Longines is a brand with impressive legitimacy when it comes to pilot’s instruments. Think of Charles Lindbergh, or even the chronographs delivered to the US Army, the Avigation Watch Type A-7 1935 (recently reissued). The brand’s savoir-faire in this field is indisputable. Today, we’ll review a watch that isn’t a faithful re-edition of a glorious past model, but instead a ...
The end of the year is fast approaching, so it is time for MONOCHROME to take a look back at the watches we think should make our “best of” lists for 2020. The COVID-19 outbreak disrupted our lives and, incidentally, the watch industry. Despite this situation, we’ve seen plenty of fascinating watches. We are starting with a round-up of the most complex and most innovative movemen...
Approximately 99.9% of the articles we publish are stories about watches. That’s what’s MONOCHROME is all about. However, recently I saw a watch box made by Rimowa. You know, that brand that makes beautiful aluminium suitcases and trolleys, dare I say it, iconic aluminium suitcases. The Rimowa watch case looks very Rimowa and is executed in the exact same iconic aluminium looks. WeR...
The fluid-tight “compressor” or “super-compressor” technology was patented during the 1950s, by Ervin Piquerez SA, a famous watch case manufacturer from Bassecourt in the Swiss Jura. Cases equipped with this technology have given birth to iconic dive watches across many brands, including Jaeger-LeCoultre, Hamilton, Longines, or Bulova. The most famous “compressor̶...
Revisited in 2016 with a line of limited editions, followed by serial production models a year later, the Laureato is Girard's Perregaux vision of a luxury sports watch. A few months back we covered the Girard-Perregaux Laureato Absolute Crystal Rock with a sandwich dial and a case crafted from carbon glass. Now, the Swiss luxury watchmaker celebrates 45 years of the Laureato with a 45-piece limit...
Jack Heuer, the great-grandson of the founder of Heuer, former CEO of Heuer, and Honorary Chairman of TAG Heuer celebrates his 88th birthday today. To fete the man who oversaw the brand's exciting entry into racing-inspired wrist chronographs, a 188-piece edition inspired by Jack Heuer's favourite Carrera 1158CHN of the 1970s is being released today. Evocative of the solid gold watches Jack Heuer ...
While MONOCHROME is more on the higher-end side of the watch industry, we also know that not all readers and watch enthusiasts can afford a Breguet or an Omega. This is why we’ve created a section called “Value Proposition,” where we feature watches that we believe are great?value for the money. Apart from microbrands, when it comes to proper Swiss-made pieces, there’s one ...
In Stephen Hawking's universe, the Big Bang signals the beginning of time; in the watchmaking world, it is a best-selling Hublot watch.?Hublot has always been a brand that likes to make noise, a lot of noise. It is loud, explosive and disruptive; a brand that you either love or hate. Although the Big Bang is very much a 21st-century creation, it owes its character to a watch released in 1980. You ...
The brand had been very clear at the beginning of this year: 2020 will be the year of the Carrera, TAG Heuer’s most emblematic watch. To coincide with the 160th anniversary of the brand, TAG has launched multiple editions of the Carrera, from the ultra-cool vintage-inspired Silver Edition to entirely remodelled core-collection models, such as the sporty 44mm chronograph with ceramic bezel. T...
Originally designed as a time-and-date model when it was introduced in 1972, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak has since been offered with countless complications, including the most complex of them all, a grand complication. The tourbillon, an AP speciality is, of course, no stranger to the Royal Oak and was first used in the iconic luxury sports watch in 1997 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of thi...
After the inaugural launch of its new and important Code 11.59 collection last year, Audemars Piguet is now playing with the existing models and is “spicing up” the looks to give this modern interpretation of a classic watch some appeal. We’ve seen it, for instance, on the time-and-date and chronograph versions, fitted with smoked dials. Now it’s time for one of the Haute H...
The Seamaster is one of Omega's oldest collections. It was born in 1948 and modelled after watches that Omega delivered to the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. Over the years, the collection expanded drastically, ranging from elegant timepieces to ultra-robust instruments. 1993 marked another milestone in the evolution of the Seamaster when Omega introduced the Seamaster Professional 3...
In the light of the uncertainty provoked by the current health crisis, most of the major fairs of 2020 were cancelled – including the two heavyweights that are Baselworld and Watches & Wonders, the latter having held a digital edition already in April 2020. For 2021, afraid of the (non) evolution of the sanitary situation, the Watches & Wonders Geneva Exhibitor Committee has taken th...
Bucherer BLUE is a unique lifestyle collection created by leading retailer Bucherer, working with selected partners both inside and outside the industry. No fewer than 44 special editions have been unveiled to date. Bucherer already teamed up with Panerai with three limited editions presented since the launch of the concept in 2016, including the Panerai Luminor Marina Titanio/DLC Bucherer BLUE in...
Tockr is a relatively new watchmaker that launched its first models, the C-47 Radial Engine Collection, in 2017. The watches paid homage to the WWII era C-47 aircraft with a radial engine motif, a plane that founder Austin Ivey's grandfather flew during the war. Both Austin and his father became pilots as well, and all of the brand's watches have a pilot theme. There are many design innovations wi...
Despite the challenges the industry had to face this year, it needed a celebration and some joy. So here we are, as the 2020 edition of the GPHG, known as the “Oscars of the watchmaking industry”, has come to a close and the prize for the best watch of the year, also known as the Aiguille d'Or, has been awarded. As often with the Grand Prix, the focus has been on creativity, innovation...
Tonight, as every year, is the celebration of watchmaking, watchmakers and watches in general… It is the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Geneve (or GPHG 2020) – the Oscars of the watchmaking industry. Several categories are represented (ladies, men, complicated and even affordable watches) and the best watches of the year will be awarded the coveted Golden Hand prize – and of co...
Sinn, the German watchmaker with a forte in instrument watches, revisits a racing stopwatch from the 1970s complete with the historical “bullhead” design. Although this new model takes its design cues from a vintage and original chronograph, the Sinn R500 Chronograph is made from contemporary high-strength titanium with racy design features. A stopwatch designed for the wrist, the over...
When you think of throwback military watches, the World War II era usually comes to mind. At the high end, there are watches like the Breguet Type XX, while Hanhart and many others offer more accessible counterparts. If you're looking for something super affordable that doesn't cut corners, Hamilton offers a wide range of Khaki field watches. Some go back to the mid-1930s, a time between the wars,...
Chiming watches are some of the most desirable marvels that watchmaking has ever produced. They can assume multiple forms, such as alarm watches or minute repeaters. But when it comes to watches that strike the time, that “musically indicate” the time, the rarest, most exclusive, most impressive and most desirable is the grande sonnerie. Only a handful of watchmakers are capable of man...
2020 will be remembered as a traumatic year and a turning point. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a world changer. As far as luxury watches are concerned, the outbreak of coronavirus has shaken fundamental aspects of the industry. Undeniably, it has been and still is an annus horribilis, with Swiss Watch exports plunging by 28.3% over the first nine months of the year. But 2020 will also be remember...
Louis Moinet holds a special place in the history of the chronograph with the 1816 Compteur de Tierce. Designed to time the passage of stars, this innovative timepiece could measure events to the 60th of a second with start, stop and reset functions. In 2016, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of this creation, Les Ateliers Louis Moinet presented the Memoris, an original monopusher chronograph wit...
The Longines Legend Diver is certainly the most emblematic watch from the brand’s Heritage collection. Based on a 1960s diver’s watch with a typical compressor case, Longines revived this model in a modern way in 2007 and the watch has now become a collection with multiple versions, all equipped with a date display (which was added in 2012). For 2020, the winged-hourglass brand introdu...
Cuervo y Sobrinos, the Swiss brand with Cuban roots, expands its Historiador collection with this new Flameante model with an elegant salmon dial. Like all Cuervo y Sobrinos designs, the mood is markedly retro. In the case of the Historiador Flameante collection, the inspiration is taken directly from a Cuervo y Sobrinos model produced in the 1950s. With its slim profile, distinctive lugs and hand...
You’ve set your mind on that dive watch with a green bezel. It looks good. No, it looks great… And despite having spent a small fortune at your local retailer over the years, you got a cold “no” when you asked for that watch. Whether it’s called Kermit, Cermit or like some say, the Starbucks Sub, it doesn’t matter because you’re not even allowed to put you...
Switzerland-based luxury conglomerate Richemont Group has just issued its trading update for the six months ended 30 September 2020. As expected in these uncertain times, sales are down. COVID-19 impacted activities but the situation has improved over the past months helped by Chinese demand. For the half-year, sales decreased by 26% at actual exchange rates to EUR 5,478 million and by 25% at cons...
2019 marked the year that the world's thinnest chronograph title passed from the hands of one horological master to another. Italian watchmaker Bvlgari had many firsts under its belt up until last year, yet the slimmest chronograph was not one of them. Piaget took that title in 2015 and held onto it right up until the release of the Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Chronograph in 2019 with its 6.90mm case. ...
Josh Shapiro seems like an unlikely person to help restore traditional watchmaking in the United States. He started as a pole vault coach and a school teacher before becoming the administrator of a private school. Growing up in a machine shop gave him an appreciation for metals and working with his hands, and a flashy Chronoswiss Opus poster in a local shop helped spark his interest in watchmaking...
The 1970s-inspired sporty-chic watch with an integrated bracelet is more fashionable than ever. This is undeniable and many brands, from high-end to accessible, have entered the race to cater to those who’re in the market for such a piece. Driven by the market’s enthusiasm for icons such as the Royal Oak and the Nautilus, we’ve seen countless alternatives being presented in a mor...
In 2017, under the hammer of star auctioneer Aurel Bacs (from Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo), Paul Newman’s?very own?Paul Newman? Daytona reference 6239 became the?most expensive wristwatch ever – the world record holder is now a unique?steel Patek Philippe Grand Master Chime for Only Watch. It is hard to pin down exactly what will make a watch a star at auctions. The ...