Just recently, Fratello had cause to visit our good friends at Fortis at their Grenchen headquarters. Standing on the recently-renamed John Harwood Street, in honor of the man who invented the automatic watch and brought it to market with the help of Fortis, the brand s historic home is undergoing a complete overhaul, ready for the next phase of Fortis s journey under the leadership of visionary Jupp Philippe.This video is blocked because you did not accept marketing cookies. Change cookie settings Dario Bhler of Fortis managed to find a quiet enough corner of the HQ to sit down with Rob of Fratello for an expansive chat on all things watches. The boys discuss how Rob came into the ind...

Many years ago, when the vintage market was not what it is today, a watch came to my attention. A friend of mine offered it to me for a fair price. It had a smaller case, two sub-dials, and a strange date-window placement at 12 oclock. The watch was a vintage Nivada Datomaster, a small hand-wound chronograph with a light gray dial, white sub-dials, and pump pushers. These days, Nivada is not what it used to be. Neither is the new Datomaster Mechanical. Yet, it is still a lovely timepiece that well take a closer look at now.? ??You are right if you think you have already seen a new Datomaster. The brand has another one in the collection. However, that one has a meca-quartz movement, a date wi...

I will be the first to admit to a deep fascination and respect for the work of Peter Speake and Daniela Marin of The Naked Watchmaker. While having written more than 500 stories about watches, my micro-mechanical watchmaking skills are self-taught but with help from Daniela and Peter s website. With The Naked Watchmaker releasing its first watch collaboration, is there a deeper meaning behind it?For those of you that do not know, The Naked Watchmaker website is a deeply scholastic and refreshingly different approach to our world of wrist wonders. Seeing step-by-step deconstructions of famous movements has taught me a lot, and the realism in the site s coverage is more fascinating than most c...

All right, with three quarter-finals down, these are the final two contestants entering our 2022 Summer Splash showdown. We are still on the hunt for the ultimate colorful summer watch. This time, we focus on aesthetics first. No monochromatic stuff allowed. We want something bright and cheerful to wear out in the sun. In this last quarter-final, we see the entry of the NOMOS Club Campus Future Orange and the Oris Aquis Great Barrier Reef III. It s orange versus teal, diver versus do-it-all. Lets get ready to rumble!Ben will defend the Oris, while Thomas puts forward the NOMOS. Lets hear what they have to say about their respective candidates.Thomas: NOMOS Club Campus Future OrangeOkay, Bens...

Squale may be a name more familiar to the most hardcore vintage dive-watch collectors. The Swiss brand with Italian heritage, however, is certainly not exclusive to a discerning few. The dive-watch specialist has an illustrious history with its fingers in some truly iconic watches since the 60s. Today, one of them is getting a long-absent sequel (just like Top Gun!). Forty years after developing a military-grade tool watch for the Marina Militare, Squale is issuing a new model, once again for the partnership with the Italian Navy. The limited edition of 300 pieces is aptly called Squale Master X Marina Militare.Squale is slow-growing when it comes to its own portfolio of watches, but it was ...

After years of resistance, since the revitalization in 2016, Fears finally embraces the life aquatic with its Brunswick 40 Topper Limited Edition. Famously, Fears s fourth managing director cannot swim, focusing the brand s direction on exquisite classic timepieces for dry land. But when revered Californian wristwatch retailer Topper came knocking, sporty was the only way to go. The coastal regions of its Northern California base lend themselves to a functional timepiece. After two years of development, Fears unveils the result just in time for summer. For many, this new Brunswick might be just the Fears watch that collectors were clamoring for. As you ll find out, however, obtaining your ow...

Darling of the avant-garde watch scene Ressence has launched its latest creation, the Type 5 AIT. A collaboration with Monaco-based collective Art In Time, the new edition of the brand s Type 5 dive watch contributes to protecting the environment and promoting sustainable development locally and globally. How exactly? Let s find out.It all starts with HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco. In June 2006, Prince Albert II established a foundation dedicated to worldwide environmental sustainability. Since then, the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation has sought to allow scientists, political leaders, and economic and civil society stakeholders to work together with the united goal of protecting the ...

A huge benefit of having recently moved back to France (my home country) is that I get to discover French brands I didnt know existed and visit their boutiques in the nations capital. One of these brands is Charlie Paris, founded in 2014 by two childhood friends with a passion for horology. While the brand started by developing three-hand quartz timepieces, in the past couple of years, it has released sturdier watches like this Concordia automatic.?Charlie Paris has appeared twice on Fratello thus far, in this review about its first automatic watch and this brief write-up about the Concordia model. Today, lets do a hands-on review of the Concordia and see how it holds up in the metal going t...

I didn t have to buy this Angelus Chronodato, but I wanted to. One look at that dial with its crazy patina and the seldom-seen tachymeter scale and you will be hooked too.I never buy gold-plated watches… until I have to. Sometimes, you don t have the luxury of a wide range of choices and just have to go with what you can get. Take the Tourist Everlight, the world s first mechanical wristwatch with an electrically lit dial, for instance. The Avia Ajustor with external balance regulation or dead-beat Tourist Radio-Top?would be a few more examples, and the crazy Sperina Counter watch that I ve never, ever seen in a steel case would be yet another. Sometimes you re just glad when you find ...

When it comes to watches, I am a self-professed bracelet lover. I always encourage fellow enthusiasts to get the bracelet version for a number of reasons. Sometimes, however, a watch isnt offered on a bracelet. Usually, that means the watch has less appeal to me, but that was definitely not the case with the limited-edition Fratello Oris Big Crown Bronze Pointer Date. Now, after sourcing a newly released bronze bracelet for this watch, does my advice still hold?As I admitted already, I tend to prefer my watches on their bracelets. In fact, I hardly ever buy a watch that doesnt have a stock bracelet option. Having the Fratelloris on the bronze bracelet for a few weeks now has really driven ...

In this installment Fratello EDC, Thomas shares his everyday carry essentials. We have a look at the stuff he needs to get through the day. Lets stick our curious little noses into his bags and pockets!I do not particularly like to pack a whole lot of stuff. Unfortunately, as a watch journo, you need quite a few things on a daily basis. I am also slightly neurotic when it comes to my daily items. Everything is always in its proper place. Few things bring me greater discomfort than finding that my keys, wallet, or phone are not in the right place.The phone: iPhone 13 Pro MaxI have to confess, I like big phones. I remember making fun of a friend years ago. He had this 4.7″ Samsung, and I...

Long gone are the days when I sneered at the mention of a Chanel watch and dismissed it as a fashion item. I remember sitting at a fine London bar some years ago with my WOSTEP-trained watchmaker-turned-marketer friend from Audemars Piguet and, unavoidably, talking shop. After a few decadent cocktails, my Dutch courage compelled me to blurt out how much I liked the BoyFriend Skeleton. Then I went on about how Chanel had upped the horological ante. To my surprise, he confessed that he loved the J12!Talk about genderleess or unisex watches, whatever the label is, Chanel was already on board back in 2000 with the introduction of the ceramic J12. I m not a watch snob. I am not partial to only a...

Hey! Youre wearing the new Nezumi Voiture ref. VM1S.601 chronograph, the neurobiologist enthusiastically said during last Saturdays Fratello get-together. I was quite surprised by that. Nezumi is not a mainstream brand, and the lights in the bar were dimmed. Still, he identified the watch as soon as it met his gaze. Later, I found out that the neurobiologist has a scary knack for remembering reference numbers. I suspect, since hes in the brain business and probably knows a trick or two to get the most out of the human brain, he also stunned some other attendees with his factual knowledge. Anyway, back to the blue Nezumi Voiture ref. VM1S.601 chronograph. I have been wearing it for a while an...

Tissot has had a connection to the NBA as well as other basketball organizations for a long time now. For this, having at least one watch in the collection that celebrates this partnership is a must. Still, the brand went a bit further. Tissot does not only associate a watch, the SuperSport, with its affiliation but also a new collection of straps.The NBA (National Basketball Association) is one of the four major sports leagues in North America, consisting of American and Canadian basketball teams. As such, the market is vast, and being part of this grand alliance is crucial. Tissot has been the official timekeeper for the NBA since 2015. Last year, the Swiss watch manufacturer and the leagu...

Are you ready for round three of the Fratello Summer Splash 2022? Well, ready or not, its about to begin. This years contest is all about finding the best colorful watches to keep you happy all summer long. Sure, warm weather and long days might already put a smile on your face, but a brightly colored watch on your wrist always kicks things up a notch. Much like a bold pair of sunglasses, a Hawaiian shirt, or even your summery cocktail of choice, a suitable watch for the warmer months is a cornerstone of summer fun. Last year we narrowed this down in a rather technical way with requirements as to water resistance, price, and availability. This year, all we ask is that the watches are current...

On March 24th, something big happened. Together with Omega, Swatch introduced the Bioceramic MoonSwatch. Eleven different watches, each named after a different body in our solar system. From the Sun, to the (dwarf) planet Pluto, each in a different color, but all inspired by the most iconic chronograph in the world - the Speedmaster Moonwatch. To some, this introduction came as a shock. To others, it simply brought a smile to their face. Whether these were die-hard Speedmaster enthusiasts or those who had never owned an analog (or any) watch before, people jumped on them. This led to crazy moments on March 26th when the world s 110 Swatch boutiques got their stock of MoonSwatches. And the qu...

Well, he s done it. He s only gone and done it. With Laventure s fifth release and fourth new model family (following the Marine, Sous-Marine, and Transatlantique lines), Clement Gaud has blasted through the theoretical ceiling that holds back so many new independent brands. The inclusion of a (green) proprietary movement in this exciting new chronograph is something I m very glad to see. It elevates a brand that few criticized aesthetically to a whole new level technically. But what does the Laventure Automobile Chronograph mean for the future of the brand? Allow me to look back before we look forward…The last article I wrote about Laventure was, in many ways, the most critical. While...

MB&F is adding a Tiger Eye version to the LM FlyingT collection. Love the name. What is tiger eye? It is a golden brown gemstone. According to MB&F, …in some parts of the world, it is believed to ward off the evil eye. Roman soldiers wore engraved tiger eye to protect them in battle. Here, the stone takes the form of the dial plate and sub-dial of the latest Legacy Machine FlyingT (T stands for Tourbillon) in an 18K yellow gold case set with diamonds.Sounds fancy. Well, it is a Legacy Machine, so shouldnt it be? MB&F says, We dont craft yellow gold cases very often-but we think it works particularly well with the silky luster of tiger eye, with its undulating bands of color...

Google the significance of the color green and youll find this definition from the website Bourncreative: The color green affects us physically and mentally in several different ways. Green is soothing, relaxing, and youthful. It is a color that helps alleviate anxiety, depression, and nervousness. Green also brings with it a sense of hope, health, adventure, and renewal, as well as self-control, compassion, and harmony. This sets the bar pretty high for the appreciation of the new Laurent Ferrier Classic Traveller Serie Atelier Magnetic Green.This refreshing color riffs on the trend we saw emerge in 2021 for more green dials, though understatedly so. This is simply (well, for a Ferrier) a d...

Roue is a Brazilian independent brand that you may not have heard of. The brand came onto the scene in 2017 with a collection of tonneau-shaped watches ranging from three-handers to chronographs well under $500. The founder, Alexandre Iervolino, comes from a family of car collectors and grew up developing a passion for utilitarian German design, notably Braun clocks and radios. All of the models that Roue has released thus far have a heavy racing undertone. That includes, of course, this TPS model, which is part of the brands second and most recent collection.Meca-quartz chronographs are all the rage these days (should I say these past couple of years?) and there is no short supply of brands...