought great value was, think again. I may very well have found a golden nugget. But what constitutes great value anyway? Thats absolutely subjective, and here, Ill propose my definition - great engineering and beautiful finishing for a reasonable price. What is reasonable? Well, lets find out below by taking a look at the new Traska Venturer GMT.?I wrote about Traska last year when reviewing the Seafarer, a supe...

What used to be a no-nonsense sports model turned into a collection of watches with flashy dials and loud fonts, and it s even available in two-tone. The Sea-Dweller changed from an all-out tool watch to a luxurious tool watch that will make the Yacht-Master blush. You could also say that the Sea-Dweller has risen above its status as a tool watch and is now a widely embraced model.Shortly, I will give you a more in-depth description of both Sea-Dwellers, one being the reference 16600 and the other the Deepsea reference 136660 that introduced in 2022. But first, let me tell you what I like about the Sea-Dweller, be it the reference 16600 that I ve owned since 2003 or the latest Sea-Dwell...

I have to admit that I m not a big fan of New Year s resolutions. Aside from watch collecting, I m a fairly moderate and healthy person, so I see little reason to make sweeping changes. That being said, it is fun to look at the year ahead and think about what may occur. So, I ll do my best to come up with some watch resolutions.This year is a weird one because I m entering it with very few expectations or concrete desires. I feel full if that makes any sense. This is a popular time of year for people to declutter or minimalize after a month of gluttony. The difference is that I ve felt this way for months. That feeling translated into a couple of different behaviors during 2022 - less buying...

New year, new goals. Mine is building a watch brand. Wait, what? Yes! I have set myself a ridiculously ambitious challenge for this year. I spend my time reviewing and critiquing other peoples work. The time has come to take up the gauntlet and see how well I fare myself. And I want to take you along for the ride to show what it involves.That means you might see me succeed or fail miserably. Or something in between. It will most likely be a bumpy ride, and I will not censor any of it. In this first installment, I will provide an introduction and my reasons for building a watch brand.Why I am building a watch brandQuite some time ago now, I made a career switch. I came from a very competitive...

Seiko and Grand Seiko reliably grace us with numerous brilliant releases every year. To recap 2022, we decided to create an overview of these brands new watches that we covered on Fratello over the past 12 months. In this second of two articles, we will put the spotlight on Seiko. In 2022, the brand released close to 300 watches, a jaw-dropping number compared to most brands! But it also means there was something for everyone, so let s look back at another great year for Seiko.Compared to this one, writing the article for Grand Seiko was a walk in the park. Yes, with 278 releases in 2022, Seiko presented a staggering amount of watches to the public. In this overview, we will not be covering ...

The title of this article is actually a command, or it could be one of my own New Year s resolutions. It s just that I ve realized that my (dis)interest in certain watches has been due, largely, to how much they cost. For a long time, I simply looked away when I suspected the price of a watch would not be within my reach anytime soon. And that might sound quite logical to you because it also did to me. But it also means that I didn t allow myself to enjoy a lot of the beautiful watches out there that I ll probably never be able to afford.As a beginner watch enthusiast, I had a certain budget, and that budget determined my focus for my first watch. I genuinely thought that watch would be my f...

Just like Lexs resolution for 2023, I am aiming to be ambitious this year (spoiler alert: Breguet Tradition) and not to be side-tracked by impulsive watch purchases that I dont end up wearing. Ultimately, they are a waste of money, especially because I dont sell them off. I am not sure why, but I am just not much of a watch seller. It also means I am not much into flipping pieces, unlike some of my colleagues. I hardly ever sell or trade a watch from my collection, but perhaps I should.My watch purchases in 2022Anyway, for a long time, I didnt have the itch for a new watch. It was a very comfortable feeling, yet I found myself buying several watches in 2022. Some were affordable - a few Moon...

This is the story of how I went from collecting everything I liked to a commitment to focus more on one brand in 2023. To frequent #TBT readers, the brand will be no surprise. It is one I hold near and dear to my heart - Gallet.I had a different watch story to share today, but a few hours ago, I got a message from Nacho asking me if I would like to share my watch resolutions for 2023 in this week s #TBT article. I admit that his question surprised me. Not that I haven t had any watch resolutions, but I didn t think about them enough to be clear in my mind or even try putting them on paper. Still, I gave an instant YES to Nacho s question because I considered it a great opportunity to sort my...

In this article, I won t be waxing poetic over our beloved space-flight-qualified chronograph, the Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch. That may well be the lowest hanging, possibly even ground-dwelling fruit for an article on Fratello. Instead, this article is about a watch made by a brand directly related to our esteemed Swiss luxury titan. I ll be sharing the Flik Flak 3-2-1 Liftoff, a perfect NASA-themed and child-friendly complement to any Omega Speedmaster. I recently gifted this watch to my daughter. I ll sum up why it was such a fun purchase and give some general insight about the watch itself.If a Flik Flak feels like a miniature Swatch for kids, that s because it s essentially...

As the new year kicks off, Ive had an Omega Seamaster on my mind, so I thought Id put together an article to showcase a handful of the models that Ive been lusting after. Who knows? Maybe youll discover a model you didnt know existed or even find a new favorite to add to your list. Either way, when it comes to making a solid dive watch, Omega cracked the code decades ago. And although the current selection is overwhelming indeed, I think its always good to look back at some of the recent yet discontinued models. These are often quickly forgotten in favor of the latest offerings, and sometimes that s for the best. Yet its within that selection that the future classics can almost certainly be ...