A regular podcast about watches. Hosted by Fratello Magazine. During our podcast shows, we discuss watches, the watch industry, watch collecting, watches events and more. Make sure to subscribe!
Rob invites James Thompson, AKA Black Badger, into his Dresden-based den for lockdown laughs. The pair chat about James's experiences in the industry, what he's got on his plate right now, their failed gridiron careers, and a whole host of other nonsense.
That's right, vintage chronographs are in focus yet again, but this time we talk about the pieces on our wish list with some cool anecdotes thrown in for good measure. We don't own these, but would love to acquire them if funds allow. Before hitting the main topic on vintage chronographs, we roll through our customary "Handgelenk Kontrolle". Mike comes prepared in his vintage 38mm Excelsior Park " Tuxedo Dial ." Balazs turns back the clock with his fetching Eterna Caliber 852 and its unique case...
Balazs & Mike return with a new episode and we talk vintage Chronographs! First, it's a "Handgelenk Kontrolle" where Balazs is sporting a '70s Seiko 6139-7070. Mike is donning a 1960 Gruen Ocean Chief. News-wise, the gents discuss the new Omega Speedmaster Professionals , the recently announced 2021 European L.E. Seiko Alpinist SPB201J1 , and the MING 27.02 and Mike reveals a guilty confession.. Our main topic focuses on vintage Chronographs — the favorite style of watch to collect for both ...
Alon Ben Joseph has been a Bvlgari dealer for six years. He's been a Bvlgari owner, however, for three. He finally decided to pull the trigger on a model from the famous Italien brand when the Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Automatic (in titanium and on a titanium bracelet) was released at Baselworld 2017. Now, three years on, Rob wants to know what he makes of it.
Yesterday was the big day for Speedmaster fans all around the world! The introduction of the new Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Master Chronometer. Four new models basically, two steel variations and two in gold. You can read all about the new Moonwatch here . Rob and I decided to host a podcast on the new Moonwatch and answer some of the hottest questions we've read in the comments and on social media....
In this podcast, Balazs and Mike sit down on the very last day of 2020 and hit upon a couple key topics. Collaboration watches and rerelease hope for 2021 are in store in this latest episode. The Handgelenk Kontrolle Mike kicks things off with this newly received MING 18.01 H41 Diver. Balazs goes vintage cool with his funky and unusual Omega Genève Dynamic . News Update We then hit the news and talk about the Speedmaster World Cup and our favorite Speedmaster models from the competition. Balazs ...
In this podcast, I talk with OMEGA's Mr. Andreas Hobmeier, Vice President of Production and Procurement, about Master Chronometer and the role of METAS. We speak about all the facets of Master Chronometer, and why precision and anti-magnetism is such an important topic.
Balazs and Mike make good on their promise to come back with frequency! On this episode we give recommendations for the upcoming Holiday Season and then we talk about our favorite bracelets. First, it's a "Handgelenk Kontrolle" and Mike is wearing a vintage Meylan Chronograph while Balazs is sporting his Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical with a Kill Hubris NATO. We then talk about the "Fratelloris" Fratello x Oris Big Crown Bronze Pointer Date that's now in our shop ! For the holidays, we roll out...
Rob and RJ received a number of watches from Glashütte Original this week, and discuss the green dialed PanoMaticLunar watch. And a lot of other things. Enjoy this episode!
In a surprisingly structured fashion, Alon and Rob blitz through their favorite (and least favorite) novelties of 2020 from the Breitling, Tudor, and Bvlgari brands. Swatch gets a brief mention and so does team member Mike Stockton, who, after a joyous week of watching his brainchild (the Fratelloris) wend its way to readers' homes, seems to be on everyone's mind...
It's episode 25 and Balazs & Mike come together to talk about their favorite divers of 2020. This one was recorded a few weeks back and we jabber about lockdowns, border crossings, quarantines, and uncomfortable boots. Then, it's time for a "Handgelenk Kontrolle" and Balazs is sporting a DIY Casio G-Shock GW-B5600 with a fresh DIY metal body kit from eBay . Mike is wearing his modified Oris Big Crown Bronze Pointer Date . Consider it a day of mods! We talk about our favorite divers: New Niva...
Today, in Episode "definitely-not-22-but-we're-calling-it-22-for-now", Alon and Rob talk about the future of retail. Alon lays down his background and interests and why he loves retail.
This week, on Fratello On Air, Rob and Alon chat about many things. They touch on different retail strategies. The (now-released) Oris movement gets a mention. Terrifying teddy bears make a surprise appearance. And, finally, the new Snoopy goes under the microscope. Crucially, Alon attempts to make sense of Rob's strange, "moderately ridiculous" feelings towards it...
If you are an Haute Horlogerie and/or car enthusiast, the name Singer Reimagined should definitely ring a bell. Although the brand is still relatively new to the watch scene, it already has a dedicated fan base comprising both petrol heads and watch guys. The brand's new model, the Flytrack, looks a bit like its big brother, the Track 1. It is, however, a simpler but equally fun timepiece. On this occasion, we thought it would be fun to sit down with Marco Borraccino, the man behind Singer Reima...
RJ talks to the Head of Product Development of Longines, Xavier Ligero, to talk about the new Longines Spirit collection. Get some insights on how the watch came to life, what challenges Longines experienced, and about the exclusive Longines calibers by ETA. We talk about how such an exclusivity actually works between Longines and ETA.
In this 20th episode of Fratello on Air, RJ and Rob discuss their favorite Seiko watches. Their favorite Seiko of all time, but also their favorite watch of the releases in 2020. They discuss these watches in detail and tell them why they love these references so much, or what makes them so special. Head over to Fratello.com to see all show notes for this episode, including pictures of the Seiko watches discussed.
All in one big episode, Mike and RJ pick their Top 3 from the novelties of the Geneva Watch Days and discuss the new Rolex watches that were just released last week.
This year, Omega introduced the new Constellation 39mm and 41mm. Time for us to sit down with Petros Protopapas (Brand Heritage Manager at Omega) and talk about Constellations, vintage and new.
In this Fratello on Air episode, RJ talks to Jean-Marc Pontroué , the Officine Panerai CEO. We talk about how Panerai is doing today, Jean-Marc's views on the status of today's watch industry, and about PAMCast.
When you're a watch collector, there's always a wish list. At Fratello, we are collectors in the first place, the writing part came (much) later. In this episode of Fratello on Air, Mike and RJ talk about the next 3 pieces on their radar. There's no overlap in watches this time, just one brand that is mentioned twice. For RJ, the lists consists of a Zenith El Primero Rainbow (Flyback), a Rolex Day-Date 118238 and last not but least, something modern, a Bvlgari Octo Finissimo. Mike has a slightly...
Mike and RJ discuss their top picks (they selected two watches each) from Watches & Wonders and the new Breitling releases: Chronomat and the SuperOcean'57. One of the Fratello members already has received his new Breitling from this new collection: the Chronomat Tricolore.
Recently, Tim Stracke gave an interview on WatchPro, discussing the impact of Corona on the (online) watch sales. Sitting on a big pile of data, generated by the millions of users of the world's largest watch market platform, Tim Stracke is the go-to place for the watch industry when it comes to numbers. In this 14th episode of Fratello on Air, I speak with Tim about Chrono24, why he purchased the platform back in 2010 and, of course, what he sees happening right now due to the corona crisis. Ar...
In this 13th episode of Fratello on Air, Mike and RJ talk about the new watches that have been introduced last month by Grand Seiko. As there was no Grand Seiko Summit this year, the introductions have been done mainly digitally so far. Mike and RJ comment on their favourites so far: the GS Diver 60th anniversary, the 1960's re-creation in gold, the green dial dress watch in rose gold.
In Episode 12 of our Fratello on Air podcast we try to take our minds of the Coronavirus a bit and focus on some watches and other forms of distraction. However, we do share some words on it of course, but mainly how it affects our private lives basically. The main topic of this podcast though are the watches we kind of rediscovered recently. Home Office and not traveling, or the combination of these two, give us the opportunity to reflect a bit on our own watch collection a bit, and both Mike a...
Episode 11 is about the effect of the Coronavirus on the watch shows and the watch industry in general, where we service our watches and an open discussion on the Seiko and Grand Seiko limited editions. As we reported here and here, the Coronavirus COVID-19 killed the Time to Move , Watches & Wonders and Baselworld shows, as well as the Breitling and Grand Seiko summits . Michael and RJ talk about the impact of this virus on these shows and how brands deal with it. When we recorded the news ...
In this 10th episode, Michael Stockton and Robert-Jan Broer talk about the recent LvmH Watch Week that took place in Dubai and that we visited. News from Bvlgari, Zenith and Hublot in early January, when normally we'd be visiting the SIHH (Watches & Wonders). We dive into the highlights of the LvmH Watch Week, especially the Bvlgari Octo Finissimo seems to receive a lot of love. But, we kick off with a wrist check, of course. Mike is wearing a Seiko 6159-7000 from 1968 (the predecessor of th...
RJ and Mike discuss their 5 most favorite watches that were introduced in 2019. It was quite difficult to choose from all the releases, but they picked 5 that they liked best, for various reasons. Listen to our 9th episode of Fratello on Air.
In this 8th episode of Fratello on Air, Balazs and RJ report from the Dubai Watch Week. It's a relatively short episode without any listener's questions but instead, focus on the initiative from the Seddiqi family in Dubai. This family, a large and important retailer for the middle east region, organized its 4th Dubai Watch Week event, the third in Dubai. In 2018, Dubai Watch Week had a smaller event in London, in close cooperation with Christie's. During the Dubai Watch Week, it isn't so much a...
In this 7th episode of Fratello on Air, Michael Stockton and Robert-Jan Broer try to answer two questions from our listeners. One is about watches from microbrands (and independent watchmakers) and the other is about getting a discount on watches. The first question is asked because it seems like we are mainly interested in watches from the big brands, and perhaps it gives the impression that we also own only watches from these brands. But Mike and RJ explain what they love (and dislike) about m...
Michael Stockton and Robert-Jan Broer talk about the new Breitling Avenger, SuperOcean and Aviator 8 Mosquito watches that were introduced last week in Zurich, Switzerland. But first, the wrist check (as always). RJ is wearing a Grand Seiko Mt Iwate (SBGJ201) and Michael is boosting his brand new Omega Speedmaster Professional Apollo XI in Moonshine gold. And talking about that, Mike and RJ are discussing whether it would make sense if Omega would re-introduce a Speedmaster Professional in 18-ct...
