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Omega Railmaster Review Teddy Baldassarre
Omega May 15, 2025

Omega Railmaster Review

The Omega Railmaster can best be put into historical context as of one of the most recognizable names in its category that arguably gets the least amount of attention. It hasn’t been a mainstay for the brand, and currently sits in purgatory, with no modern Railmaster existing in the contemporary Omega collection. It’s a black sheep with serious historical credentials that should have been a perennial adversary to the Rolex Explorer, and yet it became instead something of an enthusiast darling, a relic of esoterica. I would argue that it just missed its initial window to hit immortality, courtesy of little more than bad timing. It was, and remains, one of the coolest designs from a brand that really could rest on its laurels behind the Speedmaster and Seamaster. And with those two models mentioned, let’s properly understand the what, where, how, and why of the Omega Railmaster. Okay, and also the when. In 1957, Omega basically released the only three watches any brand would ever have to release to prove everlasting viability. Well, in theory, two of those brands seem to have done the trick – the Railmaster was just icing on the cake. Think of it like when Rolex unveiled the Submariner and the Explorer in the very same year, followed closely by the GMT-Master. Those three watches have experienced continuous production since that time and represent the core ethos of Rolex today. Similarly, in ‘57, we saw Omega unveil a trilogy of watches: The Seamaster, the Speedmas...

A Hands-On Introduction To The New Omega Railmaster With A Beige Or Gray Gradient Dial Fratello
Omega Railmaster May 15, 2025

A Hands-On Introduction To The New Omega Railmaster With A Beige Or Gray Gradient Dial

With recent Speedmaster and Seamaster releases, Omega quietly put the new watches on its ambassadors’ wrists to hint at what was coming. We could have missed it, but we don’t think the same happened with the newly revised Railmaster. Supposedly, there was a leaked image, but it came with very little information. Luckily, we’ve recently […] Visit A Hands-On Introduction To The New Omega Railmaster With A Beige Or Gray Gradient Dial to read the full article.

Portrait – For Professionals Only, Worldwatch.market, a Brilliant New Approach to the Global Watch Trade Monochrome
May 15, 2025

Portrait – For Professionals Only, Worldwatch.market, a Brilliant New Approach to the Global Watch Trade

The watch trade market has become sprawling. Digital channels have been added to single-brand and multi-brand points of sale: specialised platforms, digital media that have evolved towards an additional retail offering (limited and dedicated series), social networks (Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram) flooded with offers of second-hand (and sometimes new) pieces. A jungle characterised by a common […]

Fratello Talks: The Best Modern Omega Speedmasters Fratello
Omega Speedmasters It’s no secret May 15, 2025

Fratello Talks: The Best Modern Omega Speedmasters

It’s no secret that we’re Speedmaster fans here at Fratello. RJ, our founder, is an avid collector of these chronographs and the mind behind #SpeedyTuesday. But not all Speedies are created equal. Today, we’re looking at some of the best modern Omega Speedmaster models. RJ, Thomas, and Nacho have tasked themselves with selecting their top […] Visit Fratello Talks: The Best Modern Omega Speedmasters to read the full article.

Rolex Explorer II 16570: The Best Value Rolex GMT Teddy Baldassarre
Rolex May 14, 2025

Rolex Explorer II 16570: The Best Value Rolex GMT

My first Rolex was an Explorer II 216570 with black dial and I absolutely loved that watch. It was rarer than the GMT-Master II or Submariner, and didn’t have the ceramic bezel, which I found to be a little too glossy and “luxe” for what I was looking for in a watch at the time. I kept and wore the heck out of that watch for almost six years until I just felt like it didn’t speak to me anymore. The 42mm wide “Maxi” case seemed too big and the big, thick hour and minutes hands just began to bug me. I can’t explain why I was so dead set on the 216570 rather than the older 16570 at the time but I can certainly say that now, in 2025, the Rolex Explorer II 16570 is not just my preferred iteration of the modern spelunking watch, but an all-timer from Rolex. I’ve started to refer to the 16570 as a “Forever Rolex” because it ticks all the boxes - size, reliability, dual-time functionality, and discrete aesthetics - all while remaining one of the few Rolexes that isn’t immediately recognizable to every casual observer. Let’s take a look at why I’m such a big fan of this old-school Rolex. Case and Specs: The Other Rolex GMT Measuring 40mm wide and 12.2mm thick with a 47mm lug-to-lug height, the 16570 is an eminently wearable Rolex. And while this is very obviously a sport/tool watch, these proportions make for a very versatile and subdued piece. No, there isn’t a rotating bezel with a nickname-ready color combo here. Rather, there is a demure, fixed ...

Naoya Hida & Co. Has Announced their 2025 Releases Worn & Wound
Patek Philippe May 14, 2025

Naoya Hida & Co. Has Announced their 2025 Releases

Seeing a watch made by Naoya Hida & Co. in person for the first time was one of those moments when you truly realize that you have to experience a watch in the metal before casting judgement. At the time, the brand was only in its second full year, and most of the people commenting on the watches in online forums, Instagram, etc. were reacting to what they perceived as an exorbitant price tag. These specific watches, after all, used a (highly) modified Valjoux 7750 as the base movement – not exactly high horology. But when you handle one of these watches, wear it, and, importantly, turn the crown, you realize you’re dealing with an object that’s largely handmade, a fully fleshed out complete thought with a singular perspective. That’s a pretty rare thing, as are the hand carved dials that have become an aesthetic signature of the brand, and truly require magnification to fully grapple with. Naoya Hida & Co. has just unveiled their new slate of watches for 2025, and I imagine we’re heading for some of the same conversations we’ve heard before, but there’s a new watch in this crop of releases that should quiet at least some of the naysayers.  The marquee release in this year’s lineup is the NH Type 6A, Naoya Hida’s most complicated watch to date and their first perpetual calendar. The 6A is made in the same vintage inspired style as all of Naoya Hida’s other watches, evoking classic pieces by Patek Philippe and others (but mostly Patek, let’s be honest...

Report: Geneva Spring Auctions 2025 SJX Watches
Richard Mille RM UP-01 Ferrari May 14, 2025

Report: Geneva Spring Auctions 2025

Despite everything, including tariffs and a strong Swiss franc, the Geneva auction season turned out to be a strong one, with some of the strongest results being in the most surprising segments. The bigger winner this season was Phillips, which sold a bit under 200 lots for CHF43.4 million including fees, while also claiming the most valuable lots for the season, reflecting Phillips’ strong leadership and team. Despite being the market leader by some margin, the Phillips catalogue was arguably the riskiest as it included several high-value pocket watches and clocks – timepieces that not part of mainstream collecting today. Yet the gamble paid off with the most valuable timepiece this season being its Breguet Sympathique no. 1 that sold for CHF5.51 million. Christie’s achieved CHF21.2 million with a similar number of lots that were arguably more conventional in taste and format than at Phillips. One of its most valuable lots was a Cartier Crash “NSO” with a special order dial that sold for CHF736,000 – one of the biggest surprises of the season but proof that being eye-catching enough for social media is a big factor in desirability and value today. Interestingly, the Crash sold for exactly the same as the Richard Mille RM UP-01 Ferrari. The Crash went for about 15 times the original retail, while the RM UP-01 was about half of retail. The Crash NSO “nickele” grey. Image – Christie’s Over at Antiquorum, the tally was CHF10 million – from almost 800 lot...

Introducing – The New Ice Blue Kurono Tokyo 2025 Jubilee Sensu EOL Monochrome
Kurono Tokyo 2025 Jubilee Sensu EOL May 14, 2025

Introducing – The New Ice Blue Kurono Tokyo 2025 Jubilee Sensu EOL

After several years of covering this independent Japanese watch brand, you should now be familiar with Kurono Tokyo‘s work. And if not, what matters here is that we’re looking at the accessible side of independent watchmaker Hajime Asaoka (also behind the return of Takano), with classic designs and outsourced movements to keep the prices reasonable. […]

First Look – The New Girard-Perregaux Deep Diver Legacy Edition with Bamford Monochrome
Girard-Perregaux Deep Diver Legacy Edition May 14, 2025

First Look – The New Girard-Perregaux Deep Diver Legacy Edition with Bamford

Girard-Perregaux has a rich history and has produced quite a few exceptional timepieces over time. The 1969 Deep Diver Ref. 9108 may not be as complex and elaborate or iconic as some of the brand’s better-known creations (Laureato, Tourbillons or Bridges, both historical and modern), but it left its mark as a rare dive watch […]

Girard-Perregaux Reintroduces The Deep Diver In Collaboration With Bamford Watch Department Fratello
Girard-Perregaux Reintroduces May 14, 2025

Girard-Perregaux Reintroduces The Deep Diver In Collaboration With Bamford Watch Department

As many of you know, the late ’60s and the first half of the ’70s were an era of design experimentation in the watch industry. While Girard-Perregaux might not be the first name on people’s tongues when it comes to funky watches from this period, don’t think the brand didn’t have any. With the Casquette […] Visit Girard-Perregaux Reintroduces The Deep Diver In Collaboration With Bamford Watch Department to read the full article.

Introducing: The Titanium Vacheron Constantin Overseas Grand Complication Openface Fratello
Vacheron Constantin Overseas Grand Complication Openface May 14, 2025

Introducing: The Titanium Vacheron Constantin Overseas Grand Complication Openface

What happens when you take the 2755 QP movement out of the 2017 Traditionnelle Calibre 2755 (ref. 80172/000R-B406), update the design so it caters to an audience with a more contemporary taste, and put it in the sportiest of watch designs available? You get the Vacheron Constantin Overseas Grand Complication Openface. This limited-production watch is […] Visit Introducing: The Titanium Vacheron Constantin Overseas Grand Complication Openface to read the full article.

Vacheron Constantin’s First Chiming Sports Watch, the Overseas Grand Complication SJX Watches
Vacheron Constantin s First Chiming Sports May 13, 2025

Vacheron Constantin’s First Chiming Sports Watch, the Overseas Grand Complication

Vacheron Constantin (VC) continues its 270th anniversary festivities with its first minute-repeating sports watch, the Overseas Grand Complication Openface. In addition to the repeater, the manually wound movement also features a perpetual calendar, tourbillon, and rear-facing power reserve indicator. All of this is housed in a titanium case rated to 30 m, which is a notable degree of water resistance for a chiming watch. This is also the first Overseas model with the “Openface” treatment, which pays homage to rock crystal dials found in vintage clocks and pocket watches with a clear sapphire dial exposing the perpetual calendar works. Image – Vacheron Constantin Initial Thoughts It’s unusual, but a chiming sports watch makes sense considering the direction of consumer preferences for complications. That said, the minute repeater has been slow to make its way into sports watches, despite enjoying renewed popularity for the past few decades, due to the challenges of waterproofing the charging slide and preserving sound quality. This has created a perception of water resistance and sound being mutually exclusive, which has only recently been challenged. Audemars Piguet was an early pioneer with water-resistant repeaters, and now Vacheron Constantin has entered the fray with a water-resistant minute-repeating integrated-bracelet sports watch of its own. While 30 m of water resistance is low compared to other models in the Overseas collection, it’s significant for a ...

Zenith Defy Skyline Review Teddy Baldassarre
Zenith May 13, 2025

Zenith Defy Skyline Review

While the El Primero movement architecture may serve as the face of the Zenith brand, it is the Defy collection that remains its soul. The Defy represents an historically significant ethos for Zenith, a creative foundation that is just as important to the Swiss brand’s past as it is to its future. Originally meant to be a showcase of innovation and ideas, the Defy collection serves dual purposes: to preserve and celebrate innovations of the past in the “Revival” subfamily, and to continue innovating for the future in the series’ other branches. In 2022, the brand took a big step toward the future of the collection with the release of the Zenith Defy Skyline, a watch that simultaneously looked to build on successful elements of the past and also to capitalize on the integrated-bracelet sport watch trend that had taken hold of the industry. The Zenith Defy collection has roots in the 1960s and ‘70s, when many of the brand’s most iconic and exciting references were released (you can read a more in-depth history here). Many of these have been reborn in the form of modern Revival references, allowing a new generation of enthusiasts to discover them again, or for the first time. These designs weren’t afraid to take risks, from the shape of the case, to the bracelet integration, right into the dial colors and textures. The Defy name quickly came to signify a huge amount of character, and that’s on full display within the brand’s current stable.  In finding a mo...

Hands-On: the echo/neutra Chrono GMT Worn & Wound
May 13, 2025

Hands-On: the echo/neutra Chrono GMT

Sometimes, no matter how many hours we spend scrolling on Instagram and monitoring various watch-focused group chats, things slip through the cracks. Watches that check all the right boxes to rise above the noise of a crowded market go unnoticed and become sleeper hits instead of hits, and creativity that deserves widespread celebration instead receives a splattering of quiet applause. For collectors that enjoy witnessing brands evolve and develop distinct design DNA in real time, it can be a bummer to discover your radar missed something great. But on the bright side, this scenario allows for instant gratification and the opportunity to speed run a brand’s evolution to the present day. This was my experience when Italian microbrand echo/neutra released the Rivanera at the end of last year. Like many of you, I was pleasantly caught off guard by the rugged take on the classic rectangular dress watch, but didn’t recognize the name divided by a distinct slash on the dial. This sent me digging through surprisingly sparse reviews and forum threads where I discovered that the Rivanera was far from beginner’s luck, and was actually the result of a year’s long evolution that began in the way many do, with a safe and somewhat generic field watch on Kickstarter. Watching aging YouTube videos, this actual first release called the Averau (which later included a very cool moon phase) looks like exactly the type of watch I would’ve chased in 2019 when specs and MSRP were my pr...

Introducing – Drawing with Gemtones, the New Czapek Promenade Diamond Drops Monochrome
Czapek Promenade Diamond Drops Czapek May 13, 2025

Introducing – Drawing with Gemtones, the New Czapek Promenade Diamond Drops

Czapek embraces the trend for more compact, unisex watch sizes and has clearly understood that the days when diamonds and gemstones were considered exclusively feminine adornments are well behind us. Released in 2024, Czapek’s Promenade collection is, in CEO Xavier de Roquemaurel’s words, “a canvas for creative expression” with beautiful dials that riff on the […]

Introducing – The New Vacheron Constantin Overseas Grand Complication Openface Monochrome
Vacheron Constantin Overseas Grand Complication Openface May 13, 2025

Introducing – The New Vacheron Constantin Overseas Grand Complication Openface

Long considered the domain of delicate watches, grandes complications (in the more extensive use of the term, and not the traditional definition of the grande complication – repeater + chrono + calendar) have found their way into collections designed for adventure. The incorporation of complications reflects a broader change in watchmaking, where tradition is no […]

Hands-On: the Ace Jewelers x Cedric Bellon CB01 Small Seconds Worn & Wound
May 12, 2025

Hands-On: the Ace Jewelers x Cedric Bellon CB01 Small Seconds

When is a watch more than a watch? It honestly sounds like a pretty dumb question, but it’s a question that I just asked myself when writing about the Cedric Bellon CB01 – a grade 5 titanium watch that’s just as much a watch as it is a case study in sustainability. I’ll admit, when I first laid eyes on the watch, I thought it looked very raw, almost unfinished. Upon closer inspection and a deeper dive into the brand itself, it started to click. The CB01 is a joint partnership between Watch Angels (a crowd funding platform), Ace Jewelers (an Amsterdam-based retailer) and Cedric Bellon (a watch designer) – by their powers combined, this watch is good for the planet! Captain Planet jokes aside, the CB01 is a 40mm titanium watch that features a mix of finishing techniques, an interesting movement, and very wrist-friendly dimensions. Let’s dig in and take a closer look at this collaboration that aims to bring sustainability to your wrist in a big way.  Case Measuring in at 40mm wide by 47mm lug-to-lug, the CB01 is a nice fit for my 6.75” wrist. The case is crafted from repurposed titanium. At first, I thought that repurposed was synonymous with recycled, but it’s not. The core belief behind this watch design is that when possible, materials from other productions will be used for this project. So maybe there was too much material ordered for another project that can be used here, having the watch achieve a higher “circularity score”. The principle behind ci...