Here at Monochrome-Watches, we have a special attraction for Tudor. We may love for its serious and highly qualitative creations, Tudor ( ’s sister company) created some interesting, affordable, very well finished and mainly, really cool watches recently – such as the Heritage Black Bay Blue, the Heritage Ranger or the Heritage Chrono. Thus, there was no reason for us not to try to p...
England might not instantly leap out as a natural ancestral home for a new watchmaking company, but for Garrick and its owner David Brailsford, the location of its centre of operations was never in question. Watchmaking has a rich historical connection with England, and back when the foundations of the science were being established, the city of London was at the forefront of technical innovation ...
De Bethune is known for its groundbreaking technological innovations – the company holds a number of patents – and also for its quite remarkable design. Both the technical aspects, as wel as the aesthetics, can be seen as an eclectic mix of classic Haute Horlogerie and state-of-art futuristic mechanics. Style-wise they probably lean more towards classic and certainly cannot be called s...
The Royal Oak, Audemars Piguet’s best seller, is used (and abused for some watch lovers) for?many editions, going from the classical and faithful Ultra-Thin 15202ST, to bulky chronographs or a sumptuous Grande Complication. It’s even the base used by AP for their R&D watches, as the Acoustic Research Concept proves it. We told you: use and abuse. It is thus totally understandable t...
As every object located on earth, a watch is subjected?to several forces. Together with magnetic fields, the worst enemy of an escapement is gravity, a force?strong enough to deregulate a watch if it remains constantly in the same position. In order to counteract this undesirable effect, a well-known watchmaker named Abraham-Louis Breguet created the tourbillon. This was a perfect ally to pocket w...
A few weeks before the 2015 Edition of the SIHH, Audemars-Piguet introduced something highly interesting, a pure concept watch with a single aim: being the Minute Repeater 2.0. based on the now famous Royal Oak Concept case, this watch summarizes 8 years of research and development, all devoted to improve the?volume, pitch, tones and harmony of sound of a minute repeater. However AP remains extrem...
James Bond is known for many attributes: he drives an Aston Martin, he wears tuxedos, he shoots his enemies with a Walter PPK… However what tickles our interest is, of course, the watches he wears. After sporting?a? Submariner, and later,?during?the 1980’s, a?Seiko that could perform many extraordinary tricks, he?has been waering?an?Omega Seamasters?for many years now.?For starters th...
You’re cordially invited to the Montblanc Black & White Weeks 2015: The perfect event (that usually is not open to the public) to learn everything about Montblanc’s newest timepieces, to see them and more important, to try them on your wrist. Montblanc agreed to let us invite you?for this exclusive evening, where all novelties can be seen before they arrive in stores. We got hold o...
The 2015 edition of the SIHH – Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie – is now behind us. As usual, it was an hectic week, full of novelties and horological sweetness. From all the brands exhibiting and all the watches we’ve seen, strapped, tested and photographed, we had to make our selection. 16 brands, more?than 50 main novelties versus a team of 7 passionate writers?with ...
The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso is an icon, a pure piece of?horological history, first created in 1931. For more than 80 years, Jaeger-LeCoultre had worked hard to keep this little piece of rotating metal on stage. Over?the years, we’ve seen multiple complications, multiple sizes or multiple limited editions. In 2011, the manufacture chose to re-introduce a superb and faithful edition of the ve...
In a year that saw the passing of Raymond Weil's founder and namesake, the company's strong offerings signaled an enduring legacy. Musical appreciation and the arts, a continuous symbiosis with the company, likely led them to describe the Raymond Weil Freelancer?Titanium Chronograph as mezzo-piano, moderately soft. After several weeks of wear, we might choose mezzo-forte, moderately loud, for the ...
What can we say about the?A. Lange & Sohne Datograph that hasn't already been said? Certainly one of the finest chronographs of all time, but?if you add a perpetual calendar to the package, what do you receive back? A superb, exclusive, technical and desirable timepiece. Is this QP edition better than the chronograph only? Maybe not. Anyway, the?A. Lange & Sohne Datograph Perpetual is pure...
You've seen the brand-new Mare Nostrum, and we showed you the CarboTech and here is the third instalment of the SIHH novelties by Panerai, the rather interesting Radiomir Firenze 3 Days Acciaio. It isn't highly complicated, nor does it come a brandspanking new material but a rather unique look, harking back to the birthplace of the brand. Here is the Panerai Radiomir Firenze 3 days Accacio 47mm PA...
As a watch journalist I’ve visited (quite) a number of manufactures and every time I look for unique properties of that specific manufacture. The manufactures that I visited most are Montblanc’s?manufacture in Villeret – that’s the old Minerva manufacture – and their other facility on Le Locle. Both are very different! The manufacture in Villeret always feels like you...
Panerai's roots are military, supplying diving watches to the Italian military during WWII. From this year's Mare Nostrum to last year's chronographs like the Radiomir 1940, the company extends the utility of its DNA into high-end watches. This year's Luminor Submersible 1950 Carbotech 3 Days Automatic, a mouthful to say, is no exception. The Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Day models are identifiable ...
The legendary Audemars Piguet Royal Oak is back in the game and will again make some noise. This watch, originally created in 1972 and designed by Gerald Genta, is an icon and AP knows that very well. Just look at the number of variations and special editions that have been created over the years and you’ll understand why the brand is so keen on this watch. No big novelties for the SIHH 2015...
Recently, we brought?you Vacheron Constantin’s main novelty, an entirely new collection named Harmony, recognizable by its vintage elements, its cushion-shaped case and its truly appealing look. We knew only from seeing the press photos and the specification sheets that these watches were highly interesting and technically advanced. It’s time for us now to confirm these feelings after ...
Anyone who has ever carved the snow on skis or hugged a turn's line in a sports car or caressed the slope of a woman's back will appreciate the curves in the Cle de Cartier. Cartier's iconic march of shapes from Santos to Tank to Rontonde arrives at a new simplicity of innovation, design and form.The hard lines of geometry and sharp edges found in many watches disappear, and this watch introduces...
Richard Mille have once again astounded the industry - this time with a new ladies watch, the RM 19-02 Tourbillon Fleur. Automaton? Poetic Complication? Call it what you will - it is a stunner.Last year had its fair share of floral themed ladies watches, including Breguet's Secret de la Reine, a particularly eye-pleasing Girard-Perregaux Cat's Eye model complete with an embroidery-like peony motif...
While using the auspice of their 75th jubilee to look back, IWC are also using it to stretch-out a bit and do a few new things. The new IWC Portuguese Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month Edition 75th Anniversary (hitherto fore denoted as the IWC PPC) takes the perpetual calendar function and lays it out plain and easy.All of us here love complicated watches, you could say it is what we live for ...
For 2015, Roger Dubuis focusses heavily on skeletonization, as becomes apparent with the introduction of the Excalibur Spider Double Flying Tourbillon. Every single watch prior to these new releases has been produced according to the strict specifications of the Poin?on de Geneve, and the new models are no exception. The Spider offers exceptional Horological techniques, with a superb contemporary ...
Vacheron Constantin is looking back on its remarkable 260 years of history, and offers a series of celebratory collections, such as the all-new Harmony collection and the two Metiers d'Art Mecaniques Gravees timepieces. The third offering cultivates on artisanal crafts gathered since their foundation in 1755. We give you the Vacheron Constatin Metiers d'Art Arca, a series of 12 unique table clocks...
IWC chose to use the 75th anniversary of the Portuguese line to introduce a model that takes its styling directly from the original model. Let us take a look at the modern reinterpretation of the Schaffhausen maker's most venerable lines.IWC is without question one of the most prestigious brands. The current identity of the brand is a balance between the heritage and style of traditional watchmaki...
We’ve already showed you some models?of Montblanc’s new?Heritage Chronometrie collection, like the?ExoTourbillon and Dual Time. This new collection also comprises a variety of calendar watches like the Montblanc Heritage Chronometrie Quantieme Annuel Vasco da Gama, which comes in a gold and a steel version. There’s also a non-limited Quantieme Annuel in stainless steel that we...
Panerai and the sea are eternally linked. This strong bond is imbedded within the DNA of the company right from the very beginning of its existence. The Panerai Marina Militare was the first truly underwater watch that was made?for the italian military divers to time accurately their operations during the WWII. Panerai is characterized for big watches, minimal in character and unique in appearance...
The Swiss maison of Vacheron Constatin celebrates its 260th anniversary, and already brought us the all-new Harmony Collection. Bearing the hallmarks of their Metiers d'Art collections, the Mecaniques Gravees 14 day Tourbillon and a hand wound non-tourbillon model feature fully hand-engraved movements inside classically styled cases, harking back to the very beginning of the brand, originally foun...
If you ask collectors which is the best ever chronograph, you’ll probably get 2 or 3 recurring answers: Daytona, Omega Speedmaster and A. Lange & Sohne Datograph. For sure, the two first watches are iconic and highly interesting. However,?when it comes to Haute Horlogerie matters and technically advanced movements, the one and only answer remaining is the Datograph. Already available i...
Alongside the consumer oriented watches, Cartier has another field of mastering: extremely complicated watches. Just take a look at the Astrontourbillon Skeleton,?the Tank MC Skeleton, the bunch of Tourbillon, minute repeaters or perpetual calendars in the catalog. We’re far from a simple – but?highly cool – Tank or Santos. For the 2015 edition of the SIHH, Cartier comes with som...
Just before this year’s SIHH started we had the chance to sit down with Jer?me Lambert, CEO of Montblanc. We’re talking with him about the third new collection that the brand launched since he joined the manufacture, in July of 2013, the integration of the two Montblanc manufactures and the brand new e-Strap that was launched on January 1st of this year. As of July 2013 Jer?me Lambert ...
On this first day of the SIHH we are already blown away by the vast amount of extremely impressive time pieces, and the new Lange & Sohne is no exception. The ‘normal’ Zeitwerk, as introduced in 2009, was in itself a magnificent masterpiece with most likely the easiest (ergonomically) way to read the time on a mechanical timepiece. A year later the German brand presented the Zeitwe...