Fratello’s Top Stories Of 2024 — A Year’s Worth Of Horological Highlights

Fratello celebrated its 20th anniversary this year. That’s right; two decades ago, RJ started his very own watch blog from his neighbor’s garage…or was it his girlfriend’s attic? Anyway, that in itself is very exciting. Other than that, in 2024, we launched our very own wrist butter for your perfectly hydrated wrist shots. But most importantly, we also had more readers than ever and received more than 30,000 comments from you all. Thank you for that, dear Fratelli. Today, I’ll highlight the most read stories of 2024 and those that got the most comments. Let’s see what moved the watch enthusiast community most this year.

The MoonSwatch is still going strong

If you only look at the most read articles of 2024, the Omega × Swatch MoonSwatch is the king. One big headline this year was that the MoonSwatch became available for purchase online in the US and China. But the new black and white Mission to the Moonphase models featuring Snoopy also got lots of attention. Finally, the three new Mission on Earth editions also stirred things up. It’s incredible how much attention the MoonSwatch still gets over two years after its debut. Let’s see what happens to the collection in 2025.

The Japanese take a big piece of the Swiss pie

Apart from the MoonSwatch, the top 10 stories of 2024 were primarily about new Omega releases — more on those later. However, our readers also showed a massive interest in Japanese watches, such as Citizen’s new Eco Drive-powered Super Titanium collection (later named Zenshin), Seiko’s surprising octagonal-bezel Prospex divers, and the IFL limited editions of the G-Shock CasiOak. In addition, more opinionated articles on Seiko losing its value-for-money image and Citizen taking its place as the new king of affordable Japanese watches did well.

What got you talking

Rather than just highlighting the most read articles, it might be more interesting to see what articles received the most comments. In the end, that’s where the real engagement comes into play. Let’s start with “comment-jerker” number one — Rolex. At the end of the year, Lex asked himself whether Rolex was still the undisputed king of watches in 2024. He could’ve saved himself some work if he had simply taken a look at successful articles on classics like the latest Rolex Day-Date in yellow gold and people’s appreciation for the Rolex Submariner as just a great dive watch.

Meanwhile, Rolex’s little brother Tudor certainly didn’t fall short of attention either. New models, such as the Pelagos FXD GMT “Zulu Time,” monochrome Black Bay, and Black Bay 58 GMT, got significant appreciation. When Lex wrote about what was next for Tudor, he argued that the brand could very well replace Rolex as the producer of the ultimate gentlemen’s tool watches — do-it-all luxury timepieces offering the perfect balance of quality, functionality, and luxury. However, he also pondered whether the brand forces its hand with too many limited editions.

Omega on the brain

We already said it many times, but Omega had quite the year in 2024. The brand used the Olympic Games in Paris as a great excuse to introduce an impressive number of attractive new references. The year started with the new Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon Apollo 8, which features a miniature Saturn V rocket on the dial. However, that was only just the beginning. After that, the Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch with a white dial took nearly everyone’s breath away. And while we were all still recovering from the introduction of the beautiful new Speedmaster First Omega in Space for 2024, Omega introduced a consumer version of its Speedmaster Pilot Flight Qualified.

But there’s more than just Speedmasters, of course. While Thomas asked himself in February whether the Seamaster 300M was due for an update, the brand couldn’t stop introducing new references to the collection. First, there were two special editions, with one for the Olympics and another for the 37th America’s Cup. However, the ones that got the most attention were the models introduced toward the end of the year. In case you missed them, make sure to check out the new version in titanium and Bronze Gold, the classic black and white one, and the show-stopping “Silver Surfer,” as Lex so aptly nicknamed it.

Also, during the summer, Omega introduced a very clean trio of black-dial Seamaster Aqua Terras that charmed many of us.

The battle for comments

Of course, our Sunday Morning Showdown articles are the real arena for our commenters. Jorg already wrote a summary of this year’s most notable battles, so please check that out. However, it’s almost as if Thomas and Lex are competing for the most comments, or maybe they simply have a knack for provocative writing. In one article after the other, they knew exactly how to touch a nerve and keep the comments flowing in.

Lex did so by sharing why buying a watch in place of another isn’t a good idea. He also tried to make complications great again, broke down the Longines brand, and called upon all watch brands and fans to stop the abuse of the best all-around watches out there.

At the same time, Thomas continued with his successful Back to Basics series, gave quartz watches some well-deserved attention, and, of course, launched his debut watch and VPC brand. However, 2024 was also the year in which he asked himself whether he was losing touch with Rolex, admitted to really liking Hublot watches, and reflected on whether revising the “Holy Trinity” of watchmaking makes sense. You can decide who gets the prize for the most comment-provoking articles this year.

Rising prices and declining desirability

A recurring theme throughout the year was the rising prices on the watch market. In January, Jorg took a look at whether the 2024 Tudor price increases would affect the brand’s success. Then, in February, RJ, Nacho, and Lex attempted to make sense of the never-ending upward trend on an episode of Fratello Talks. Later in the year, Henry considered whether rising prices were changing the playing field for watch enthusiasts. Finally, within the last three months, Lex tried to explain that the decline in desirability (which he thought was good for veritable watch enthusiasts) was caused by a bad case of luxury fatigue. We’re curious to see what brands will do to their prices in 2025, but they’ll almost certainly go up again.

The surprising standouts of 2024

Finally, we’ll name some standouts that got significant attention this year and/or caught us off guard. Early in the year, the beautiful and understated Grand Seiko SBGX355 took the stage as the Quartz Snowflake. Also, Gerard’s hands-on review of the Cartier Tank Must SolarBeat received quite some attention, as did his article on Horage’s and Miniswys’s revolutionary invention, the Microreg.

Of course, we can’t forget about the introduction of Patek Philippe’s first new model line in 25 years, the Cubitus. Thankfully, Lex tried to make sense of the divisive watch in his “Behind The Patek Philippe Cubitus” article. Besides that, we saw the return of the TAG Heuer Formula 1 in collaboration with Kith and the relaunch of an ’80s icon in the magnificent Piaget Polo 79.

All right, there you have it — our year of horological highlights our most read and commented-on articles! Oh, and let’s not forget about Arnold Schwarzenegger getting stuck at German customs when he tried to bring some watches over while wearing a rose gold Royal Oak Offshore.

Dear Fratelli, have a great 2025, and please keep reading and commenting in the coming year. While you’re at it, let us know your favorite article from 2024 in the comments.