Before going further with this article, I want to apologize… I’m sorry because this watch will certainly create strong emotions on some of you. I’m not the one to blame here, it’s all Audemars Piguet’s fault. Yes, this new edition of the Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-Thin is simply stunning. Yes, it is the first time that the 15202 is available with a case entir...
Sparkles might pose a problem to gentlemen when it comes to watches. Luckily, in watchmaking, there are sparkles, and then there are sparkles. Unlike the flashy radiant light emitted by a gargantuan diamond on a Jacob & Co. watch, for example, the sparkling dial of the Saxonia Thin emits a gentle, refined shimmer produced by the black aventurine glass covering the dial. The very essence of a d...
RGM Watch Co. is the brand that brought legitimate watchmaking back to America, creating ground-up, in-house movements such as the tonneau-shaped Caliber 20, 801 Calibre and Pennsylvania Tourbillon. Other brands such as J.N. Shapiro and Weiss Watch Company have since produced American calibres, but CEO Roland Murphy started the revival in 1992, creating the company in Pennsylvania that bears his i...
Cartier is a revered manufacturer of haute horlogerie. It is amongst three of the best-selling luxury watch brands in the world, sitting alongside the likes of Omega and . In addition to creating Geneva Seal movements, it has also mastered the art and form of crafting tourbillons and skeletonised watches that expose the high level of skill and craftsmanship behind in-house manufacture. Extending ...
Unless you’ve completely lost track of what’s happening in the watch industry for the last 2 years, you’re certainly aware of the sports watch with integrated bracelet’s comeback. Following the impressive popularity of watches such as the Royal Oak and the Nautilus, many watch enthusiasts have suddenly felt the itch for adding such a watch to their collections… But th...
For the first time in our Collector’s Series we talk about a Grand Seiko and we do this with Austria-based collector who can be found as @so.frech?on Instagram. Grand used to be JDM (Japan Domestic Market) only and only opened up to customers from outside Japan since 2010. Although it’s not a young brand, for people outside Japan, Grand Seiko remained unknown. By now the brand is prett...
Throughout over 150 years of history, IWC has had a long tradition of innovation in materials. Think for instance about its early use of titanium together with Porsche Design, or the 1986 Da Vinci Chronograph Perpetual Calendar, which was the?world's first pure ceramic watch. Even recently, the brand introduced Ceratanium, a innovative blend of titanium and ceramic. Today, the brand unveils anothe...
When introduced at the SIHH 2019, the 38mm Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Selfwinding Chronograph came as a very pleasant surprise, bringing back this watch to more compact territories and proportions – the RO Chronograph was originally launched in 39mm, replaced in 2012 by a 41mm edition. A great alternative for men and women, the mid-size Royal Oak Selfwinding Chronograph has since been present...
The Aquis Date is a versatile 300m dive watch with a solid construction, excellent legibility and handsome styling. Perfect for rugged outdoor activities but still smart enough to wear as a daily beater, the Aquis Date offers excellent value for money and is one of Oris' best-selling models. The latest Aquis 41.5mm comes with a vibrant eye-catching cherry red dial and a stainless steel bezel.The A...
Oris has secured a partnership with NATO's pilot training school based in Albacete, Spain. To mark the occasion, the brand has released a 750-piece version of its Big Crown ProPilot Day Date kitted out in a gunmetal grey case and a military green dial.Oris has been associated with the world of aviation since the turn of the 20th century. Starting with pilot pocket watches in the early 1910s, Oris ...
2020 has been a difficult year for the Swiss watch industry, and for the entire luxury market. As we reported recently, the industry has had to face its steepest decline since 2009, with exports plummeting 21.8% in value, below the level of 2011. Certainly, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a strong impact on the watch industry. However, there was more than just a decline in sales in 2020. As always w...
“There is no function without design and there is no design without function…” This is how Fortis, a brand?best-known for crafting rugged, functional pilot’s watches, set the tone when introducing its new, fully reimagined Flieger collection last year. Since 1987, the Fortis?Flieger collection has been a reference for pilot watches. Instrumental, no-nonsense watches with du...
The trend for 1970s-inspired sports watches with integrated bracelet doesn’t seem to slow down. In fact, multiple brands are entering the race, whether in the entry-level segment or all the way up in haute horlogerie. One of the latest contenders in this very highly prolific segment is coming from Tissot, with the PRX watch. While already presented (but not here… more on that in a few)...
Louis Erard, the independent Swiss brand with a tradition of accessible luxury, has gained considerable traction in the past couple of years. One of the brand's strategies to gain visibility for its Excellence collection was to invite designers Alain Silberstein and Eric Giroud, and even watchmaker Vianney Halter, to reinterpret the traditional regulator in a more contemporary key. Today, the bran...
Back in the mid-1990s, the watch industry was very different from what it is today and mechanical watchmaking was still in its renaissance. Very few watch brands actually manufactured movements in-house, and even fewer brands had the ability or industrial capacity to reimagine the escapement and the oscillator, together called the regulating organ and these are the most crucial part of a watch. Wi...
Coinciding with the thirtieth anniversary of the revival of A. Lange & Sohne, a new argente version of the Saxonia Outsize Date was released in December 2020 to sit alongside the existing black dial models of 2018. Identical in specifications to the 2018 Outsize Date, the novelty here was a new silvery-coloured dial. What might have been interpreted as a cosmetic touch marked a significant cha...
While the Speedmaster remains Omega’s most successful watch, specifically since the renewal of the collection recently, the other important pillar in the collection if, of course, the Seamaster. Past years have seen the brand focusing mostly on the Diver 300M. Yet, there’s another dive watch that deserves some attention, an even more powerful model with proper diving credentials, the P...
The Aikon is Maurice Lacroix's interpretation of the luxury sports watch, a collection of watches with a solid build, a distinctive style and refreshingly competitive prices. Introduced in 2016 with quartz movements, in 2018, an automatic Aikon model appeared, followed by a bolder and sportier iteration known as the Aikon Venturer. With its 43mm case, water-resistance of 300 metres and rotating be...
In March 2020, Grand Seiko celebrated the 60th anniversary of its foundation by introducing a newly designed watch featuring a cutting-edge?and advanced movement, the Hi-Beat Calibre 9SA5 with multiple innovations, such as the novel Dual Impulse escapement. First presented in a gold case, followed by?a limited edition in steel, and a few weeks ago in a non-limited “Shirakaba” edition, ...
It is rather surprising to see how some items have gained cult status years after their discontinuation, while when they were widely available, almost no one dared to pay attention to them… There are, of course, watches that have been overlooked before they shoot to unexpected fame. One such model is the 1994 “IWC Fliegerchronograph Keramik”, also known as the Pilot’s Chron...
Except if absent from the surface of the Earth for the last couple of months, all watch enthusiasts are now aware of the fact that Omega has launched a new version of its all-time classic chronograph, the Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional. More than just a basic update, the brand has changed almost everything in this 2021 edition but since we’re talking about an iconic model, the changes ar...
About 6 months ago, Omega announced the renewal of its role as the official timekeeper of the America's Cup, with the 36th edition to be held in Auckland, New Zealand, from the 6th to the 21st of March 2021. Coincidentally, the brand also released a special edition watch, based on the Seamaster Planet Ocean 600m. Today, as we’re getting closer from the start of the legendary race, the Biel-b...
Rado is synonymous with trendy design-led watches and high-tech ceramic, a material the brand has been playing with since the 1990s. Last year Rado introduced the True Square Automatic, a slinky, smooth, high-tech ceramic model with openworked and regular dials. For 2021, Rado introduces a subtle colour variation on the openworked model, now with silvery grey accents. All the other specifications ...
Some of you might not know about it but Girard-Perregaux's link with the automotive world has been long-lasting. Following this tradition, the La Chaux-de-Fonds-based haute horlogerie manufacturer has just announced a new partnership with one of the most respected brands in the car industry, Aston Martin. MONOCHROME talks to Patrick Pruniaux, Girard-Perregaux and Ulysse Nardin's CEO, to ask him wh...
Certainly, we’re only halfway through February, so it’s a bit too early to call the best watches of the year… just a bit! However, it’s only been two months and brands have presented more than just minor models. In fact, following several months of slow launch calendars, most of the watch manufactures have woken up and some very important models have been introduced in rece...
Today I’m talking with long-time friend Fran?ois-Xavier Overstake, aka @equationdutemps. This is not just his Instagram handle, but also the name of his blog about watches, which is probably one of the most important French publications on watches. Besides running his own blog, Francois-Xavier is a moderator on Watchprosite, a large watch forum. At 51 he has a day time job in the compliance ...
The genius and madness are separated by a very thin line. Weirdos and rebels, people who are different enough, crazy enough, are the ones who change the world. In that respect, the Ulysse Nardin Freak could not be more aptly named. This innovative, disruptive avant-garde masterpiece smashed all conventions and simply changed what's on our wrist todayThe late 1990s were still a time for the renaiss...
If watch brands are proudly trumpeting their watchmaking expertise and manufacturing capabilities, suppliers don't always get the credit they deserve. Today we are taking a look at Timeless, a movement manufacturer that just hired two well-known industry veterans, Pierre Favre and Dominique Renaud. A good reason to make us think that we'll be hearing more about Timeless in the future!Created in 20...
Whale sharks, the gentle giants of the ocean that can measure the length of a school bus, were classified as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2016. Illegal fishing, collisions with boats and entrapment in fishing gear are decimating the population of whale sharks. Despite their enormous dimensions, whale sharks are docile plankton-eating creatur...
Today, Porsche (the car manufacturer) has just unveiled the latest generation of its track-ready sports car, the new 911 GT3 – 992 generation. Once again an extremely capable track-oriented car, it will certainly be pure adrenaline behind the wheel. To coincide with this launch, sister-company Porsche Design has transferred the thrill of high-performance racing into a distinctive chronograph...