A topic that is always actual for watch enthusiasts: watch photography! We published the 10 tips for better watch photography early 2015 and would like to put it in the spot light again for those who have missed it or forgot about it.Watch photography is not easy, but with these 10 tips from top (watch) photographer Bert Buijsrogge (who did and still does?numerous shoots and campaigns for watch brands during the last couple of years) you should have a flying start. It also will show you that you don t always need to have the most expensive gear and accessories, but that success is heavily depending on your own creativity.Once you re done reading and learning from Bert s tips, make sure to vi...

StrapsBy now, you ve likely read every article about all the latest releases from BaselWorld 2016. I will not introduce any brands novelties in this article but instead will focus on something we tend to look over during all the hype that surrounds us during the fair. This months Watch Strap Review will be a special edition about the different straps weve seen during the show last month. Dont worry, next month we are back on track with yet another strap maker, and a really good one at that. For now however lets discuss what we saw during that crazy week in mid-March in the busy city of Basel.Last few yearsI got into watches when I was a kid but the hobby really took off in 2007 when I bought...

I suppose that I could be faulted for featuring the rather newish GMT-Master II 16710?in a #TBT article, but Ill live with it.Ive covered a couple newer pieces in this series such as the Explorer 14270 and, more recently, the IWC Mark XII, so Im more on the side of featuring what Id call classics instead of purely vintage. Definitions aside, the 16710 is definitely a classic and one that continues to be on the acquisition list of many people; lets find out why.The GMT-Master II 16710 was around for so long – nearly 20 years – that it s still hard to believe it s goneThe GMT-Master II 16710Its awfully hard to believe that the GMT-Master II 16710 has been gone from showrooms ...

Writing an article on the Omega Speedmaster 145.012 isnt overly novel for us at Fratello Watches. No, its been covered from a historical perspective here and several variations have been discussed as well. However, Ive not covered it and thought Id lend my personal story as to how I came upon this Speedy and why I decided to procure it. Perhaps I wont add too much different than whats been said here before, but as I looked through the annals of #TBT, I felt we were missing something. So, without further ado, its Speedy time on #TBT-Omega Speedmaster 145.012, with its deeply dished sub registers and step dial, exhibits a lot of topographyI spoke at length (here) about my overly long courting ...

In 2015, Seiko upped its international game by bringing some great pieces to Baselworld that, previously, would have been kept solely in the Japanese market. We saw a heavy focus on the Prospex series with new Tunas and a huge anniversary Marinemaster in titanium. This year, Seiko celebrates its 135th anniversary as a company (every year, Seiko finds something to celebrate ending in a 5 or a 0), so the company brought more great novelties. This is in no way a comprehensive list of everything new, but instead a glimpse at some of the things coming our way. Enjoy the look!The Seiko Presage 60th Anniversary with enamel dialSeiko Presage Automatic Watch 60th AnniversaryIn order to celebrate Seik...

Oris continues to be one of our favorite brands here at Fratellowatches. Weve come to enjoy the value proposition that their pieces present in concert with great build quality. Last year, at Baselworld 2015, the team loved the Divers Sixty-Five in 40mm with its retro dial and domed crystal. Well, the watch has proven popular, but its clear that Oris received requests for a larger watch and the answer is now here. Welcome in the new Oris Divers Sixty-Five 42mm.The Oris Divers Sixty-Five 42mm on the wristOris could have easily copied a successful formula by simply upsizing the 40mm Sixty-Five but they decided to reach into their back catalog to a past model in order to find inspiration for the...

Tissot is an old-line brand within the Swatch Group Empire that, from time to time introduces something that calls upon their rich heritage. The Visodate and Navigator are good examples.? It s nice to see that they re not always about T-Touch despite the fact that we love the watch. So, this year in 2016 at Baselworld, I was excited to see an interesting release from the brand based upon an early pocketwatch that was often converted to a wristwatch. Its big, its not overly practical, but it gets my vote as one of the more interesting and enjoyable niche releases from a major brand this year. Enter the Tissot 1936 Heritage.The original Tissot pocketwatch – forms the basis for the Tissot...

Every March the (watch) world is celebrating in Switzerland. BaselWorld takes place and we cannot be more excited about it. However I also have a duty to all watch strap lovers around the world and no fair can stop me from doing my usual monthly review.After Februarys article on Strapped Watch Co. from Chi-town we boarded the imaginary Fratello Jet (a Gulfstream G650?in case?you wonder) to cross the ocean back to good old Europe. Another article, another country; Latvia. The company we are about to view has hands in everything. They make leather straps, duffle bags, suspenders, wallets etc. We are going to focus on the straps of course, of which I received two. So lets have a look at our wat...

A while ago,?I wrote a comparison article between the Omega Speedmaster Professional and the so-called Omega Speedmaster Reduced (officially it was just called Speedmaster Automatic). I ve noticed that over the last couple of years, the interest in the Omega Speedmaster Reduced increased quite a bit. Actually, when I retrieved all the information on the interest in Omega Speedmaster watches over 2015 on Chrono24, the classifieds offering the reference 3510/3810 (Omega Speedmaster Reduced and its Schumacher editions) for sale received over 270.000 unique visits.When I just started collecting (and focussing on Speedmasters) in the mid-1990s, the Speedmaster Reduced was actually considered the ...

The front side of a watch gets lots of attention in general. Often more than the caseback, so Ive decided to write an article dedicated to casebacks and their designs. Besides some nice and extravagant examples, I will discuss some general facts and my personal way of analyzing and categorizing case backs. So please, sit back and relax.General introduction and layoutThe back of a watch, often referred to as a caseback, can reveal several hidden parts compared to the front side. Hidden lugs or several parts of the movement for example. The front side of a watch is dedicated to display the time in a distinctive and legible way; it is the top priority. On the back side, generally speaking, this...

It is February and we have yet another Watch Strap Review for you. Even though we try and find strap makers from around the world we also have to give space for guys coming from the same country, especially if we re talking about countries like the US or Italy where many craftsmen are dealing with leather goods. Dont worry, we will widen our map with a new country again but for now lets talk about a strap maker based in the US. It is a very sympathetic company that has a great potential to be one of the best around with a friendly attitude and a professional execution when it comes to straps. Ladies and Gentlemen please meet: Strapped Watch Co.Strapped Watch Co.From now on let me call them S...

Together with WatchTime.net, Stowa created a new version of one of their iconic pilot s watches. The Flieger Blue is based on the original design from 1939 and will be limited to 100 pieces only.Stowa produces watches?since 1927 and is known for their Flieger watches. Since 1996, watchmaker J?rg Schauer joined Stowa and together with designer (and watch collector)?Hartmut Esslinger they introduced a couple of new Stowa models. Stowa s Flieger watches and Bauhaus designs are being developed and manufactured in the German Black Forrest, where they have their own watchmakers, engravers and goldsmiths to deliver a constant high quality in everything they do.What Stowa did very well, is to keep t...

We started with Speedy Tuesday on May 29th 2012 and with great pride we write you that in 2015, we published 55 Speedy Tuesday articles. Even though we wanted to stick to one per week, we did some extra at times we thought it was necessary. On Instagram, we noticed that there are over 16,000 images tagged #SpeedyTuesday, wow! We often browse through all tagged images and love that there is so much love for this stunning timepiece from all over the world. We also noticed that even those with impressive watch collections including pieces from Patek Philippe, A. Lange & S?hne and so on, have a (vintage) Speedmaster as well, just because it is such a nice piece. Also, we noticed that there a...

Before we look at our last strap for the year lets look back a little bit on what has been one of the most successful series on Fratello Watches, besides Speedy Tuesday and TBT. I started Watch Strap Review over a year ago as a monthly article featuring some of the best craftsmen in the business. We have published 15 articles so far (this one obviously being 16) and had strap makers literary from around the world. You can see a little map below of all the different countries we have featured on the series. As you can see there are still dark spots meaning we cant stop, wont stop. 2016 hopefully will be just as busy as this year was. We are trying to find you some more amazing guys and we mig...

The last month of the year is going on full swing and we have two more?Watch Strap Reviews for you. We are still touring around the world and now arrived to a beautiful Scandinavian country to check out their own strap maker. The country Im talking about is Norway and the craftsman is Vladimir. He operates by the name of Kami Leather. Vladimir hails from Oslo, capital of Norway and beside straps he also makes accessories like wallets, pen holders and so on. We will look at some of his amazing straps as well as a few other things. So join us on?our imaginary trip to the icy north, put on your warmest Helly Hansen parka and enjoy the leather goodness coming your way.Kami LeatherI found Kami Le...

The first edition of our Strap Review for November is here. Last month we reviewed Difues Leather from Belarus and I have to say that was a pretty popular article. As I have told you before I try to expand the Watch Strap Review family in terms of countries we feature. That will come from the next article on. Nevertheless this time we return to our favorite holiday destination; Italy. We have talked about our friends at GLC Strap before (you can find those articles here and here) and today we have yet another company. Colareb has a pretty wide selection of straps to offer from vintage leather to suede, ostrich and many other types. The most pleasant feature is their price/quality ration. The...

These may be strong words, but were talking about a watch, that I have been searching for years. There are other models in the current collection that should be higher on my wish list, but these are far out of my reach. So for the next few minutes I will bore you about the Tortue, a watch that was designed by Louis Cartier in 1912 and has been in the collection,?for over a century, in fairly small production runs.Cartier Tortue in platinum – my holy GrailThe Cartier Tortue is quite exclusive and has been produced in precious metals only. The version I was hunting for was the XL, a Cartier Tortue model that was released in 2006, in platinum and in pink gold, with the mechanical 9601MC c...

Dear Readers:If youre a user of the Watchville app, you may have noticed that content from Fratello Watches is no longer available. We feel compelled to offer you an explanation on this development and while were at it, lets talk a little about the watch blog industry as well.When Watchville was introduced earlier this year, it seemed to be a real boon to watch blogs that, up until that point, lacked a convenient method of publishing their content on a simple, easy to use app. Like in most industries, when one company, or blog in this case, joins a trend, most others jump in as well.? Weve been no different. If youve used Watchville, its convenient and aside from small start-up bugs (who doe...

On last week s Speedy Tuesday I showed you 13 watches from the Christie s Omega Speedmaster 50 auction that will take place on December 15th. This week, I will continue our Closer Look At Christie s Omega Speedmaster 50 Auction with a couple of pre-Moon Speedmasters.Christie s is current traveling around with the lots of this auction, showing some of the Speedmaster watches to collectors, enthusiasts and – hopefully – some bidders. As you ve noticed in our report of last week (click here for Part I of this Christie s Omega Speedmaster 50 auction overview), we saw some limited editions, gold Moonwatch models, prototype Speedmasters as well as a flown Speedmaster. This week, I am s...

IWC. I have to mentally squint a bit now, but the simple recitation of those three letters brings me back to a really amazing watch era of roughly 25 years ago. Yes, I can still remember cruising watch shops with my Dad while on vacation or on the occasional weekend and we kept running into the brand. Of course, that wasnt just coincidence. No, my Dad was rather taken with a lot of the models that IWC had on offer back in the period. The brand had really reinvented itself by offering what Id refer to as technically interesting, gentlemanly, sports/tool watches. They were damn expensive, but they oozed understated class. Even the marketing was clean, a bit technical, and left the watches to s...