Straight off the bat, I will be honest with you. I have a soft spot for Linde Werdelin. I have always loved Linde Werdelin s concept of creating luxury sports watches for exploring the deep seas and the mountains. It s not a revolutionary idea, but the execution makes it something very special. And after trying on a 3-Timer in late 2009 I was completely sold.And that has never changed. The 3-Timer has always been my watch. But I still need to add a 3-Timer to my collection. Could it possibly be the new Linde Werdelin 3-Timer Nord?It seems like a strange idea that a watch I have loved for over a decade, is still on my wishlist instead of on my wrist. The answer to that is simple; I just spent...

I d been looking forward to getting my hands on the Alsta Nautoscaph Superautomatic for a long, long time. It s a watch that I d been vaguely aware of since I first saw Jaws some twenty years ago. In my mid-teens, I wasn t yet entirely bitten by the watch bug, but it came soon after. Once I d fallen down that rabbit hole, thoughts of the striking Alsta made their way back to my mind. I researched it, fawned over it, and lamented its absence from the modern market. And finally, it was reborn. Last month I got it on my wrist at last. What followed was an experience that will haunt me till I die…Dramatic? You bet. Such was my excitement at wearing the new Alsta for the first time, I could...

Its time for another installment of Two for Tuesdays where we compare a couple potential purchase choices. This week, well talk about the Tudor Black Bay 36 versus a neo-vintage Explorer.Back in 2018, I penned an article on the newly announced Tudor Black Bay 36. Specifically, the blue model was new and it joined a black dial edition that had been on the market for two years. I really liked it and spent a paragraph within the article comparing it to a neo-vintage 36mm Explorer. At that time, the price difference was within about $1,000. My how things have changed over the last two years. However, that s not why we re here. I wanted to write this comparison for the simple reason that I thin...

Singer entered the watch scene with a huge splash back in 2017. Not only was the name new but so too was the approach the brand came with as well. Singer Reimagined took inspiration from Singer Vehicle Design to create Track 1. Fast forward to 2020, and Singer is back at it again. This time with a new model, the Flytrack.The Flytrack is unmistakably Singer down to the last screw. The case shape, the dial design, even the movement, carry the brands DNA. The brand also to its wheelhouse, which is chronograph mastery. They created something simpler and easier to use. Yet it still serves the same purpose. That is, to measure elapsed time. So lets see what this new model is exactly.FlytrackThe ne...

Im back again. More watches and more movies! I swear I do more than sit around watching movies and talking about the watches I see in them. As I said in my last post, we watch collectors love a reason to add another watch to our collections. Movie tie-ins allow us to kid ourselves as to why we need to buy just one more watch - except it never is only one more, is it?Despite being a big fan of Seiko, Im wasn t entirely aware of how frequently the brand s watches have been featured in movies. So, I thought I would write another list. This time, my favorite Seiko watches from the big screen! Read on, Seiko fans, and let us know which of these you d strap on for your big-screen debut!Photo court...

Hundredth-anniversary wristwatches do not come around that often. Especially watches that are recreations of designs of the time, yet still appealing to today s consumer. In 2017, Oris kept the faith in one of its original Big Crown pilot s watches from 1917. This is my story about how and why the Oris Big Crown 1917 became my wedding watch.The story began in March 2017. I, along with some friends, found myself in the Oris Baselworld booth enjoying the hospitality. Soon after, a dapper-dressed fellow by the name of Matt Miller, aka @sunflowerman on social media, arrived. Miller is accustomed to sketching inside showrooms, on trade-show floors, and at famous landmarks. Even whilst surrounded ...

Earlier this year, Seiko announced a new spring drive movement intended to mark a new beginning for the brand. And with this new Spring Drive caliber is a great way to celebrate their 60th anniversary. Time to have a closer look at the Spring Drive 9RA5.Grand Seiko was born from a simple and ambitious aim, simply to create the best watches possible. With a small selection of Seikos top watchmakers put to work in the late 50s, the first Grand Seiko was launched in December 1960. With numerology being very important, in Japan, the number 60 marks a moment of new energy and rebirth.Grand Seiko 60th AnniversaryAmong a selection of special edition watches celebrating this milestone, the brand s m...

Happy Halloween! Welcome to the latest edition of This Week In Watches. We ve not had a huge amount of new releases trickle into our inboxes, but there have been a few tasty ones. To be honest, I m glad we ve not seen a surge of cheesy, Halloween-themed watches (but there s always one) - ain t nobody got time for that…Breitling Chronomat 36 & 32 for womenIt was only a matter of time. The re-introduced Breitling Chronomat unveiled in Spring has now sprung into a full-blown collection in a variety of sizes. However, instead of upsizing from the base 42mm case, Breitling has taken things down a notch. To cater to those who prefer a smaller diameter and appreciate the 80s aesthetic, th...

All Hallows Eve. My favorite time of year. And I m not alone in this. Watchmakers also revel in putting a spooky spin on their collections. For this week s Pre-Owned Picks, I am selecting three watches with an occult theme. What may surprise you is how collectible some of these watches have become or will become.Horror films are my guilty pleasure. I am far more likely to select a terrible horror film on streaming services over an acclaimed drama. Many share my deep fascination with horror fantasy, whether that stems from books, art, poetry or motion pictures. Some of the characters within are so ingrained that you can distinguish them from only a few subtle shapes. Konstantin Chaykin uses ...

This year saw a tsunami of new Seiko dive watches. Understandably, as 2020 marks the 55th anniversary of Seiko s first-ever dive watch. To celebrate, many limited editions saw the light, but fortunately, Seiko didn t forget its regular collection of dive watches. 45 years ago, the introduction of Seiko s first saturation diving watch, the Grandfather Tuna, stirred up the diving world. Today we re talking about two modern Seiko Tuna reinterpretations.We already wrote about this year s regular series Seiko diving models, like the new models in the SPB line,?here and here. And we did a Tuna review this year already as well. Although that one, the SLA041, was part of the anniversary collection a...

What constitutes a microbrand is a frequent topic of discussion in the pristine corridors and glistening towers of Fratello HQ. The team s official opinion has never quite solidified. My personal take is that a microbrand is, an independent brand, practicing a direct-to-consumer model, within an entry-level (<$5,000) price bracket. AnOrdain fits this definition but has much more going for it other than attractive pricing and a good quality/cost ratio. This brand offers an unusual level of craftsmanship for such a young brand, and that deserves some respect.I spent a lot of time in Glasgow in my twenties and early thirties. Scotland is a special place. The people, the culture, the architec...

We wont travel far into the past for todays #TBT. The Breitling Spatiographe lived quite a short life between 1997-2002 and it holds a very special place in my collection. It sits as the?lonely wolf among numerous pre-1980s watches and a decent bunch of modern timepieces. What an undervalued watch!Looking back, it does not necessarily mean we have to jump seven decades in the past to show you something spectacular. We havent featured many young-timers born around the 1990s on #TBT, but today we are about to change that. The Breitling Spatiographe is a pretty unusual piece that is often easily overlooked. It has the typical strong Navitimer design DNA but comes with a bit of a twist.Witty Bre...

We re back with a look at the top 5 vintage Grand Seiko models. This is an article that I ve wanted to pen for some time. I think we re finally ready for it!With the relatively recent rise of Grand Seiko as a global brand, popularity and fandom have thankfully come along. The brand is hot! And with such gorgeously crafted mechanical and quartz showstoppers, why shouldn t it be? But this wasn t always the case. Five plus years back, Grand Seiko existed as some sort of watch geek special. We all espoused these watches virtues, but I suppose regional availability combined with a focus on monochromatic designs kept their growth at bay. We also spoke a lot about vintage Grand Seiko and the outla...

This isn t the first time we ve seen watch brands team-up with their very own dedicated community channel, but it s certainly one of the first times we ve seen a retailer broker the deal. We ve all heard of the Paneristi. We at Fratello are intimately acquainted with the #SpeedyTuesday community supported by Omega. But now @NomiesForLife joins the fray. Thanks to NOMOS Glashtte s faithful friends at Ace Jewelers we all have another limited edition to fawn over. And it does deserve some serious fawning…This feels like a dream come true, even though it is not my dream. This collaboration marks a very special moment in the watch creation community. It is rare to see three-way collabs. It...

Hey folks, welcome back to Wrist Game or Crying Shame where today we ve got a humdinger of a specimen with the Hamilton Khaki Aviation Aluminum. But first…Last week, I classed it up around here with a Jaeger-LeCoultre Perpetual Calendar and you folks responded in a big way. This stunner brought home a massive 89% Wrist Game win. If you were getting warmed up for more complications, then today s Hamilton Khaki Aviation Aluminum just might come off as a cold shower. I m sorry about that, but I really like this watch.It s hard to believe that the Hamilton Khaki Aviation Aluminum debuted all the way back in 2014 at Baselworld. But is it so hard to believe? I ask that simply because I m not...

Most watch complications are related to our actual whereabouts. Take the chronograph, power reserve, and alarm or minute repeaters as examples. I?always found it fascinating that the GMT presented a?complication that referred to the events or reality related to you, just happening in any far corner of the world. Today we look at my favorite vintage GMT watches.?I?like simple solutions. Thats why I?prefer ref. 1675 from 1959 to the ref. 16750 introduced in 1983. Pointing to its primary feature, which was an extra GMT hand, the later GMT Master II ref.16710 allowed it to be set independently. That resulted in the possibility to read not two, but three time zones. GMT-Master 1675#1 GMT Master...

A few years ago, long before the introduction of this Venturist watch, I was contacted by a young Dutch guy with big horological dreams. This guy, Tom van Wijlick, was so passionate about watches, that besides collecting, he wanted to make his own watch.This story so far is not unique though. Even back then, in 2014, when Fratello wasn t as big as it is today, we received many of these messages from guys who wanted to create their own watch. The difference between Tom van Wijlick and most of the others was that Tom was destined to build a brand, instead of running just a watch project. After resurrecting an old brand name, Lebois & Co, he introduced the Avantgarde Date watches. After thr...

While some people refuse to buy a watch with a comic character on the dial, others pay over $40,000 for one. We will try to explain the immense popularity of the white dial 2015 Omega Speedmaster.Before the introduction of the Omega Speedmaster Silver Snoopy Award 50th anniversary watch (we showed it to you here), the white dial 2015 Speedmaster Snoopy prices were already on the rise. The Omega Speedmaster Silver Snoopy Award (ref. 311.32.42.30.04.003), introduced at Baselworld 2015, originally had a price tag of $6,000. On the first day of the Baselworld 2015 exhibition, the Speedmaster Snoopy sold out.In this case, sold out means Omega sold all 1,970 of these watches to its authorized deal...

Roll up, roll up, we ve got some tasty Grand Seiko news for all lovers of Japanese watchmaking today! Our good friends at Hodinkee have just announced their latest limited edition model. It is, as of 10 am EDT today, available in the Hodinkee shop. Given how quickly these models sell out, you might want to hop over there and grab one before reading this article as only 500 pieces will be made. But if you re happy to hold fire for a few minutes more, allow me to introduce to you the ?Grand Seiko Automatic GMT SBGM239 Limited Edition For HODINKEE.Fans of Grand Seiko may be family with the brand s raft of attractive GMT models, available in a variety of configurations. A great many GMT models f...

I like the hypothetical and that brings us to a seemingly outlandish question that may become a little less so. By the end of this article, you will get to answer whether you d put down your hard-earned money to buy a steel sports even if you don t want it. It seems like an easy one, but let s see…I don t daydream enough, but when I do it s often about scary great white shark encounters or hitting a World Series deciding homer in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and a full count. Sometimes, though, I think about watches. And when I do, it s a thought that s probably not too original. I ve got this wild plan where I m in some sort of out of the way town and there just so happens t...