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This week, Balazs and Rob tackle the subject of watch brand ambassadors in the four major professional sports leagues in North America.

Amazingly, six episodes in, this is a topic that hasn't been fully addressed. In our pilot episode, we touched upon Tom Brady's ambassadorship for IWC but he is far from alone in the NFL, with Justin Jefferson of the Minnesota Vikings coming in atop Balazs' list of football-playing watch lovers and Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers is Rob's pick.

The MLB throws up a couple of throwbacks, with Balazs stretching all the way back to the fifties for his selection. Rob, meanwhile, reaches back about a decade to call upon a superstar that played in the modern era.

The NHL gifts us a couple of under-the-radar players and brands, along with the predictable powerhouse. And, as for the NBA, we take polarized routes to find our champions.

Most exciting of all, however, is WASP'S first phone in Ben Hodges of team Fratello joins us to discuss his love of Formula 1 and how it and his passion for watchmaking combine.

We hope you enjoy the show. Follow us both on Instagram @ferenczibazs and @robnudds.

Part of me was scared to over-hype this interview/podcast in case you'd feel let down by the end of it. Then I re-read the interview, listened to the Podcast (enduring an hour of my own voice), and revisited the Lapinist's Instagram account and realized that, if you class yourself as a fan of vintage Seiko or Grand Seiko, you won't possibly be disappointed. On the contrary, I'm willing to wager you will be totally amazed...

About a week ago, I conducted an interview with Kamil, otherwise known as the Lapinist (@lapinist_watchrestoration on Instagram). He wasn't comfortable coming on Fratello on Air himself, but after sharing the content (and the images of Kamil's work with Balazs) he agreed to hop into the recording booth with me and act out the interview so you have the choice of consuming the content in either format.

Honestly? If this subject interests you, I'd recommend consuming BOTH. In the Podcast, we go a bit off base and discuss a few interesting asides that Kamil's answers gave rise to. So right below this paragraph, you'll find the Podcast link. Below that, you'll find the interview text. Hit us up in the comments and let us know your own vintage Seiko/Grand Seiko stories. And don't forget to tell us what you make of Kamil's work. I'm hoping you'll be as impressed as we were.

Welcome to WASP 5.0, the fifth edition of the Fratello On Air Pod-column, Watching Sports and Sporting Watches. This week, Rob and Balazs celebrate reaching their fifth episode by sharing some of their favorite players from around the four major North American sports leagues. 

R&B had planned to pick one player each and assign each superstar an on-field/court/rink watch and one off-field/court/rink ticker. Apparently, this was Rob's idea. Unsurprisingly, Rob got confused and just picked two players from each league and gave each of them a very special timepiece.

We've got surprising choices like Ryan Fitzpatrick, two NHL goalkeepers, and the eternally sexy John Stockton. Additionally, we have some slam-dunk superstars like Dennis Rodman, Fernando Tatis Jr., and Mike Trout for your entertainment. And what of the watches? Major brands like Omega, MB&F, Richard Mille, Rolex, and Vacheron Constantin dominate the arena, but there's plenty of space for the little guy, with Doxa, Konstantin Chaykin, and NOMOS Glashütte making into the smooth booth along with several others.

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Omega introduced the new and upgraded Seamaster 300, a new Seamaster 300M Black Black in ceramic, and new De Ville Trésor watches with small seconds and power reserve indicator. Mike and RJ discuss the novelties and give you an insight into how brands work with media titles for new releases.

Rob and Balazs scoot through five major sports leagues (and touch on a sixth) as they seek out the very best on-field threads available right now. Pairing each jersey/team with a watch model or brand, is, of course, their secondary task.

We've got lots of Rolex, wild creations like Hublot and HYT, fun stuff like Neff and Casio, and loads more watchmaking wonders to discuss. Jump in and enjoy, and let us know your favorite jerseys in the comments section on Fratellowatches.com.

The third time's a charm, or so they say. R&B take to the ice in an effort to help the NHL rename its four woefully-monikered divisions while attaching watch sponsors that reflect each lineup's unique character for good measure.

We briefly touch on NFL free agency, with some big moves deserving a mention, which resulted in us slipping into a weird "would you rather" bit that pitted the career (thus far) of Carson Wentz against that of Dolphins legend Dan Marino.

 The recently renamed NHL divisions get the Balazs treatment, walking away from this awesome episode with some much better titles and new watch sponsors. There is a massive controversy between Union Glashütte and Glashütte Original as Balazs favors one as a sponsor, while Rob leans toward the other.

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Giles Ellis joins Rob on this latest edition of Fratello on Air, as the pair discuss the trials and tribulations of independent brand-ownership, the thrill and responsibility of opening a mono-brand store, and how Giles got into watchmaking in the first place.

As always with the owner, founder, chief designer, logistics manager, and coffee maker extraordinaire of Schofield Watch Company, the chat is a fascinating meander that touches on many different subjects linked to starting up on your own in the modern watchmaking industry. We hope you enjoy the show!

Ranting Robbie enters the "smooth booth" and unloads about the recent controversy surrounding Bill Belichick's legacy. It's a brutal monolog, but the riposte is worth waiting for so hang tight. 

This week, we're talking about great coaches and great locations to play pro sports. Inspired by the recent outdoor NHL games at Lake Tahoe, we're choosing our dream locales for the NBA, NHL, NFL, MLB, and PLL, and discussing which watch brands should sponsor and outfit the the events and teams in question.

It's a rollicking ride and we hope you enjoy the show. Let us know what you liked and didn't like and we'll adapt accordingly.

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On an earlier episode, we discussed our most cherished chronographs. It's hard to say which watch genre is our favorite, but there's no doubt that vintage dive watches vie for top spot. There are just so many great models out there. Super Compressors, Submariners, Seamasters, oh my! You'll hear about which models we chose and why. Then, we touch on a couple modern stand-ins and even throw out some budget friendly vintage options. You won't want to miss this week's salty banter!

Handgelenkskontrolle

Our faithful listener and reader Lukas gave us a friendly "top tip" and you can see that our wrist check now has the correct German translation. Thanks Lukas!

• Balazs comes correct with one of his dive watches and sports his DOXA SUB 300 Black Lung Reissue
• Mike doubles down on the DOXA with his vintage SUB 300 Searambler

News

Before hitting the main topic on vintage dive watches, we talk a little about the recent the new Synchron Military and the upcoming DOXA Army reissue. Is the first proper watch beef?

The Main Topic

Enter the realm of the ocean deep as we embark on a fun discussion about our favorite vintage divers and why.

Balazs talks about the following:

• DOXA SUB 300T Sharkhunter Aqua Lung
• Omega Seamaster Ploprof 600, a watch he doesn't own — yet
• Bulova Oceanographer 666, a vintage plongeur that's relatively easy to find

Mike mentions some of his all time faves:

• Rolex Sea-Dweller 1665 Great White, which is just a beast
• Enicar Sherpa Super-Dive, a big Super Compressor that hasn't quite found its way into Mike's collection — yet
• Zodiac Seawolf, a smaller vintage dive watch that's out there and not too expensive

Balazs brings up the Certina DS PH200M as well as the Rado Captain Cook as great modern alternatives and brings up skin diver style vintage dive watches. Mike mentions Squale as well as the original and new Seiko Turtle as a great option.

We hope you enjoy this podcast on vintage dive watches. Don't forget to let us know if there's a topic you'd like us to discuss.

Welcome one and all to our new Sunday afternoon Pod-Column, Watching Sports (Or WASP, for short).

To celebrate this new Fratello feature, host Rob Nudds welcomes fellow sports fanatic Balazs to the virtual booth. This week, the despicable duo look back on Super Bowl LV and the remarkable achievements of 43-year old Tom Brady, as he guided the Buccs to their second championship while picking up his seventh (seventh) in the process.

We talk about team building, Brady's place in both NFL and general sports history, and why the heck the GOAT is wearing an IWC these days?

There will be fun. There will be frolics. And there will most definitely be more sports talk than you can shake a stick at.

As the Fratello team seeks to form new bonds with its readership, expect more Pod-Columns discussing our interests outside of watchmaking and how those fields occasionally intersect. Why do we want to share this with you? Fratello is a community made up of like-minded individuals and we're keen to get to know you all better as the people behind our (quite frankly delicious) readership stats.

Hit us up in the comments on Fratellowatches.com with sports/athletes/competitions you'd like us to talk about, and let us know if you want to take part in the show yourself!