The A. Lange & S?hne Zeitwerk is one of my favorite models from the high-end brand from Glashtte, Germany. I ve had the pleasure of handling it a few times, and it never failed to amaze me every time I put it on my wrist. It s a charming and quirky piece with a distinguished way of integrating a mechanical digital display into a luxury watch. Since its release in 2009, there have been a few variations of the Zeitwerk: Minute Repeater, Decimal Strike, and Date.Now, thirteen years after its initial introduction, A. Lange & S?hne comes up with a new and improved version of the original Zeitwerk. One in platinum and one in 18kt pink gold.The new ZeitwerkOne of the major changes compared...
Zenith is a brand on the up and one that I have followed for quite some time. The brand s famous El Primero movement is a beautiful piece of horological history and makes a fascinating point of entry into collecting Zenith. That said, I d never quite found the model for me. True enough, there have been several releases over the past year or two that I would love to add to my carefully curated collection, but finances and budgets have all too often meant that they were out of my reach. When the recent opportunity arose to add the Zenith El Primero Chronomaster Open Power Reserve to my collection for an excellent deal, I didn t think twice and snapped it up.Rather riskily, I snapped it up unse...
Do you like Lamborghinis? Come on, admit it. As a kid, you probably had a poster of a Countach in your bedroom. If youre older, you desired a Miura, and if youre younger, it was perhaps a Diablo or a Reventon. Isnt it strange that saying you like a certain Lamborghini model is frowned upon in certain circles, but declaring your love for, lets say, the Ferrari Testarossa isnt? Its like stating you lust after the Roger Dubuis Excalibur MB Black Ceramic 42mm. Why is that considered a no-go in certain watch circles? It s an interesting matter to discuss in the coffee corner this morning. After that has been addressed, you can also throw in the puzzling hyper-reality of NFT watches or a historica...
Last Friday, we held our Fratello Grand Seiko event in the Paris boutique at Place Vend?me. For approximately 20 readers of Fratello, Grand Seiko organized touch-and-feel sessions with the latest collections as well as a workshop on watch photography. This marks the second time that Fratello and Grand Seiko have hosted an event at the flagship boutique in Paris.Breaking a sake barrel as part of the inauguration ceremonyInauguration of the Grand Seiko boutique in ParisOne day earlier, the stunning-looking Grand Seiko boutique was inaugurated by the management of the brand. A special delegation from Grand Seiko Japan, including Mr. Shinji Hattori, flew to France to officially open the flagsh...
The Seamaster Diver 300M is one of the most popular watches in Omega s entire collection. Not only that, but did you know that the Seamaster Diver 300M and the Constellation 95 also saved the company in the 1990s? Like most other watch companies, Omega wasn t in the best shape. The brand s 1980s catalog was as thick as a phone book, and Omega even considered dropping the Speedmaster Professional. Thankfully, with the introduction of the Seamaster Diver 300M and Constellation 95, the brand received a lot of interest (again).Three generations of Seamaster Diver 300M watchesThe Omega Seamaster Diver 300MToday, the Speedmaster and Seamaster Diver 300M are Omega s best-selling watches, and the ...
The launch of a pocket watch from Hamilton… Who would have imagined we d see that in 2022? On second thought, maybe it shouldn t be the least bit surprising given the now-130-year-old brands history. With a tagline The Railroad Timekeeper of America at the turn of the 20th century, it is almost Hamiltons birthright to bring us a remake of its Railway Special pocket watch in the modern day. The brand s new Railroad Pocket Watch pays homage to the companys roots as one of the chief manufacturers of precision timekeepers for the American railway industry. The series is limited to 917 pieces in reference to Hamiltons founding address at 917 Columbia Avenue in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.A prec...
How accurate do you want your watch to be? Try a margin of error of one second every 100,000 years. Citizen has just launched in Europe a new design for its Radio-Controlled watches touting such precise timekeeping. The CB594 trio features a perpetual calendar, world-time function, and auto-correction. On top of that, the sleek instruments boast the Japanese giants core patented technologies with a light-powered Eco-Drive movement and Super Titanium construction. The CB594 thus eliminates the need to replace watch batteries and offers remarkable build quality.A European debutThe CB594 is the European mutant of the PCAT (Perpetual Calendar Atomic Timekeeping) series for the US market. The new...
The tourbillon is perceived as a horological status symbol or badge of honor. But is it simply an anachronistic invention that only belongs in the most traditional watches? Well, for many, this complication (if it can even be called that) is the watch-collecting endgame. Not a particular watch, mind you, but the tourbillon itself. Such is the pull of this enigmatic collection of parts, usually no bigger than the small seconds register at 6 oclock that it often replaces. A tourbillon is merely an accuracy-enhancing tool meant for pocket watches. Wikipedia tells it simply, underlining that, yes, it is another invention of Abraham-Louis Breguet, just like the overcoil hairspring and those delec...
It first appeared on the scene in 1999, but despite its unconventional appearance, the Oris Regulateur Der Meistertaucher was a hit. Please remember, in those days, you could still buy a sports with a bit of discount at your AD. Watch lovers were also a bit more adventurous. I mean, they weren t afraid to try to stand out in their peer group - if you think Im implying that the majority of todays watch lovers only want to wear what the other one is wearing, youre not mistaken. The unconventional Der Meistertaucher was even the best-selling Oris for a while. But since the times, they are a-changing, the watch faded away. But I feel its time for it to resurface. So Oris, please bring back Der ...
In this weeks Sunday Morning Showdown, we present the battle of the batteries with two brands well-known for their quartz offerings, Grand Seiko and Cartier. We have GS-owner Thomas defending the quartz offerings from the Land of the Rising Sun. Cartier-wearing Daan will represent the French house. Since Thomas s GS is hand-wound and Daans Cartier is automatic, they will both have to step out into unfamiliar territory. Lets see who is most at home with quartz.We are not pitting two particular references or calibers against each other. Well, maybe we will just a bit, but that is not the main focus. Instead, we are battling on the conceptual level of quartz technology. Grand Seiko and Cartier ...
It is only about five or six years ago that I was grabbed by the unique style of the Ressence brand. I fancy Ressence s style and approach so much that I have, in the meantime, not only been able to build up a lot of experience with my own Type 1 Squared but also with the high-end Type 2 and the Type 5 Diver. So it s a great opportunity that I got the chance to try and compare the new Ressence Type 8 for a week.Collectors often use the term entry model when discussing a lower-priced watch from brand X or brand Y. Often, these watches are recognizable as such and characterized by a steel case with a simpler movement and dial than their higher-end equivalents. But for the Type 8, Ressence took...
Its rare that I get one specific type of strap from an atelier. Brands usually strive for versatility and, as such, have a wide variety of goods to offer. You have the occasional company like Erikas Originals, which is known for one specific product. For the most part, however, I get a bunch of different straps in the parcels. This time, though, I received two similar straps, but not just in any old design. These straps are Bunds, which are among the most controversial products you can put your watches on. Some love Bund straps, and others hate them with a vengeance. Eatsleeplay from Singapore belongs to the former group. Although the company offers other products in its lineup, the watch st...
Today, we take a look at two long-existing references from Sinns impressive catalog. We have not covered these specific models on Fratello before, and I think we should. Here we have a tough-as-nails diver in the UX and a capable pilots watch in the 240. Both aim to perform a task with reliability and perfect legibility under any circumstance. But does that come at the expense of some refinement?Sinn offers other watches geared more towards a comfortable daily wearing experience. These two are more hardcore. Lets find out if I can pull them off or if my laptop lifestyle is a bit too indoorsy for these brutes.Sinn UXThe first of the two Sinns we have here is the UX. It is arguably the toolies...
When we speak about the history of watchmaking, we typically mention France, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United States. The last was made famous by Hamilton, Elgin, Waltham, Benrus, and Ball, among others. Of all these brands, Benrus is perhaps the only survivor of the OG American watchmaking tradition. That doesnt mean that some of these brands don t still exist, such as Hamilton and Ball, which moved their home bases to Switzerland. However, the boom of independent brands over the past few years has defined 21st-century watchmaking in the United States.Given that Hamilton and Ball are no longer American brands (both moved their HQ and production facilities to Switzerl...
The three-handed watch is a simple standard of telling time. The addition of hands marks the inclusion of additional complications. A GMT hand tracks another timezone. Chronograph hands and sub-dials measure elapsed seconds, minutes, and hours. These extra hands and relevant complications are tacked onto the original concept and mechanism of simple time tracking. They are task-specific, and their functions are quickly recognized depending on their orientation. But a radical approach to adding three extra hands to the simple time-only watch could open the door to multiplied functionality and blur the lines on what task a watch s extra hands are there to do. I m talking about a doubled-handed ...
Since the original debut of Grand Seiko s Seasons collection in 2019, the artisans in Studio Shizukuishi have continued to pay tribute to nature and the 24 seasons, or sekki, as they are referred to in Japan. Having started with the 62GS style and then GMT designs, Grand Seiko now releases two new season-inspired models in the Elegance line. These two releases - SBGW281 and SBGW287 - feature manually wound movements and focus on seasonal transitions with the beautiful dial work we have come to expect from Grand Seiko.In the last three years, we have seen Grand Seiko expand the Seasons series into the Flow of Seasons collection. With the previously mentioned 24 seasons in Japanese culture, th...
Casio G-Shock holds a special place in the hearts of all of us at Fratello. Almost all of the team members own one or more G-Shocks that get plenty of wrist time. I own five different models that I still wear regularly when going out to play tennis. G-Shocks look good, have a ton of functions, and can take a serious beating. What more could you want? With the 40th anniversary of the G-Shock brand approaching, we decided to create a list of our ten favorite G-Shock models. Hopefully, this Top 10 will shed a light on the incredible number of great models that the brand has released over the last four decades. Let s find out more.When we discussed a list of the ten best G-Shocks, the first ques...
Independent watchmaking is not what it used to be. We still have hundreds of wannabe Kickstarter brands delivering the usual polarizing goods, but there are fewer than before. As in any developing economy, there is a rising middle class - the medium-sized brands. With the safety of moving from Kickstarter gambling to regular restocking, its getting closer to the big-brand experience. Spoiler alert: the new Fears Brunswick 40mm fits the profile.Im not talking about bricks and mortar. Lets just accept the fact that online purchasing is ever on the rise. I even have a confession to make: 90% of my watch purchases are sourced from the internet, even if I have ADs close to me. And yes, it does ha...
On November 11th and 12th, the biggest watch event in the United Kingdom will take place. WATCHPRO Salon is a prestigious event, but we are making it accessible to everybody with a passion for watches, says Lucy Cheesewright, head of WATCHPRO Live.Over 50 brands will be exhibiting at the WATCHPRO Salon 2022, including Czapek, Grand Seiko, Laurent Ferrier, Oris, Parmigiani Fleurier, Doxa, and many more. WATCHPRO Salon is an event where seasoned collectors and recent converts to the joys of horology can indulge in their passion, says WATCHPRO co-founder Rob Corder.Talking about the Speedy Tuesday community and watches in LondonWhats more, I will do a talk about the Speedy Tuesday community and...
There s absolutely nothing wrong with modern watches. Well, aside from the fact that you cannot get them from your local boutique and secondary prices are still well over retail. But while that s annoying and there have been countless articles about the phenomenon, I haven t really been affected. Why is that? It s because I m a dyed-in-the-wool fan of vintage , and I prefer to put my money into watches that aren t still in production! But where to start and where to end? Everyone will have their say, but I have come up with two vintage watches that could leave an owner with a no-regrets collection.That s right, it s another article, but we aren t joining the chorus with yet another compla...
