Hello and welcome to this week's episode of Fratello Talks. I'm your host Nacho and today I'm joined by Lex. Just Lex. It's just Lex. It's just Lex. We're here at Watches and Wonders 2025 in Geneva at the YouTube studio and it's very official. It's very official.
It's not our usual spot. But we are in Geneva, obviously, to see all of the novelties from just about every brand in the world, it feels like. 60 brands this year. 60 brands, yeah. So we're going to go through some highlights, I think, right? Of day two. of day two or just in general things we've seen already but before we do that what is on your wrist Lex? One of the exhibitors here is Grand Seiko, and I'm wearing the Grand Seiko Sports, what is it, the SBGX 341. Yes, beautiful.
Lovely watch. Yeah, that's a great choice. That's a very solid choice for the show. Solid watch, solid choice. What are you wearing? Yeah, I'm wearing a brand new watch. I was over at Jager and I saw something I really liked and I thought, no, no, this is my Caravelle. It's a little skin diver from the 1970s. Sweet. Yeah, I really like it. It's a sort of tritium dialed 12369. I think it's 37 millimeters, 36 point something. Yeah, just a classic size and I really like it.
it so yeah it's a new watch for me uh not quite one of the new ones that came out here but uh yeah let's uh let's see how fair proof it is after exactly exactly two days in so far no problem so it's all good Let's start with some highlights. What have been some of the highlights for you, Lex, so far? I think one of the highlights, not necessarily the personal highlight, is of course the land dweller. Okay. Did you change your mind on it or were you always of the same opinion?
I'm impressed by the technology. I'm impressed by the movement. I am not that impressed by the dial. Right, right. Oh, this honeycomb. The honeycomb and then with the two Arabic numerals are a little bit... They feel a bit lost. Yeah, they feel a little bit lost. But if you had money to spend... And you go for the platinum option.
Ah, that fixes all your problems. Because then you can have baguette markers and then you have no more numerals. It's a great option unless you're gluten intolerant and then there's no chance you can pull off those baguette markers. size-wise 41 or 36 what do you think I
I thought they both worked, actually. I think so, too. Yeah, I think they're both quite... They're surprisingly... Both of them, you go, yeah, I could see this or this in terms of size. Case is nice and slim. The movement is beautiful and visible. Which is not a... given with Rolex and the bracelet is awesome and that's almost a bit of a given these days with Rolex. But what was your favorite Rolex of the Rolex presentation? Your personal choice.
I think it was probably... I don't know. I think it could... have been the land dweller actually almost like a little bit by elimination because I feel that the new dials they're not so much for me they're a little bit loud and out there and there's a lot of people that will love them but not for me and I kind of don't want to stop on your toes because i think you're i know where you're going with this what's your favorite i would say the pistachio green oyster perpetual 41.
but then i was looking at some wrist shots i took yes and then the 41 looks humongous on my wrist really okay then there is the beige dialed 36 millimeter version. That is quite sweet. That is a lovely one. That might be my favorite. That was the one I was trying not to go with. What I like about it, I think that it's a charming... Rolex and modern Rolexes are not always charming. What do you mean? You mean the ceramic left-hand drive with a Cerachrom bezel? It didn't sink its hooks into you?
Yeah, it's that. They're somewhat chunky. Right. They have this... I don't know. Some Rolexes feel a bit impersonal, if you know what I mean. A bit distant. And I think the OP still has a... It has some sort of charm. It's a pretty old model at this point and it hasn't changed much. These are just new dial colors. But it's also nice that it doesn't have a cyclops, so it's not a very obvious Rolex.
And the matte color of the dials is super nice. And moving just because we don't have much time. Yeah, that's true. The YouTube studio, it's meant. Places to see. It's a very exclusive spot to be at, so we're very happy to be here. No, but what about Tudor? Anything at Tudor catch your eye? I have to say that the big diver, the... The Pelagos Ultra is a good instrument in the metal.
I like it. I like it a lot. The new re-out, it's got a flat re-out, which is very different. And I didn't notice it until I saw it in person. And then when I saw it in person, it was the first thing that jumped out at me. I thought, wow, that's a huge change. The little bit of blue. It's quite nice. It's a nice touch of blue. Yes. I agree. Yes. And then also size-wise, it doesn't feel that much bigger. No. Because from 42 to 43...
And then it's then I think proportionally a little bit thinner because it's only 0.2 millimeters. So in a way, it's quite nice. The mid case has been reworked and it's just, I like it. That's probably my favorite from Tudor, I have to say. Interesting when we talk about proportions. I like the white dial on the Black Bay Pro. But I was a little bit disappointed that they...
They stuck with the GMT movement that was also in the current version. While there is a new one, they could have made it a little bit slimmer. From the FXD GMT, right? Yeah, exactly.
I think that that would have made the maybe the perfect GMT watch, the flyer GMT you can afford with the build quality is superb, etc, etc, etc. But proportionally, I still feel it's a little bit... too thick it's a little bit too chunky yeah if they had shaved that thickness because how do you feel about the opaline dial yeah i think it works it definitely works yeah it's also more its own watch now
For sure. That doesn't give me any Fritschione vibes whatsoever. No, no, no. It's its own launch. When you switch on the lights. It's completely different. That dial is just... It also has these black outlines over the loom markers, which you can sort of really... Strong press. I like that a lot. That was probably my second favorite from Tudor. Then, of course, there's this burgundy Black Bay 50. with the META certification, and then these bigger 68s, which are 43 millimeters, I believe.
Yeah. I mean, I guess it's just in some way it's filling out the catalog. It's filling out the catalog. And I'm quite sure that the U.S. market. Yeah. It feels a little bit that that is a competitor to a Breitling Superocean. Yeah, true, in some way. Some people are saying that they look like those new Oris divers a little bit.
And it's true that if, and I've confirmed that this is just a pure coincidence, because it's not, obviously, it's... It's not industrial SPI. I mean, one is blue, one is silver, and it's a little bit like, well, blue and silver are fairly standard. dial colors. And then speaking of other similar things we've seen, I was just at Chanel. Oh, I haven't been there. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm going to spoil it for you. It's a lot of blue ceramic, but we also saw blue ceramic.
Zenith. At Zenith. And we've seen blue ceramic from Audemars Piguet. Audemars Piguet as well. Who are not here, of course, but still. No, no, but they still released it on day one of the fair. So, yeah, a lot of blue ceramic. It seems to be quite a thing. Was there anything like money is no option?
A little bit of an extravagant thing that you saw and that you liked? I'm glad you asked this because there is actually. I have that too. That's why I want to talk about it. Do you want to go first? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, no, no, you go. I'll go first. So, I was very much charmed. by the bizarre appeal of a platinum perpetual calendar Panerai Luminor. Yeah, I've seen it. I just think if your perpetual calendar... Intriguing, though.
Yeah, the dial is beautiful. The movement is awesome. And then, to be honest... It just makes me feel happy because it's like if you get a perpetual calendar and it's a very classic Patek or something like this, that's great. That's beautiful. But if you make it be a platinum luminor...
That person's an interesting person that wears that. So I think that would be mine. I may live to regret saying this on the podcast, but I'm sticking to it. Also because maybe I like the movement side even more because it has a couple of extra... on the movement side. For sure. What was yours? Your money is no object. I saw something yesterday that was really nice and I saw something today. Yesterday I was at Bulgari and I saw a yellow gold...
Octo Finissimo Tourbillon with a green marble dial. Green marble. Green marble dial. I haven't seen that. It's like you walk into the boutique at the Via Condotti in Rome. Now you can wear the boutique on your wrist. Is that what it's inspired by? Yeah, it is. Wow, that's impressive. And today I was at Piaget and I wore the new Andy Warhol. So they have it in white gold and then with a Clou de Paris step bezel.
And then with a meteorite dial. The blue meteorite. The blue-collar meteorite dial. And it is absolutely phenomenal. Very cool. It is so nice. Do you have any, like, rapid-fire highlights? So those are two, definitely two rapid-fire highlights. I like the new Roger Dubuis 40 millimeter double retrograde perpetual calendar. Okay. There is a little bit of...
Mother of Pearl on the dial. It's like a mix of the old and the new. What's the size? It's 40. It's 40, so it's very wearable for a roster to be. It's quite big in the past and a little bit unwieldy, but I feel that 40 is... That was really nice. What else? What else? What else? What else?
That was definitely a highlight. I was also at Armin Strong, which was quite surprising. They had a nice black and purple watch with just the movement. And the thing is also, I visited the manufacturer a while back. It's a small manufacturer. It's a very young manufacturer in every sense. So you kind of develop a kind of a sympathy for them. So that was interesting. Any rapid fire highlights? Rapid fire highlights.
I really was surprised at how much I liked, maybe not surprised at how much I liked them, but I expected to like them. And I'm talking about the Nomos, what is it? Club Sport Neomatic World Timers. I really love those. And I think the colorways that they've done for the 175-piece limited editions are just absolutely fantastic and look great. And there's more than a couple in there that I would be... I'm more than happy to call my own, especially the jungle. The jungle one is just...
Yeah. Super nice. I like the way that they dared to leave a space open on the dial. Yeah, absolutely. And somehow it works. It works. And also there's a... There's a little bit of an update to the movement as well, so it's a new caliber. And I have to say, I... I don't know, I didn't ask, but the click on the pusher, it's fantastic. It's very satisfying, very smooth. And then, yeah, kind of, well, we mentioned Patek, but going back to it.
I was quite impressed by a certain salmon-dialed Calatrava that's just incredible. And obviously the eight-day, I think we both have a soft spot for that sportier, grainy-dialed Calatrava with the Clou de Paris mid-case. I think that that was brilliant. But Patek had some strong things. I also put a Cubitus for the first time on my wrist. The 40 millimeter. The 40 millimeter. Yeah, and I have to say, obviously, I haven't seen the 45.
other than in the window at the booth. But I was pleasantly surprised by the 40. On the wrist, it works okay. It's just so slim that it feels quite nice. But at the same time, well. We'll get into it another day. Yeah, we'll get into that. But yeah, how about Tag Heuer, the Formula 1s? Yeah, I see them and I think money. They're going to make money. Right. And I understand it. And you could say, is 1800 euros too much?
Yeah, maybe, but the world has changed. You can't really go down from... I think it looks well. Definitely. They're cool. Did you notice their location change as well? Did you also notice that now the new Formula 1 timekeeper is straight? That's what I mean. They're just completely eyeballing Rolex across the hall. It's very interesting to see.
Overall, what's your feelings, impressions? So far, I've seen some very, very interesting nobelties. Absolutely. And there's still... plenty more to come I think so two and a half days to go two and a half days left and lots to see but so far yeah I have to say I've been pleasantly surprised by how sort of lively people are. It's a little bit more enthusiasm than last year. Last year felt a little bit quieter. It felt a little bit more cautious, I feel, after a while.
The market obviously suffered after the pandemic, as we all know. And, yeah, I feel that this year it's a little bit on the up and up. There's a bit of a rising tide, it feels like. So, yeah. Cool. Let's keep it up. Well, yeah, we don't have a comment of the week, unfortunately. but we'll resume the regular programming next week. Absolutely. Thanks for joining me, Lex, here in the Geneva YouTube studio. I think we've got to go. We do have to go, actually. Well, let's do it. Let's just go now.