It has been a while since I bought a new watch. And by that, I mean not a pre-owned or vintage one. Just last weekend, I bought another vintage Constellation at a local auction to satisfy my hunger. One of the reasons I refrain from buying new watches these days is that prices of certain ones have risen so much that the pre-owned and vintage alternatives often beat them. Of course, those who are mainly into vintage already know this. So, as some of my Fratello colleagues already have, I hereby share some of the pre-owned and vintage pieces on my watch list.Image: Amsterdam Watch CompanyMy watch listAdmittedly, a few recent releases are on my watch list, such as the white-dial Speedmaster Moo...
Watches and street style go together quite well. While this combination might not be for everyone, there is a huge audience for modern timepieces that celebrate the best in street culture. But what if you combine the colorful graffiti world with the traditional shapes of horology? That s exactly what Maen and IFL Watches have done with the new Manhattan Graffiti collaboration. The canvas for the art is the popular Maen Manhattan 37, and the artists at IFLW created special graffiti dials that celebrate the most iconic New York boroughs and neighborhoods. The result is a colorful tribute to the city that made graffiti a worldwide phenomenon.With the collabs that IFLW creates, the dial tells th...
Its finally here! The Seamaster Diver 300M watch spotted on the wrist of Bond actor Daniel Craig during the Olympic Games in Paris now makes its official debut. Showing the Moonwatch with a white dial on Craig s wrist in 2023 worked miracles for its preview exposure, and that strategy worked again this year with the Seamaster Diver 300M.The Seamaster Diver 300M dates back to 1993. At that time, Omega designed the watch from scratch rather than basing it on anything the company had made before. Alongside the Constellation 95, the Seamaster 300M did very well for Omega in those days.In 1995, the Seamaster Diver 300M appeared for the first time in a James Bond movie (GoldenEye). From that momen...
The Hublot Big Bang Unico Novak Djokovic is made of sponsors. They re not unexpected sponsors since the worlds number-one tennis player gets his rackets from Head and his sporting attire from Lacoste. However, what is unusual and surprising is that Hublot has used the equipment and clothes provided in the 2023 season to create a watch case. The blue composite material used to make the lightweight, open-worked case of the Big Bang Unico Novak Djokovic is a mix of (potentially sweaty) shirts, and redundant rackets play an important part, at least for telling the story.Novak Djokovic is a 24-time Grand Slam singles champion and the worlds undisputed number-one tennis player. He might not be as ...
Hello, and welcome, folks, to Fratello Talks. Germany s most prestigious watch brand has turned 30 (again) this year! So today, in honor of three decades of watchmaking from its seat in Glashtte, we re talking all about A. Lange & S?hne. Now, some of you may be thinking: Wait, Lange has only been around since the 90s? And you d be right to question that because the brand was originally founded in 1845 but closed its doors in 1948. After several decades of dormancy, Walter Lange, the great-grandson of Ferdinand Adolph Lange, brought the brand back to life. Since then, it has quickly risen to the top of the heap alongside prestigious watchmaking houses that have existed for centuries. To...
The shape of the case and bracelet on Czapek s Antarctique has remained unchanged since its introduction in 2020. There are versions in stainless steel, gold, and titanium, for example, but they all share the same attractive and popular integrated construction. The Antarctique s dial, on the other hand, seems more like a blank canvas that gets a complete overhaul every time a new version comes out. The same goes for today s new revelation, the Czapek Antarctique Purple Storm. Its space-inspired purple dial represents a fascinating stardust storm.This new limited edition joins the lineup of other Antarctiques with galaxy-inspired and hand-varnished dials. Take a look, for example, at the Emer...
Audemars Piguet put a tourbillon inside an edgy titanium watch, and Kaws put a miniature Companion. AP is very active in the art scene, so every once in a while, a special collaboration watch emerges. Audemars Piguet introduces the 43mm limited-edition Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon Companion, a series of 250 futuristic titanium watches infused with the aesthetic DNA of the artist Kaws. He put a miniature Companion at the very heart of the watch, which made AP move the time indication to the edge. The result sure is edgy.?Brian Donnelly, aka KawsYou want to know who Kaws is; I get it. Brian Donnelly, aka Kaws, lives and works in Brooklyn, New York, and started as a graffiti artist in New York ...
Since Asher Rapkin and Gabe Reilly founded Collective Horology in 2018, the company has become known as one of the leading US-based retailers of watches from independent brands. But Collective has also collaborated with several brands on an impressive number of limited editions. For its tenth collaborative effort, Collective teamed up with Zenith again for the new Defy Skyline C.X Edition. Together, they also created the first-ever Collective Horology limited edition. This time around, these two parties collaborated on a special monochromatic version of the Zenith Defy Skyline. But it s not just about the aesthetics. There is a bit more going on than a mere glance might suggest. Let s find o...
After a two-week hiatus, Fratello On Air returns with an episode about how we research watches before buying. This is a listener suggestion that likely comes from the southern USA. We know this because the message contained the word y all. Well, giddyup because it s time to discuss our top tips. For our listeners, the watch content starts after 20 minutes.This podcast player is blocked because you did not accept marketing cookies. Change cookie settings Specifically, our listener Adam emailed us and asked how we research watches with little published history. He s especially interested in how we approach long-dormant brands or those that exist in name only. We ve danced around this subje...
Over the past year, I ve enjoyed smaller, simpler watches from the 40s and 50s. This change in my collecting course has been fun and relatively inexpensive. Does that mean I ve given up on later vintage and more modern pieces? Absolutely not, but as you ll see with the majority of today s pre-owned and vintage favorites, the choices are inspired by older watches.I love variety when it comes to choosing a watch. Some days, I like a thicker sports watch that can handle the elements. On other days, I prefer a simpler dressy piece with a bespoke strap or vintage bracelet. What are my favorites? All of them, of course! Today, I will mention three pieces that have consistently stuck in my mind a...
What better way to celebrate your 20th anniversary than by throwing a small party? No, even a tiny party is way too exuberant for Greubel Forsey, Haute Horlogerie manufacturer par excellence. Thats why the brand throws a nano party. And thats big news because the Nano Foudroyante EWT is Greubel Forseys 10th Invention Piece. The watchs main talking point is a Nano Foudroyante set within a flying tourbillon with an oriented reading axis. As a bonus, you get a flyback function for the hand-wound chronograph movement, which also has a column wheel for crisp and precise action. There s also exceptional finishing of the movement for your viewing pleasure.Forget about micromechanics; nano-mechanics...
BA111OD is still a young brand in a world of watches that is full of historical powerhouses. But ever since its founding in 2019, BA111OD has quickly made a name for itself with some interesting new ideas. There is plenty to check out, from the compelling business model to the integration of connectivity and the affordable prices for the technically capable watches. I took two of the brand s Chapter 4 Tourbillons for a spin to find out what they are about. The first model was the modern-looking Chapter 4.5 T.V.D. The second was the more classic-looking Chapter 4.7 Onyx Tourbillon. These different watches gave me a good impression of the BA111OD Chapter 4 series. It s time to find out more!We...
Do you want to use a Seagull ST-1901 movement in your new watch? Sure, that s no problem, but you ll need to order a minimum of 10,000 units. That s something you want to hear as a small brand when asking the Chinese movement manufacturer about possibly supplying you with calibers. But instead of looking for possible alternative movements, Studio Underd0g negotiated with Seagull, and the outcome is most surprising. The young and fun British brand signed an exclusive contract with Seagull, allowing it to offer a bespoke version of this hand-wound column-wheel chronograph movement. This exclusive ST-1901B features an all-black mainplate that frames the bridges, the wheels, and the balance most...
In December 2023, Breitling purchased Universal Geneve and announced that the brand would return to the marketplace in 2026. Since then, speculation about the models and movements has run rampant. We still don t have any information to share. Still, Universal Geneve has announced three one-off Polerouter watches that celebrate the 70th anniversary of the SAS transpolar flights from Copenhagen to Los Angeles.Universal Geneve won t debut serial-production models until 2026. However, the brand has announced three unique SAS Polerouter pieces that blend Genevan metiers dart, new cases, and vintage movements. One piece will head to a Phillips auction in May 2025, and the remaining two watches wil...
You know what they say: Dont meet your heroes. It will only disappoint you. The curtain will lift on your enamored illusions, and you will come out sadder and wiser, maybe even cynical. So when Nacho asked me if I would be interested in doing a hands-on with a 65-year-old Submariner, I was apprehensive. Should I? The younger reference 5513 has always been a grail watch of mine. It is one that I have spent a lot of time with, in many of its different guises. What would it be like to hang out with the older reference 5508? Would it be so delicate and rattly that it would turn me off of vintage Submariners altogether? Or could it shove the 5513 aside and become my new grail?Of course, I could ...
Welcome back to Sunday Morning Showdown, your steady diet of weekly watch duels. This time, Jorg and Mike battle it out with a pair of vintage-inspired GMTs. But which does it best? Will it be the impressive Tudor Black Bay 58 GMT that came out earlier this year during Watches and Wonders? Or will the popular Laventure Transatlantique II GMT take the GMT crown? You get to decide which one wins this battle of the travel watches!After last week s battle of retro-futuristic timepieces, it s time to return to Earth and focus on two traditional GMTs with strong retro vibes. The Tudor Black Bay 58 GMT is the first GMT version of the popular Black Bay 58 series. It introduces the complication to th...
As a fan of GMTs, I will take every opportunity to check out watches that feature my favorite complication. When the Nivada Grenchen Antarctic GMT landed on my desk, I was intrigued. This remake of a rare 1970s watch combines a Super Compressor-styled case with a rotating internal 24-hour GMT bezel. Combined with the charming 70s style, this new Nivada Grenchen Antarctic model is an interesting retro take on a classic GMT. It s time to find out more.Leave it up to Nivada Grenchen to release a modern watch that respects the looks and dimensions of its vintage inspiration. The brand has garnered much praise from watch fans who love their vintage-inspired reissues. I am one of them because I l...
Are you looking to close out the year with a bang? If so, you d better do that with a banger of a watch that, for some reason, never found its way to your wrist. Missed opportunities are a thing of the not-so-distant past, so on my hit list are three of my favorite pre-owned watches. Theres the Jaeger-LeCoultre Grande Reverso 8 Days Power Reserve, an XL Radiomir 1940, and a thats dearly missed from the current lineup, the Turn-O-Graph.From the early 2000s comes the Jaeger-LeCoultre Grande Reverso 8 Days Power Reserve (ref. 240.8.14), of which 11 are currently available on Chrono24?for $6KC8K. This steel watch measures 46.5mm long by 29.2mm wide, and at 12.2mm thick, it s on the funky and ch...
Praesidus is one of those brands I have quickly come to love. It focuses on introducing vintage-inspired military watches with unique stories. The brand has a knack for finding remarkable military stories and using them as inspiration for its timepieces. The latest addition to the growing lineup is the Praesidus Type H-75 Chronograph. This watch s historical inspiration was a Leonidas chronograph that was originally issued to Italian military helicopter pilots in the 1960s and 70s. Praesidus presents a modern interpretation of that classic military chronograph with updated specs and a meca-quartz caliber. It s time to take it for a test flight.A first glance at the new Praesidus Type H-75 C...
Another Friday, another list! This week, we take another step into Wonderland. With all the price decreases on the secondhand market, some of the models you have had your eye on might have become more within reach. This week, we look at some reasonably affordable models. They could be the start of a bigger collection or the one you have always wanted. After doing some research, we were surprised to find that some great es are available for much less money than we had imagined. Let s find out what some of these references are!Before we get into the list, it s good to explain how we approached the idea of affordability. Of course, when dealing with luxury watches, affordable is a relative...
