A?world-timer?is perhaps the most practical complication of modern time. We travel around the world, our friends and sometimes also family life in different time zones. It’s just one step before we need migrate to the moon and need a star timer, so for now a good?world-timer?will do.?Montblanc understood the necessity of world-timers and two entirely new models. Let me introduce the Montblan...
At SIHH 2013, Piaget's in-house constructed minute repeater, their first minute repeater, made its debut.? Not only is it a first for Piaget, but the watch holds two firsts in the watch world: thinnest movement (4.8mm) and thinnest case (9.4mm). Let’s have a closer look at the spectacular Piaget Emperador Coussin ultra-thin minute repeater. That kind of slenderness is good looking, super-mod...
Montblanc comes with a new variation on the iconic Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph, with an absolutely brilliant way to indicate time. The hour indication is not just a 12-hour indication, it immediately makes clear wether it’s day or night.I guess it’s safe to assume that you know the Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec by now and if not, please check out the review that I did (click here). A per...
Like last year – and the year before that – my friend at Montblanc asked me to come and join them for the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie again. Of course, this is an opportunity that I can’t let go, so I happily accepted!?Montblanc CEO, mister Lutz Bethge, was so kind to spent some time with me and tell you about the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie and how ...
Tomorrow, at the start of the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, short SIHH, IWC will launch their newest models of the Ingenieur collection. Today we’ll have a look at the previous love-baby of IWC and AMG. Indeed AMG, the the guys that make every Mercedez-Benz roar like no other sports car! In 2004 they joined forces, which led to the Ingenieur AMG that IWC introduced in 2005 toge...
Today Omega announced a watch that is resistant to magnetic fields greater than 1.5 tesla (15,000 gauss)!! That’s a lot and any normal watch will stop immediately when exposed to this level of magnetism.?For comparison, a watch is considered anti-magnetic when it can withstand 60 Milgauss and the Milgauss is designed to withstand a?magnetic flux density of 1,000 gauss. Omega’s new mo...
In Kurt Vonnegut's novel, Cat's Cradle he wrote of a mysterious substance Ice 9 that could in fact FREEZE any organic substance it came into contact with! A single molecule of Ice 9 could have set off a chain reaction of frosty crystallization that would have ended all life on Earth! When I bought my Seiko SBDC007 it had a similar effect on my entire collection! It froze them all in their tracks a...
An outrageous idea that a watchmaker dreams up, and developing it into a fully functional timepiece really inspires me. Take for instance the Oculus-mechanism in the Valbray V.01 or the liquid hour marker in the HYT H1 are perfect examples of such out-of-the-box creativity. Richard Mille in its own right, is a brand not shy of pushing the proverbial envelope as well. Always innovative, always crea...
Sunday, so time for Monochrome’s Weekly Watch Photo. Like last week (check here) it’s a cooperation with AskMen and this week I’m putting one of my dream watch in the spotlight. All photos are made by Tony from Halfpastthehour.?When I first discovered watches, and, in particular, mechanical watches, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Perpetual made a lasting impression. And I had no clu...
There has been a much publicized concern within the watch industry about over reliance on one or two key suppliers of components. Some companies have addressed this by purchasing their own case makers, developing their own movements and seeking greater independence.?Chopard, the family owned concern, has sought vertical integration, with virtually all components being made in- house.?I recently to...
Recreating the ubiquitous association between Longines and aviation that existed at the close of the 1920s requires a dash of H.G. Wells' time travel and an active imagination, maybe even some psychotherapy.?When psychologists use a word association test, they ask you to name the first word that comes to mind. For example, when I hear the word ocean, I think of the Caribbean. Common pairings, howe...
In previous years I tried to nominate my personal choice of best watches in several price categories. Since Monochrome usually covers watches above 10k, it was an unfair competition in that highest segment of the market, so this year I’ll refrain from that approach.?What I’ll do is go through the best and/or most desirable watches and I’ll motivate my choice. Of course everything...
The AHCI candidate members and brothers, John and Stephen McGonigle have turned a central Irish town into a haven for high horology and a passion for the sea into a muse!All literature as we know it today boils down to traditional story telling; taking what is and distilling it into a form that makes it appealing so that the moral will last for generations to come. Homer's Odyssey is the product o...
Audemars Piguet has quite an active video channel on Youtube and their latest video struck me like lighting. Just like when I saw the new Audemars Piguet Royal Oak ref. 15202 at the SIHH earlier this year. That caused me to buy a vintage Royal Oak ref. 5402, nicknamed Jumbo.?This photo shows the sheer beauty of the Royal Oak’s dial and personally I have a preference for the 15202’s dia...
When Evan told me he wanted to write about a collector’s meeting in Manila, dedicated to the 50th birthday of the Heuer Autavia, I just had to say yes. A vintage Heuer Autavia was my first ‘expensive’ watch and I’m still the proud owner of a piece of history. Monochrome is usually dedicated to pure Haute Horlogerie, however I also have a weak spot for certain vintage watche...
There are a few conventions in watchmaking that have existed for centuries. One is that all-mechanical watches need a crown for winding and setting. Marc Jenni didn't see it quite that way and found a lateral' solution to a circular problem.Sometimes in life it's easier to just go with the flow and accept things for what and how they are. To fall back on tradition! Then again, sometimes it's just ...
We are fast approaching the holiday season. ?With it comes the promise of seeing family and all your favorite foods and festive, joyous decorations. ?Oh, and then there is the unbearable agony of having to figure out what to get for your wife or girlfriend!If we revisit the past HIBAW articles I've introduced handbags, scarves and bracelets to the list of things that can be readily had and used to...
When Habring2 introduced the Doppel 2.0 they could not have imagined the immense success they had with this model. It sold out in a blink of an eye and on top of that?they?won the Sports Watch Prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Geneve 2012. 20 Years ago Richard Habring was responsible for developing the doppelchrono for IWC and now it is patent-free, wife and?business partner?Maria and ...
Early 2013 Vacheron Constantin opens a new boutique in Paris at 2 Rue de la Paix.?To celebrate the opening of?the Paris boutique, five Vacheron Constantin watch owners draw on their personal history and lifestyle to illustrate the values they share with Vacheron Constantin.Photographer?Thierry des Ouches, they tell us about their watch, their Paris and their love of the exceptional. The result is ...
Usually when talking about auctions, it is about some extremely rare Patek Philippe watch or a timepiece that was once owned by a famous person, like the auction of Steve McQueen’s Heuer Monaco?or Alain Delon’s Audemars Piguet Royal Oak.??Tomorrow Antiquorum will auction 28 Panerai timepieces, almost all Special Editions and Limited Editions, making this a rather?rare opportunity to fi...
Last week Lange & Sohne released a, for them, rather unusual timepiece. During a trip to the beautiful towns of Dresden and Glashutte, the new timepiece was revealed to the international press. Although differences with the regular Grand Lange 1 might seem minimal, the new Gand Lange 1 “Lumen” has a very different look.?The?hands, hour and minute markers, date and power reserve mar...
I am going to cover yet another one of those brands that few people are familiar with, but will most certainly appeal to the engineer in all of us. A contemporary brand launched just a couple of years ago but with true passion coursing through their veins. Besides the engineering part, one can also find a fair bit of humor in their latest iteration.The story behind the brand is almost like a what ...
Like I already announced last Saturday, when I wrote about the new Ingenieur Automatic, IWC is seriously redesigning their Ingenieur Collection. Today we can show you the Ingenieur Chronograph Racer, that, like the Ingenieur AMG Black Series, results from the cooperation with Mercedes AMG Petronas.The?Ingenieur Chronograph Racer ?is powered by the IWC in-house automatic flyback chronograph calibre...
The two most import catalysts for the development of aviation watches were early aviation record attempts and war. World War I finds watch development between the pocket watch and the new wristlets with the British issuing pilots pocket watches. British Mark IV.A and Mark V pocket watches are an example of WW1 military aviation.World War I conjures childhood images of bi-planes fitted with a machi...
In this week’s Weekly Watch Photo we show you a so-called mood-photo of the new IWC Ingenieur Automatic AMG Series. Like the Ingenieur Automatic 40mm that we showed you yesterday, this is another new version for the fully revamped Ingenieur collection and features a rounded ceramic bezel.Because IWC hasn’t officially released the news, we’re looking at the IWC in-house forum for ...
While it’s more then 1,5 month to go to the SIHH 2013, new models are being released almost daily. And so does IWC… however they don’t simply introduce a new model, no, they complete revamp an entire collection, like they did last year with the Pilot’s Collection.This year it’s the Ingenieur Collection and the best news is the (re-)introduction of the new Ingenieur Au...
Another pre-SIHH release today and one that has long been expected. Just two months ago, in September, Panerai released the??Panerai Luminor 1950 Rattrapante 8 Days Special Edition PAM00427,?which is virtually the same watch, although the new doesn’t have?the engraved case back and is no Special Edition. I’m pleased that Panerai decided to make a similar watch available to more Panerai...
Imagine a timepiece that indicates time at the speed of your desire. Just because. That timepiece is Hublot’s second Masterpiece MP-02, the Key of Time.?Of course the Key of Time also indicates time as we know it, but additionally it allows for speeding up the time by 4 times or to slow it down 4 times. The basic idea is that you can enjoy certain moment longer or make other moment pass by f...
Our guest contributor Angus Davies gets all poetic today. That’s what a mix of cold and rainy autumn weather and the sight of the beautiful and elegant Vacheron Constantin Historiques Aronde 1954 does…I am sitting at my desk looking through a rain soaked window. My heart is tinged with melancholy. The prospect of winter is somewhat foreboding. I know the cold weather is coming, prolong...
Today’s Weekly Watch Photo features photos of the Ma?tres du Temps Chapter Two TRC, again. Back in September I already showed you some photos of the new Chapter Two TRC, photographed by Ming Thein. A few weeks ago, at SalonQP in London, I ran into Steven Holzman, founder and CEO of Ma?tres du Temps, and he told me that he had more of these beautiful photos. Since the Weekly Watch Photo is ma...