Shortly after the turn of the New Year, I invited our resident Formula One fantastic, Ben Hodges, into the smooth booth to record a TAG Heuer special, focusing on the brand's most visible ambassador on Planet Earth right now: the flying Dutchman, Max Verstappen. We discuss the controversial conclusion to the 2021 Formula One season that saw Sir Lewis Hamilton denied a record eighth driver's championship in almost unbelievable circumstances. Whether what came to pass should have happened in the f...
Feb 02, 2022•50 min•Season 4Ep. 88
Fratello On Air is back! This time, Balazs and Mike come back to case materials and focus on precious metals. Specifically, we discuss gold and platinum along with some of our favorite examples. Before we get to the main topic... Precious metals are in play this week, but Balazs and Mike pick up on the latest news. It's watch-release season with LVMH week in full swing! First, though, it's time for a Handgelenks Kontrolle and Balazs is sporting a pair of light blue DOXA watches — the SUB 200 and...
Feb 01, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Season 3Ep. 87
Jan 31, 2022•1 hr 5 min
Today, I sit down with Pim Koeslag, the CEO of Ateliers de Monaco, and technical director of both Frederique Constant and Alpina. Perhaps the highlight of the exchange is the conversation surrounding Frederique Constant's innovative high-frequency oscillator, the "monolithic" oscillator, created from a single piece of silicon. With an operating frequency of 40Hz, this affordable regulating organ (installed in pieces starting around €5,000) looks to change consumer expectations in regards to acce...
Jan 27, 2022•44 min•Season 3Ep. 86
Exotic materials — titanium, ceramic, and carbon. What do we think of them for our watches? Tune in to the latest episode of Fratello On Air to find out what Balazs and Mike have to say. What happens when two vintage watch lovers come together to discuss exotic materials? Well, we had to open our minds and consider alternatives to our beloved stainless steel. In the first of a two-part series, we talk about materials that find their way to watch cases. Titanium, ceramic, and carbon are in play a...
Jan 25, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Season 4Ep. 85
Fratello On Air returns with what we think is a fun episode. We talk about large watches that work for smaller wrists and small watches for larger wrists. Balazs and Mike exist on both sides of the wrist border, so there's plenty of personal experience on this subject. Balazs and Mike are here to talk about large watches for those with small wrists and vice versa. It's a show chock full of ideas and, thankfully, watches. Some other topics weave their way in as well. "Handgelenks Kontrolle" and S...
Jan 18, 2022•1 hr 21 min•Season 4Ep. 84
That's right, we're trying to do keep our podcast on a tight weekly schedule! Fratello On Air returns and this week, Balazs and Mike talk about some wishes for 2022. This isn't a pure recap of a recent 2022 Watch Wishes article, so tune in for new content! Balazs and Mike are keeping the microphone hot! Both return and while Balazs is not feeling his best, they're here to talk about what they're looking forward to in 2022. Some of those wants are realistic, while others are hopeful thinking. The...
Jan 11, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Season 4Ep. 83
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 are 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...
Jan 04, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 4Ep. 82
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 ...
Jan 01, 2022•1 hr 17 min•Season 4Ep. 81
Welcome to another episode of Fratello On Air! Finally, Balazs and Mike got their collective acts together and are back with a return engagement! Settle in and enjoy the banter about our favorite watches from 2021 along with a healthy rant for good measure! Folks, we're back and better or worse than ever! Balazs and Mike come together at the end of 2021 to talk about some of their favorite watch releases from another wild year. We won't give away everything, but the list is heavy on dive watches...
Dec 28, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Season 3Ep. 80
Today, I am is joined in the studio by Monica Porracin, the founder and director of The Blue Company, based in London. The Blue Company manages the interests of seven popular brands in the UK, working as a distributor for some and an agent for others. Monica represents Doxa, Junghans, Meistersinger, Maurice Lacroix, Mühle Glashütte, Scatola del Tempo, and SwissKubik in the UK and at events all around the world. Her tireless championing of brands she seems united by a mutually strong design DNA h...
Dec 14, 2021•26 min•Season 3Ep. 79
This week, Balazs takes the reigns and welcomes the fastest Canadian swimmer of all time, Olympic medalist Brent Hayden to the smooth booth. In a wide-ranging chat, Brent and Balazs explore the mental pressures endured by professional athletes, track the human side of the sport, and delve deeply into a couple of unexpectedly personal issues that place our hobby of watch collecting in sharper context. This is one of the longest WASP episodes ever and it really makes use of every second. This is w...
Nov 16, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Season 3Ep. 78
Rob talks to Guido Terreni of Parmigiani Fleurier. With over twenty years of experience in the industry, a decade of which was spent with Bvlgari, Terreni brought with him a definite vision to a brand that still benefits from having its iconic founder a living, breathing part of the company. In this podcast, Terreni explains how it is important to honor your existing customer by keeping the product message close to a clearly recognizable core silhouette in order to add permanence to the client's...
Nov 10, 2021•29 min•Season 3Ep. 77
The ever-charming Antoine Pin of Bvlgari fame sits down with Rob to chat about his life in the industry, how his experience has shaped his approach to watch design and story-telling, and what possibilities might lie in store for Bvlgari in the future. In an energetic chat, Pin explains how he became bewitched by the industry and never managed to stay away from it for long. The fusion of passion, talent, and manual skill enthralls him on a daily basis at Bvlgari, and his guiding "why not" princip...
Nov 07, 2021•38 min•Season 3Ep. 76
Oct 28, 2021•56 min•Season 3Ep. 75
Here at Fratello, we love Casio. Some would say we love the brand too much. Those people would be wrong. Very wrong indeed... Today, Rob is talking to three of his teammates to the smooth booth to discuss their shared love and long-held obsessions with the Japanese Juggernaut that blessed the world with the G-Shock watch family. First up is G2. As the elder statesman of the team, "the G-Father" was actually an adult when G-Shock first appeared in the early eighties. This gives him a unique persp...
Oct 11, 2021•1 hr 25 min•Season 3Ep. 74
Today on the Fratello on Air, Rob is joined by the boys from Straum watch company, way up in Norway. This emerging brand is the result of five years' hard work, a huge personal investment of time and money, and the inspiration offered by Norway's myths, legends, and landscape. The brand's Opphav model ranks near the top of several Fratello team members' wish lists so we thought it'd be a good idea to get the lads on the show to find out more. You can buy these watches online at Straum.co . The (...
Sep 12, 2021•34 min•Season 3Ep. 73
WASP 9.91 sees the guys go to two decimal places for the first time, much to the confusion of everyone else. Less confusing, however, is the duo's shared love of a very special Omega Speedmaster created for the Olympics, but that's not the only Olympic watch to feature... Far from it... For the first time ever, an on-air purchase occurs as Rob stumbles across his all-time favorite Swatch available on eBay for a stunning price (box and papers included). Additionally, Fridge and Freezer discuss Ba...
Sep 03, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Season 3Ep. 71
myhe boys are back in town after a desperately long hiatus. We've plugged in the fridge and switched on the freezer — Balazs and I are back and this week we have our top Olympic moments and some awesome vintage Omega purchases to share with you. We decided to choose our bronze, silver, and gold performers/moments from the Olympics this year, to round off what turned out to be a pretty darn exciting edition of the greatest sporting carnival of all. Normally, I don't reveal much about the show in ...
Aug 26, 2021•48 min•Season 3Ep. 70
Over in article land, my good friend Dave Sergeant has written up the new release from URWERK and Collective today, so please feel free to check that out at your leisure for a detailed look at the watch itself and Dave's hot takes, and what is his favorite base model in the URWERK catalog. On the Podcast today, however, we're diving into the background of this project with Martin Frei of URWERK fame and co-founder of Collective, Asher Rapkin. Collective is a US-based group of watch lovers that w...
Jul 20, 2021•56 min•Season 3Ep. 69
Welcome watch fans, to another very special episode of Watching Sports And Sporting Watches. Today, I (Rob) am joined by Fred Buyle, Ulysse Nardin ambassador, professional free diver, passionate conservationist, and, perhaps most interestingly for our community, a real watch guy. You'd probably expect a lot more ambassadors to be as into watches as Fred clearly is, but it really isn't the case. I've encountered sports stars and celebrities that have no idea what their agent is telling them to st...
Jul 16, 2021•46 min•Season 3Ep. 68
Fridge and Freezer return after a short break with fifty minutes of top-quality sports chat, as several competitions get down to the sharp end. In an impassioned exchange, Balazs question's Rob's right to support England in Euro 2020 given his Irish birth, while Bobbysled Bobby defends himself on the grounds of dual nationality and his upbringing having been blighted by the national woe of being so thoroughly incompetent when it comes to major tournaments. The boys lament the fate of Primož Rogl...
Jul 11, 2021•52 min•Season 3Ep. 67
After coming down from the interview with World Number One Primož Roglič last week, Fridge and Freezer are back in the Smooth Booth, foraging around in a bulging mailbag. This week, the boys select two very watch-centric questions for one another. This week, the terrible twosome tackle questions about dress watches (the best ones and the very definition of the genre), which watches one should buy to commemorate achieving the PADI diving certification, why they collect watches and sports memorabi...
Jun 25, 2021•49 min•Season 3Ep. 66
Can you believe it? Fourteen episodes in, WASP welcomes its very first pro-athlete, and we've kicked things off with an absolute stunner: we're welcoming Primož Roglič, the number one ranked road cyclist in the world. A two-time grand tour winner, Roglič began his career as a ski-jumper, before rapidly rising the rankings to stand at the very summit of his new sport. Following Rob's chat with Primož, Balazs returns to the studio, reuniting the Fridge & Freezer presenting duo at long last. Th...
Jun 19, 2021•48 min•Season 3Ep. 65
With Rob "the little man" Nudds on the road, Balazs takes over the mic and welcomes Dave "down the pub" Sergeant to the smooth booth to round up the NBA action from the play-offs. How will Fridge fare without Freezer? And what on Earth is the wee man's excuse for leaving the Horntail untended? Tune in to find out. Find and follow us on Instagram at @davesergeant , @ferenczibazs , and @robnudds ....
Jun 13, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Season 3Ep. 64
The last year or so has certainly been special, but now that things are reopening, it's time to get back out there. Perhaps you've read Fratello like crazy, but have you been able to try on any of the great watches that came out over the past 12 to 18 months? Finally, the reopening is here. Sure, in places like the USA or Japan, they never truly closed. However, some folks have waited to head out until feeling comfortable. Here in Europe, stores were closed for something like six months! The tri...
Jun 12, 2021•57 min•Season 3Ep. 63
A couple of weeks ago, our very own Ben Hodges enjoyed an illuminating back-and-forth with one of his musical heroes. The gracious Misha Mansoor of the metal band Periphery took some time out of his day to chat about timepieces. Today, we revisit that interview with the audio supplied by Misha, interspersed with the fearsomely inane commentary of Ben and Rob. Okay, we're not that bad. In fact, there's a good argument to be made that we might be mildly entertaining. From my perspective, the highl...
Jun 06, 2021•1 hr 14 min•Season 3Ep. 62
It's true that Fratello boasts one of the more multinational teams. One of our listeners from Finland decided to take advantage of that by asking us about watch culture around the globe. How do people come together, do they come together, and do they even like watches in some countries? We don't have all the answers, but we enjoyed the chat. This time, it's Mike, Jorg, and Balazs on the mics for a bit of banter. Wrist check and the news The gents roll through a "Handgelenks Kontrolle" and you'll...
May 30, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Season 2Ep. 63
Welcome to Episode 61 of Fratello on Air, otherwise known as WASP 9.3. After spending the last three weeks rummaging around in our mailbag, we’re returning to the world of sports to provide you with a quick whizz around the American sports leagues to keep you abreast of news and developments in the NBA, NHL, MLB, and NFL. Find us on Instagram @robnudds and @ferenczibazs ....
May 21, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Season 3Ep. 61
RJ chats with the guiding IWC into the next phase of its development, who, coincidentally, also happens to be the same man that designed IWC's current manufacturing headquarters... Some people have all the talent...
May 21, 2021•22 min•Season 2Ep. 60
