In Glashtte today, NOMOS introduced two Club Sport Neomatik models in a new 37mm size. These are a follow-up to last years introduction of the Club Sport Neomatik 42 Date, a release that introduced both the sunray finish and an Oyster-style steel bracelet to the Club Sport line. Now, NOMOS complements the 42mm release with a more moderately sized 37mm take that also does away with the date on the dial. A more balanced feel pairs with a case size that feels more suitable to the aesthetic of the watch. Sure, the Club Sport Neomatik is a sports watch. But the Bauhaus minimalist approach that the Glashtte brand takes in its design was perhaps not best suited to the larger size. Regardless, wer...

I think the genre of field watches should be up for debate, as the preconceptions are many. While some of you equate a field watch to the Explorer ref. 1016, for most, it s a simple recipe - all-brushed 316L steel (no polishing, please), a sub-40mm case size, and a simple charm. The dial should have big Arabic numerals and, often, a fairly unreadable inner circle of 24-hour digits. The new William Wood Fearless, however, has twisted the tale.We are used to brands using evocative imagery and heritage in what now is considered a big USP - the back story. Today, the origin of a brand or a model works just as well as the perfect case size, and William Wood has a powerful story. The brand and it...

Welcome to the first installment in a new series of articles called Fratello Watch Exchange. Here at the Fratello office, we try on each other s watches all the time, but we don t usually borrow them for long enough to take them for a proper spin. In this new series, though, that s exactly what we ll do. We ll pick a watch from a colleague s collection and wear it for a while to see what we think of it. Today, I have the honor to kick things off with Lex s beloved Grand Seiko SBGX341.It doesn t sound very respectful, but I think we can call this one Lex s daily beater. I overheard him saying once, This one was on the nightstand, and as it doesn t need to be wound, it s the one I put on. But ...

Not many people realize that it was NASA astronaut Wally Schirra who wore the Omega Speedmaster for the first time in space. Like most other active NASA astronauts, Schirra also received a precious gold Omega Speedmaster Professional BA145.022-69 during the famous Houston banquet in the Warwick Hotel on November 25th, 1969. Allow me to tell you the story of Wally Schirra s gold Speedmaster.Update: Wally Schirra s Speedmaster auctioned for $1,525,563.Schirra was the commander of Apollo 7, the command pilot on Gemini 6A, and the only astronaut aboard the Sigma 7 spacecraft in the Mercury-Atlas 8 mission. On the Sigma 7, he wore an Omega Speedmaster reference CK2998-4 chronograph that he had pu...

Steve McQueen is a name that resonates with watch collectors the world over. From the iconic shots of him wearing the TAG Heuer Monaco and his Submariner to his tenuous yet persistent connection to the Explorer II 1655, the actor and part-time racing driver has helped influence the world of vintage collecting. Now, another one of his on-screen watches is getting a revival, the Benrus Series #3061. Worn in the movie Bullitt, this model is getting the full cinematic treatment for its re-release.The Benrus 3061 has a familiar feel to it. Much like other field watches, the 3061 is of military heritage. Its mil-spec counterpart, the MIL-W-46374 was issued to American soldiers during the Vietnam W...

A watch just wouldn t be a watch without a crown… would it? Is the Apple Watch a watch? Does its rotary selector count as a crown? Is a digital G-Shock a watch? Where is its crown? If a brand were to produce an analog watch with no crown and - this is key - no avenue for user input or manipulation, would it be a watch? And if it were, would it be something people would ever be comfortable with? There are too many questions to have the answers to in one article, but the watch industry, market, and world exist at a unique place where forms have the luxury of fluidity and interpretation. I think a watch without a crown could be a radical step for the industry. But what is the crownless wa...

Fratello on Air returns with an episode about one of our favorite brands: Grand Seiko! That s right - it s an hour of back-and-forth about a premium line that got its start during the 60s. What are the favorite models from our hosts? Tune in and find out… This podcast player is blocked because you did not accept marketing cookies. Change cookie settings You ve listened to our brand-focused episodes before, and while we ve taken on some big brands, Grand Seiko has so many great models that it was tough to pick our favorites. Whether we re talking about today or yesteryear, Grand Seiko is a treasure trove. Here s a hint: we ve both decided to go vintage. With that, we ve also decide...

I ll be honest, with the ongoing stream of releases that Seiko puts out, the solar-powered models are generally not the first ones I gravitate toward. Seiko simply has so many great mechanical watches in its collection that the solar-powered timepieces usually fall the wayside in my mind. But when they look as good as the new Prospex Speedtimer Solar Chronographs, I am all eyes and ears. The new Seiko Prospex SSC911, SSC913, and SSC915 comprise another compelling offer from the Japanese brand. Let s find out more.It doesn t often happen that a new release catches your eye and you feel immediately at home with it. It s not the excitement of discovering something new in terms of design. No, it...

As many of you know, Tissot found great success in last years release of the PRX. The Le Locle brand followed up strong with the release of the PRX Chronograph. Yet I cant help but wonder: whats next? Will it be endless iterations of the PRX family of watches? Well, theres nothing wrong with playing your hit song at every gig, maybe giving it a little twist now and then. But in the end, the time comes when your fans expect something new. And after writing a hit song, as you surf the high, the pressure is also on to follow up with something strong. But will Tissot deliver? I sure hope so, but some of the brands other recent releases have sparked some fear in my mind. Was the PRX just a lucky ...

You couldnt have missed the recent introduction of the Omega Speedmaster X-33 Marstimer. It was all over our website. And for good reason. Its not every day that you get to watch the launch of a tool watch thats made together with a space agency. The pros at the European Space Agency (ESA) came up with a wish list of very specific timing functions they need to operate their Mars lander on the Red Planet. The presentation did answer a lot of very difficult questions, but it also left the room to ponder about the watch, its functions, and its mission. But that was something I did after the show. My thoughts about the Marstimer belong in a Coffee Corner Watch Talk. And theres also a heads-up re...

Not all of us are Premier League footballers. Most of us have pretty normal jobs, and we would look ridiculous flashing a brightly colored Richard Mille. Add to that all of the horror stories about robberies, and the concept of stealth wealth starts to seem pretty attractive. There is something so cool about a watch that feels like business but that no one notices - a private menage deux between you and your watch. You know what youve got, and that is enough.Now, there are several ways to go about stealth wealth when it comes to watches. Let me share some strategies and examples here. We will start with some exotic stuff, but rest assured, there is something here for more reasonable budget...

BOLDR has something exciting coming. Following the success of its Globetrotter GMT and Venture GMT, the Singaporean microbrand is turning its hand to a GMT dive watch. Its latest creation, the Odyssey Freediver GMT, uses the recently launched Miyota 9075, an affordable 4Hz travelers GMT movement. The new addition to the Odyssey Freediver collection is one of the most attainable true GMT watches currently on the market.A new accessible-GMT segmentThe race to launch an affordable automatic GMT watch is over between two Japanese giants Seiko and Citizen. Seiko set the watch community on fire when it crossed the finish line first in June with its Seiko 5 GMT series, which Nacho covered here. The...

Humans have been making mechanical pocket watches since the early 1500s. Ever since then, they have been concerned with keeping the movements safe from outside nefarious elements. First, it was dust and water, then, magnetism and shocks. Technologies to keep watches ticking constantly improve, and the more time passes, the better they become. Most of us probably dont need high levels of protection against water, shock, and magnetism on a daily basis. However, some of us do. You may if your profession involves diving in the darkest depths of the oceans or exploring intricate cave systems. Or, if you are like me, you might simply like to know that your watch is ready for any adventure.There ar...

The Omega Seamaster name holds a very special place in my heart. I have a particular fondness for the vintage Seamaster line from the 1960s. My dad owns a Seamaster De Ville from 1966, and it s the watch I saw him wear while I was growing up. While that model will always be special to me, Omega produced more great watches at that time that stood out. One of them is the brilliant Omega Seamaster Chronograph ref. 105.005. It has the same 1960s Seamaster looks I know so well from my dad s watch and combines them with the brand s legendary caliber 321. Time to shine a light on this very special 1960s chronograph.It s funny how the Speedmaster has played such a dominant part in my recent adventur...

Usually, the Sunday Morning Showdown involves two quite similar watches - a chronograph against a chronograph, a diver against a diver, or a GMT against another GMT. And normally, two our editors compete against each other. Well, not today. This Sunday Morning Showdown will feature two very different watches and is a one-man show(down). I didn t come up with this all by myself. It is inspired by a question I get asked quite frequently. On Instagram, people occasionally send me DMs about which watch to get next. The one I receive most often is the Santos vs. Speedmaster dilemma.Don t get me wrong; it s not that I don t enjoy receiving these questions. But because of the recurring nature of th...

Under his reign, Thierry Stern saw a sports watch morph into a hyped commodity. I am, of course, referring to the basic steel Nautilus. When the hype was in its early days, Stern tried to deal with the annoyance by raising the price of the watch to an unrealistic level. But that didnt scare off anyone. It led to the rather Draconian measure of canceling the watch altogether. Stern now focuses on a younger target audience by treating them with models that are sporty, retro, complicated watches in precious metals. It s a collection befitting Patek 2.0, a contemporary watch brand firmly based on tradition. Will this approach be successful - is Thierry Stern securing Patek Philippe for the next ...

In Part One of this story, we made some pretty bold claims, such as Grand Seiko making the best dauphine hands out there. I ll still stand by that, and just as Part One described the ACD styles of watch hands, this time, we delve deeper into the alphabet and some quirky categories. For some reason, the Spade category is the last one I thought of, and it happens to be my favorite.These categories are not set in concrete. Some of you might even dispute the fact that Plongeur is a separate category. They are, in fact, a mixed set of baton and sword hands used for a pretty-iconic dive watch. And who, exactly, are the progenitors of the enigmatically named Obelisque style? Read on, Fratelli, and ...

With the SeaQ line, Glashtte Original released a collection of watches that I have really grown to love. The standard 39.5mm SeaQ in particular is an incredibly charming watch. Ever since the first SeaQ models were announced back in 2019, Glashtte Original has slowly expanded the collection with new models and colorways. The latest addition is the brand-new SeaQ Chronograph. It s not often that we see a chronograph diver, so I was happy to take this new model home for a couple of days and try it out.When the Glashtte SeaQ collection came out, I was immediately a fan of its looks. While the looks are certainly not unique, they are not very common anymore. There is a certain charm to the co...

The present-day owner of Lebois & Co, Tom van Wijlick, decided to come up with a reinterpretation of the brand s original chronograph watch from the 1940s. However, to make the development a little more democratic, he asked the watch community what theyd like to see.Lebois & Co. ref. 2723, circa 1945. Image source: Christie sLebois & Co Heritage Chronograph prototypesDuring the design process, those interested could vote for their favorite case shape, dial color, print, and chronograph movement. Now, Lebois & Co shares the first images of the Heritage Chronograph prototypes based on all these votes. All of these watches have a case diameter of 39mm, which seems to be the swee...

As I diverged from the steep ravine that some friendly locals optimistically called a path to let through a group of tourists coming up from the beach, I made a critical error. Leaving the safety of the path exposed me to loose sand and gravel. As I pivoted on my right foot and shifted my weight onto the left, I experienced the kind of gut-wrenching vertigo that you do as the expected grip gives way to a lack thereof. Everything happened in a flash. Due to my instinctual backward-leaning stance, countering the sheer steepness of the rocky descent, I went down on my back. The forward momentum carried me a couple of meters downhill, pushing my backpack up towards my shoulders, leaving the smal...