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 it s the turn of the Vacheron Constantin 4500V. Let the battle commence.Rob NuddsIt seems like we re gearing up to feature the Holy Trinity of manufactures right off the bat in Sunday Morning Showdown, but that s no bad thing! Last week s inaugural outing for the SMS series went down a storm, wit...
Welcome to This Week in Watches for February 8, 2020.? Let s get into some news!Chronoswiss Regulator Blue SteelFirst up on This Week in Watches is the Chronoswiss Regulator Blue Steel. Here, we have a blue PVD-treated steel watch in 41mm that s meant to evoke the dashboard of a car. After all, the brand s C295 automatic does things in regulator style with separate hands for the hours, minutes and seconds. A hand dyed Louisiana alligator strap keeps this wild watch strapped to your wrist. Surprisingly, I like this funky colored case, but realize it s not for everyone. The new Chronoswiss retails for CHF 4,950/$4,850/$4,400 and can be found on the company s official site.Longines HydroConques...
The 1950s and 1960s are periods with a lot of exploration. From the Moon to the depths of the sea with the Deep Sea Special project. Today we will go on exploration in the snow, ice, and high peaks with the Explorer.Watches with a good story always score. The Explorer is no exception. Launched in 1953, this was a true ‘explorer and pioneer in the world of tool watches. While summiting Everest in 1953, Sir Edmund Hilary famously wore a Oyster Perpetual. It is said that this watch directly inspired the design and development of the Explorer.About the illustrationThe snow scooter featured in this image is based on the 1950s Polaris Sno-Traveler -?an era-appropriate pairing for the E...
This week we have a bit of an awkward line-up for Pre-Owned Picks. We have three watches from high-end brands A. Lange & S?hne, Audemars Piguet, and Breguet. On the other end of the spectrum, but nevertheless interesting, we have a Swatch. Last but not least, a Speedmaster that didn t sell at first but is highly in demand today.Last week we solely focused on dive watches, as that seems to be one of the most popular styles or categories of watches. However, there s more out there and with this week s selection, we hope to prove this. There s only one divers watch, from Audemars Piguet, and although it is up to the task, you can wonder which percentage would take this watch (with a 5-figu...
Well, things just got interesting. Just two years after being founded, independent brand Norqain is buddying-up with Kenissi to create two proprietary movements, the NN20/1, and the NN20/2. If you re thinking you might have heard of Kenissi before, you re probably right…In an age of desperate flame-fanning and molehills regularly becoming mountains, real, actual, intriguing news should come with a health warning. As someone who is effectively allergic to hyperbole in real life (although not averse to a little bit of literary overstatement) this press release had me bouncing around the room, two bacon sandwiches shy of a heart attack. And I ll happily tell you why…Kenissi is the m...
The IWC Portugieser Chronograph is one of the most recognizable watches in the industry. It s clean and clear display is often taken for granted, but it is a masterpiece of dial design, with particular attention paid to the spacing and layout of all information. Now fitted with an in-house caliber, the Portugieser is ready to be the go-to watch of the next generation.In recent years we ve seen the fashion watch industry move over to exceptionally pared-back designs. The success and proliferation of brands such as Daniel Wellington, Olivia Burton, and Ted Baker may not seem all that relevant to readers of Fratello Magazine, but lest we forget the massive effect the high-volume sales of the fa...
Longines Conquest 1972 is a truly symbolic watch that stands out on so many levels.Oversized pre-1950s Longines dials have always fascinated me with their simple beauty. They might seem generic to an indifferent eye, but a trained collector can recognize them in a heartbeat. However, I m not quite as enthusiastic about the bulky and over-stylized indexes that you can find on some mid-fifties Longines models. Namely on the Longines Conquest, that in 1954 started a new model naming product strategy.My conquest conquered meTo keep the story short, lets fast forward two decades ahead when Longines introduced the Conquest 1972 Munich. It was a watch to celebrate their achievement in becoming the ...
We take a glimpse at the newly announced Orient King Diver 70th Anniversary models.We ve been doing our best to review a healthy mix of both new and vintage Orient models here on Fratello. As we ve mentioned, we find the brand s watches worthy of consideration if you re in search of value and a lengthy spec sheet. We ve also detailed the company s somewhat confusing marketing strategy and the fact that there s not yet a truly global product offering. But today s subjects are exciting as the new Orient King Diver 70th Anniversary pieces will be sold globally. Of course, there will be JDM and rest of world offerings.The Original Weekly Auto Orient King DiverLet s bring you back to a #TBT artic...
I have a weird relationship with Bell & Ross, and thanks to the release of the Bell & Ross BR-V2-94 Aeronavale Bronze, it s about to get a whole lot weirder.There is something I need to get this off my chest. I don t see the point in buying a Bell & Ross unless it s square. That s a fair enough opinion, right? It makes perfect sense, doesn t it? The brand is all about the cockpit instruments, isn t it? Well, yeah. It s a fair enough opinion. But it s also the first part of an enormous contradiction I ve been trying to hide from the world for two years now.I own a Bell & Ross WWI Guynemer special edition. And I want to own a Bellytanker Bronze. Worse still? I think I m a littl...
Welcome back to Wrist Game or Crying Shame, where you get to act like Caesar in Gladiator and choose the fate of an embattled subject. Today, we will look at the Omega Speedmaster 60th Anniversary edition. But first-If we take last weeks results as a guide, you are all ice cold! I say that because the Explorer II 16570 Polar cruised to a 72% Wrist Game win. It seems that a price encroaching on $10,000 isnt too rich for your blood. Today, lets see if youre willing to vote in favor of something more limited in nature but currently less popular. Enter the Omega Speedmaster 60th Anniversary edition.Another Limited Edition SpeedmasterI know, I know-. Limited edition Speedmasters must be one of t...
There are few brands that can lay claim to a following as fervent as the Paneristi. A group of watch lovers so passionate, they spawned their own, official model. As a publication with some experience of the same, we have to say this: Respect where respect is due. Panerai, after all these years, continues to keep an old design fresh. With the new PAM01661, Luminor Marina gets a taste of Carbotech.The Panerai Luminor Marina is a classic. No doubt about it. The Luminor range was created in 1950, but didn t go on sale to the public until 1993. When it did, the Luminor Marina joined the collection and has been a fan favorite ever since. The fact that for so much of the brand s history its watche...
During our Speedy Tuesday event in Frankfurt last year, Apollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke was our special guest for the day.Charlie Duke was selected for the Apollo program by NASA in 1966. In 1969, Duke served as an astronaut support crew member for the Apollo 10 mission and was the CAPCOM for Apollo 11. The CAPCOM was the single person at the Mission Control center who was directly in touch with the astronauts in space. Duke s first words to the Apollo 11 crew on the surface of the Moon were: Roger, Twank…Tranquility, we copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We re breathing again. Thanks a lot!.Charlie Duke as CAPCOM for Apollo 11 (on his right are James ...
2020 marks the 60th birth year of the first Grand Seiko watch. To begin a full year of celebrations of this important landmark, the independent brand spun off from Seiko is introducing four new limited-edition timepieces. The standout piece for ladies? Reference STGK015.While Rob has already covered the three mens models, my eye is on the womens watch from Grand Seiko, obvs! This diamond-studded automatic watch is limited to 300 pieces. It is a very feminine extension to the brands Elegance collection. At 27.8mm, the petite size offers a delicate presence on a ladys wrist. Together with the SBGH281, its the his and hers of the celebratory pair.DialThe stainless steel STGK015 boasts a dial co...
I ve been a fan of the movements produced by Moritz Grossmann for a long time. Longer than that, however, I ve been a fan of the NFL. As the German manufacture marks another Super Bowl with yet another unique piece, I ask myself the obvious question: Do I want it?Last year I had the pleasure of sitting down with Moritz Grossmann CEO Christine Hutter. Invariably, I turned the subject of our conversation towards the spate of, as I would term it, odd limited and unique editions being turned out by the brand. My question was personally motivated by last year s Super Bowl watch.That model commemorated the New England ?Patriots defeating the LA Rams. On paper, this was the perfect watch for me. No...
This just came in from Swatch Group: The Time to Move event in Zurich will be canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak.The press release regarding the cancellation of Time to Move says:Considering the uncertainty related to the 2019-nCoV Coronavirus outbreak, and in order to guarantee the welfare of our guests, partners, and colleagues, Swatch Group has decided not to hold the Time to Move event, which should have taken place in Zurich from March 4-6, 2020.The Swatch Group Prestige brands will introduce their new products to the markets at a later stage during regional events, in order to prevent their partners from traveling internationally in an insecure climate. Your brand representatives...
The origin of Laco lies in a company named Lacher & Co. Founded in 1925, in the first half of the last century, their production became one of the most important in the German Pforzheim region. Even in difficult times business continued. As one of five manufacturers, Laco produced reliable pilots watches for the German Luftwaffe.Laco s first Pilot GMT Watch, the FrankfurtToday, Laco‘s pilot watches are an expression of that success. At the beginning of this millennium, the brand was re-introduced onto the market. With watches adopting the looks of times gone by, but which still satisfy modern demands. Besides historically-inspired pilot watches, Laco nowadays offers more modern spo...
For this week s 52Mondayz, I chose to wear the Omega Seamaster Ploprof 1200M. The Ploprof has become an icon of the watch industry over five decades. But it hasn t become the icon everyone is after, simply because it s a watch that not everyone can wear. However, after wearing it for four weeks straight, I was reminded that the Ploprof is definitely for me.I don t recall precisely when I had my first encounter with an Omega Seamaster Ploprof, but it was in the early 2000s. Robert-Jan and I visited fellow Fratello team member Gerard s store as we did regularly back in those days. I still remember Robert-Jan pointing me in the direction of a freakishly bold watch with a big red button on it, a...
More than 20,000 votes and comments later, with the design, diameter, and movement decided, the DAY41 project is finally becoming a reality, 8 months after its launch. Pre-orders open: Wednesday, January 29, 2020, at 3 pm on www.code41.comThis video is blocked because you did not accept marketing cookies. Change cookie settings From women s version to unisex versionDAY41 was originally a project just for women. But CODE41 soon realized that this mechanical piece also looks really good on men.?The DAY41 collection in 37 and 40mm DAY41 is available in diameters of 37mm and 40mm, with 5 color variants for the 37mm, including one set with diamonds, and 3 variants for the 40mm.?What s more, ...
In this new 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 it s the turn of the Patek Philippe Nautilus. Let battle commence.Rob NuddsI was a slow convert to the Patek Philippe Nautilus. For years, I just didnt get it. The furor surrounding this weird anomaly in the brands catalog? Why? If I wanted a steel sports watch, Id go to a brand known for ste...
Hey -?it s time for This Week in Watches for February 1, 2020. We re in the midst of some rather gray days here during Winter; let s see if we can brighten things up a bit!Aquadive Bathyscaphe 100 in Hardened SteelFirst up on This Week in Watches is the new Aquadive Bathyscaphe 100 in hardened steel. This 500-piece run of watches brings the same classic 42.9mm x 49mm long c-case to your wrist but with a hardened 316L case. From pictures, the case looks to be a darker gray than normal. Aquadive also mentions larger lumed indices, but I struggle to see the exact differences in comparison to former models. Either way, this piece is powered by an ETA 2824-2 and comes on a standard ISOfrane strap...
