Pre SIHH 2012 - Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Openworked Extra-Thin 40th Anniversary - Monochrome Watches
Next year the Audemars Piguet will celebrate the 40 anniversary of the Royal Oak, that was designed in by the late Gerald Genta in 1972.?To celebrate this anniversary in due style, the Audemars Piguet now unveils the Openworked Extra-Thin Royal Oak, a platinum anniversary edition, limited series of just 40.The first Royal Oak, launched in 1972, was not just another watch. The Royal Oak was the world’s first luxury sports watch and set a trend that was followed by others. During the past 40 year, the Royal Oak has left an?indelible imprint on the history of Audemars Piguet and actually on the entire watch industry. Ad - Scroll to continue with article The 39 mm diameter of this Openworked Extra-Thin Royal Oak is identical to that of the 1972 Royal Oak. Considered outsized and extravagant at the time of its launch, it shaped the trend for larger watches and

2021 Gerald Genta Arena Retrograde Mickey Mouse - Hands-on, Price
Visionary watchmaker and designer Gerald Genta left a legacy of iconic designs. As a pioneer of genre-defining sporty-chic models, Genta revolutionised the concept of the luxury sports watch with the creation of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. But the Genta legacy goes way beyond the luxury sports watches he designed for Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe or IWC. Alongside his collaborations with famous watch brands, Genta founded his company in 1969 to create watches under his own name. Genta was a rule-breaking designer with a fertile imagination. Among his countless creations are Grandes Complications and retrograde display watches with their original way to indicate the time. These included quirky Disney character watches with retrograde indications (he obtained licensing with Disney in the 1980s) For the 2021 edition of Geneva Watch Days, the Mickey watch is back! Meet the new Gerald Genta Arena Retrograde with Smiling Disney Mickey Mouse. Vintage Gerald Genta F

The Evolution of the Escapement and recent innovations - Monochrome Watches
250 years after Thomas Mudge invented the first lever escapement, developing escapements has once again become the new frontier in technological breakthroughs of old-fashioned mechanical watches; a crowning glory for the most innovative, skilful and daring watchmakers. Here's a review of recent prospects and advances concerning what is certainly the most important part of a watch, the escapement.With this article dedicated to the escapement, we're introducing to you a new column, entirely dedicated to technics: A Technical Perspective. We learnt from recent talks with you, our readers, that you are interested in learning more about movement?parts, about innovation and about the way some complications work. Today, we'll clarify the evolution of a crucial part of a mechanical watch, the escapement.Invented by the English Horologist Thomas Mudge in the middle of the 18th century, the Swiss lever escapement is currently used in almost all of the mechanical watches we have today. Yet, after

SIHH 2015 - Richard Mille RM 19-02 Tourbillon Fleur - hands-on with live photos & specs - Monochrome Watches
Richard Mille have once again astounded the industry - this time with a new ladies watch, the RM 19-02 Tourbillon Fleur. Automaton? Poetic Complication? Call it what you will - it is a stunner.Last year had its fair share of floral themed ladies watches, including Breguet's Secret de la Reine, a particularly eye-pleasing Girard-Perregaux Cat's Eye model complete with an embroidery-like peony motif on its dial and of course, the Christophe Claret Margot watch which proposed to answer the romantic quandary of He loves me. He loves me not.Now Richard Mille have brought a floral design to their ladies collection, with a piece which provides its wearer with a mesmerising mechanical spectacle - but, despite its delicate artisan aesthetics it has still been built using the same cutting-edge materials and technology which characterise every watch which bears the Richard Mille marque and it is therefore as tough as old boots too. Ad - Scroll to continue with article

John Calvins Austerity and the Birth of the Swiss Watch Industry - Monochrome Watches
The Protestant Reformation, inaugurated by Martin Luther's posting of his 95 theses in opposition to the Roman Catholic Church, began a wave of reform that swept across Europe and into the New World of the Americas. In Switzerland, John Calvin became a leader of the movement, reforming not only Church doctrine, but also the city of Geneva. Who knew that his puritanical sway over the city would be the catalyst for the Swiss Watch Industry?The Reformation cry, “Sola Fide (Faith Alone) and Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone)”, Calvin took in a literal fashion by imposing anti-sumptuary laws in Geneva. In 1541, he banned the wearing of jewelry. No longer could the shops display enticing gold and diamonds, and the jewelers found themselves in a quandary. Refugees from France and Italy came to the rescue, teaching the jewelers how to make watches. Calvin deemed the watch to be a practical instrument, and so allowed its production and sale and unwittingly created a loophole. This all