Collector's Corner - The iconic Cartier Tank Americaine
We've spent quite a lot of time talking about sports watches in The Collector's Corner. In the last article, we took a look at the Breguet Type XX, but now we head back to the realm of the dress watch. No more dress complications this time - we've had quite a few of those already (both from JLC and from Breguet). No, now we talk about the pinnacle of the dress watch: time-only, and what better way to highlight this than to talk about a watch made by Cartier? The jewellery house excels in unconventional and daring designs, and though many of their most iconic watch case shapes date back to the first half of the 20th century, our subject today is the spring chicken of the bunch.Cartier's iconic rectangular wristwatch, the Tank, was born in 1917 and said to be inspired by the stark lines of Renault FT-17 tanks. In the decades since, the Tank design was iterated on but the focus always lay on elegance and on pushing the boundaries of case shapes (Tank Chinoise or Asymetrique, anyone?). Ind

2022 Editions Omega Constellation 41mm (Specs & Price)
A watch born in the early 1950s as?a precision chronometer wristwatch, the Omega Constellation is one of the most long-lasting collections of the brand, only surpassed by the Seamaster. After three decades as a classic, elegant watch, it drastically changed in the early 1980s to become the model with integrated bracelet and signature claws we know today. Since then, this bold and recognizable design has been part of the collection under the name Manhattan. Among the wide range of models, we’ve always a certain love for the modern, sporty 41mm edition, which we extensively reviewed here. Part of the 2022 collection, Omega brings new colours and two-tone options to this watch, in the same vein as they did with the Globemaster Annual Calendar.?The Omega Constellation 41mm is a rather unique model in the collection, and also next to the competition. While sharing some elements with the classic luxury sports watches with integrated bracelet, it’s not entirely in line with this s

Christie's Sells the Unique F.P.Journe Rattrapante Only Watch 2017 for CHF 1,150,000 (Most Expensive F.P.Journe Ever, By Far...) - Monochrome Watches
We continue with Only Watch 2017 and the incredible prices that this charity auction is achieving. After the unique Patek Philippe 5208T sold for CHF 6.2 Million, what was under the hammer next was the unique?F.P.Journe Chronographe Monopoussoir Rattrapante, a watch created especially for the occasion of the auction – and not only unique in its style, but also featuring a movement created only for this watch, the first?Ever Split-Seconds Chronograph done by Journe, and most probably the only one, as the watchmaker said that it will remain unique. This watch just achieved?an impressive CHF 1,150,000, making it the most expensive?F.P.Journe ever auctioned… and by a long way. While in 2015, F.P.Journe created a unique watch based on an existing model, the Tourbillon Souverain, this year, for the charity auction Only Watch 2017, master watchmaker Fran?ois Paul Journe went much further in uniqueness, as he created his first ever?Rattrapante chronograph wat

Montblanc Heritage Chronometrie Collection 2018 (Specs & Price)
When Jerome Lambert took over Montblanc, the idea was simple: offer a lot of product for less money. This didn’t mean that all the watches had to be affordable, but rather that watches – including ones with solid horological credentials – were lower priced than expected. This gave birth to a Sub-10k Perpetual Calendar, the?4810 ExoTourbillon Slim or a Sub-7k annual calendar. Following the same idea, Montblanc introduces three new watches in the?Heritage Chronometrie collection, still complex but with new, contemporary design codes.All three watches – the?Montblanc Heritage Chronometrie Perpetual Calendar Sapphire, the?Montblanc Heritage Chronometrie Exo Tourbillon Slim Openworked and the?Montblanc Heritage Chronometrie Exo Tourbillon Slim – share the same concept: a new, refined and slim 40mm case,?redesigned dials with contemporary aesthetics and a new colour scheme as well as openworked movements with graphic, 3-dimensional?construction and sapphire crys

Tissot Alpine On Board Automatic Chronograph A110S
We’ve said it in the past, similarities between cars and watches are endless, whether we’re talking about mechanics, design or the passion they incite. Both sides of the industry are fully aware of this and of the fact that collectors of one are often enthusiastic about the other – which explains why MONOCHROME has The Petrolhead Corner column. This is also something that Tissot has understood for some time and the brand enjoys a long partnership with a legend of the French car industry, Alpine. Recently, both brands presented a new model, the Tissot Alpine On Board Automatic Chronograph A110S.The A110 S, in its signature matte grey livery with orange accents.Revamped recently, Alpine has carved a place in the heart of sports car lovers with its “Berlinette”, the A110, a car with a superb racing pedigree forged in the 1970s by winning approximately every rally event in Europe. Owned by Renault, the brand resurfaced a couple of years ago and introduced a re