Welcome back to Wrist Game or Crying Shame, the weekly series that aims to make all of your New Year s Resolutions come true! This week, we take a look at the Omega Speedmaster Reduced, reference 3510.50.00Fear not, Mike fans. I m not taking-over this column permanently. I m just standing-in for everyone s favorite bargain (or not) hunter for one week and one week only. So what have I decided to put to you during my time in the hot seat? I ve chosen a model that has given me some sleepless nights. Is it a quiet classic? Is it an unfortunate misadventure? There are strong opinions on both sides, so I m turning it over to you, the Fratelli, to make a sound judgment. I bring you the Omega Speed...
With the new Serpenti and Octo Finissimo models stealing much of the limelight this week in Dubai, the Bvlgari Divas Dream collection has floated under the radar. But no longer. Here we give this concise range of jewelry watches their due.Although I don t wear much jewelry above the wrist, I never tire of seeing such time-honored techniques applied to watches. For many years now, I ve been critical of brands covering men s models in diamonds and passing them off as women s watches. I find it lazy, at best, insulting at worst. We re seeing more and more brands acknowledge misguided pasts (albeit quietly) by creating genuinely exciting watches for women. The Bvlgari Divas Dream collection ap...
The Fears Watch Company expands its mechanical timepiece offering with a new blue dial option in the Brunswick collection. The Brunswick Blue also signals the gradual phasing-out of quartz watches from the Fear s line-up.Nicholas Bowman-Scargill is the fourth Managing Director of Fears Watches. Founded by Edwin Fears in 1846 in Bristol, UK, Nicholas revived the Fears Watch Company name after it faded into dormancy around 1976. Retracing his Great-Great-Great-Grandfather s steps, he set to work in creating a watch that not only paid homage to where the family business tailed off but would also appeal to the modern watch connoisseur. The Redcliff was a quartz piece, which, in 2016, was not nec...
One of the most enjoyably divisive watch brands on Planet Earth has released a rush of new models during the LVMH watch week in Dubai. Hublot, known for its endless experimentation with unusual materials, strikes gold with the Classic Fusion Gold Crystal watch.Say what you like about Hublot, but this horological heavyweight knows how to cause a stir. The sheer proportions of many of Hublot s models require their wearers to have bags of confidence. Throw in the often wild design of these laboratory-born showstoppers, and you re left with a product that will appeal to a small slither of the luxury watch audience. But that is exactly what this brand wants, and what it does so well. With often s...
Hot on the heels of their official release, we go hands-on with the three new Seiko Alpinist references.It was just last week that we published an article on discontinued Seiko watches that collectors love. One of the watches I discussed was the long-running SARB017 Alpinist. I also mentioned that Seiko was planning to release a trio of new Seiko Alpinist watches and it just so happens that those pieces arrived at the local Seiko Frankfurt boutique this past Thursday. I took the opportunity to visit the shop and the fantastic team there was gracious enough to allow me to handle and photograph each of the new models. Here s your chance to see all three and get some feedback on whether the add...
We are often asked which Speedmaster models have been worn on the Moon. Somehow, people think the caliber 861 Speedmaster Professional (145.022) was one of them, but this isn t correct.In 1962, NASA astronaut Walter Wally Schirra wore his Omega Speedmaster CK2998 in space. As a result, the 2012 introduction of the First Omega in Space watch(es) was based on the case of the original CK2998. However, Schirra s watch was privately owned and had nothing to do with the chronographs officially selected?by NASA. It wasn t until 1964 that NASA requested brands to provide a quote for a wristwatch with a chronograph function. Only four brands responded to that request: Omega, , Longines-Wittnauer, and...
I thought long and hard about what watch I should feature in todays 52 Mondayz articles. Eventually, I decided that it should be my Eterna 852, and heres why…I wanted a watch that is clean and simple. Something I can leave on my wrist the whole week, no matter what I m wearing. Im into chronographs and that would be my normal go-to style. But this week I wanted something different. This week I wanted a time-only piece that was big enough to satisfy my relatively large wrist. Im into jumbo watches -?like my Omega 2505 or the Angelus 216 -?and have acquired a few over the years. While customers of the day (back in the 50s or 60s) considered these models huge, they are hardly humongous by...
With three special edition releases under their collective belt already, Zenith and Land Rover explore a new direction, dressing the Defy 21 model in an ultra-contemporary color scheme.It was way back in 2016 that Zenith first announced its partnership with Land Rover. The model that celebrated this collaboration was called the Zenith Chronomaster El Primero Range Rover Special Edition. It was quickly followed by the brands second effort (the Chronomaster El Primero Range Rover Velar), which was little more than a color update to the first. The third watch produced by these two powerhouses, however, was something rather special. The Zenith Defy Classic Range Rover special edition watch made...
Entering in a new decade always breeds predictions of what we ll see and experience for the next ten years: New technologies, new entertainment, new world events. At least one thing that carries over from the last decade is the vintage re-edition trend from luxury watch brands.Longines Heritage 1946Fresh from Longines is the Heritage Chronograph 1946. The 1946 pays tribute to a watch from the Longines archive.Although vintage fatigue set in for me towards the end of the last decade, I ve always felt that the Longines Heritage collection has existed outside of the fauxtina fad. Possibly down to the everlasting designs of Longines that the timepieces seem contemporary yet classic in any era.Th...
Wolbrook/Douglas is not a brand we often mention when we talk about Neil Armstrong, the first man on the Moon.You are reading Fratello Magazine, and while we talk a lot about the Moon landing, most of the time, it s another brand we mention in connection with this event. This time, however, we would like to bring your attention to something else. We don t feature Kickstarter watches often on this site. It s not because we dislike them, but we like to focus on watches that offer something special. I firmly believe that Wolbrook is such a brand. There s also the fact that most of the team at Fratello are, to some extent, space geeks. So, anything that has something to do with NASA, the Apollo ...
Here s our selection of pre-owned picks for the 2nd week of 2020. Last week we had a watch planned that was sold just before we published, so we re making up for that.Every week we pick a few pre-owned watches from the largest market place for wristwatches in the world, Chrono24. Watches that we love ourselves, or think they will be interesting to you. So to be clear, we picked the watches, Chrono24 only sent us the images without their watermark and in a proper resolution.Pre-Owned Picks Of Week 2Last week I wrote about this GMT-Master II 16710, but it sold before we published this article. To make up for this, I ve picked two GMT-Master watches this week: Two different references, a GMT-M...
I am very delighted to announce that we have a new team member here at Fratello. Let me introduce you to Rob Nudds, our Managing Editor.In the last year, we ve made significant strides towards growing Fratello. Not only did our worldwide reach increase, but also our team welcomed several new members, such as Sky Sit, Andreas Ahrens, Jorg Weppelink, Tomas Rosputinsky, and Ben Hodges, to either the fold or more advanced roles. With some familiar names and some new names, helping us cover interesting industry news, and produce in-depth articles on vintage watches and (hands-on) watch reviews of new releases, Fratello has been building towards something quite special. To help keep an ever-expand...
Not an homage to an existing watch model, but inspired by the cool cushion case diving watches of the sixties and seventies in general, the Aramar Walrus takes the brand in a different direction after a terrible start.Aramar Watch Co. is an independent designer and producer of wristwatches founded in 2010 and based in The Netherlands. Above all, Aramar is the brainchild of true watch fanatics. It proved that passion doesn t necessarily lead to designing, producing, and selling the right products. For instance, models like Transatlantic and Arctic Ocean (we deliberately don t link here, and don t even want you to look them up) almost made us decide not to cover anything Aramar at all. However...
A little while ago, in one of our Hot Take articles, we already introduced the new Hamilton Khaki Pilot Schott NYC watch to you.As soon as this watch was released, I knew I had to line one up to review. I caught my first glimpse of this model in September when I visited Hamilton, but I wasn t able to spend much time with it then. After the release, however, Hamilton kindly gave me one for a few days. Before I headed off to put the Hamilton Khaki Pilot Schott NYC through its paces, however, I got the chance to attend the launch event in New York.From New York to New JerseyThe launch of the Hamilton Khaki Pilot Schott NYC happened in New York City. During the day, however, we took a trip to Ne...
Today, on #TBT, we ll take a look at a watch that has one of my favorite dials, the Citizen Auto Dater Uni ParaWater.We ve been dipping in and out of vintage Citizen for the last couple years here on Fratello. We ve primarily covered dive watches with the odd dressier piece thrown in for good measure. I promise to bring even more variety in 2020 and today s look at the Citizen Auto Dater Uni ParaWater is the first step in keeping that resolution. I truly enjoy vintage Japanese watches and started my collecting by falling head over heels for sportier Seiko pieces. And while I ve certainly not seen it all when it comes to Seiko, they re certainly more globally familiar. With vintage Citizen, t...
We may be entering a new decade, but Oriss commitment to the worlds waters refuses to relent. Their modern Aquis diving watch is the poster child for environmental conservation. Continuing its hot-streak, Oris has announced?the Lake Baikal, which is limited to 1,999 pieces.Last year, the Oris Trilogy boxset brought awareness to the plastic contamination and rising sea temperatures damaging our oceans. This new Oris Aquis focuses on the impending dangers to our freshwater sources, continuing Oris s long-standing contribution to this field. Specifically Lake Baikal on the Siberian border with Mongolia. Baikal is one of the Worlds deepest, oldest,?and once clearest freshwater lakes. Increased i...
The first time I saw the new H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner Flyback Chronograph was during Dubai Watch Week, just a few months ago.I think it was my main man, Lukasz, from Ch24.pl, who drew my attention to that quirky steel thing that Edouard Meylan, CEO of H. Moser & Cie.) was trying to hide under his cuff. Without much success, I must add. A Moser on a bracelet? This has to be something new. I had to check it out. After a short persuasion, Ed finally gave in, took the thing off, and handed it over. First impression: WOW. Second impression: This does not look like a Moser at all. Third impression: Wait a minute; it is indeed a Moser, but with a twist. The reason for my initial confusio...
Welcome back to Wrist Game or Crying Shame, the weekly series that aims to make all of your New Year s Resolutions come true! This week, we take a look at the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Military Dial.Can you believe it was something like three weeks ago that we were last here on Wrist Game or Crying Shame? That s so last decade that I can t even recall what the heck we were discussing. Thankfully, through the futuristic powers of the internet, I used the search function on the Fratello page and found that we last looked at the Genta-penned IWC Ingenieur SL Jumbo from back in the 70s. You guys must have been riding that sweet stock market spike during that article s publishing because you saw...
Beauty, they say, is only skin deep. That turned out to be the case for the well-received TAG Heuer Autavia Isograph models released last year before a worldwide product recall prompted speculation regarding the performance of the revolutionary Isograph hairspring. Thankfully, the LVMH powerhouse has stepped-up with a tried and tested solution - the trusty Caliber 5.Product recalls are a nightmare. It doesn t matter how impressive the launch venue was. No one cares how tasty the canapes were, or how easily the champagne went down. No, despite what the modern world of luxury sales would have you believe on occasion, the product still matters. It is the king. And the buying public? Well, they ...
My eyes opened wide when I counted all the features and emotions designer Giorgio Galli wrapped into the skeleton case of the Timex S1 Automatic. ?When I got a text from fellow editor Mike?asking me if Id seen the new Timex S1, I happily responded that Id already asked for a press sample. Both Mike and I were pretty amused to see the skeleton case, an automatic movement, a unique crown, and the innovative strap all for just a few hundred euros. Sadly, Timex was unable to send in a sample for review. And so, with no other option, I did what I had to do to get my hands on it and bought it.Timex S1 skeletonized caseWhen I spoke to Yvan Arpa from ArtyA watches recently, he said he was always fas...
