The Year In Review — Fratello In 2024

As 2024 comes to a close, it’s time for our recurring “Year in Review” article on the last day of the year. First, I would like to thank all of you for coming to Fratello and consuming your daily dose of watch content on the online magazine, our YouTube channel, or our Instagram page. It means so much to us! Also, a big “thank you” to those who commented on our articles, social media posts, podcasts, and videos. We enjoy reading your comments and often discuss them in the Fratello office.

2024 — what a ride it was!

Goodbye, 2024!

I don’t know about you, but 2024 passed in the blink of an eye. The first half was packed with traveling abroad for us as watch brands hosted many events before and after Watches and Wonders to show their latest. And, of course, the biggest watch show of the year, Watches and Wonders, takes nearly a week on-site for most of our team. But make no mistake; the preparation for this week-long Geneva watch show starts months in advance. We receive many watches ahead of time and NDAs signed with blood to create images, videos, podcasts, and written articles on the watches to appear months or weeks later.

Daan and Florian Trittel at the 2024 Olympic Games

The second half of 2024 was quieter for me when it came to traveling, although it was fully packed from August (Olympic Games) till the end of September. Some of my colleagues have been traveling for the last months of 2024, including an interesting flight from Geneva to Copenhagen to see the Universal Genève watches.

Gerard (rear, center) in Japan with G-Shock

Articles, podcasts, and videos

It all resulted in the entire Fratello team working on no fewer than 1,413 articles on the website, 98 podcasts (52 with video), and many social media posts and coverage. And again, we’re also enjoying reading the comments below all these articles, videos, and posts.

Lex in Paris, photo by Max

Unfortunately, we also needed to say goodbye to the talented Morgan, who took many photos for our magazine in 2023 and 2024. He decided to move to Réunion and follow the love of his life. We can only respect and applaud such a decision! Nevertheless, we needed a “new Morgan,” even though we have some good photography talent among some of our writers. As of July, we’ve had a full-time photographer named Max.

Our team did an amazing job in 2024, keeping the creativity flowing, handling the e-commerce part, and providing entertaining content!

Another slow year in sales…but pretty good watches!

Many brands’ sales declined in 2023, and 2024 slumped even more. There is not just one reason why people are not buying; a few things have negatively affected the watch industry. All reasons combined, though, (future) financial uncertainty holds most people back from buying. On top of that, the investors/speculators seem to have left the game. Whereas many brands had benefited from the lack of availability from brands like Rolex, Patek, and Audemars Piguet, that also seems to be declining.

Rolex Day-Date 128238 introduced in 2024

Meanwhile, in the best years of watch sales (2020–2022), which were not “the new standard” after all, many brands kept increasing their prices. And once you do that, you can’t go back. So, with declining sales, the high price points do not help, especially since they discourage those making their first major watch purchases as well as returning customers.

That said, I saw quite a few beautiful, surprising, or just “good” watches. I have mentioned my favorites in our Fratello’s Readers’ Choice 2024 podcast, but just in case you didn’t catch that, the Daniel Roth Tourbillon in rose gold, Piaget Polo ’79, Singer Divetrack, several Omega Speedmasters, the Chopard L.U.C XPS Forest Green, and the new 30th-anniversary Lange 1 were among my favorites. These are just some of the highlights for me, but I think we’ve seen many nice watches in 2024.

Things to consider in 2025

The good news is that your interest didn’t suffer from the above! You still seem very interested in reading watch news, reviews, and opinionated features. For watch brands, there’s an opportunity to refocus on the watch community rather than on investor buyers. As often said here, your brand needs fans; otherwise, there’s little chance of success. I feel many brands neglected the collectors of their watches, the hardcore watch community, blinded by the chaos from the peak years we’ve left behind. If brands embrace their fans, come up with exciting new watches, offer somewhat sensible pricing (in all price ranges), and so on, I am sure the loyal watch fans will be happy to add new watches to their collections.

Making these necessary changes might also work miracles for the tone of voice on social media and in comment sections. You can never please everyone. We have also noticed this with our articles, podcasts, videos, and their respective comment sections, though it’s not exclusive to Fratello. It seems that everything has become so much more negative in recent months and years regarding any content online. I am convinced that when it comes to watches, it’s also because we love them so much that we become very passionate about them. Recently, I saw an Instagram account showing how a real-life conversation would go down based on online comments. We don’t want that to happen.

Let’s also not forget about the pre-owned market. There are so many interesting vintage and modern watches on the pre-owned market that it’s almost unthinkable you can’t strike gold there.

On a personal note

It might be due to my age or being dreadfully late (hey, I even started going to the gym three times a week this year), but I have realized how short and precious our time is. I have enjoyed the time I could spend in 2024 with my family and loved ones, and I learned time is too short to have watches you never wear. So I am cleaning up my collection and will continue to do so in the coming months, making room for watches that will see more time on the wrist!

My most worn watch was probably (once again) my Moonshine Gold Speedmaster Apollo 11. Still, my Rolex Sea-Dweller, Breguet Tradition, and Speedmaster Calibre 321 were often my companions for days in a row. In general, I rotated quite a bit more than ever in the last few years! One of my recent purchases, the Constellation ’95 “Ernie Els” edition from 2001, also got quite some time on the wrist.

As the year ends, my mailbox is filling rapidly with upcoming watches from several brands. It does look good (and promising), and the first big event will be the annual LVMH Watch Week (to be held in LA this year). I am looking forward to seeing what brands have come up with for us watch enthusiasts!

Thanks for a great 2024! I’m looking forward to seeing you in 2025!