Occasionally, a watch brand releases a new model that is exactly what you were hoping for. I am not referring to getting the call from your authorized dealer about the allocation you have been waiting for, nor am I talking about obtaining your current grail watch. Somewhere, each of us has an idea for a watch, either a new design or reissue, that we are hoping a brand will release. This has happened to me once before. They say lightning does not strike twice, but in the case of the new Seiko SPB411 Navigator Timer reissue, it has!I have had the watch for nearly two weeks at the time of writing, and I have yet to wind it. It has barely left my wrist. Fittingly, the day after picking the watch...

The Chopard Alpine Eagle has been on quite a run since its introduction in 2019. A reinterpretation of the 1980s Chopard St. Moritz, the sporty yet dressy integrated-bracelet line now boasts a full range of materials and complications. Today, a new model comes our way in the form of a limited edition called the Alpine Eagle 41 Sunburnt. This is a real beauty, and the only downside is that it s especially for the Australian market.?I still recall being in the Chopard headquarters in Geneva shortly after the Alpine Eagle was released. In pictures, it certainly looked like an attractive watch. However, in the metal, it was on another level. The dial, which is meant to look like the iris of an e...

While it may be cold, wet, and wintery here in Europe, over in the sunny climes of Dubai Watch Week, Ulysse Nardin treated visitors to the first sights of its brand-new addition to the Freak collection. The Freak One OPS takes the Freak One concept introduced at Watches and Wonders earlier this year and gives it the OPS makeover. And yes, that s right, the Freak One just won the Iconic Watch prize at GPHG last week too.Ulysse Nardin first introduced us to the Freak concept way back in 2001. It has always been ahead of its time. While the 90s and 00s saw some weird and wonderful watch designs, I struggle to think of many as groundbreaking as the Freak. When we think of watches, we think of ...

The Apollo 13 story is very famous, and it has even led to problem-solving strategies and processes across different industries. In 2015, I attended a Speedmaster event in Houston, and astronauts Jim Lovell, Tom Stafford, and Eugene Cernan were also present. Jim Lovell, the commander of Apollo 13, told us that day in Houston that the Apollo 13 movie from 1995 tells the story of the nearly fatal mission perfectly.Jack Swigert with the mailbox construction he made with the help of CAPCOM Jack Lousma to remove carbon dioxide from the moduleJack Swigert timing the crucial 14 seconds during Apollo 13Also aboard the Apollo 13 mission was command module pilot Jack Swigert. Swigert was known to wear...

I love the simple fact that a watch can do so much to my everyday fit and mood, and I couldn t care less about the dress rules. If a big 42mm sports watch with a 44mm bezel looks great under a linen-mix shirt and fits under the cuff, then I ll wear it if it looks right on the day. Contrasts are just as powerful as a smooth match of styles, like a diver with a sports jacket and shirt. And the same goes for the simple elegance of spare dials with no dates or indices. They might not give you the exact minute past the hour at a glance, but does it matter? They look great with everything. so bring on the minimalist splendor.Well, except for a worn-out fleece only fit for walking the dog, I do hav...

Fratello On Air returns with more listener questions. This time, we take on selling practices from brands and attempt to respond to yet another Speedmaster question. Enjoy the ride! This podcast player is blocked because you did not accept marketing cookies. Change cookie settings Yes, we are back with more listener questions. First up is a two-part question that revolves around watch brands selling practices. There s also some more talk about the cherished Omega Speedmaster and its fan base. It s another candid discussion where no punches are pulled, so turn it up!Speedmaster 145.022-69 on a 1039 braceletHandgelenks KontrolleWe kick things off with a bit of a weekend recap and then get...

I wasn t consulted when this series was started. If I had been, I would certainly have called it to a halt. It s not that I don t like writing articles like these. It s just that it s so tempting to go over all the possible options before making my final selection. These are all watches that I ve considered buying before, and seeing them time and time again doesn t make it any easier to keep avoiding them, especially at this somewhat affordable price point of under $1,000. But all right, let s just get it over with!There are so many watches in this price category. I m glad we already did a series with a $500 budget since that rules out a large number of eligible watches. And for this $1,000 ...

Zodiac has just announced its release of the new Sea-Chron dive chronograph. A staple model in the brand s 1960s catalog, the Sea-Chron followed the success of the original Sea Wolf diver. It s also no coincidence that dive watches saw a boom in demand in the early 60s. During this decade, diving went from a niche endeavor for a brave minority to a commercialized one. As the underwater world became accessible to the masses, the dive watch - an essential piece of diving equipment back then - grew in popularity. Brands got brave and started creating many iterations of the basic diver. Adding a chronograph complication was one of the many ways that brands enhanced the functionality of these to...

It has been a while since I curated a selection of watches for Fratellos Pre-Owned Spotlight column, and truth be told, I wasnt looking at other watches for a long time. I feel that my collection is (or was) quite where I want it to be, and everything on top is just that - on top. The new GMT-Master II in gold does have my interest, but its a lot of money for me to spend on one watch. There are days that I have less in my pocket.What I m currently doing is consolidating my collection a bit. What watches do I have that see no daylight and can be sold to fund something new? And although I ve already started the process of selling some watches, I dont have anything specific in mind for my next...

For my wrist, the 46mm Khaki Navy Frogman Auto is too big, and for my taste, it s too much. The 41mm version, on the other hand, is the kind of watch you want to take with you on a hike or a day at the beach while doing active things. Its not a watch for the beach club, really, but more for kitesurfing. One great thing about this rugged Hamilton is that you can customize it to your taste with a 20mm-wide strap of your choice. So to tweak the green-dial Hamilton Khaki Navy Frogman Auto, I took a couple of new Fratello NATO straps that our shop manager Laurits had lying around on his desk. With this watch on the wrist, I ll also bring you news on the Bravur Grand Tour La Corsa Rosa III and two...

A part of what makes the watch hobby so enjoyable is the massive amount of things to explore beyond just the watches themselves. For instance, even if you re a one-watch enthusiast, that still leaves open the world of straps to spice things up or tone things down, movements/technical aspects of the watch world, brand history, and more. This is indeed a hobby with so many facets. Watch storage is one that we don t often discuss, but it certainly affects anyone who puts together a significant-enough collection.One collector s journeyIt s an issue that I ve contended with, which I d argue often gets overlooked: how should you store your watches once you ve amassed something of a collection? It ...

Since Forstner reopened its doors in 2019, it has become a go-to for vintage-inspired bracelets. The brand was founded by William Forstner almost a century earlier in New Jersey, concentrating on ornamental jewelry and watch bracelets in its early years. The company s real focus came about in 1939 with the introduction of the Komfit bracelet, which was followed in the next decade by Forstner s version of the Bonklip bracelet. Now we see Forstner introducing the Pilot Ref. F-6B/346, the brand s take on the classic Mark 11 pilot s watch.Given Forstner s long history of producing watch bracelets and the relatively short period since refounding, it s perhaps surprising that the Pilot Ref. F-6B/3...

Creating a top-five list for anything is daunting because what we choose to put on the list is somewhat subjective. But I like a good challenge. And with the perpetual expansion of the microbrand market, things can quickly become confusing. Too many brands, too many options - and a lot of good watches and an equal amount of terrible ones. Therefore, to create this list of the five best microbrand watches under $500, I had to self-impose two rules. First, as always, I only write about watches Ive experienced in the metal. Second, I was looking for watches that balance value (specs-to-price ratio) and originality in design. And to make matters more fun, I picked one watch from five different c...

Mr Jones Watches is back at it again with a new release. Berry Late!, designed by Ana Dias, is a swirling pink pastel alphabet soup of a watch most of the time. But once every hour, the cute letters and strawberries align to spell out a very clear message. It literally says, Fuck it! Time is just a social construct. It s cheerful nihilism at its best and a sentiment I m here for.It s not every day I get to use the F word in a release article (though I have thought of doing so often enough). Regarding Mr Jones Watches, though, it seems par for the course, if still a pleasant surprise. Mr Jones Watches notoriously makes affordable art watches not for telling the time. Berry Late! checks those ...

In our Sunday Morning Showdown series, two 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 don t forget to let us know which watches you d like to see torn to shreds/effusively exalted next week. We ll try to feature as many of our readers choices as possible. Today s showdown is all about two modern sports watches that have gotten a lot of praise - the Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF and the H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner Centre Seconds.Sports watches with integrated bracelets remain all the rage. We see new brands inspired by Gerald Genta s designs steppin...

Roughly one year ago, the new MING 22.01 GMT debuted and was available for order. Now the watches have started to ship, and I was fortunate enough to receive my Gilt variant. It s time to go hands-on with this piece, and I hope that the pictures do it just an ounce of justice because this is a really impressive watch.It s not every day that I receive an email from Praneeth Rajsingh from MING Watches, but there it was one recent morning. After nearly a year - my, how time flies - my MING 22.01 GMT was finally ready to ship. After paying the remaining balance and waiting a few days, the faithful DHL Express truck rolled up and handed me a package. I hadn t exactly forgotten about the watch, bu...

We all love Gerald Genta, but in fact, this article started very differently. My idea was to write about the best of Genta, which is a decent-enough approach. But nerd-diving into Royal Oak references and the immense charm of a brown-dial rose gold Nautilus has been done before, right? Nothing against his well-known grails; Ive tried to dislike the Nautilus but still love it, no matter how inaccessible it is. But news appeared that the Gerald Genta brand is being revived, and that s a bigger story altogether.LVMH has been telling the world of its planned rebirth of the Gerald Genta brand. It has already had Bvlgari cameos but will now have a dedicated team and a new future. So a big bravo(!)...

Another Friday, another Top 5! In this series, we take one classic watch and choose our five favorite references ever produced. Four of these references will be based on the historical importance of the specific watch in the grand scheme of things. Though there may be some overlap, its not a question of which references are the most collectible or of the highest value on the market. The fifth pick is our Fratello favorite that considers the current market price and collectability, potentially making it a sleeper reference. As such, the last pick could be described as our wild card. This week, we ll take a look at the best Datejust. Here are our five favorite Datejust references ever produce...

Squale is a brand close to my heart. I have worked with the company in the past as a dealer, and I own several Squale watches as well. My favorite model is, by some margin, the 1521, aka the 50 Atmos, named after its impressive depth rating. And this is a big moment for that specific collection as Squale is introducing a host of new variants. There is a little something for everyone, from subtle, technical updates on subdued variants to extravagant, brightly colored new models.What they all share, however, is the basic shape of the collection - that unique arching case with its squared-off lugs. It has become a signature design for the former case makers at Squale. Because yes, they used to ...

Earlier this week, Thomas kicked off our latest Fratello Favorites challenge. This time around, our editors have been tasked with choosing three watches that they think are the best available options under $1,000 today. As you might imagine, the variety within this price point is staggering, but the ever-shifting landscape of watch prices has genuinely added to the challenge. Some of our go-to brands have shifted their classics upwards in price. As a result, there are watches we can t pick now as they are no longer under $1,000. There are also some watches that we were used to seeing at under $500 but that are now hard to get used to at the current price point. Consequently, it hasn t been a...