Renowned for its contemporary and minimalist designs, Ming, the indie watch brand founded by Malaysian photographer Ming Thein in 2017, has gone from strength to strength. Design is king at Ming, and a common design thread runs through all the collections, ranging from time-only to sophisticated chronographs and from world timers to dive watches. Following in the footsteps of the Ming 37.02 Minima...
Dr Ludwig Oechslin has a talent for simplifying complications. Using the Bauhaus principle of less is more, his Ochs & Junior brand tackles complications with ingenious solutions and as few components as possible. The latest GMT model, aka the Due Ore Mese, ups the complexity and power of the earlier Due Ore. Packing a date indication, running seconds and a power reserve gauge, the highlight o...
We, at MONOCHROME, have long been strong advocates of the GMT, Worldtimer and Dual-Time complications. Why? Simply because when rightfully implemented, these additional features make some of the most practical watches possible – and we’re talking real-life practicality here, not an equation of time that no one has ever really understood (sorry, I had to say it…) And I can tell yo...
First introduced in 1954 (and the first to be trademarked over 70 years ago), the Conquest collection is among the longest lived of the brand with the winged hourglass logo. In recent years, the name Conquest (without a suffix, since there’s also the Conquest Heritage and the HydroConquest) has become synonymous with modern versatility. This became even truer in 2023 when Longines revamped t...
It is widely known that IWC has experience with ceramic watches since it was the first brand to release a timepiece made of zirconium oxide (the real name for ceramic) in 1985 with the Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar. In recent years, the Schaffhausen-based brand has been playing a lot with colours, releasing Top Gun models in black (of course), beige (Mojave), green (Woodland), blue (Oceana) and whit...
Panerai is the official timekeeper of the Salone del Mobile, the largest and most prestigious annual international design fair held in Milan since 1961. Panerai's involvement with Milan Design Week is celebrated with the release of the new Lumimor GMT Power Reserve Ceramica PAM01574. As a product launched in 1949 that retains many original design traits, the Luminor is rightfully acknowledged as a...
In 2023, Jean-Claude Biver, an industry veteran who requires no introduction, returned to the spotlight after retiring from his latest position at LVMH when, with his son Pierre, he unveiled the Biver Carillon Tourbillon, the debut timepiece from the newly minted family-name brand. True to form, expectations were sky-high, with the launch setting a tone in technical complexity and price points. In...
60 different references… This is how wide Tissot’s best-selling collection, the sporty-elegant integrated PRX watch, has become in about 4 years. Ranging from compact and affordable quartz models to more expensive watches with gold fluted bezels and chronograph movement, and basically everything you can imagine in between (even a forged carbon edition), you’d think the PRX collec...
Raymond Weil's Millesime collection, launched in 2024, is a charming retro-inspired family that has caught many a watch aficionado's eye. Injecting a new lease of life into a brand that was often overlooked, the Millesime family is out to conquer the market of neo-vintage dress watches with modern specifications. Coupled with competitive prices, the Millesime has positioned itself as a worthy cont...
Of all the new releases from Tudor at this year’s Watches and Wonders, the standout piece was undoubtedly the evolution of the Black Bay 58 line, now presented in a striking all-burgundy design, with both the dial and bezel dressed in the deep red tone. While the dial colour holds historical significance, the real game-changer lies beneath the surface: the introduction of the METAS-certified...
If you ask yourself what’s the most classic dress watch ever made by Patek, and probably one of the most important models of the category, the answer should ultimately be the Calatrava. Not much to debate here. The collection, created in 1932 with the reference 96, has had such an influence on the watch industry that the word icon is legitimate in this context. But in recent years, thereR...
Audemars Piguet recreates a colour intimately associated with its first Royal Oak model of 1972. Although the colour described as “Bleu Nuit, Nuage 50” has appeared on many dials, it has never been replicated in high-tech ceramic. Inspired by the clear night skies of the Vallee de Joux, this darker tone of blue ceramic is used on the three models – two Royal Oak Offshore Chronogr...
Despite being an experienced watchmaker in his 50s, Nicolas Delaloye remains one of the discreet names in the independent watchmaking scene. But there are good reasons for that. This AHCI member just regained his independence and re-started making watches a few months ago, after a long period serving as a watchmaker-restorer at the Patek Philippe Museum – objectively, not the worst of experi...
Watches and Wonders 2025 is about to close its doors and it’s time for Team MONOCHROME to fly back home after one of the most intense weeks of the year. We’ve seen hundreds of watches, if not thousands, published way over a hundred articles, took several thousands of photos and published over a dozen videos on YouTube. But it is time now to settle a bit and simply discussed what were t...
Hublot pulls out all the stops for the 20th-anniversary celebrations of its iconic Big Bang with a one-of-a-kind “Materials & High Complications” set composed of five unique pieces. Flaunting tourbillons, chronographs and minute repeaters – and in one case, a combination of all three – this unique set traces the material innovation and high-end complications that have a...
This year at Watches and Wonders 2025, Jaeger-LeCoultre's emblematic Reverso, a timeless timepiece dating back to 1931 – as we explained in this in-depth article – will have its moment. Indeed, the brand is focusing entirely on its icon, and with some handsome new releases. In 2023, the slimmer pink gold Reverso Tribute Monoface Small Seconds models, featuring silver, black, or burgund...
With its long-winded name, IWC's new watch can best be described as the more complex brother of a Performance Chronograph released in 2023 for four-wheeled pilots. Equipped with the brand's innovative perpetual calendar movement and its uncommon digital display, the Performance Chronograph IW388801 comes with a dashing black and golden colour scheme.Presented in 2023, IWC's Pilot's Watch Performan...
A couple of years ago, IWC introduced a Big Pilot's watch with a device developed by the brand's Experimental Engineering Division to protect the movement from extreme shocks. Not any only shock, mind you, but acceleration forces in excess of 30,000Gs (akin to the speed of a battleship shell) that no pilot could survive. Today’s big news is the release of the Big Pilot's Watch Shock Absorber...
Jaeger-LeCoultre unveils a spectacular pink gold Reverso with a minute repeater powered by a new, fully integrated and shaped in-house movement. Taking advantage of the sleek Art Deco geometry of the Reverso and its swivelling case with two faces, the Grande Maison showcases its refined artistic crafts with an elegant guilloche decoration on the front dial. The reverse dial of the Reverso Tribute ...
Roger Dubuis celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, a milestone that calls for a look back at its remarkable journey. While the brand's history may not be long, it is undeniably rich and eventful. Today, however, the focus is on the latest revelation at Watches and Wonders Geneva: the Excalibur Grande Complication.This new timepiece is the second of its kind in Roger Dubuis' portfolio. The fir...
Long before the Nautilus, Ingenieur, or the 222, Baume & Mercier introduced its take on the emerging luxury sports watch trend with the Riviera in 1973 – just a year after Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak. Over the decades, the Riviera saw highs and lows, at times fading into obscurity, only to be revived with a commitment to permanence. Until now, the Riviera Chronograph lineup feature...
Alongside the green and terracotta Big Crown Pointer Date Calibre 403 housed in a 40mm case with a sleek, polished bezel instead of the classic coin-edge design, Oris also introduces a trio of new, simpler versions of its emblematic watch. And while these lack the high-performance Calibre 403 movement and replace it with a Sellita engine, these Oris Big Crown Pointer Date models make up for it wit...
IWC's Ingenieur collection has been slated for growth this year, welcoming new sizes, materials, and complications. Representing the most compact member of the family to date, the new 35mm Ingenieur is a smart move to conquer more wrist sizes in the ever-expanding unisex sector. Presented in three variants, the smallest descendants of Gerald Genta's design for the Ingenieur uphold their heritage i...
While Chopard's high-end L.U.C watches are built to outlast generations, the watchmakers and artisans who make the watches are not. Foresight is not a common virtue, but co-president Karl-Friedrich Scheufele is determined to pass the baton and prepare future generations of watchmakers. The watch unveiled today is a testament to his commitment. Celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Geneva School...
The Alpine Eagle draws inspiration from the 1980s St. Moritz series, Chopard's take on the then-trending luxury sports watch with an integrated braceleta trend that has regained momentum. The Chopard Alpine Eagle Flying Tourbillon joined the collection in 2022, following the introduction of the chronograph and high-frequency models. While there's always room to discuss influences and debate wheth...
Twenty-five years ago, Chanel launched the J12 in black ceramic. Although brands like Rado and IWC had already produced ceramic watches, Chanel's watch transformed ceramic into a precious material. An immediate hit, another unique facet of the watch was its unisex appeal. Designed by Chanel's former artistic director Jacques Helleu, the sleek, dark, sporty J12 was followed up with an all-white cer...
Bracelets are a perfect example of how functionality and aesthetics work harmoniously, producing visually striking and surprisingly practical, literally pleasing results. A well-crafted bracelet elevates the value of a watch, which is why collectors pay such close attention to them – far more than the average wearer, for whom metal links may seem simple and utilitarian. And in many cases, th...
As a brand that has always fostered its connection to Europe's highest mountain, Montblanc’s Iced Sea collection of dive watches in 2022 was a surprise. With dials inspired by the Mer de Glace, the largest glacier in the Mont Blanc massif, the ISO certified dive watches can fathom depths of 300 metres. For 2025, Montblanc expands its Iced Sea Automatic Date collection with two new models in ...
Panerai’s history is well-known, of course, and although its watches are based on those supplied to the Royal Italian Navy for decades, it wasn’t until 1993 that they became commercially available. The collection is basically split between two lines: the Radiomir, designed to be worn by frogmen commandos, and the Luminor, easily recognized by its signature crown bridge. For 2025, in ta...
Vacheron Constantin celebrates its grand 270th anniversary this year. For a brand with such an illustrious and storied past, an anniversary of this calibre means rolling out the big guns. To commemorate the date, Vacheron Constantin unveils a new high-end manufacture calibre combining a tourbillon and a perpetual calendar. Limited to 127 pieces and presented in a platinum Traditionnelle case, the ...