April 26th, 2019, was an important date for Polish history. Dedicated to Poland s?most famous composer and virtuoso pianist Frederic Chopin, a high-end watch brand bearing his name was presented. International journalists and several highly regarded guests gathered in Warsaw to witness the event.The Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin institute and museum in WarsawHistorical facts about Frederic?ChopinIn??elazowa Wola, a village some 50 km west of Warsaw with today 65 inhabitants, Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin was born on the 1st of March 1810. He grew up in Warsaw, which in 1815 became part of Congress Poland, formerly known as the Kingdom of Poland. Under the age of 10,?he completed his musical educat...
Oris introduced a number of watches during Baselworld 2019 that are worth checking out. We were able to invite some of our readers to have a first look at them.Last Thursday we organized an event with Oris for our readers. In the center of Amsterdam, in the Oris boutique. We already showed you some of the new Oris watches here on Fratello, but nothing beats it seeing them in the flesh and giving them a try. It was a wonderful evening, with approximately 45 guests in total and in the presence of Dutch Oris representative Gijs van Hoorn and the Oris boutique staff.If you re ever visiting Amsterdam, make sure to visit the Oris boutique (Rokin 48), aside from the watches, they have great coffee ...
Who said that vintage watch collecting is a boys game?Well, I dont know who said that, but this is what the general understanding is. Our desire and goal at Fratello is to change that. To bring more female readers to watch collecting or #GTGs and prove the general opinion wrong.First female collector I metDo you know who I most share my watch collecting passion with? The woman I now share my mortgage with. It is not any virtual cult club at some watch forum that Ive never met face to face. All of my enthusiasm when unboxing a new watch is shared offline, right in the center of our living room. It was a vintage watch on my wrist that sparked mutual conversation in the early days before we end...
It was our, to date only?female, contributor Sky Sit who drew attention to Claude Meylan for the first time at Fratello only a month ago. She named them the Masters of Skeletons. Today, after having visited Claude Meylan at Baselworld 2019, we would like to give that a follow-up.After a brief first visit during SIHH this year, we were able to reserve some more time during Baselworld 2019 to learn about the novelties Claude Meylan introduced.Some historyIn the middle of the eighteenth century, Meylan was one of four families bringing fine watchmaking into the Jura region. Through?the manufacture of pocket watches equipped with music discs, fine watchmaking becomes a family tradition.?Generati...
We take a first look at the new Mido Multifort Patrimony, an affordable vintage-inspired automatic.Well, were clearly seeing the Swatch Groups strategy on display now that theyve exited from Baselworld.? With new models coming weekly, if not even more frequently, were not exactly sure of what well find in our mailboxes when we awaken.? This morning, for example, I received news of the new Mido Multifort Patrimony from the USA and some additional information later in the day from Germany.? This follows the attractive?Rado Golden Horse Collection that we showed you yesterday.? Its a lot of fun to see new things everyday with the only concerns a lack of hands-on pictures and, therefore, not bei...
We get our first look at the Rado Golden Horse Collection, an exciting set of new releases with a retro-inspired piece and a lineup of modern watches.I really dont have anything against Rado, but up until the release of the Captain Cook diver at Baselworld 2017, lets just say that the brands offerings werent to my tastes.? For certain, they always looked different and advertised the use of advanced materials such as ceramics long before others followed suit.? I think it was the overly modern looks and the fact that most used quartz movements.? But with the Cook, things began to change and today, were happy to see things continue in the right direction with a first look at the Rado Golden Hor...
The Hanhart Pioneer One collection just got better, with this new blue version of their military-inspired watches.If you are a friend of the brand that resides in the Black Forrest, you are probably familiar with the Pioneer models. They are the most authentic in looks as far as the history of Hanhart is concerned. Hanhart was among the brands who supplied chronographs for the German Air Force during World War II. Those vintage pieces are very sought after and hard to come by these days. Partly because they are military timepieces, partly because the king of cool, Steve McQueen also wore one.Steve McQueen and his Hanhart 417ESHanhart has three major collections, but the military-inspired one...
Hey, hey, hey, its This Week in Watches for April 28, 2019.For many out there, youre coming off of school holidays surrounding last weeks Easter Weekend.? That meant egg hunts, chocolate (I used to like those Cadbury Eggs C one of them was enough for me), candy, environmentally unfriendly green plastic grass to line those Easter baskets, and food.? If forced to rank the big holidays in terms of food, Id put Easter dead last.? No matter where in the world Ive been, its always full of things like ham, smoked fish, and other things that make me feel pretty damn unhealthy.? Anyhow, one thing I do like about Easter are the colors.? Pastels rock!? But getting back to the matter at hand, lets see i...
Robert Downey Jr (RDJ) is famous for his colourful film career, and wacky persona on and off screen.But, did you know he has also made a name for himself among the inner watch community? Yes, since he flaunted his epic watch collection with a hilarious ramble in a feature video by GQ in 2016?(yeah, including this questionable Speedmaster).As Avengers: Endgame, the big-budget megawatt superhero saga opens worldwide with much fanfare and fireworks, I cant seem to escape the influx of social media images of RDJs wrist game. That says a lot given that I am not a WIS. Within the space of a couple of weeks, he has been seen wearing two watches made by De Bethune whilst hanging out with his fellow ...
With today s announcement of the new Bond25 release, we thought it was time to run you by all previous Omega Seamaster watches that Bond had on his wrist.James Bond SeamasterSince over two decades, the Omega Seamaster is a trusty companion to the most famous spy in the world; James Bond. It was 1995 when Her Majestys secret agent strapped an Omega on his wrist for the first time. Throughout the years, just like the timepieces, the taste of Mr. Bond evolved and broadened. He went from quartz to mechanical, from a single watch to wearing multiple models by the brand on the silver screen. It was also the time when the production company realized their franchise needs to be brought up to speed. ...
The most complicated part of shooting this watch was to find an old brick to match its vibrant indexes. Meet my lucky catch Alpina La Ronde.There are watch brands and there are watch BRANDS. Brands and watches every collector knows, has or dreams about – holy grails, legendary models with hundreds of stories or famous ambassadors to talk about. Yet certain brands fall into a strange middle ground – every collector knows about them, but they dont bother paying much attention to it.Abandoned petsWe all know collectors with a heavy weight set of timepieces that have developed a sweet spot for some B-class watch brand or model. I bet you have that too, dont you? From whatever reason,...
The ultimate toolwatch – the Explorer II, aimed at speleologists and cave explorers.Some time ago, Michael Stockton wrote quite a ‘love letter (as one of our readers wrote in the comments) on the Explorer 1016. While the reference 1016 Explorer was being produced already in 1963 and kept in production for 26 years, introduced another Explorer in 1971. The Explorer II. This watch was not a successor of the Explorer 1016, but an additional timepiece with an additional function. The Explorer II was aimed at speleologists or cave explorers, who could lose the sense of time during their work. When you are not exposed to daylight, it s feasible to lose track of time and whether you...
Two 100 Jahre Bauhaus design watches by Junghans: Max Bill Automatic and Max Bill Chronoscope.The Black Forest-based brand is probably known for having the closest ties with this German design movement that started in 1919. There are of course other companies who drew inspiration for their watches from the Bauhaus but no company has ties as close as Junghans. So it was clear for them to release a number of limited editions this year celebrating this centenary. As you would imagine the timepieces they chose are models that connect Junghans and the Bauhaus. Dont expect anything crazy, this design movement is not about a cavalcade of colors and shape. On the contrary, simple and clean lines wit...
Nothing really new under the Sun with this Patek Philippe Nautilus 5726/1A, but you bet that they need to create (another) waiting list for it. We re talking about the Nautilus with annual calendar and moon phases display.It is no secret that I love and respect the Patek Philippe Nautilus. The original reference 3700/1A being my favourite by far, with the original monobloc case construction (porthole) and caliber 28-255C movement. A close second is a watch that was introduced 30 years later and stayed very close to the original design, the reference 5711/1A. I did a comparison article between the original Patek Philippe Nautilus 3700/1A and the (current) reference 5711/1A here.Patek Philippe...
The Tudor Black Bay Chrono Steel and Gold showed itself at Baselworld 2019 as the brand brings more two-tone into its lineup.Well, whether you like it or not, two-tone or bi-color now seems to be back and here to stay.? We like it in general, so we were intrigued when we laid eyes on the new?Tudor Black Bay Chrono Steel and Gold.? The watch supplements the all-steel version that first debuted in 2017.? In what now seems to be a trend for the brand, we get a similar watch but with brushed gold highlights.Plenty of Gold TouchesThe reference M79363?Tudor Black Bay Chrono Steel and Gold brings gold-capped elements such as the crown, screw-down pushers, and if a bracelet is chosen – the cen...
In an odd move, we get a Sea-Dweller Steel and Gold at Baselworld 2019.While we re far from closing the books on Baselworld 2019, we are noticing a rather consistent trend in the facial expressions when we ask fellow journalists about the newest releases from and Tudor: quizzical.? Starting with the Tudor Black Bay P01 that we reviewed yesterday, it s been a strange one.? Keen not to let controversy follow its kid brother, we have the Sea-Dweller Steel and Gold, which was certainly a curveball.The Sea-Dweller Steel and Gold ref. 126603In Baselworld 2017, debuted a new 43mm Sea-Dweller (ref. 126600) with red writing on its dial to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the original double red...
One of the coolest looking exhibition spaces at Baselworld is the double booth by Seiko.Since Grand Seiko became a different brand the Japanese powerhouse shares a twin booth, between their two major brands, Seiko and Grand Seiko. On the one side, you have the displays for the latest Seiko timepieces, while the other side belongs to the Grand Seiko novelties. Writing a run-down on both brands would be a too long article so this time we will only take a closer look at the 2019 novelties of the other Seiko brand, Grand Seiko. GS has some seriously cool watches to show us this year, both for men and for women. For the sake of gender equality, I think it is time to talk about the ladies models t...
At least in our region of the world (Europe that is), the Prospex collection does pretty well. Heck, even half of our own team decided to pull the trigger on a Marinemaster 300 or other Prospex model.This year, Seiko makes it even tougher on us by releasing a new Prospex range, the Prospex LX collection. Three new models, each in a Black Edition as well, so six in total. Lets have a first look.Seiko Prospex LXLets start with the LX, according to Seiko a hint to a Latin word for light. It has nothing to do with the weight, although there are models in titanium as well, but with the way that light is reflected on the broad, flat surfaces of each Prospex LX case. As you can see, Seiko applied a...
Although the novelties leaked one day before the official release, it is still good to see the watches in the flesh before commenting on them based on just one picture. That said, didn t make it easy for us. doesn t make it easy for anyone at the moment. The official explanation is that due to high demand, they can t fulfil all orders because does not want to make concessions regarding quality. Meaning, if you want a GMT-Master II ‘Batman or ‘Pepsi for example, you will only get a smirk from your authorized dealer (really, we tried, we received a smirk). It would not be so frustrating when there are more than 350 brand new GMT-Master Pepsi and Batman watches for sale on Ch...
In what can only be described as unexpected, a new diver debuted at Baselworld 2019 in the form of the Tudor Black Bay P01.To be fair, there was a certain site that dropped all of the and Tudor novelties the day prior to the opening of Baselworld 2019.? And while I doubt that this person will ever receive any type of response or invitation from either or Tudor in the future, the article was dead-on.? Aside from the relatively non-controversial releases within, there was one real surprise: the Tudor Black Bay P01.Tudor Black Bay P01 – Based on a PrototypeFor several years, forum denizens have been discussing a very oddly designed Tudor dive watch that was apparently designed in the 19...
