This year has been an awkward one so far. However, despite pretty much all events being canceled, we ve still had an incredible amount of watches in our hands. Having covered a Presage with enamel dial recently, it was part of a large box with all the Seiko and Grand Seiko Novelties. Inside there were two models that stood out in the shape of the Seiko Presage Porco Rosso SRQ033 and SNR047.In most cases, the design of the Presage models traces back to the dial layout of the Laurel. This watch is at the origin of Seikos watchmaking. With these two limited edition models, other design elements have been brought into play while retaining the look of the Presage collection. And the results speak...

This watch has been on and off my wrist for the past ten weeks. It s been an emotional journey. Our time together has not all been plain sailing, but I (at least) have learned quite a lot from it. Crucially, this 43.6mm wide Orient Star dive watch reminded me why I like reviewing watches and, more importantly, why the world needs people to do it.Reviewing watches is not a chore. It would take a disgusting level of First World privilege to complain about having to pass judgment on luxury timepieces. However, we are charged with responsibility - a responsibility to be honest. I see more and more watch news outlets around the world diluting their opinions or momentarily shelving them in the nam...

In recent months, we get more questions about the 1990s Speedmaster Professional watches than ever. The ones with tritium dials and hands, that tend to age nicely and turn yellow.It is something I ve been saying all along - the 1990s Moonwatch is the next best thing! You can still find them with boxes and papers, and they do look awesome with the tritium on the markers and in the hands turning yellow. Even more interesting perhaps, are the versions with display backs. A hesalite crystal on the dial and a sapphire case back - what a combo! This article is originally from 2016 (go figure), but in light of the recent requests we received for more information about these watches, I decided to re...

One thing that becomes very quickly apparent when your business is reviewing watches for a global audience, is that everyone has an opinion of what a watch should look like. Thankfully, the vast majority of watch lovers seem open to being persuaded by something new. Many actively enjoy having their minds changed. Or, at the very least, having their core beliefs challenged. These open, ardent, and quite often eloquently communicative fans of watchmaking are a pleasure to write, and, even more refreshingly, design for.But the life of a watch designer is hard. Its esoteric foibles can keep good men and women of (previously) sound mind, up at night, and have them gnawing their nails to the bone ...

Wempe Glashtte, the watch-manufacturing spin-off of one of Germany s major retailers, has, with its new Iron Walker collection, presented its contribution to the oft-debated watch category: The steel sports watch with an integrated steel bracelet.Just like any other retailer, Wempe is currently unable to meet consumer demand for steel sports watches from and Patek Philippe. Instead of asking customers to leave their stores disappointed, Wempe has decided to offer its very own alternative.The Iron Walker collectionSince 2006, Wempe has produced its own range of watches at the observatory in Glashtte in Saxony, the epicenter of German watchmaking. Wempe Glashtte divided its offering into t...

Welcome back to our Watch On Your Wrist? Instagram extravaganza! Tag your watch snaps with #fratellowatches to be in with a chance to win!Every week, we select four images. You can vote in the article for your favorite image. The winner moves on to the semi-final round (held every fifth week between the previous four weekly winners). Win that and you re into the final, which will be held at the end of the year. There will be five finalists in 2020 and ten from next year on.Basically, if you like winning things - and there will be a prize for the champion of 2020 - this year represents your best shot. So get snapping, get tagging, and get sharing. And don t forget to vote for yourself… ...

The brand responsible for putting the biggest smile on my face recently when it comes to watches is Oris. But there is also a serious side to the brand. For a decade now the brand has been releasing a string of Aquis limited editions inspired by stories and organizations that are connected to taking care of our planet s marine and aquatic life. Let s take a closer look at some of the best of these Oris Aquis limited editions.Just let me get back to my smile that was caused by the beautiful Oris H?lstein Edition 2020. In my review, I expressed my love for the vintage looks of the Diver Sixty-Five Chronograph. And when it comes to Oris I often tend to focus on its vintage-inspired pieces in th...

Crowd-funded watches are commonplace these days. That s a really good thing for the watch community, in my opinion. With plenty to choose from at generally affordable prices, these projects provide a welcome access point to a sometimes prohibitively expensive industry. But sorting the wheat from the chaff is not always so easy. The first watch from Mitch Mason, the Chronicle watch, offers a very unusual design, buoyed by great add-ons for a very attractive price.Homage pieces are ten a penny. Borrowed dial designs abound. Many microbrand owners seem either allergic to or terrified of doing something different. On one hand, that is totally understandable. Homage pieces?are popular. Popular di...

In this Sunday morning column, 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 dont forget to let us know which watches youd like to see torn to shreds/effusively exalted next week. Well try and feature as many of our readers choices as we can. This week sees a bona fide classic - the Submariner - take-on the young pretender, the Omega Seamaster Professional 300M. Who wins? You decide…Here we are again. The best time of the week. Do you remember the days of waking up early on a Sunday morning to watch your favorite cartoon? That is what Su...

A new addition to my collection is Omega Ladymatic. But this model is not the first time I ve encountered the range, of course. I wore the yellow gold version on my wrist during the photoshoot for Omega Ladies Club in New York. Ill admit, it wasnt love at first sight…I never thought that such a wild and unconventional design could be for me. However, I found myself dreaming of a statement-making timepiece more than ever before. Why? There is an uncompromising sensuality to the design of the Ladymatic that I couldn t forget. In steel, more so than in gold, the strength and sensuality of the piece are apparent.Why don t more people feel this way about the Omega Ladymatic?All I wanted was...

Just before the lockdown, Grand Seiko announced that Frederic Bondoux had been appointed as President of Grand Seiko Europe. Travel restrictions kept us from meeting him for an interview and having a look at the newly opened Grand Seiko boutique in Paris until last month, but as soon as we were able to travel safely we headed off to the French capital to say hello.What better way to break the nearly-four-month grounding with a visit to Grand Seiko in Paris? The chance to talk to Frederic Bondoux about the Japanese brand in Europe was too tempting an offer to pass up. Check our video above to listen to what he has to say about Grand Seiko in Europe, the new boutique, and his favorite GS watch...

This week, I am looking at brands that have designed watches for the Stuttgart-based sports car brand, Porsche.I partly took inspiration from Tomas #TBT article on the Porsche Design by IWC reference 3704 that you can read here. Scrolling through Chrono24, I found more awesome watches that co-branded with Porsche. Before Porsche Design became, well, Porsche Design.All watches are pre-owned and picked from Chrono24. Every week we pick a few pre-owned watches from Chrono24, the largest market place for wristwatches in the world - watches that we love ourselves, or think they will be interesting to you. So, to be clear, we picked the watches, Chrono24 only send us the images without their water...

There is something magical about salmon-colored dials. It s not a dial color you see very often, but the love for them amongst enthusiasts is palpable. I also love a beautiful salmon dial. So I was more than happy to see Montblanc add the Heritage Monopusher Chronograph to its collection. With its vintage aesthetic and great salmon dial, this might just be the most stylish piece in the catalog.We have seen a stylistic growth from Montblanc over these last few years. The brand uses the vintage looks of the Minerva watches from the early 20th century to develop its own style. Minerva professional tool watches from the 1920s and 1930 inspired the 1858 collection; the Heritage collection is insp...

Through the years, we ve seen many incredible watches. But some of them certainly love the camera more than others do. Cases, colors, reflections, you name it. All manner of things can affect a watch s performance in front of the lens. To commemorate my favorites, I ve put together this list of the Top 10 most photogenic watches.Being able to capture them in all their beauty is always a pleasure. But not all watches photograph that easily. Needless to say, these watches were a pleasure to work with. Especially because some watches seem to been deliberately designed to make the life of a photographer extra tough.A. Lange & S?hne Datograph Lumen.With Lange, it is really tough to select onl...

I regard myself as an enthusiastic cynic. I don t like much, but what I do like, I love. The Norqain independence 20 watch has some elements that really speak to me and others that don t appeal personally. Fundamentally, though, this watch heralds a brave new dawn for the brand as it raises the curtain on the Kenissi era. And if first impressions are anything to go by, it s going to be a good one…We ve known this was coming for a while. The partnership with mechanical movement manufacturer Kenissi was hot news earlier this year. It threw Norqain s relatively new name into contention with a lot of established and resurging brands using and about to use the same movements. And yet the ve...

A tough Casio MQ-30W from the 1980s, a quirky one-hander Zeno Solo from the 1990s, and a promotional lugless Audi from the early 2000s. Open your mind and have fun with three special picks from my collection.Its listed in the 1984 Casio catalog. That makes it just one year younger than me. Coincidentally, it shares its birth year with my 1984 VW Golf II. The Casio MQ-30W is hidden in a section called Analog Water Sports (50m water-resistant). It sits next to a white-dialed companion and is described as Toughnsmart. Blame the classy sector dial and unique protective bumper, I guess.Hunting Mad Max CasioTo land this tough resin-cased gentleman is not so easy. Most of them lived life on the edg...

Ahoy, and welcome back to Wrist Game or Crying Shame where there s no pop quiz on the direction of port side versus starboard. We will allow for some nautical appreciation, though, with the Yacht-Master in gold. But first…Last week, we also had an Oyster-cased marvel on the show with the Tudor Big Block. It was a close one, but the chunky chrono squeaked by with a 54% Wrist Game win. I predict that today s Yacht-Master will prove to be no less polarizing. Let s set sail and head to the open seas - or at least look at them from the terrace of a 5-star resort.The Yacht-MasterYou know what? I have never?gotten the point of the Yacht-Master. If there s one watch in the brand s entire l...

Some years, certain brands can do no wrong. And that isn t to say that I personally adore every single release Seiko has put out this year (I don t), but I must commend the company for dropping so many stars in what has been a busy year for the brand already. And I find myself thanking the heavens that Seiko was able to step up to the plate during such uncertain times. How awful would 2020 have been without this wealth of news? Models like the Seiko Prospex SRPE29 and SRPE31 make lockdown all the more bearable…Let me expand on my feelings towards the watches Seiko has released this year. I said they weren t all to my liking. You deserve to know exactly what I mean by that. Otherwise, s...

The Captain Cook collection has been a tremendous success and is, quite simply, responsible for putting Rado back on the map for many enthusiasts. And I m including myself in that category. So let s take a closer look at the new green version of this 1962 classic to see if we can figure out why.Back in 2017, Rado surprised me - and probably all of us - by reintroducing the Captain Cook range. I always associated Rado with the ceramic watches that I saw so often back in the 1990s on the wrists of neighbors, friends of my parents, at the tennis club, and so on. The only Rado in the collection that appealed to me was the Diastar. But, that changed in 2017. The Captain Cook was introduced, and i...

Throughout the haze of confusion that was Spring 2020, there were watch announcements aplenty. Yet many were buried by more pressing news items. The new Khaki Aviation Converter collection by Hamilton was unfortunately not given much exposure at the time of the unveiling. So, let us change that and provide this tactical Hamilton with a second chance. To its credit, Hamilton was precisely on time with its release schedule - just like the Swiss railway network. But, as with any battle, the first casualty is the plan.Now we are on the road to recovery, we can provide some breathing space for this collection of practical tool watches with a cracking design. The Converter part of the name refers ...