Well, this is a first for me. Honestly, I have never set definitive watch goals and written them down. Maybe that s an aspect I ve never considered when it comes to being determined to get the watches I want. So for 2023, let s start the right way. I agree with Lex that it all begins with one thing and one thing only - writing it down! These watch resolutions will help me set goals for my watch purchases this upcoming year. In previous years, I ve let go of wants because I have so many other passions that also require a lot of money. But this year, the chase for several watches is more specific than in the years before.Watch dreams - we all have them, from grail pieces to starting a specific...
Lex, Nacho, and RJ discuss their watch resolutions for the new year. We look back at the watches we purchased in 2022 and discuss what we have on our wishlists for 2023. This week, Nacho already made his first purchase of 2023 to celebrate his upcoming 30th birthday. As a bonus, we also have a small contribution from Sinara.This podcast player is blocked because you did not accept marketing cookies. Change cookie settings Wrist checkToday marks the first Fratello Talks episode of 2023. This is a podcast recorded at the Fratello headquarters and released every Thursday. In addition, there s the Fratello On Air podcast hosted by Mike Stockton and Balazs Ferenczi with new episodes (almost)...
As some of you know, I m more of a bracelet guy, but I still buy watch straps from time to time. There are many companies out there offering watch straps nowadays, and let s be honest, many of them offer very similar products. Some specialize in leather straps, others are more into textile straps, and there are even those who offer the whole shebang. But when I first saw the straps from Rob over at A.F.0210., I knew they were something different!Our very own Balazs reviews straps from many different strap makers. And he has indeed reviewed a few very nice ones that offer something that isn t available from just any strap shop. But I ve never heard him talk about the military-inspired straps ...
Could we be entering a new phase of retro love? I don t know about you, but these days I m feeling somewhat desensitized to the coolness of 1960s dive watches. We all love their aesthetics, and they re a surefire way to start a new microbrand as long as you get the basics right, but are they too many? The benefits of their popularity linked with tech advances mean that small brands can produce 38mm watches under 12mm thick with 300m depth ratings. But do we actually need more watches like this? I believe we need to reach further back into the more formal cool of the 40s and 50s when even the sportiest watches had a strong sense of elegance.Lately, I have been embracing a more elegant way o...
Last year was a milestone watch year for me. I released my book and stepped on board at Fratello. I was also blessed to be able to acquire some very cool watches in 2022. It is going to be hard to top that in 2023, but lets see.When Nacho asked me to write my 2023 watch resolutions, it made me think long and hard. Do I have any specific goals? Mine are certainly not as clear as Lexs. He has a two-watch hit list and an exact budget. Join me in an exploration of some rather vaguer resolutions.Looking back in appreciationI am very happy I moved to Fratello early in 2022. The team is awesome and has made me feel so welcome. I was also delighted to meet many of our readers and talk with you in th...
The Silver Snoopy Award 50th Anniversary watch came out over two years ago now (on October 5th, 2020, to be precise). However, as you know, the delivery of these watches is slow, and I got mine in early 2022. As the deliveries are still ongoing, I thought it would be nice to share my experiences after a year of ownership with it and update you with some afterthoughts.Omega Speedmaster Silver Snoopy Award 50th AnniversaryBack in 2020, we had a prototype of the Speedmaster Silver Snoopy Award 50th Anniversary in our office so that we could create some video/photo content in time for the official October 5th release. But this also allowed me to wear it a bit and see if I liked it enough to orde...
Junghans is synonymous with affordable minimalism. Within watch circles, the brand s flagship Max Bill line has a reputation as the epitome of Bauhaus design. The Meister designation is reserved for the finest watches in the Junghans collection, and the Meister Fein line of timepieces is an elegant take on a minimalist dress watch. It is fitting, then, that Junghans chose this line to mark a significant occasion for the brand in early 2023.A bicentennial celebrationErhard Junghans was born on New Years Day, 1823 in the Black Forest in Germany. This year marks what would be his 200th birthday. Erhard Junghans established his watch company in Geisshalde in 1861, laying the foundation for what ...
Happy New Year! Yes, 2023 is here, and we re bringing you the latest episode of Fratello On Air! Balazs and Mike are ready for another rip-roaring year, and they start with a bang. The modern secondary market and the CPO program are back in focus. This podcast player is blocked because you did not accept marketing cookies. Change cookie settings We re back - sort of. Balazs has returned to Germany from Hungary while Mike is still hanging out with the iguanas in sunny South Florida. They reminisce about the holidays and strike up some banter about other topics. The CPO program and the modern secondary market overall are the subjects of today s episode. There are dreamers out there, fol...
The Oris Aquis is a modern reinterpretation of a dive watch. Unlike the lovable Divers Sixty-Five, the Aquis eschews all vintage design cues to focus on contemporary sensibilities. The case is angular and purposeful with integrated lugs, chunky crown guards, and an overall solid feel. Spawning from the 2013 Oris Aquis Depth Gauge, the Aquis range emerges as a unique mechanical diving watch with specific complications and practical applications. That, however, is not to say that this tool watch isnt open to a bit of flair here and there. And today, I will be sharing the journey to acquiring my Oris Aquis Date Calibre 400 Bicolor with its 41.5mm stainless steel case, blue dial, and 18K yellow ...
We know Unimatic for introducing a wide variety of designs. In particular, the brand s Modello Uno has seen many different iterations based on different collaborations, ideas, and concepts. It has been great to see how brand founders Giovanni Moro and Simone Nunziato have successfully created instantly recognizable Unimatic watches despite mixing things up rigorously. The brand s latest proof of flexibility in its design language is a string of new Modello Uno GMT releases. Over the past two months, we have seen three completely different versions of the piece that all look striking. Is a Modello Uno GMT the obvious answer to my craving for a GMT watch? It very well may be.It s no secret tha...
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the first modern diver s watch in the world, the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms. We did a run-down of its history just recently (click here), so we will examine this new anniversary limited edition in this article without further ado.Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Series IAs Blancpain did in 2003 for the 50th anniversary of the Fifty Fathoms, the brand is now introducing a model commemorating its 70th anniversary. This new version will be available for three separate markets in three series of 70 watches each. Series I will be for the EMEA market, while the others will be for the Asian-Pacific market and the Americas. The new Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Series I is a no...
The first rule for sticking to new years resolutions is write it down! And thats exactly what Im doing right now. Come 2024; you can hold me accountable for my watch actions just by finding this article and reading it back. My watch resolutions for the new year dont include buying a Patek Philippe or a . Yet they are ambitious but also attainable, practical, and, last but not least, fun. Because in the end, watches should bring joy. For me, 2023 will be about reliving and materializing sweet memories. My new years resolution is to have fun within a set budget by buying watches that are a blast from the past.New year, new watches. But which watches? No matter what will launch this year, I ca...
Buying a pre-owned watch is an excellent way to access watches that are (long) discontinued or just to let someone else take the hit on the retail price. In this series, our editors show you some of the pre-owned or vintage finds they found interesting. In this Pre-Owned Spotlight, RJ shares several vintage and modern Tudor watches that are being offered.There s one Tudor that keeps calling my name, the Pelagos LHD. For a long time, before the brand s re-launch in the United States and Europe ten years ago or so, I ignored the Tudor Submariners and other models, as they were using parts except for the movement. A bit exaggerated, of course, but a Tudor Submariner looked very similar to a S...
It s the first day of the new year, meaning everybody is exploring new adventures for the year to come. That association led me to the thought of putting my own and Thomas Explorer up against each other in a proper Sunday Morning Showdown. Mine is the six-digit reference 114270 Explorer, and Thomas is the five-digit reference 16570 Explorer II. But even though mine has one digit more, they re both from exactly the same year, 2004. They might share the exact same hollow center-link Oyster bracelet and glossy black dial. But don t worry; there s still more than enough to battle over here!It s funny, because both Thomas and I bought our Explorers this year. And you could say neither of thes...
There are some watches we know will come in 2023. Then there are a few we expect to come. And finally, there are the watches we hope will come out this year. On the first day of the new year, we will present you with a small list of predictions, expectations, and far-fetched wishes. There will be brand and watch models celebrating nicely rounded off birth years, for instance. The Omega Seamaster turns 75 this year, for instance. Did you know the Daytona has been around for six decades this year? Seiko has reached the honorable age of 110. And both the Swatch and the G-Shock celebrate 40 years of fantastic plastic watches. But there are also predictions based on releases, rumors, and unfulfi...
The time has come. You ve reached the end of 2022 on Fratello. First of all, on behalf of the entire Fratello team, I would like to thank you for reading our articles, watching our videos, and following us on our social media channels and for your engagement. Believe me; it really gives us so much fun and inspiration to see your comments appearing under our articles, posts, and videos. Now, let s look at Fratello s year in review 2022!2022 was a year of opening up again after the global pandemic, traveling started again, and at some point, it was nearly too much to handle. All the watch brands were organizing events, press trips, etc. Sometimes more than two on the same day! We had to make d...
The Monta Skyquest entered its second generation earlier this year with some light updates. We ve been following the brand since its inception in 2017 and are excited to once again go hands-on with a new piece. The Skyquest is a 24-hour watch with a rotating bezel. Sound familiar? We ll see how it ranks versus its competition!Yes, it s been quite a while since we ve gone hands-on with a new watch from Monta. As one of the original Fratello members who met the brand in 2017 at Basel, I raised my hand when a new one was offered for trial. Monta has provided high-quality watches since day one, so what will this new model bring? Let s find out…The Monta SkyquestThe Monta Skyquest first deb...
It s time for the final list of 2022! After a long year full of great releases, it s time to put together a list of the ten best watches of 2022. After have compiled our individual lists, this is Fratello s list of best releases of the year. What does that mean? These are the ten watches we were most impressed by. Call them the most relevant, impactful, talked about, or simply the best. According to the Fratello editors, these are the ten best watches from 2022.It can be hard to come up with a list of the best ten watches in a year that saw so many different releases. The big question when we made our list was simple: what was the impact of these watches? We debated it for some time, and the...
Within the last decade, the term microbrand has become commonplace. Before that, we had big, small, and even smaller brands. But now we are dealing with micro brands as well. And did you just notice something? Yes, the complexity of a microbrand already starts with how to write it.Is it indeed microbrand, or should we write micro brand? Technically speaking, I think it should be the latter. In the real world, however, we often see the term written as one word. An even more complicated problem is determining when or why a brand is a microbrand.What s the definition of a microbrand?Not too long ago, Fratello s?Thomas van Straaten (not Tomas or Thomas) wrote quite a positive article on microbra...
In 2000, I got a Chronoswiss Regulateur (later dubbed Regulator) watch. It is a beautiful 38mm piece with a silvery-white dial and blue hands. It has the classic dial layout that Chronoswiss founder Gerd-Rdiger Lang introduced in the mid-1980s as one of his first designs. The watch came in a beautiful wooden box with a green interior. The papers were signed by Gerd-R Lang himself with his green Pelikan M800 demonstrator fountain pen.For the 20th anniversary of Chronoswiss, Lang went to the German company Pelikan and requested a special fountain pen. The result was the Chronoswiss Styloscope pen in a limited (numbered) series of 999 pieces. This pen was never sold by Pelikan but directly via...
