Fratello On Air: How We Feel About Revitalized Watch Brands

Assessing the efforts and successes of vintage names in current form

March 18, 2025

comments 4

Welcome back to another episode of Fratello On Air. This week, we discuss our feelings about revitalized watch brands. The retro trend has been strong for over a decade, meaning that long-dormant names have been brought back to life. Are all successful? Enjoy one of our lengthiest episodes yet. For our listeners, the watch content starts after 35 minutes.

It’s hard to think of a brand that hasn’t returned to the market. For those of us who have collected watches for a long time, this would have been unimaginable 10 or 15 years ago. But are all revitalized watch brands a success? Hear our thoughts on the matter.

Handgelenkskontrolle

We took a week off between episodes, meaning we have some catching up to do. Balazs mentions an upcoming Sotheby’s auction featuring the first-ever jerseys from Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Mike talks about a recent 75th-anniversary event with Orient, and then it’s on to a visit to the A. Lange & Söhne Berlin boutique, where Balazs spent two hours. We mention a recent evening at Phillips in London with amazing independent brands. For TV, we mention The White Lotus, Zero Day, A Murder At The End Of The World, and Adolescence. For the Handgelenkskontrolle, Balazs is wearing his Omega Dynamic 166.079 with a blue dial. Mike has chosen his Rolex Submariner 5513 “Maxi Dial” from 1979.

Revitalized watch brands

For our main topic, we discuss a small fraction of the existing revitalized watch brands. It’s a timely subject with the announcement of Breitling’s purchase of Gallet. We share our thoughts on the modern-day efforts of the following historic names:

We hope you enjoy today’s lengthy show, and feel free to share your thoughts below on these and other reborn vintage brands. Also, let us know if you have any ideas for future episodes. Thanks for listening!

Home
Watch Brands
A. Lange & Söhne
Angelus
Aquastar
Benrus
Breitling
Dennison
Excelsior Park
Favre-Leuba
Gallet
Nivada Grenchen
Omega
Orient
Rolex
Seiko
Universal Genève
Vertex
Yema
Fratello On Air: How We Feel About Revitalized Watch Brands

When you talked about the price of the watch in Mexico, that was referring to Pesos. The Dollar sign has been used for pesos in Mexico, long before it was adopted in the US 😅

I just commented on this topic yesterday with regard to Gallet:

I always feel ambivalent about brand names being bought and revived… it’s not the same brand, is it? Does the continuity matter or the name? Both or neither? I revival different from being bought by a conglomerate? Does it matter at all?

Commonly used automobile industry comparisons–is the surrent Bugatti a Bugatti?

I can also say that when trying to choose “top watches of the year” I principally do not include any revivals or new versions of existing watches–this obviously mostly applies to established brands but the principle is similar (albeit not exactly the same).

To conclude–I do not know how I feel exactly.

Fantastic discussion on the subject presented. The line between enjoyable, annoying and downright irritating with resurrected brands becomes better defined with every new attempt. Leave no money lying on the table sounds like the downscale breitling gallet project.

I suppose I am sort of ambivalent towards the resurrecting of old manufacturers. I am always excited to see new watches, as I think most here are, but to me, a renewed brand from yesteryear just does not evoke the same nostalgia as a brand that has been in continuous operation. For a revived brand to gain any credibility in my eyes, they need to create fresh designs with new tech, preferably while sticking to the DNA of the original manufacturer. If all they do is release near one to one reissues, it starts feeling like more of a cash grab, and less of a natural, albeit paused, evolution of a brand.