Watches Blog Wrist Watch Reviews

The GS Snowflake, or reference SBGA211, is one of those watches that really got to me. It does not happen that often (in recent years), but once in a while I am still swept off my feet when I see a beautiful watch. I've been writing for Fratello since 2004 and the times that this happens is simply very rare. Especially when it concerns a watch that doesn't have the same price tag as a decently sized car or an entire house. I think it has to do with the fact that we see so many watches every day and week, that the ones that truly stick, are just a few.Grand Seiko SBGA211 SnowflakeIt was in October 2015, when I visited the Grand Seiko manufactures in Japan (I reported about that trip here, wit [...]

Grand Seiko seems to be the communitys darling. Since?a few years, collectors and watch journalists are all over it and it seems to be increasing by the day. With in-house GS ambassadors such as Joe Kirk, who happens to be Director of the Seiko Boutique Miami Design district and puts out beautiful images on his Instagram and Facebook account, we get to see how the community responds to the amazingly well-finished Grand Seiko watches.The enthusiasm for Grand Seiko is so huge, that some people do wonder whats going on. Is it all paid-for content that is being published? Is Seiko giving away free stuff to press who talks positively about them? Grand Seiko is all over the place on social media, [...]

If theres one thing that Grand Seiko absolutely masters, it is the art of dial making. This collaboration piece between Texas-based dealer Timeless and Grand Seiko is the perfect example of that.Grand Seiko needs no introduction here on Fratello, we covered them a lot in the last few years, and with good reason. It took us a while to get acquainted with the high-end watches from Seiko (and since 2017, Grand Seiko is operating as a separate legal entity). Still, once this bug has bitten you, it becomes tough not to compare them to high-end Swiss watch brands. Based on their extreme efforts in finishing dials, hour markers, hands, and basically all other parts, Grand Seiko is an exciting brand [...]

I sense that Grand Seiko is getting more traction in Europe since the last year or two. I cant speak for the US, as I am not familiar with that market, but I notice that more people start to appreciate the Japanese craftsmanship when it comes to watches. This article is not to elaborate (again) on Grand Seiko and how amazingly well built their watches are, I am pretty sure you know that by now and otherwise you can read it in one of our Grand Seiko articles. Today, it is about one of the new limited editions that Grand Seiko made for the 20th anniversary of their 9S movement: the Grand Seiko reference SBGH267.A week before BaselWorld started, there were some embargoed press releases sent aro [...]

In this Sunday morning column, two of our writers go head-to-head in an epic showdown for the ages. Strong opinions and hysterical hyperbole are welcome (so feel free to join in with the fun in the comments section below). And don't forget to let us know which watches you'd like to see torn to shreds/effusively exalted next week. We'll try and feature as many of our readers' choices as we can. As springtime breaks across Europe, were taking a decidedly unseasonal route to celebrate: The Grand Seiko SBGH269, inspired by the autumn.Ah, the season of death. Whats not to love? As an adult, it is sheer bliss. School begins. Everything goes quiet. The gamboling optimism of spring ends up in a butc [...]

Grand Seikos journey began in the 1950s. The best and brightest watchmakers working for the brand banded together with a lofty goal: They set out to create the companys finest watch yet. In December 1960 the inaugural Grand Seiko hit the market. It was the first installment of a story that has now reached its sixtieth year. Leading the celebrations is the Grand Seiko SBGH281.To celebrate this milestone, Grand Seiko is releasing four new models. Were going to take a look at the three watches released for men in this article, and follow-up with the ladies piece next week (so check back for that update also). These watches dont just mark this significant birthday, but also look towards the bran [...]

A few months ago, I wrote why I did not buy the famous and much praised Grand Seiko Snowflake. Today I will tell you why I bought the Grand Seiko SBGJ201 Mt. Iwate instead.Without writing too much about the background story (you can read that here), I was undoubtedly after the Grand Seiko SBGA211, or Snowflake. I was mesmerized by the structure of the dial, ever since I handled it during my first trip to Japan in 2015 to see the Grand Seiko manufacture. Sure, there were some cons for me as well about this watch, like the power reserve indicator and the titanium material, but the beautiful snowflake structure of the dial and the Spring Drive movement were more important to me. There's nothing [...]

Hublot Big Bang Unico Titanium CeramicWe had the opportunity to test drive the Hublot Big Bang Unico Titanium Ceramic for a while. Before we continue with the actual review, lets spend some words on this remarkable manufacturer first.HistoryWhen it comes to fashionable manufactures, Hublot is easily in the top 3. The industry considers them one of the hippest brands despite their relatively short history. Even though the company was established in 1980 it had mediocre success. Until 2003, when Jean-Claude Biver went on-board. Before, Jean-Claude Biver was responsible for Swatch Group brands.His approach to the brand was different and revolutionary. As a result, the Big Bang was released in 2 [...]

It is amazing what JC Biver from Hublot accomplished in the past decade or so. Of course, his track record goes much further than Hublot (think Blancpain and Omega for example). Today he manages Hublot and the success he had with the brand is also being applied to TAG Heuer and Zenith.However, those two other LVMH brands have their own customer profile and matching watches. Just like Hublot. You can think or say anything you want about Hublot (some purists regard is as fashion watches, others are totally into them), but they are doing very well since Jean-Claude Biver and?Ricardo Guadalupe are calling the shots.This year, Hublot?introduced a couple of new models that I think are quite intere [...]

HublotAnd now something you have probably not seen yet. On the 3rd day of Basel World we visited Hublot to take a closer look at their 2016 novelties. The first piece we were introduced stole the show-for me, anyways. We were given the new Hublot Classic Fusion Berluti in black ceramic and 18k gold and I have to say, even though Hublot is not my main focus, those are some seriously nice looking watches. As we learned, last year marked the 120th anniversary of Parisian shoemaker legend Berluti. For this occasion Hublot teamed up with the atelier to produce 2 distinct models: the Hublot Classic Fusion Berluti All Black and the Hublot Classic Fusion Scritto.Based on the Classic Fusion line, bot [...]

Dear Hublot,Three years ago, we provided coverage of your Basel 2012 novelties at an event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, hosted by your regional distributors The Hour Glass and attended by none other than CEO Mr. Guadalupe and Regional Director Ms. Sakai.Here is the original article, missing images which were hosted on flickr: https://www.fratellowatches.com/hublots-basel-2012-novelties//This morning, I received a takedown and copyright infringement notice from Yahoo the parent company of Flickr, where the images were hosted filed by Hublot SA specifically citing those images as infringing copyright.Except the problem here is twofold:Hublot SA did not contract those images, did not license th [...]

Gumball 3000 Anniversary EditionFratellowatches was present on the Gumball 3000 grid in Copenhagen last weekend. With Hublot being the official sponsor for this 15th anniversary edition it was definitely not the only brand on the wrist of the drivers.?The?Gumball 3000?is an annual 3,000-mile (4,800?km) road rally which takes place on?public roads, with a different route around the world each year.?This year the rally starts in Copenhagen and goes to Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Riga, Warsaw, Vienna and the finish is in Monte Carlo.Fratellowatches was there to do some watch spotting!Photo 1. On the wrist of A. Dharamsey from Team Wolfpack we spotted this AP Grand Prix All Carbon.Photo [...]

Tribute to Ferrari and Haute HorlogerieToday weve visited a number of brands, but one of the most impressive pieces was definitely the Hublot Masterpiece MP-05 LaFerrari. This watch is not only a tribute to the manufacturer of super cars from Maranello, it is also a watch that proves the watchmaking skills from Hublot. A power reserve of no less than 50 days due to its 11 barrels in the movement and a vertical tourbillon.The caliber HUB9005.H1.6 movement consists of 637 parts of which 108 are used for jewels. The large movement measures 45.8mm x 39.5mm. Hublot is producing this Masterpiece MP-05 LaFerrari in a series of 50 numbered pieces. Each with a price tag of 300,000 Swiss Francs (inclu [...]

Earlier this week, I was invited for a media lunch with Hublots new CEO, Mr. Ricardo Guadalupe, and their Asia-Pacific Regional Director, Ms. Miwa Sakai, who happened to be visiting Kuala Lumpur on an Asian tour.All images may be clicked on for larger versions.In addition to enjoying an excellent steak, I also had the chance to play with and photograph the new pieces introduced at Basel earlier in the year.Ive personally found a lot of the brands pieces rather lukewarm in the past it wasnt the aesthetics that didnt do it for me, but rather the lack of anything serious under the hood. However, with the recent Masterpieces, the Unico in-house chronograph caliber, and the new collection, Hublo [...]

All images may be clicked on for larger versions.I was given an hour with the Hublot Masterpiece collection recently these uncommon pieces were traveling through Kuala Lumpur as part of the Journey Through Time exhibition. These three pieces represent a significant and welcome departure from the staple line of Big Bang offerings and their myriad variants; however tastes and preferences will of course be personal. Hublot has gathered a team of watchmakers called the confrere horlogere, specifically to develop highly complicated pieces in small series. Please note that the watches photographed were non-functioning prototypes, so I am unable to comment on the running and usability of the piece [...]

Since a year or two, a friend and I are running the a Passion for Watches group on LinkedIn. Over 3,000 watch enthusiasts joined and a relative high number of them participate in discussions. One of the more recent discussions is really worth mentioning here, as it started three months ago and still receives comments on a daily basis. The initial post was quite a simple question, Audemars Piguet or Hublot. Which one would you buy if this was the choice?. The votes are unanimously for Audemars Piguet.Although being a huge Audemars Piguet fan myself en would pick it any time over a Hublot, I will have to admit that I am a bit biased and never did much research in the current line-up of Big Ban [...]

The fact that Bernie and his girlfriend got robbed last month, is an excellent marketing tool for Hublot. Although pretty sure it was a JLC that got taken from his wrist, it now seems to be a Hublot. You can read more about the robbery here.The money making machine Bernie Ecclestone knows how to turn something negative into something positive (money).Thanks to JIFF for the tip and the original post at a Dutch car blog can be found here. [...]

I admit that I don't spend a ton of time looking at IWC's latest offerings. No, I don't find IWC's unattractive, but they're often too large for me. Plus, they're expensive. But the real reason that my eye rarely finds itself glancing at the current collection is primarily due to the brand's activities during the late 90's that spanned until the early 2000's. This was when the brand was in the throes of its GST Gold, Steel, Titanium collection (as well as making some other gems like the Mark XII we reviewed) and that's where we'll center our attention today with the IWC Aquatimer 3536.Introduced in roughly 1997, the IWC Aquatimer 3536 was made in three distinct flavors. The -2 variant came [...]

During 2020, my watch rotation was different than a typical year. One of the significant factors was remote working from home, but also other reasons seeped in. Due to the combination of these situations, one watch became my predominant wrist companion and even accompanied me on my limited but worthwhile vacation time over the past year. That watch was the IWC Aquatimer Chronograph Edition Expedition Charles Darwin.But why this IWC in particular? And what led me to it? Lets dive in and find out.The hunt for bronze treasureIn 2014, IWC presented the overhauled Aquatimer collection during SIHH. At the time, then-CEO Georges Kern had a preference for renewing single model lines each year. Among [...]

Ahoy friends and all aboard for this weeks edition of Wrist Game or Crying Shame. Well take a look at the very first IWC Aquatimer Cousteau Divers. But firstEvery time I try to have a little fun around here, you guys go and get all kinds of serious. And so it was with the Corum Bubble Shark Diver. You burst my bubble because this expressive diver sunk into the abyss with a 75% Crying Shame loss. Boo hoo Staying on theme with the water ready, though, lets see if youll turn a kinder eye to the IWC Aquatimer Cousteau Divers.Jacques Yves CousteauIf Richard Dawson were still alive and hosting one of my all-time favorite TV game shows, Family Feud, Id try to qualify as a contestant. And if I got t [...]