The XPS by Chopard has been one of the best examples of the modern, chic, ultra-thin watch for over 20 years now. Elegant, beautifully crafted with great mechanics, one could regret a certain lack of audacity in the design, with most of the pieces being quite minimalistic. While keeping the L.U.C codes alive, Chopard brings a fresher take on the model as a preview of Baselworld 2019. Meet the?Chop...
125 years ago, a Swiss watch manufacture started to use its commercial name and became one of the most iconic, most sought-after names in the industry. Not a new brand per se, this watch manufacture took its name from its emblematic movement, a 19-ligne hand-wound calibre fitted in pocket watches: the Calibre Omega. As you’ve guessed, the name Omega celebrates its 125th anniversary today, an...
Last year, Omega took a deep breath and plunged into one of its most iconic collections, the Seamaster Diver 300M – a 25-year-old icon, worn by none other than 007 himself (hence its nickname, the “James Bond Watch“) positioned as the entry-level watch to Omega’s divers. The 2018 model was an instant hit, which offered great value for the money and superb mechanics/construc...
Following our series of articles about the “Online Watch Market“, we take a look at a player with an original business model in this ultra-competitive market: Troverie. Its idea is to make things easy and secure, being backed by the original manufacturers’ guarantee. Peter Kramer, their COO, shares with us what differentiates Troverie?from other online watch retailers and his amb...
The launch of the Code 11.59 collection is a crucial moment for Audemars Piguet. There has been no product launch of this magnitude over the past 20 years for the brand. In this respect, the Code collection presentation was the perfect opportunity to introduce a long-anticipated development that was announced a few years ago: the Audemars Piguet Calibre 4400, an in-house, integrated chronograph mo...
As part of its pre-SIHH 2019 novelties, IWC presented a pilot’s chronograph –?the?Pilot's Watch Chronograph Spitfire Bronze?– with plenty of reasons to love. “Vintaged”, smaller than the previous Pilot’s Chrono, equipped with a new manufacture movement and with a cool green dial and bronze case combination, it made quite an impression on us. However, bronze isn&...
2018 was the year of the ultra-thin watch. No debate! Piaget and Bvlgari, which engaged in the battle for ultra-thin?a couple of years ago, literally smashed one record after another in less than two months. The final word, however, went to the Roman brand, which introduced the ultra-impressive Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Automatic at Baselworld 2018. After winning the thinness record, Bvlgari has d...
Nicolas Baretzki, CEO of Montblanc, describes 2019 as a year that “will complete a chapter we started writing in 2015”. Referring to the full integration of Montblanc and Minerva, the brand will be “reworking all the product lines from a Minerva approach”.Focusing on two product lines, the Heritage Collection inspired by Minverva chronographs from the 1940s and 1950s, and t...
Vacheron Constantin's very own customisation department – Les Cabinotiers – has created a one-of-a-kind timepiece that perpetuates the brand’s longstanding tradition of combining sophisticated horological complications. ?Following the release of the Mecaniques Sauvages animal-themed collection, the Grande Complication Phoenix, and the Minute Repeater Tourbillon Sky Chart,? Vacher...
In our latest video coverage of SIHH 2019, our editor-in-chief Frank Geelen sits down with Wilhelm Schmid, CEO of A. Lange & Sohne. Find out which of the five watches unveiled during the SIHH 2019 will go down as collector's pieces, and why 2019 is such a special year for some models of the Saxon brand. The star of the SIHH 2019 is the Lange 1 25th Anniversary, the brand's undisputed icon for ...
This year Vacheron Constantin looks to elevate its luxury sports watch to a new level with the introduction of a popular complication. For the first time, the iconic Overseas collection will include a self-winding tourbillon movement. You won't find it wrapped up in precious metal though. Keeping with the sports watch ethos, VC will offer this beauty in a stainless steel, ultra-thin case. Read on ...
This year is all about the pilot watch for IWC. As usual, there is a mix of standard, non-limited models as well as a couple of over the top limited editions. Like this Big Pilot's Watch Constant-Force Tourbillon Edition Le Petit Prince. The watch we're looking at today falls into this latter category, although it perhaps not quite as unorthodox. This is the Pilot's Watch Perpetual Calendar Chrono...
First introduced in 2016, the Executive Skeleton Tourbillon was an audacious combination of classic watchmaking codes with a hyper-modern, sporty and radically skeletonised dial. It also marked the brand's first attempt to position its products at more competitive prices and play to a younger, slightly hipper crowd. Priced at CHF 38,000 back in 2016, the good news for fans of the brand is that UN ...
In our latest video coverage of SIHH 2019, Jean-Marc Pontroue of Panerai explains why the Submersible has become a stand-alone line and why offering experiences' to owners of new Submersible watches is the way forward for the brand.It's the year of the Submersible watch at Panerai. Having long been a successful sub-segment of the Luminor collection, the Submersible is now stepping out as an indivi...
Introduced in 2016, the?Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon?ranks among A. Lange & Sohne’s most complex watches – together?with the 2017?Tourbograph Perpetual Pour le Merite and the 2018 Triple Split.? Featuring a flyback chronograph, a perpetual calendar with moon?phases, an outsize date, and a one-minute tourbillon discreetly integrated on the back – there are lots of goodies in...
If you've seen the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun, you're familiar with the Naval Fighter Weapons School for elite pilots, established in Southern California in 1969. IWC has paid homage to?Top Gun since 2007 and is releasing its latest three-hand automatic in the series with a new movement and a matte black ceramic case. Launched simultaneously with the new Pilot's Watch Automatic Spitfire, the TOP GUN...
For the SIHH 2019, Montblanc introduces a completely revamped “Heritage” collection. Hardly a newcomer, the Heritage collection already houses models such as the Heritage Spirit Pulsograph?or the?Heritage Perpetual Calendar. The latter became the talking piece at the SIHH 2014, positioning itself at that time as the most affordable QP on the market. Having a redesigned collection is on...
We continue with our live feed of videos focused on the SIHH 2019, with a closer look at one of the most impressive brands this year, Vacheron Constantin. Without revealing every single detail, the brand has released a truly astonishing watch – technical, novel, beautiful. In order to give an overview of the 2019 collection and of this new “Twin Beat” watch, we have Christian Sel...
Gerald Genta needs little introduction to watch aficionados. This legendary watch designer created some of the most striking timepieces in modern history – under his own name or commissioned by famous brands including Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, IWC, Universal Geneve, Cartier and many more During the 1970s, with the Royal Oak (and later with the Nautilus or the Ingenieur) he revolutioni...
With the SIHH 2019 in full swing, it is time for MONOCHROME to bring you the novelties of this year live, and not only with articles and photos but also with videos. To start with we have?Christoph Grainger-Herr, CEO of IWC Watches, explaining all you need to know about the 2019 collection – which, you might have guessed, is focused on pilot’s watches.Pilot’s watches are one of t...
In our third video direct from the SIHH 2019, we talk to Patrick Pruniaux, CEO of Ulysse Nardin, to find out what the highlights are for the brand this year. According to Pruniaux, this year the focus is most emphatically on continuity.Like many brands at the SIHH 2019, Ulysse Nardin is sailing in familiar seas and sticking to products that have worked well in the past. Introduced in 2001, the Fre...
This year, Vacheron Constantin will introduce striking blue dials to its popular FIFTYSIX collection. While it may be an obvious iteration for the brand, it is certainly not an unwelcome one, adding another element to Vacheron's entry-level offering. Today, we're taking a quick look at the new FIFTYSIX Self-Winding and FIFTYSIX Complete Calendar dressed in blue.By way of a quick refresher, Vachero...
It is hard to believe that Lange’s most daring watch, the Zeitwerk, was launched back in 2009. Several variants have been added to the collection since, all with chiming complications – Striking Time, Minute Repeater, Decimal Strike. On the occasion of its tenth anniversary, Lange's first mechanical wristwatch with a precisely jumping digital display is endowed with a new manufacture c...
As part of its thematic focus on Pilot’s Watches for the SIHH 2019,? IWC resurrects one of its signature complications, a device that was used in the past on pilot’s watches, the UTC for “Universal Time Coordinated” – a watch also known as the TZC for “Time Zone Corrector”. A practical?dual-time watch, which is easy to use and fitted with clever features, ...
With its focus on military/pilot watches for the SIHH 2019, IWC has launched two 3-hand pilot's watches under the Spitfire sub-range. These could have been simple evolutions of the standard Pilot's Watch Mark XVIII, but there are multiple updates on the model and all models will coexist alongside the Mark XVIII. In the same vein as the?Bronze Chronograph unveiled a few weeks ago, meet the smaller ...
In recent years Montblanc has made a concerted effort to remind watch lovers everywhere of its rich history with Minerva, the Villeret-based manufacture that it owns and that is known for its incredibly beautiful chronograph movements. Now, Montblanc further underscores that commitment to integrating Minerva's finest handcraftsmanship with its state-of-the-art watchmaking to create new Heritage pi...
It looks like 2019 is geared to become the Year of the Submersible watch for Panerai, a rugged professional diver that perpetuates the spirit of the brand's historic role as a supplier of underwater instruments for commandos of the Italian Navy. So far at the SIHH 2019 we've seen two other Submersible novelties - Marina Militare and Luna Rossa –? rigged for action in XXL Carbotech cases. The...
Panerai sticks to its nautical roots and Italian identity with another watch dedicated to high-adrenaline maritime pursuits. In this case, Panerai celebrates its new role as the official sponsor of the Luna Rossa, the Challenger of Record of the 36th Edition of the America’s Cup.? The partnership with the Italian team is the perfect occasion for Panerai to unveil a new collection of watches ...
After a few years of producing technically ‘tame’ watches, TAG Heuer is back at the innovation workbench. After all, TAG?means “Techniques d’Avant-Garde” and there was a time when the brand was ultra-active in the field of high-frequency.?Combining watchmaking with scientific discovery, TAG Heuer introduces a state-of-the-art carbon hairspring in the latest interpreta...
Here’s a very special one. The new Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle Twin Beat Perpetual Calendar comes with a normal power reserve of 4 days, however, when put in so-called “Standby Mode” and the movement switches to a lower frequency, the power reserve is jacked up to no less than 65 days! That’s a great feature for when you want to store your perpetual calendar without ...