Among the watches I have, one of them has a very special meaning to me: the Omega Constellation. For me, the passion for this model started in the 90s when Cindy Crawford inspired so many women to get a Constellation - including my mom - who bought one for me.For others, it all started even earlier. And that passion still burns strong. We see this regularly, as love for this watch is shared and re-shared here on Fratello or on our social media channels at a surprising rate. I find that very satisfying. Im not afraid to admit Im sad when I see people chasing the same type of watches designed by Genta, while there are so many concepts that deserve more attention than those more obvious choices...

Its not too hard to find a watch to your liking in the twenty-plus Astron collection; they range from traditional to exuberant with plenty of flavors in between. The Seiko Astron GPS Solar SSH093J1 watch is a limited edition of 1,400 pieces, and it mixes two extremes: highly noticeable, clear blue elements set to an easy-on-the-eye, almost subdued silvery white background. And instead of lightweight titanium Seiko decided to produce this anniversary edition in steel. Maybe because steels higher weight adds more gravitas and significance to the watch. But did Seiko succeed? Lets find out.The Seiko Astron GPS Solar SSH093J1 watch is a limited edition that celebrates the fact that 140 years ago...

Hi and hello watch fans, welcome to Episode 56 of Fratello On Air, otherwise known as WASP 9.0. This week on Watching Sports and Sporting Watches, Balazs and I will be stepping away from North America itself and focusing on our very own mailbag, which is bursting at the seams thanks to our valued listeners writing in with their questions.We have questions from both sides of the Atlantic to address, with fun answers to chew through. First, though, we touch on the latest developments in European Soccer following the semi-finals of both of Europe s major cup competitions, the Champions League and the Europa League. This podcast player is blocked because you did not accept marketing cookies. Ch...

This is what I often like to say to my fellow watch friends when they start asking the same silly questions about Cartier again.It was 1983 or 1984 when I bought my first real watch; the Cartier Santos. That was, of course, the square watch in steel with yellow gold lunette and steel bracelet with yellow gold screws. It was hot like hell and became the most copied watch. It was also that watch that made me interested in the history of the brand since the dealer told me that the design was inspired by the first mens wristwatch, launched by Cartier in 1904. So you can imagine that it did not take long before I became obsessed with watches in general, especially with Cartier.Cartier Watches Fro...

In our Sunday Morning Showdown, two of our writers go head-to-head in an epic showdown for the ages. Strong opinions and hysterical hyperbole are welcome (so feel free to join in with the fun in the comments section below). And don t forget to let us know which watches you d like to see torn to shreds/effusively exalted next week. We ll try and feature as many of our readers choices as we can. Grab a hot drink, settle into a comfy chair and ponder whether the new Tudor Black Bay Chrono finally usurps TAG Heuer s Carrera Sport.This week continues the trend of pitting a new novelty from Watches & Wonders 2021 against a staple contender. With hundreds of watch releases from 38 brands in a ...

We like to talk about vintage watches a lot within the Fratello team. While the daily routine is largely focused on the most recent developments in the world of watches, the most fun for many of us lies in the world of vintage watches. Its a world full of history, remarkable watches, incredible stories, and quirky details. It inspired us to come up with a series of articles focusing on the best watches per decade from a select group of brands. Some of them priceless, some of them still affordable. But all of them are interesting watches. In this installment, we will take a look at the best Zenith watches from the 1960s.In the 1960s, we witnessed developments that challenged the status quo of...

The red twelve. It s iconic. I really mean that. I say it without a note of shyness. Yes, the most overused word in the watch industry is not one I reach for very often but I like to when I think it perfectly sums up the little things that brands do that end up snowballing and becoming far bigger than they could have ever hoped to become. The NOMOS Glashtte Tangente 38 - 50 Years Of Doctors Without Borders has a long name but an even longer history behind it. Let s dive into that now.Doctors Without Borders is known around the world by many names. In English-speaking countries, we call it the DWB. In NOMOS s homeland (Germany) the company is called ?rzte ohne Grenzen (or ?oG). The company s...

Fratello on Air is here and this episode is quite a bit different. Balazs and Mike enter into a game of two questions. Enjoy!Balazs and I are inquisitive folks. We acted on this trait with a very different type of show. Each of us came up with two questions for the other person. The rules? They were simple! The question had to relate to watches in some way and neither of us could prep the other person ahead of time. The hypothetical looms large and your hosts had to think on their feet. We think you ll enjoy this candid listen.Wrist check and the newsBefore hitting the main topic, we do a wrist check and then mention friend-of-the-show Jason Heaton s new book. Depth Charge sounds like a rive...

Recently, our glorious leader wrote a fun piece about the best chronographs priced under $5,000 right now. That s a fun topic that got me thinking about the industry s most talked-about chronograph, the Daytona. Despite this model being pretty darn popular within the walls of Fratello, it has never managed to touch me. I love early Chronographs and especially the immediate precursors to the Daytona like a late reference 6238 (reverse panda, please). However, the ensuing Daytona-fever turned me off from a model that crept further and further away from the class exuded by its forebears. And then, in 2013, with the release of reference 116506, truly jumped the shark.I wish the shark had pun...

Evolution is a funny thing. When something crawls from the ocean and spends too much time on land, it will start to change. So when you take a diving watch out of the water and stop it from going back, over time it will start to change. One of the first things that might take on a new form is the diving bezel. Perhaps it might morph into a compass ring? Let s see what life on land has done to this new series of Seiko Prospex watches and whether these latest iterations strike a chord.Seiko Prospex watches are generally associated with diving. That makes sense since these watches have quite an underwater history. But there are also Prospex models that were designed with functioning especially ...

I?have been getting ready to write this article for years. Alongside other obscure brands and watches, it was always the Mido occupying top positions of my list of holy grail watches. No , no Omega, no Patek. Lets travel back to 1939 when the Mido Radiotime was born.?? Its noon on a Sunday and we are all sitting around the dining table. There are six of us, so it s loud and busy. There is always a radio playing in the kitchen background. What happens next is burned into my memory and sits in an imaginative drawer of my all-time most vivid memories. A series of short radio pips that ends with a final, longer pip followed by a microphonic voice announcing the time. I don t remember how many ti...

I am delighted to be sharing my research on a newly discovered and unique Omega coming up for auction at Antiquorum in Geneva. You can see the full catalog here. But first, I will go back through a bit of history to put things in context.When we think of Omega watches, each of us will likely have an image of a particular watch pop into our minds. In my case, its usually a Speedmaster. However, among its peers of the biggest brands at the top of the Swiss watchmaking industry, Omega is one of the most varied. Historically speaking, it might even be the broadest. It has covered more categories, made more references and calibers, and ventured into more prototypes than many of its peers.A unique...

It will be difficult to not use the name Yacht-Master in this write-up. One glance at the midsize Omega Seamaster Professional Automatic Chronometer 300M Diver watch is enough to show you very clearly what I mean. Doesnt that bezel ring a bell? It does, doesnt it? The edgy shape of the uni-directional white gold bezel is distinctly Seamaster and the same goes for the wave pattern on the deep black dial. This dressy Seamaster is quite the sophisticated yachtsman. Or noble diver, if you prefer.With its 36.2511.5mm white gold case, the midsize Omega Seamaster Professional Automatic Chronometer 300M Diver watch (ref. 2652.50.91) is a very versatile creature. Because of its modest size, it slide...

Roll out the red carpet because Wrist Game or Crying Shame is back! This week, we take a look at the Yacht-Master 40 Oysterflex. But first…Thank you, thank you very much for the warm welcome back to the stage. Yours truly has been in South Florida for the better part of a month for the sole purpose of finding a couple timely needle jabs. On that front, this trip is a proper success. In fact, and I m sorry to my European brethren, it s infintely easier to stumble upon a vaccine down here than just about any type of in an AD. Truth! Still, my time is drawing to a close here and I m sick and tired of restaurants, general freedom, and gaiety. It s time to return to Europe where I can enj...

Submariner Killers sounds a bit aggressive, but this is by no means meant to slaughter one of the most famous diving watches in the world. And it is also not meant to get the Submariner out of your head. If you want it, get it. But if you have a budget of $5,000 (~ $6K? USD or CHF5,5K Swiss Francs), it is virtually impossible. The retail price of the Submariner is $7,700 and $8,700 for the Submariner Date. So what are the alternatives? Are there alternatives?Sure there are! Either in terms of specifications or in looks, but also keep in mind what I wrote above. If you really want a Submariner, there s no alternative. But then you re also buying into the story of the Submariner, and perhaps...

If you follow my writing, you ll probably have seen that I m a big fan of independent brands and microbrands. Today s review is from one such microbrand, one that is no stranger to the pages of Fratello, the Boldr Venture Chaigo Limited Edition.People often ask me why I love microbrands so much, and it s a difficult question to answer. If I had to guess, I would say that I favor the microbrands doing something different from a creative perspective. As most are limited by the movements available to them, they have to push their creative boundaries on an aesthetic level instead of the technical. Some brands know what they re doing and form a strong brand identity that follows them through thei...

Hey there indie fans. I m back at it with another episode of Independent Insights. Whenever I see new releases or indie news that I find interesting, I will put together a short roundup. It seems I m not alone in enjoying this area of the industry we call our hobby!This week, we see a new update to a non-military-issued German watch, a jazzy retrograde GMT watch, and carbon fiber 5711. If that sounds good to you, then read on!Mhle Glashtte S.A.R. Rescue-Timer LUMENMhle Glashtte is perhaps not the first brand that comes to mind when you hear the name Glashtte. Maybe it has been overshadowed by its neighbors in recent times. That said, the German brand does have some pretty tasty models i...

It is not rocket science: everyone is after the same type of watches. For whatever reason, whether that s a genuine interest, lack of confidence, or the fear of missing out on things. It doesn t matter, in all honesty. I am happy to notice a small shift in things, at least in some of the watch collecting circles out there. People buy (again) what they truly enjoy and like. This 18 carat rose gold Omega Speedmaster Day-Date reference 3623.33.01 is one of those watches that only a few people will care about.And that s also fine, it means that those who do enjoy it, will be able to pick one up for a fair price. I won t say cheap, as $5,650 is a lot of money to many.? But compared to the more fa...

Before sitting down to write this piece, I wasn t too familiar with Louis Moinet and the brand s watches. In retrospect, I feel that this is a bit of a travesty as some research into the brand s eponymous namesake revealed some exciting information. OK, so you want some significant, heavy-hitting facts? How about Louis Moinet was a personal advisor to a certain Mr. Abraham-Louis Breguet for 12 years before his death? Yes, that Mr. Breguet.You still want more? Let s take the humble chronograph. Loved and adored by many here in the Fratello Watches community. Well, Louis Moinet was the inventor of the chronograph complication in 1816. Although he called it a compteur de tierces which translate...

It s time for Two for Tuesday where we consider a pair of watches that just might make it to your shopping list. Today, we look at a couple of standards. The Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight takes on the Submariner.Steel, no date, automatic, and with a durable bracelet - these are attributes that many of us enjoy on a dive watch. Plenty of brands offer a diver with these characteristics, but there s one true king of the genre. The Submariner sits at the top of the food chain and it does so for a lot of reasons that we will cover below. With go anywhere good looks, fantatsic build quality, and a reputation for holding or growing value, it s hard not to like this watch. The problem, of course, is...