Choosing the five best chronographs? Is that even possible? If you had asked me that at the beginning of the year, I would ve said you were crazy. But as the months progressed, we saw some downright amazing chronographs that stood out immediately. In a category of watches that are notoriously hard to develop, we have seen some absolute stunners in 2022. And as the year comes to an end, we talked about the best and most stunning chronograph releases of the past 12 months. As it turns out, five releases rose above the rest. These are our top five chronographs of 2022.Admittedly, back in August, I compiled a list of 10 chronographs that came out in 2022. It s always fun to see how many will be ...
What would you consider the most unique watch from any given brand? In the case of Patek Philippe, a watch brand that needs no introduction, I would perhaps consider the Calatrava Weekly Calendar 5212A-001 the leading contender. Released in 2019, it was a brand-new execution by the legendary Geneva-based watch brand. While referred to as a Calatrava, it is quite atypical of Patek s flagship line. Here is my experience as someone lucky enough to wear one regularly.This watch is a weekly calendar, which has the weeks as well as corresponding months on the two outermost sectors of the dial. A year can have up to 53 weeks, which means that the red-tipped, hammer-shaped hand has 53 positions to c...
Love or hate it, the MoonSwatch certainly stirred things up this year. Here at Fratello, most of us are fans of the watch, and nearly everyone was able to get one (or several) from the Swatch boutiques. But I m wondering what the next step for Swatch will be. Will we see more collaborations with other brands, or will we see a few new variations of the MoonSwatch?Creating new MoonSwatchesI dont believe that the latter will happen. Likewise, I m not a fan of the idea of Swatch doing a similar collaboration with another brand or model. Ive seen the Swatch-made prototypes of a Seamaster 300M and a Blancpain in bioceramic, but to me, neither really came across as a Swatch. Instead, they just look...
I asked RJ the other day if he wouldn t mind putting the newly released Oris Divers Sixty-Five Limited Edition into an uncensored face-to-face battle with the original Oris Star. Go ahead, he said. Well, RJ, here we are!In all honesty, this is probably the most irrelevant story of the year. The reason is pretty prosaic: the Divers Sixty-Five Fratello Limited Edition and its predecessor were never meant to be compared. I just found the idea of comparing them amusing. The new release was inspired by the original, but it was never intended to be an exact copy. It s a watch with its own identity. RJ already explained in the introduction video?that we made it 4mm bigger. Simply take this as an in...
Hi, my name is Thor, and I m a strapaholic. But is this addiction to watch straps a bad thing? The first question Ill ask you is this: can a strap make or break a watch? If the answer is yes, youve already got the potential to become an addict like me, and why not? The positive aspects of strapology (Im copyrighting the term) are many once you burrow into the rabbit hole. How about ergonomics? Yes, the case might stay the same dimensions, but the level of comfort on your wrist can be transformed with a strap change. The problem is that once you start, you might not be able to stop, and the following true confessions of a strapaholic are actually great strap-buying tips in disguise.This is wh...
It was 1913 when Japanese watchmaker and businessman Kintaro Hattori launched the Laurel, the timepiece we now consider Seikos very first wristwatch. The Seiko Prospex SPB333J1 Save the Ocean Limited Edition is nothing like the Laurel. This new limited edition of 5,000 pieces is, however, a celebration of 110 years of Seiko watchmaking. And it s a particularly cool if not frosty diver at that. I mean, with its icy gray dial, it looks just like it just crawled out of the Arctic Ocean!Brace yourself, Fratelli, for 2023 will be the year that will see a deluge of Seiko Watchmaking 110th Anniversary watches. Earlier this week, you saw the Presage homage to the Laurel, the brand s very first wrist...
The first Frenchman shot into space was Jean-Loup Chretien, and on his wrist was a Yema Spationaute 1. The watch was designed in 1982 in collaboration with France s Space Agency (CNES). That same year, the Soyuz T-6 mission carrying two Russian cosmonauts plus Chretien was shot out of the earths orbit to board the Salyut 7 space station. Chretien returned to Earth after spending 7 days, 21 hours, 50 minutes, and 42 seconds in space. The Soviet mission made him the first Western European man in space, and it made the Yema Spationaute 1 the first French watch in space. Forty years later, Yema officially renews its connection with space and launches the Yema Flygraf French Air & Space Force...
When I was writing the article on the best Seiko watches from the 2000s for our weekly Buying Guide series, I came across a special Seiko collection. The Seiko Historical Collection was a special series of seven watches released to celebrate the new millennium. At first, I wanted to include them in the article, but I soon recognized that this would double the length. On top of that, the collection deserves a separate article. Not only does it show the incredible history of the Seiko brand, but it is also a perfect example of creating reissues the right way. I ll explain why.Watches inspired by the past have become the norm in the watch industry over the past twenty years. Especially the last...
If you ve been paying attention since 2017, you might have noticed that Omega has been up to something. Every first (Speedy) Tuesday of the year, the brand has released either a new Speedmaster or something Speedmaster-related, like the caliber 321 re-introduction in 2019. This year, the 65th anniversary of the legendary chronograph brings us the Omega Speedmaster Calibre 321 in Canopus Gold, reference 311.50.39.30.01.001.I am very proud and honored to be able to go hands-on with this new Speedmaster Calibre 321. It s an incredible reproduction of the first Speedmaster CK2915, but in Omegas own white gold alloy, Canopus Gold. As the name suggests, it features the beloved 321 chronograph move...
I might not be 100 percent objective at all times, but here, my personal taste is an advantage. I do own more shoes, belts, and straps in various shades of brown than black. The monochrome architect s look is not for me, but beiges and browns with a dash of color? Yes, please.What I do miss, though, is a tasty #CHOCOLATE dial in my watch box. This past year saw a few delicious options being released. The first one that came to mind is the new Omega Seamaster 300 in Bronze Gold.Except for the Canopus Gold Speedmaster, I would easily name it as my favorite Omega of 2021, hands down. Match it up with some #CHOCOLATE-flavored accessories, and youre set for success. If two of the dive watches in ...
We re back with more block-rockin beats - errrr, talk! Balazs and Mike return (quickly) to talk about vintage watch opportunities in 2022. If you love the old stuff and are looking for value, tune in and relax!That s right, the dastardly duo of Balazs and Mike is back, and we return to one of our favorite subjects - the vintage watch market and where to find opportunities. As we know, there s little out there that hasn t been uncovered. However, that doesn t mean that value doesn t exist. There s no highfalutin talk during this podcast, so your trust funds are safe!Vintage watch picks for 2022After a bit of a Handgelenks Kontrolle, we head off into our vintage watch picks for 2022. Balazs t...
You might think that finding the perfect dress watch is one of the easier tasks that might present itself to a watch collector during their journey through our shared hobby. After all, a dress watch is about as stylistically simple as they come, right?Generally held to have just two or three hands with an uncluttered, timeless dial, the dress watch genre sounds one of the simplest to master on paper. However, as time has passed, so too have the boundaries of what is considered dressy expanded. Nowadays, while dress watches still tend to be made from precious metals, their dials can have a little bit more going on and still pass the eye test. To illustrate this point (which will no doubt be h...
We filmed this video in the run-up to Christmas, as we searched fr budget-friendly entry-level watches for the whole family. While the big day has passed, those of us left with a few coins jangling in our pockets might well be looking for an affordable acquisition to scratch that New Year/New Watch itch. Sternglas might well have the answer.If you want a fashion-friendly and wallet-conscious option for the budding watch enthusiast, I can wholeheartedly recommend German brand Sternglas. Will this brand set the horological world alight? No, it certainly will not. But will it provide you with a solid, well-designed watch for the same kind of money as youll likely be asked to pay for some frivol...
It s that time of year when we re all either looking backward or looking ahead into the next year. 2021 is gone (thankfully) and 2022 is here (fingers crossed about this one). So, let s spend some time talking about some watch wishes for 2022 from a selection of brands.The new year ahead of us means a whole 12 months of watch releases to come and possible new trends. I have no clue what the color of choice will be this year, but I suppose the recent emergence of light blue will hang around for a while. Plus, I m sure that limited editions, collaborations, and the retro trend are here to stay. But those things won t make my list of watch wishes for 2022. Instead, I ll mention some hopeful rel...
Happy New Year, my dear Fratelli! I hope you have all had your fill of delicious food, good company, and perhaps even a cocktail or two. We find ourselves in the post-2021 hangover, and I, for one, am ready to get over this past year, hoping for 2022 to be a little bit brighter. Not that it was all doom and gloom, but I think we can all agree that 2021 was, globally speaking, a bit of a write-off. However, this year is already looking good, with the team here at Fratello getting ready to bring some amazing content your way. That said, lets start with something a little- odd. Something from my early days of collecting. Im talking about my Citizen Eagle 7.Its been a minute since I wrote about ...
Fratello On Air returns with a seriously focused episode as our resident Seiko nut, Mike, speaks with Nick Ferrell, the owner of DC Vintage Watches. If you re a Seiko fan, you won t want to miss this!Nick Ferrell is the owner and founder of DC Vintage Watches, a site that not only sells vintage Seiko, but will help clients find the watch of their dreams. Nick is a seriously nice person to speak with, and together with Mike, they go in many directions related to vintage Seiko. Whether it s the JDM scene in Southern California (where Nick now lives), favorite hidden gems in the vintage Seiko world or a number of helpful tangents for collectors, this is a podcast you won t want to miss. This po...
As a fan of alternative case materials, I love seeing watches made of uncommon metals. We re all familiar with stainless steel and probably gold and platinum too. But over the last few years, I ve noticed a marked increase in brands using tantalum for all or part of their watches. What is tantalum? And does it make for a good watch?Tantalum is a metal. That much, I am pretty sure you knew already. Also known as the element Ta on the periodic table, this transition metal was discovered in 1802 in Sweden. It got its name from Tantalus, the son of Zeus. It is rarer than gold and has an unusually high melting point, making it notoriously expensive to mine and even more costly to machine. Milling...
We like to talk about vintage watches a lot within the Fratello team. Though most of what we write about is primarily focused on the most recent releases and developments, for many of us, a lot of the fun can be found in the sometimes weird and often wonderful world of vintage watches. It s a world full of history, remarkable watches, incredible stories, and quirky details. It inspired us to come up with a series of articles focusing on the best watches per decade from a select group of brands. Some of them are priceless, some of them still affordable. In this installment, we will take a look at the best TAG Heuer watches from the 1990s.This week we will continue our journey through watch hi...
And all of a sudden, 2021 is done. In case youre wondering what happened from a horological perspective, I tried to reconstruct the year in about 1,500 words - what struck me, stayed with me, and what have I learned in the last year. And that s important, if you ask me, because its easy to look back at what happened, but learning from the past to understand the present and the future is the hard part. So lets have a look at Watch Year 2021 in retrospect, and check the lessons learned that will help us cope with the horological future.Numbers dont lie. The most popular (most-read) stories of 2021 with you, our beloved readers, were about , Seiko, and the Omega Speedmaster, of course. They re ...
We spend a lot of time talking about the Bvlgari Octo Finissimo on Fratello. Quite frankly, it s because we love that line dearly. But the Octo Roma line has a lot to offer also. In fact, while the Finissimo is truly groundbreaking, for some people, its incredible thinness can be a bit too much. The Octo Roma has that same Roman flair, but with a bit more muscle backing it up. Lets take a closer look at the WorldTimer version today.It isnt uncommon for a brand to labor away for years and years in the shadows, doing all the right things and getting none of the credit it deserves. Oftentimes, it takes one moment, one seminal release to make the watch-loving crowd sit up and pay attention. For ...
