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Daan, Ignacio, and RJ talk about traveling with their watches in this podcast. Being watch journalists, we travel a lot, and often want to bring more than one watch. But with Switzerland as the main destination, it's not as easy as you think. You need to be mindful of Customs and the fact that they can stop you to ask if you're "importing" any valuable goods. In this podcast, we talk about the risks of traveling with multiple watches. 

We've been away for a few weeks, but Fratello On Air is back again! We're talking about the newly announced Sinn T50 lineup and then dipping into some travel talk. Balazs attended the recent NBA All-Star Game in Salt Lake City, Utah, and we talk about the festivities.

Yes, we've been on the road for quite some time now. England, Switzerland, Austria, and America — we're beginning to sound like a Johnny Cash song around here! We apologize for missing the last couple of weeks, but we should be around for the foreseeable now.

Handgelenks Kontrolle

We kick things off with our Handgelenks Kontrolle and we've both decided to go vintage. Balazs is sporting his Benrus Sky Chief with a Valjoux 72 movement. Mike is wearing the Rolex Datejust 1601 with a lavender no-lume dial that recently came from Eric Wind. Both of us have declared that we're really enjoying wearing smaller (sub 40mm) watches lately. Before moving on to the Sinn T50 and the NBA, we discuss a few things that we've watched on TV lately.

Sinn T50

The Sinn T50 dropped last week and we are pretty excited about this watch. We think it looks great and should do well in the face of its titanium competition. It starts at roughly €3,000, so it isn't inexpensive, but it offers a lot of nice features in an attractive package. We then talk about our travels. Mike mentions a trip to Vienna and some of the nice watches he saw at a ball. Balazs, on the other hand, was a literal baller and attended the NBA All-Star Game in Salt Lake City. He talks about his trip and some of the icons he saw while there.

Thanks for tuning in again and, as always, if you have show ideas, please let us know!

Lex, Nacho, and RJ talk about Swatch and its upcoming 40th birthday! One of the coolest brands of the 1980s celebrates 4 decades of amazing and colorful watches. Last year put this brand back on the horological map with the MoonSwatch, but there's so much more to the brand that saved the entire Swiss watch industry in the 1980s.  In this episode, Lex, Nacho, and RJ show the plastic watch a lot of love, not only because of the MoonSwatch but also for many other Swatch variations.

In this episode of Fratello Talks, Daan, Timo, and RJ talk about the fanatic fans of watch brands. The comments on articles where we discuss Rolex, Tudor, or Omega, are sometimes quite unforgiving towards one of the brands. But often also entertaining (and educational). We discuss why fans are so important for brands, why fans feel the need to defend their favorite brand with all they got, and why some brands have louder fans than others. 

Welcome to this week's episode of the Fratello Talks podcast. Today, Nacho, Lex, and Daan sit together once again. Today's topic of discussion? It's all about the money! More specifically, about luxury watch prices. In other words, the money that we (meant in the broadest sense possible) are asked to pay, by watch brands, for their products. Call it what you will, RRP, price tag, cost of horological indulgence... anyway you spin it — in Swiss Francs, Euros, Dollars, with or without tax — as watch enthusiasts (and buyers) sooner or later, the price gets to us all. Therefore, when faced with an influx of new watches, which often go hand in hand with a nice long list of new prices, we ask the question(s): do these prices make sense? Does the price match the product? Is there value to be had when purchasing these watches for their retail price?

Fratello On Air comes at you with another brand-focused episode. This week, we’re talking about DOXA and the picks are a bit less diver-centric than you might think. Have a listen and hear about watches that, surprisingly, don’t have a dive bezel.

Yes, with the recent Synchron news, we’ve had our eyes on the brand that inspired the watch. DOXA is in play this week and it’s a company we both genuinely enjoy. If you’re a fan, perhaps you’ll already know our picks. If not, at least one of these might serve as a low-cost way of getting one on your wrist!

Handgelenks Kontrolle

The Handgelenks Kontrolle is properly on point this week as both Balazs and Mike are sporting DOXA 300’s. Balazs is wearing his early generation 300 Sharkhunter with US Divers logo on the dial. His is differentiated by its pre-Synchron dial, sailboat case back, and screw-down crown. Mike is sporting his early ‘70s Synchron-era 300 Sharkhunter. His lacks a screw-down crown and was found in Israel where it seems to have lived the life of a real dive watch.

 DOXA

As mentioned, DOXA is a real favorite of both of ours. While we don’t own many models from the company, we’re constantly looking and considering more for our collections. We each decided to pick two pieces that we find interesting from the brand and as usual, Balazs makes some funkier choices. We discuss:

• Sfygmos pulsations chronograph, a unique DOXA with a mono-pusher Valjoux 23 and a crazy magnifying crystal
• The 300T Divingstar, a notable version due to its relative rarity and vivid yellow dial
• DOXA Conquistador, a watch in the same vein as a ‘70s Omega Seamaster, but far more affordable
• The original 1967 300 Searambler, a watch that is among the most desirable from the brand

We hope you enjoyed our show today and thanks for listening! If you have ideas for topics, feel free to let us know.

Today, Nacho, Lex, and Daan sit together to discuss watch brands selling their own stock of vintage watches. Lex joins the podcast after a week away visiting Jaeger-LeCoultre, the latest brand to jump on the bandwagon. Armed with knowledge, vintage-buying experience, and plenty of opinions, this week's trio is ready to delve into the details. Who are these premium vintage pieces, painstakingly restored by the brand itself, meant to be for? It may not be us, but perhaps it's a perfect introduction to vintage watches for those willing and able to pay the premium. The guys share their thoughts extensively, but not before a quick wrist check.

Fratello On Air returns with a moving episode — pun intended! We're on the Autobahn late at night talking about the newest releases from Synchron, Omega, and Grand Seiko. Enjoy the ride!

That's right, Balazs and Mike are on the move across Germany and the Netherlands. They've decided to bring along some wireless mics and record while driving because, honestly, they're talking about watches anyhow. It just so happens that the episode falls during a period when there's some real news from Synchron, Omega, and Grand Seiko. We think that the sound quality is rather good despite our high-speed transit, but please be aware that some wind noise may occur.

Synchron, Grand Seiko, and Omega

This week, our Handgelenks Kontrolle is actually part of the main topic! Mike kicks things off from the helm with the brand spanking new Synchron Militsary Poseidon, a cool take on the Synchron Military/Doxa Army theme. He explains the back story of this fun release. Balazs, on the other hand, is in the passenger seat wearing his stunning Grand Seiko SBGA375. Despite some struggles with finding the right size, he's rocking it on the factory bracelet. This leads the duo to discussions about the new Grand Seiko SLGA021, a watch that both really like.

Then, we take a verbal detour and spend a few minutes talking about the Autobahn explaining that it's not always all that it's cracked up to be. Finally, we give our thoughts on the just-announced Omega Speedmaster Super Racing. It's not a small watch, but both find aspects to like while hoping that the technology continues to make its way to more Omega watches.

We hope you enjoyed this week's episode and thank you for listening. It was truly a lot of fun to record! As always, if you have ideas for future shows, feel free to let us know.

Daan, Laurits, and RJ talk about the watches they would like to see introduced by brands in 2023. Daan is hoping Vacheron to come up with a smaller-sized Overseas, while Laurits likes to see a new Milgauss from Rolex. RJ is in for a "proper" re-edition of a gold Piaget Polo, with engraved lines on the case and bracelet. What are the watches you want to see appearing this year? Let us know!

Fratello On Air has returned and we cover several subjects this week. However, we spend the most time on a topic initiated by one of our readers about retro watches. Namely, are they at the end of their rope?

We're back a day later than usual this week with our episode, but we've made it! In this episode, we discuss a number of topics including some of the TV shows and movies we've seen lately. It's not overly watch-related, but it's cold and gray outside, so perhaps this will help pass the time. We also dive into a topic related to retro watches, a movement that has been with us for quite a long time. Will brands move on and go in a different direction?

Handgelenks Kontrolle

Before hitting on retro watches, we have some yesteryear pieces of our own for Handgelenks Kontrolle. Mike kicks things off with his newly acquired Seiko SUS 4S15 "military." It's a neat, but small JDM-only piece from 1996 that was meant to lure younger buyers into the world of mechanical watches. That crafty Seiko tore down Switzerland with quartz tickers only to say, "just kidding," a couple of decades later with the promise of automatics. Cheeky Balazs, on the other hand, stays on the electronic side with an even newer addition. The two-tone Rolex Datejust 17013 Oysterquartz is in play and Mike is jealous! What a score!

Retro Watches

One of our faithful listeners, Saku, from Finland sent us a note and asked about retro watches. In particular, he mentioned the 2010's and all of the releases that take inspiration from the past. He was curious if we see things continuing on this path. Neither of us is sure we want reissues to keep coming in the same volume, but we do like them from certain brands. We love retro brands, but we're not sure we dig modern brands relying so heavily on their back catalogs. MING, Rolex, Omega, and more make their way into the conversation!

Thanks to Saku for writing to us. If you have thoughts on a future topic, please let us know! As always, thank you for listening!