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This year, Omega introduced the new Constellation 39mm and 41mm. Time for us to sit down with Petros Protopapas (Brand Heritage Manager at Omega) and talk about Constellations, vintage and new.

In this Fratello on Air episode, RJ talks to Jean-Marc Pontroué, the Officine Panerai CEO. We talk about how Panerai is doing today, Jean-Marc's views on the status of today's watch industry, and about PAMCast. 

When you're a watch collector, there's always a wish list. At Fratello, we are collectors in the first place, the writing part came (much) later. In this episode of Fratello on Air, Mike and RJ talk about the next 3 pieces on their radar. There's no overlap in watches this time, just one brand that is mentioned twice. 

For RJ, the lists consists of a Zenith El Primero Rainbow (Flyback), a Rolex Day-Date 118238 and last not but least, something modern, a Bvlgari Octo Finissimo. Mike has a slightly different list, with a Rolex Datejust 1600, a Patek Philippe Calatrava, and a Grand Seiko SBGW235.

Mike and RJ discuss their top picks (they selected two watches each) from Watches & Wonders and the new Breitling releases: Chronomat and the SuperOcean'57. One of the Fratello members already has received his new Breitling from this new collection: the Chronomat Tricolore. 

Recently, Tim Stracke gave an interview on WatchPro, discussing the impact of Corona on the (online) watch sales. Sitting on a big pile of data, generated by the millions of users of the world's largest watch market platform, Tim Stracke is the go-to place for the watch industry when it comes to numbers.

In this 14th episode of Fratello on Air, I speak with Tim about Chrono24, why he purchased the platform back in 2010 and, of course, what he sees happening right now due to the corona crisis. Are sales going up, or down? Are people trying to get rid of their watches via Chrono24 or is the opposite happening? Tim gives us some very useful and clear insights on the state of the watch market today, based on fresh data. I also ask him how he can assure that someone is making a safe purchase via Chrono24, how the transaction basically works and what they do to make sure you get what you want. This, and a lot more, is being discussed in this hour-long podcast with Chrono24 (Co-)CEO Tim Stracke. 

In this 13th episode of Fratello on Air, Mike and RJ talk about the new watches that have been introduced last month by Grand Seiko. As there was no Grand Seiko Summit this year, the introductions have been done mainly digitally so far. Mike and RJ comment on their favourites so far: the GS Diver 60th anniversary, the 1960's re-creation in gold, the green dial dress watch in rose gold.

In Episode 12 of our Fratello on Air podcast we try to take our minds of the Coronavirus a bit and focus on some watches and other forms of distraction. However, we do share some words on it of course, but mainly how it affects our private lives basically.

The main topic of this podcast though are the watches we kind of rediscovered recently. Home Office and not traveling, or the combination of these two, give us the opportunity to reflect a bit on our own watch collection a bit, and both Mike and me selected two watches that we have in our collection that we are giving some attention (again) as of late.

Handgelenk Kontrolle (wrist check)

The watches we are talking about in this Fratello on Air podcast, are the following:

Oak & Oscar Olmsted 38, as reviewed in this article.

I am wearing the Speedmaster Tokyo 2020 “Rising Sun” during the podcast, as described in this article. It has the discontinued (1990s) reference 1479 bracelet on it.

Rediscovered Watches
As we’re talking about some of the watches that we rediscovered, below you will find some images of the watches we discuss. Mike kicks off with this Doxa Searambler 300 (no T) and talks about his DIY restoration on the bezel.

I selected my Chronoswiss Regulateur Automatique, a watch that I’ve owned since late 2000 and was produced in 1993. One of the earlier models, but already with the self-winding Enicar based movement. The really early 1980s Regulator models had a hand-wound movement. Below, my old 1993 Regulateur next to a modern interpretation.

ike’s other watch he talks about is the Seiko diver below, with reference 6215-7000 from 1967. The first Seiko diver with 300m water resistance. Mike had it restored recently by James from Belgium, and enjoys wearing it (again).

Last but not least, I recently took out this Seamaster 300M Chronograph Diver (2296.80) from my bank safe. I bought it a few years ago, after hunting one for a long time, but it ended up in the safe in the end. This watch dates back from 1994 (originally introduced in 1993), and was a heavy hitter with its titanium, tantalum and rose gold materials.

Thanks for listening to our podcast and reading these show notes. If you have a question for our upcoming podcast, drop us note via email.

Episode 11 is about the effect of the Coronavirus on the watch shows and the watch industry in general, where we service our watches and an open discussion on the Seiko and Grand Seiko limited editions.

As we reported here and here, the Coronavirus COVID-19 killed the Time to Move, Watches & Wonders and Baselworld shows, as well as the Breitling and Grand Seiko summits. Michael and RJ talk about the impact of this virus on these shows and how brands deal with it. When we recorded the news on Baselworld wasn't there yet, but to be expected. Michael also starts a discussion on having your watch serviced or repaired. How he finds a watchmaker, sources his parts and the role of watch forums. RJ elaborates on the importance of finding a good watchmaker when you're a collector, and why you should find a (different) skilled watchmaker for your specific watches.

Another topic they touch is the flow of Seiko and Grand Seiko special and limited editions. How (Grand) Seiko changed their strategy over the last few years and what the effects are of these changes. For starters, we see more variations of existing watches and limited editions popping up. A good thing, or does it dilute the brand a bit? Michael and RJ share their thoughts on this topic.

In this 10th episode, Michael Stockton and Robert-Jan Broer talk about the recent LvmH Watch Week that took place in Dubai and that we visited. News from Bvlgari, Zenith and Hublot in early January, when normally we'd be visiting the SIHH (Watches & Wonders). We dive into the highlights of the LvmH Watch Week, especially the Bvlgari Octo Finissimo seems to receive a lot of love. But, we kick off with a wrist check, of course. Mike is wearing a Seiko 6159-7000 from 1968 (the predecessor of the Marinemaster 300) and RJ wears his Omega Constellation'95 1202.30.

Then, our friends of Time and Tide in Australia organize a watch auction called 'Watch & Act' and all proceeds will go to the recovery of Australia and its wildlife. Fratello donated a Frederique Constant Moonhase from our shop with all proceeds going to this good cause. Mike mentions an initiative on Instagram where Seiko watches are being auctioned for the same good cause.

Next, we talk about the downside of Instagram. The ongoing rants and comments on the market resale value of watches seem to be more important than watches that are showing something truly unique. If it isn't a Nautilus, Royal Oak, or Daytona, a lot of people don't seem to be interested. Is it lack of interest, is it about purchasing for investment reasons only, or what is it? You should buy the watch that sings to you, no matter what brand name is on the dial or what price tag is on there. Mike and RJ discuss this topic at length.

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RJ and Mike discuss their 5 most favorite watches that were introduced in 2019. It was quite difficult to choose from all the releases, but they picked 5 that they liked best, for various reasons. Listen to our 9th episode of Fratello on Air.