We had a very insightful conversation with Robert-Jan Broer, founder of Fratello Watches, one of the foremost online watch magazines. We discussed the origins of Fratello, including the sale and repurchase of the magazine from Ebner Publishing and some of Robert-Jan’s views on recent developments in the watch industry.
Robert-Jan Broer
Andres Ibarguen: So, Robert-Jan, how did you start Fratello Watches? What was the motivation?
Robert-Jan Broer: At the time, in 2004, I was already active in the watch community for some years. You could find me on forums like TimeZone and WatchUSeek and other places online, and at some point, I realized I would like to publish something about watches on my own platform. Often these watch forums were strictly moderated, not always allowing you to say the things you want to say. Blogs were an upcoming phenomenon, but there really wasn’t one yet about watches. So, when I started, there wasn’t much out there. I love watches, and love to write, so I grew into it quite naturally.
AI: What would you say is the fundamental message you want to give your readers through Fratello Watches?
RB: Watches are fun. Don’t treat them as a financial investment and don’t be bothered too much whether a watch will retain its value. Just buy what you like and enjoy wearing it. Watches in a safe are, well, just watches in a safe. What fun is that?
AI: In your esteem, what was key to Fratello’s growth over the last 17 years?
RB: Staying authentic. Writing what we think about the watches we review. Not everything can be lovely and amazing. Sometimes it’s just not. And other times, a watch is truly something special or even causing our heart to skip a beat. We don’t want to be the extension of a brand’s marketing department, but we want to share our own opinion about a watch, after seeing it and wearing it. Sometimes we are being accused of being partial towards brands, but we are not there to simply please some of the keyboard warriors and burn everything we get to try and see. But believe me, we still get the occasional phone calls from brand CEOs and marketing directors to ask us why we were so critical. That’s the game, and those brands still send us their watches for review. It is about mutual respect and being fair.
AI: In 2014, Ebner Publishing acquired Fratello and you led a management buy-out after some years to acquire the company back. Why did you decide to sell to Ebner in the first place and what motivated you to acquire Fratello back?
RB: In 2014 I sold Fratello to Ebner as I felt they were the number one publishing house when it comes to watch magazines. And perhaps they still are, with titles like Uhren Magazines, Chronos, and WatchTime. I had been reading their magazines since the 1990s and have a lot of respect for them. To be part of that group was truly something back then. However, I did feel I was on my own too much, and I was looking for support to really make Fratello grow. Not only in reach, but also with other things like video, podcasts, a shop, more writers, etc. So, in 2018, with the help of some friends, who also happen to be the owners of Chrono24, the world’s biggest marketplace for luxury watches, we acquired Fratello back and started treating it as a start-up company. We are now a team of 15 people, and a few more external collaborators that we hire for video, web development, bookkeeping, etc. Since the acquisition, we’ve grown tremendously in traffic and revenue.
Czapek x Fratello
AI: What are your long-term prospects for Fratello? Are you aiming to focus more on e-commerce going forward?
RB: We are aiming to reach as many watch enthusiasts as possible. We want to become the place where people go to get their information about watches, to be entertained, to (physically) meet with us, with other like-minded enthusiasts and with brands. The watch community is important to us, and we have a wonderful community ourselves on Fratello (often referred to as Fratelli, not even by us). Moreover, we have the #SpeedyTuesday community that we cherish, with Speedmaster enthusiasts from all over the world that love to read about their favorite chronograph every week on Fratello since 2012. We have been doing e-commerce for a few years now, and quickly found out that the only way for us to make e-commerce work is if we co-create watches with brands for our community. Like we did with selling Omega Speedmasters, the 300 bronze Oris pieces with a burgundy red dial (dubbed “Fratelloris”), the blue Minase Divido that sold out in a few minutes, and 50 Czapek Antarctique Passage de Drake watches that sold out in 30 minutes. The latter was an eye-opener to us, as spending roughly €20,000 for a watch that you haven’t been able to see and try in the flesh was not an issue for 50 people. It would be amazing, however, if we could change that in the future. That enthusiasts and collectors could come to the Fratello office or a pop-up store, where they can see and try the watches in the flesh and then pre-order them.
AI: When you look at the watch industry, what do you see as the most pressing challenges facing watch brands in the next few years?
RB: Luxury brands need to become more personal. Being on eye-level with their customers. Brands want (and will need) to have a direct relationship with customers. How are they going to solve this? Events are a nice way to get in touch with your clients, but they aren’t the solution to everything. Building up a proper CRM is the most obvious and effective manner, and brands still lack this capacity. Almost unbelievable in 2021. I bought a number of things from the same brand, but in different boutiques around the world, for example – and I was in none of their systems. That doesn’t make sense to me, and it is a missed opportunity to stay connected with me. I think a lot of watch brands, especially the big ones, need to gear up with these obvious solutions that other (luxury) industries adopted a long time ago. For example, I bought a Rimowa suitcase from their boutique. Before I got home, I had an e-mail to thank me for the purchase, and an e-mail that explained the steps to get extended warranty. I’ve never received any email from a watch boutique after a purchase. It might give you the feeling they take your purchase for granted. And this is not new at all, for many years my car dealer has sent me personalized e-mails quite frequently about servicing, winter/summer tires, trade-in options, accessories, etc. Luxury watch brands should check what their follow-up looks like with its customers, I think they’ll be in shock.
Omega Speedy Tuesday Ultraman ref. 311.12.42.30.01.001.041
AI: Is there any brand that you believe is on the right path? That stands out?
RB: I think the smaller and independent brands are ahead of the big brands. Already over a decade ago, brands like Linde Werdelin were very much in touch with its customer and fan base. For bigger brands, things seem to move slower. But here I must state the obvious, that Omega did a tremendous job by embracing the #SpeedyTuesday community. Other brands did similar things, like Panerai with the Paneristi, which was the first large community for a single brand. Grand Seiko has — in some countries — its own fan club called GS9. I also noticed that a brand like Breitling is on top of its community, with CEO Georges Kern posting and commenting personally on Instagram. It makes these luxury brands feel more personal to their fanbase. And as a luxury watch brand in this day and age, having fans is key.
AI: What do you think of the prospects for independent brands?
RB: I could be mistaken, but it felt like the interest in independent brands decreased for a little while right before COVID-19 came along. But during the pandemic, it seems that the interest in independent brands was — or is — bigger than ever. Perhaps it is because people are fed up with certain big brands incapable of delivering watches to the right persons, or that the watch enthusiasts have a bit more time on their hands to really dive into these independent brands. Perhaps because the independent brands have also gotten more creative during the pandemic and found new ways to connect to watch enthusiasts. Whatever it may be, they are high in demand and it is much deserved. These indie brands often have something to offer that big brands simply do not, as indies don’t have to make so many compromises.
RJ wearing the Oris Big Crown Bronze ‘Fratelloris’
Oris Big Crown Bronze ‘Fratelloris’
AI: And what about a brand that is close to both of our hearts, Seiko. There has been a recent growth in interest in Seiko – even reflected in searches on Google that have blown up for terms like “what is a Seiko worth” since the pandemic began in 2020. What do you think this upwards trend means for the brand? Have you noticed the same thing?
RB: Seiko has always been big for Fratello. We love Seiko as they offer a lot of bang for the buck. Even with the recent price increases, they are still incredibly interesting watches. However, we also noticed that Seiko has made some strange decisions in recent times, for example to create regular editions of former limited editions, with just two or three months in between. Those kinds of things don’t sit well with the watch community. What I do like and appreciate about Seiko are the variations they keep introducing. It keeps collecting fun.
AI: What would you say about the market for vintage Seiko, that has also seen an increase in interest?
RB: Well, when prices increase, you will also see some sleezy behavior by people who try to take your money with ‘franken’ watches. We’ve seen that with other brands in the past. But here comes the issue with vintage Seiko, for example. Many of these vintage Seiko watches were just used for many years, decades even, without having them serviced. Generally speaking, these watches were never priced on the same level as Rolex, for example, so a periodical service would be an expensive exercise for most owners. If they already were aware of the need of servicing mechanical watches. To cut a long story short, many of the 30-40-50-year-old Seiko watches — sometimes even older — are pretty worn out when it comes to the movement. And as you probably know, it isn’t always easy to get spare parts, if available at all. I would definitely take that into account before spending chunks of money on a vintage Seiko (or any other brand by the way).
Many Speedmasters in the mix
AI: And finally, in relation to watch media, which medium do you think is the most important for a watch media business? Having Instagram followers? Youtube views? Or perhaps traffic to a webpage?
RB: That, in the end, depends on what your goals are as watch media. We have the most reach with our website, around a million sessions per month, and that is to us the most important channel. We own and control the website and all its content, something you don’t have with YouTube or Instagram. I believe that video is the content of tomorrow, after Google, people use YouTube as a ‘search engine’. We only recently started to experiment with video, trying to get the quality as high as the content on our website. It’s a very different dynamic, but we will get there, I am convinced. Instagram is important without a doubt, it did miracles for us with the #SpeedyTuesday community. The #SpeedyTuesday tag has been used nearly 300,000 times on Instagram and is increasing rapidly. We are currently in the process of hiring a full-time employee to only manage our Fratello Instagram account, which shows you how important we think it is.
Thank you for the interesting insights and for speaking with us today, Robert-Jan.