The Aquis is, without doubt, one of the most accomplished and acclaimed collections by Oris. A modern, robust and well-equipped dive watch, it has long been available with an outsourced automatic movement by Sellita. Yet, Oris had different plans and recently introduced a manufacture movement to offer watch enthusiasts more power, higher accuracy, more reliability and magnetic resistance. This eng...
The Aqua Terra is basically Omega's all-rounder, a versatile watch that bridges formal and casual styles. Revamped in 2017, the Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra collection expands again with the introduction of no fewer than 19 new references. While it retains the familiar Aqua Terra flair, it now comes with a small seconds display. Introducing the new Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra Small Seconds 41mm in 18...
Presented in 2020, the Longines Spirit collection is a tribute to the pioneers who conquered the air, land and sea relying on their Longines time instruments. While it combines characteristic Longines and aviation design cues, this vintage-inspired line is not a re-edition and was created from scratch to celebrate this rich heritage. The collection comprises 40mm and 42mm time-and-date models and ...
Founded in 1948, Yema is probably one of the most revered French watchmaking brands with a longstanding history of diver’s watches. One of its most renowned models is the Superman, the first large-scale model with 300m water-resistance, a practical bezel-lock device and a very distinctive design launched in 1963. Yema has produced many reissues of its 1960s and 1970s dive watches in its Heri...
If you are in the market for a solid yet stylish 3-hand daily beater at an affordable price, the Certina DS-1 Powermatic 80 should be on your radar. This summer, the DS-1 returns with three new dial colours and interchangeable straps, one of them made from plastic recovered from the ocean. Like the DS-1 Big Date of 2019 designed to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Certina's DS (double security) c...
Kickstarter can be a beautiful way to launch a brand and it abounds with great and equally disappointing projects. From time to time, we see great campaigns surface and today is one of them, marked by a distinct French accent. France has a long history when it comes to watches and, specifically, dive watches. From Comex to Captain Cousteau, watches for professional divers are closely associated wi...
Yes, it’s June and the sunny days are back. This also means that many of us will enjoy some well-deserved holidays soon, as the situation seems to improve in most areas around the globe. Summer is synonymous with this light, carefree feeling that we’ve missed for some months, and it is time to enjoy it again! Summer is also synonymous with leisure activities and nights out, meaning tha...
The world of super-luxury cars is evolving fast. While a few years ago we had high-end car manufacturers offering bespoke services mostly for interiors and paint jobs, we are seeing a shift towards high-end manufactured coachbuilt cars by mainstream car brands again. Like in the early days of the automobile, more and more brands are now offering full bespoke services. The most recent announcement ...
Omega and specifically the Speedmaster are big in Japan. The Land of the Rising Sun is one of the most mature markets for watches, with highly seasoned collectors and a huge fan base for the Moonwatch. And today, we'll share more proof of this love for the Speedy. A 51-year-old professor, Eric M. Skier lives in Tokyo, Japan, and may be better known under his IG tag @Jewpanese.dude. His love for Om...
A co-president of Chopard, Karl-Friedrich Scheufele's passion for mechanical watches is only matched by his passion for collecting and racing vintage automobiles. What better setting could there be to indulge his two passions than Italy's famous 1000 Miglia car race? Since 1988 Chopard has been the official timekeeper and partner of the classic 1000 Miglia car race and releases new models to celeb...
Ulysse Nardin is no stranger to the aquatic world. If the brand has a long tradition of marine chronometers, it has also long been involved in dive watches as well as protection of the oceans and their population, specifically sharks – remember the multiple Hammerhead Shark editions done by the brand in past years. Now, as part of the celebration of World Ocean Day, the brand unveils a new m...
Longines is well-known for being one of the most prolific brands when it comes to paying tribute to its past, and reissuing some of its most glorious vintage models. All positioned under the “Heritage” collection, there is one watch in this range that made quite some noise when introduced back in 2019, the Longines Heritage Classic Sector Dial. Compact, faithful, elegant and playing on...
Anyone who visits the Raketa watch factory in Saint Petersburg will be surprised by the appearance of the machines in the main production hall. They seem to come from a different age. These days most watch factories use modern machinery with computerised numerical controls, but most of Raketa's machines still date back to Soviet times. As we've already seen when I wrote about my visit to the facto...
Back in 1972, Gucci was one of the first fashion houses to venture into watchmaking. Since then, the fashion powerhouse has been associated with accessible branded' fashion watches. On the occasion of its centenary, Gucci steps up its horological game announcing its entry into the world of luxury watchmaking. The new collection has been designed by creative director Alessandro Michele and features...
Founded by the Kurth brothers in 1888, Certina can look back on a rich history. Today Certina is a part of the mid-range brands of Swatch Group, which is also the entry-level to mechanical watches. Certina is catalogued in the Sports watch section, with a slight vintage flair. During the presentation of the brand's 2021 novelties in Geneva, we spent some time with the CEO of Certina Watches, Marc ...
As already reported with the Qatar Watch Club in recent years, there are more and more groups of watchmaking enthusiasts flourishing around the world, specifically in countries where horological culture is slightly more recent than in our old continent. These local initiatives to encourage collecting are a great way to generate passion and increase horological knowledge among their members. To cre...
The tourbillon… You've no doubt heard of it (you are a MONOCHROME reader after all), and perhaps you own a few, but why is it such an expensive feature? French for whirlwind, it's actually among the oldest of technical innovations, patented by Breguet in 1801 – although developed several years earlier, around 1795. It's simple in concept, with the balance wheel and escapement mounted i...
The global pandemic that hit the world in 2020 has had a massive impact on the watch industry, be it production, sales and obviously, events. Due to the sanitary situation, the two major fairs of the year, Watches & Wonders and Baselworld, had to be cancelled – at least the physical editions – leading the press and retailers to attend only digital presentations. The Geneva Watch Da...
On 1st June 1904, Oris was founded in the Swiss town of Holstein and named after a nearby brook. One hundred and seventeen years later, Oris equips its classic Big Crown Pointer Date model with a new in-house developed automatic movement known as Calibre 403. Sharing the same beefy five-day power reserve, impressive resilience to magnetism and ten-year warranty as the groundbreaking 2020 Calibre 4...
Today we have another review of a supremely elegant and refined watch by German watchmaker A. Lange & Sohne. And it is a rather special model that we have here, a highly understated watch, which comprises the very essence of Lange. While we have already video reviewed the most complex watch introduced for the 175th anniversary of watchmaking in Glashutte, the impressive Tourbograph Perpetual, ...
About a week ago, Tudor, the trendy and stronger-than-ever sister-brand of , presented a new watch, the Black Bay Ceramic. While good-looking and made from a material that is a first (almost) for the brand’s successful dive watch, there is much more behind this watch than just a new look. Tudor could have stopped its development here with this new ceramic model, and it would have been fine....
The Collector's Series focuses on a shared passion for watches. Stories from real people who tell us why they fell in love with a certain watch. This can be pretty much anything and doesn't necessarily have to be an ultra-complex, ultra-expensive, ultra-rare piece. It can also be a more widely available, attainable watch from a mainstream brand that just resonates with someone. For this, we though...
Presented in 2016, the Piaget Polo made quite some noise with its design, maybe slightly too conservative. Since then, the brand has worked hard on giving this collection more personality, more Piaget-ness so to speak. Following the initial time-and-date and chronograph models, we’ve seen Piaget Polo watches with colourful dials or contrasting bezel, and of course, earlier this year, the Pia...
The Aquanaut stands out for being a casual-chic Patek Philippe purpose-built for an active lifestyle. Introduced in 1997, It was the first Patek Philippe to feature a rubber strap, and it has been a staple for the brand ever since. In 2018 came the first Aquanaut with a chronograph movement with the reference 5968A. Following on what can be considered a blend of styles by Patek Philippe, the colle...
Frederique Constant expands its Highlife luxury sports watch collection by introducing a new Highlife Ladies Automatic collection for women. Available in steel or rose gold-plated cases and with or without diamonds set in the bezel, the 34mm Highlife Ladies models all come with an integrated bracelet and the brand's hallmark interchangeable bracelet system for added versatility. Frederique Constan...
During the digital edition of Watches & Wonders 2021, IWC presented two Big Pilot's models in sand-coloured ceramic cases: the Big Pilot's Watch TOP GUN Mojave Desert as well as a more complicated Perpetual Calendar model, which we covered in April. The Mojave Desert sand-coloured ceramic case theme took off in 2019 with a Pilot's Watch Chronograph TOP GUN. Although the TOP GUN family has alwa...
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche was a genius, a visionary. A man not weary of defying odds and venturing into the unknown. Not only is he the driving force behind the legendary Porsche 911 sports car, but he also brought us much, much more. Under the Porsche Design umbrella is a world of luxury items to be found, from travel bags, writing instruments and fashion items to highly technical sports-orient...
Following the introduction of its new collection just over a month ago at Watches & Wonders, we clearly didn’t expect to see new models from Tudor for a while… And certainly, we didn’t expect to see something as big as what’s coming today. Sure, there’s a new Black Bay Ceramic, which was somehow announced two years ago with a unique model for Only Watch charity au...
Meteorite is one of the most fascinating objects/materials you can find on Earth, even though it doesn’t come from Earth… They are pieces of debris from a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid that originate in outer space and survive their passage through the atmosphere to reach Earth’s surface. So yes, these are made from one of the only materials you can find on the surface of Earth, ...
By now you're well aware that the MONOCHROME team is not only passionate about watches (well, duh!) but also has a thing for everything car-related. Our weekly column ??The Petrolhead Corner?? is where we let our hair down and put our feet up for a bit of fun and games. Yet, when both worlds collide we take notice and get that little bit more excited, as you can expect. So today, the latest collab...