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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 why we created this podcast: to mold a perfect fusion of our love of sports and watches. Brent is not only a pro athlete and an inspiration to those around him, but he is also a genuine watch nut, having been bitten by the Omega bug when he won his first watch in the early 2000s.

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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 purchase.

Watchmaking is not a business of fads, nor even fashion in the short term. He aims to create timeless watches that need no explanation. Distilling a design down its bare elements is the hardest but most rewarding endeavor when achieved satisfactorily. Listen to the podcast now to find out more.

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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" principle has led him to many happy design discoveries.

He touches also on his perception of the effects the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the industry and what we can expect to see from brands as they adjust their communication and product strategies going forward.

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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 perspective within the team as the rest of the gang we either in their teens, nappies, or fathers' eyes when Casio first unveiled the model that would go on the redefine the quartz watch industry.

Design classics come along rarely. The Casio G-Shock square series has remained largely unchanged for almost 40 years now. That kind of permanence speaks volumes. But for Balazs, our second guest on the show, his Casio journey started with a much more demure (although no less interesting timepiece) that has since been stolen by his mother

Lastly, Rob welcomes Mike to the show. Our in-house Floridian shares a tale of global proportions and explains how his collection of Casio watches grew to four pieces and is showing no signs of stopping there. 

If you love Casio, this is a must-listen show. Let us know what you make of it in the comments below.

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 (very) limited edition model is already sold out and the other four Oppav models (now limited to 500 pieces each to ensure Straum is able to fulfill orders in a timely manner and guarantee excellent aftercare).

The watches come with vegetable-tanned travel cases and integrated leather straps available in dark brown, light brown, blue, green, and black.

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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 Balazs's recent purchases (lovers of vintage Angelus be sure to tune in) and Rob's burgeoning collection of caps that had a sudden injection of volume thanks to the chance discovery of an old forgotten sports store in Alcudia on Mallorca.

The biggest conversation of the show, however, centers around a question posed by RJ in one of his recent articles: what does it take to consider oneself a watch collector? The boys pick over the nuances of their own feelings towards their own habits and collections with some interesting results. Would you believe that Balazs is not a watch collector but he is a collector of vintage Angelus watches? If that sounds crazy, you'd better listen to the show to hear the reasoning behind that conclusion...

Follow us on Instagram @robnudds and @ferenczibazs

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 my notes, but for posterity, I thought it best that I note down the picks for all those that don't have time to listen to the pod but might like to offer their own suggestions in the comments below.

Balazs

Bronze: on the third step, Balazs placed Annika Schleu of Germany. The talented pentathlete already has six world and three European golds to her name, but she was desperately seeking the Olympic title to add to her haul. In the prime of her career, she looked set to snare it when, in the last round of the modern pentathlon, her horse (an animal unfamiliar to her as per the somewhat puzzling rules) refused to do as she instructed. Distraught, Schleu fell out of contention with her British rival going on to snare gold. Balazs felt sorry for Schleu and her experience inspired a very interesting discussion on the rules of the modern pentathlon.

Silver: one of the most heartwarming moments of the games was also one of the most controversial...at least in Rob's opinion. The men's high-jump competition ended with the Italian and Qatari competitors agreeing to share the gold, having achieved identical records up until that point. The world rejoiced; Rob grumbled about bloodlust or something or other... Check out his full gripe on the show.

Gold: a proud Hungarian, it is somewhat unsurprising Balazs chose one of his countrymen for the gold medal position. But this was more than a patriotic nod. Áron Szilágyi became the only male fencer in Olympic history to win three golds, which he has done in the last three games. Still only 31 with just three years until the next games in Paris, it isn't impossible Szilágyi will still be around to contest a fourth Olympics. 

Rob (me)

Bronze: My bronze position goes to national treasure, Tom Daley. Not so much for (finally) winning the gold medal Rob was thrilled to see him snare, but more for chilling out in the crowd of the women's event, knitting. We've decided Tom Daley should knit us big purple WASP sweaters to wear while presenting (it gets cold when you're a fridge and/or freezer) and also "horse cozies" to keep annoying horses calm in the modern pentathlon.

Silver: love can find us when we least expect it. My silver medal goes to one of my heroes and most muscular crushes, Lisa Carrington. The indomitable New Zealander is the finest kayaker on planet Earth right now, and her destruction of the field in no less than three separate events proves that. I happen to be a keen kayaker myself, and while I'm not worthy to clean Carrington's paddle, I'd gladly offer my services if she ever needed a lackey to cheer her on at races. 

Gold: just as Tomas recently flouted the rules in the Summer Splash and was allowed to compete regardless, I too will bend the rules here. I'm giving my golden moment to one event: the 400m hurdles. The men's and the women's finals were mind-blowing. World-class performances abounded. If you want to know exactly what went down, listen to the pod. It's a lot of fun!

Follow us on Instagram @robnudds and @ferenczibazs

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 works directly with brands to create thoughtful, imaginative, and emotive special edition pieces available to the members of the movement only.

We get a really genuine insight into the method of collaboration, how organically these things come about, what it's like working (and getting to know one another) digitally, and both URWERK and Collective's philosophies on collaboration.

Following the truly immersive interview with Fred Buyle, Ulysse Nardin ambassador and pro freediver in WASP 9.8 (which aired on Sunday), the podcast is on a bit of a roll. If you've not checked out that fascinating talk with an experienced submariner, do so. You won't regret it.

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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 strap to their wrist. I think that's a real shame. When I was working for NOMOS Glashütte, we discussed the possibility of hiring an ambassador —something the brand has never done — frequently. We came close to a decision several times, but we always backed away at the very last. It never felt genuine. It never felt on-brand. Oh, how wonderful would it have been to have a genuine collector in the limelight profess his or her love for NOMOS and solve the problem organically. It didn't happen then. In truth, it rarely does. But, in one of those seldom situations, it seems the very best man ended up with the right job for Ulysse Nardin.

There's a bit of a running joke about how many free divers there are representing watch brands. It kind of gives the impression that 80% of the people you meet on the street can hold their breath for seven minutes or don't bat an eyelid when confronted with a Great White Shark. That isn't the case, of course. As such, I'd never actually met or had the pleasure of speaking with a professional free diver. I relished the opportunity to ask all the stupid questions a sub-aquatic novice might wish to.

What's the deepest you've ever dived? Is it cold down there? Does it hurt? What's the most memorable experience you've had beneath the waves? Surprisingly, however, Fred's interest and genuine passion for watches meant the conversation was able to stay very much within the intended wheelhouse of this pod column. I hope you enjoy listening to the show as much as I did recording it.

Follow me on Instagram @robnudds