As the year draws to a close, it is time to look back at some of our favorite Sunday Morning Showdowns of 2025. The series has become a Fratello tradition by now. Every Sunday morning, two Fratello writers go head to head, defending their watches of choice. This year, we have witnessed another series of entertaining battles, which have led to heated debates in the comments section. This makes Sunday Morning Showdown not only a writer’s favorite but also a format that you, the Fratelli, seem to love. Thanks to that, it’s great fun coming up with a pairing of watches every week, writing the article, and reading your opinions. In this overview, we’ll look back at a small selection of the most remarkable battles of 2025.
Just like most of you, many Fratello writers are enjoying a much-deserved holiday break. It’s been a long and intense year full of exciting releases, which served as fuel for the many matchups that we devised for our Sunday Morning Showdown series. In this article, I will recap some of the standout battles of 2025. If you want to see all the articles in one place, you can find them here. First, here are some quick stats and thoughts. We had a total of 49 showdowns in the past year. As always, some matchups were per your request, while others resulted from discussions during our weekly editorial meetings.
The Speedmaster is a Sunday Morning Showdown staple
Most of our matchups saw Thomas and Daan battling each other or Mike and yours truly vying for victory. Thomas had the upper hand for a long time in his and Daan’s battles, but toward the end of the year, Daan took some sweet wins. Mike and I saw a very balanced string of results after you voted. The most featured model in the past year was the Omega Speedmaster. That should not come as a surprise here on Fratello. Then again, as you will see, it was not just one Speedy but several iterations that were part of the series. But that’s enough general talk; let’s now look at some of the most remarkable showdowns of the past 12 months. I have selected them based on the biggest win/loss ratios or the most comments, the most views, and the most remarkable pairings.
January 26th: Omega Speedmaster Moonphase Meteorite vs. Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Control Chronograph Calendar (19% – 81%)
Let’s kick our overview off with the biggest win of the year. We have two of those because two showdowns showed precisely the same result. The first of the two saw a Speedmaster take a severe beating early in the year. In this early matchup, the then-new Speedmaster Moonphase Meteorite went up against the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Control Chronograph Calendar. While a win for the Master Control was always in the books, we never expected it to take 81% of the votes versus 19% for the Speedy. It further solidifies that this specific Speedmaster is an acquired taste.
February 9th: Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 16202 vs. Vacheron Constantin Historiques 222
A remarkable result early in the year was the stainless steel Vacheron Constantin Historiques 222’s victory over the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 16202. The Royal Oak is generally considered the watch that defined the category. Additionally, Audemars Piguet did a commendable job updating the Royal Oak’s design and movement in 2022. As it turns out, though, it lost in a close battle, taking 47% of the votes versus 53% for the 222. As the writer who made a case for the Vacheron, I was happy to take the win, especially because the watch is one of my five favorites of this year. It’s great to see that this Jörg Hysek-designed classic in steel gets a lot of love here on Fratello, and it makes us excited to cover any follow-up that may come out.
March 23rd: Mido Multifort 8 Two Crowns vs. Baltic Aquascaphe Dual-Crown
All of this year’s battles ended with a winner…except for one. In a battle of the dual-crown dive watches, we ended up with a tie between the Mido Multifort 8 Two Crowns and the Baltic Aquascaphe Dual-Crown. The two watches are rather different. The Mido is a modern, angular diver, while the Baltic draws inspiration from classic Super Compressor divers of the past. The comments seemed to show that the Baltic seemed like the clear favorite, but the voting resulted in a perfect tie between the two. It goes to show that the silent majority doesn’t always follow the preferences of the people who discuss the watch in the comments section.
May 11th: Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch vs. Rolex Cosmograph Daytona
In May, Mike and I faced off in a battle of the iconic chronographs. I made a case for last year’s white-dial Moonwatch, whereas Mike tried to convince you to pick the white-dial Daytona. In the end, the Speedy took the win with a comfortable 65% of the votes versus 35% for the Daytona. Some commenters stated that Fratello is Speedy Country, which is indeed true. But what if I told you that a Speedmaster made five appearances in this series and lost three of the five battles? It goes to show that a win for Omega’s iconic chronograph is not a sure thing. But against the Daytona, the white-dial Speedy took a clear win.
June 1st: Rolex Oyster Perpetual 36 “Lavender” vs. Grand Seiko “Kiri” SBGW323
While battles between Omega and Rolex are always close, the Genevan brand usually takes home a lot of wins in the Sunday Morning Showdown series. But this year was somewhat different because Rolex also lost to other brands. An example was the battle of the purple-dial daily wearers. In this showdown, the Rolex Oyster Perpetual 36 “Lavender” lost to the charming Grand Seiko “Kiri” SBGW323. The comments section seemed to indicate that the Oyster Perpetual would be the favorite. However, the votes told us something different once more. It was remarkable to see that the manual-winding Grand Seiko beat the entry-level Rolex, taking 59% of the votes versus 41%. While we would not call it a landslide, it is a clear victory for the Grand Seiko SBGW323.
June 29th: Christopher Ward C60 Trident Lumière vs. TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 200 Solargraph
In a battle of lightweight summer divers, we were surprised to see the Christopher Ward C60 Trident Lumière outperform the TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 200 Solargraph. Sure, we know that a mechanical watch often has the upper hand in a battle with a quartz watch. But Daan made a good point that the Aquaracer’s movement takes a worry-free summer watch to the next level. I, however, mentioned the incredible lume performance of the C60 Trident Lumière as the ultimate summer party trick. Its Globolight hands and markers are something else in terms of reading the time in the dark. Ultimately, the Trident received 61% of the votes, leaving the Aquaracer with 39%. It was a statement win for Christopher Ward against a famous heavy hitter like TAG Heuer.
August 31st: Rolex Submariner 16610 vs. Omega Seamaster 2254.50
The last day of August saw two classics go up against each other. In fact, the battle between the Rolex Submariner 16610 and the Omega Seamaster ref. 2254.50 became the most read Sunday Morning Showdown of 2025. This battle between classic dive watches turned out to be the perfect summer matchup for our readers, as you showed up in the tens of thousands. In the end, the Seamaster took the win with 57% of the votes versus 43% for the Submariner. We know that the Omega Seamaster 2254.50 — a watch that Fratello’s Nacho owns and proudly wears frequently — is a popular timepiece, but its triumph over the classic Submariner ref. 16610 was proof that it is even more popular than we thought.
October 5th: Tudor 1926 Luna vs. Longines Flagship Heritage Moonphase
In October, Tudor released its first-ever model with a moonphase complication. It’s safe to say that almost no one saw that coming! We decided to pit it against the more classic Longines Flagship Heritage Moonphase. As it turns out, the Fratelli are not fans of the new Tudor because Longines won this battle in a landslide victory. This was the second battle won with the biggest margin seen this year. The Longines ended up taking the win with 81% of the votes, leaving the Tudor with only 19%. I tried my best to make it a close call, but the votes were loud and clear: this is not Tudor’s next big hit among Fratello readers.
November 23rd: Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M vs. Rolex Submariner ref. 124060
In all honesty, I did not expect to take a win while I was making a case for the brand-new Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M against the Rolex Submariner ref. 124060. The introduction article revealed that many people had a lot to say about the new generation of Seamaster Planet Ocean models. And you weren’t done after the introductory article that Nacho wrote. This heated battle was the showdown with the most comments by far. The discussions were plentiful, with a total of 177 comments, and they were lively too. From discussions about the Submariner’s caliber to its superior status as a classic and to the new design of the Seamaster Planet Ocean, it was a fun read. Thanks for engaging so passionately!
December 7th: Zenith Chronomaster Original vs. Omega Speedmaster FOiS
Another remarkable result emerged in the second-to-last showdown of this year, which revealed that a win for Speedy is not the standard in our Sunday Morning Showdowns. In this specific battle, the second-generation Omega Speedmaster FOiS lost to the Zenith Chronomaster Original. The two blue-dial chronographs were entangled in a fierce battle that ended in a win for the Zenith with 53% of the votes versus 47% for the Speedmaster. It was another battle I was happy to win, although I do love both of these watches. However, the outcome shows that while Speedmasters were the most common contenders in our Sunday Morning Showdown series this year, they didn’t achieve a clean sweep of victories. It makes this series less predictable and, therefore, all the more fun!
Looking forward to Sunday Morning Showdown in 2026…
There you have it — an overview of the most popular, most commented-on, and most heated Sunday Morning Showdowns of 2025. We always enjoy writing this series, and on behalf of the entire Fratello editorial team, I want to thank you for participating every weekend in the voting and the discussions in the comments section. We will continue the series with more new battles every Sunday next year. On top of that, Rolex and Omega will be battling it out again to become the king of showdowns in 2026. Lastly, if you want to see certain watches go head to head in the new year, feel free to suggest more matchups in the comments section below. For now, we wish you all a happy new year and hope to see you in 2026 for more Sunday Morning Showdown fun!