Industry News: Richemont Reports Sales Up 10% for its Third Quarter of 2024
It is widely known that the watch market, and most luxury markers for that matter, are facing a relatively difficult situation. According to Bain & Company Luxury Study, the global personal luxury goods market is likely to dip by 2% in 2024 – not a dramatic situation, but not a positive one nevertheless. While jewellery?was the most resilient core luxury category, watches are more impacted, specifically due to a rapid slowdown in China. We have seen this with Swatch Group and LVMH, but Richemont’s Q3 results ended 31 December 2024 came as a surprise, with sales reported up 10% over last year, after two stable trimesters. How to explain this…?Let’s first talk about the numbers. Richemont, owner of Cartier, Van Cleef, and many watchmakers such as Vacheron Constantin, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Panerai or A. Lange & Sohne, has seen multiple management changes recently. Nicolas Bos was appointed the new CEO of the Richemont Group, replacing Jer?me Lambert. The l

Patek Philippe 5370P Split-Seconds Chronograph, Now in Blue Enamel - Monochrome Watches
Patek and the chronograph complication is a long-lasting love story. The brand has been manufacturing stopwatches almost since its inception… And when it comes to chronographs, there’s one type that rules them all, the Split-Seconds or rattrapante, the King of chrono watches. This a complication that Patek masters since 1923 – surprisingly first built in a women’s watch. The current collection comprises multiple ‘splits’, one of them being seen as a collector’s grail, the Patek Philippe 5370P Split-Seconds Chronograph; which makes its comeback in 2020 with this new blue enamel version.BackgroundThe 5370P was introduced at Baselworld 2015 and was an immediate success – it is, according to many, including us here at MONOCHROME, one of the most beautiful Patek watches currently produced. The reason lies in multiple things; the execution, the movement and, let’s be honest, the design. The 5370P is greatly inspired by?1940s to 1960s spli

Spotted - Bernard Arnault Unique Tiffany-Blue Patek Nautilus 5740 Perpetual
Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past two months, the whole buzz surrounding the Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711 Tiffany-Blue dial made for the 170th anniversary of the NYC-based jeweller and watch retailer should be something quite familiar to you – and maybe, you’re also rather bored with this story by now. But, today, it’s basically the mother of all Tiffany-Blue Nautilus watches that has been spotted out in the wild (understand Instagram). Yes, just like that, casually playing chess, Bernard Arnault, owner of LVMH and now owner of Tiffany, has been spotted wearing something very, very unusual: a unique Tiffany-Blue Patek Philippe Nautilus Perpetual 5740. Now the $6.5 million 5711 sold by Phillips seems almost like a standard watch…?Photo from Instagram @frederic.arnaultSpotted on the Instagram account of Frederic Arnault, son of Bernard Arnault and CEO of TAG Heuer (also owned by LVMH), father and son were casually spending an afternoon playing

Revisiting the sleek Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Control Calendar
Jaeger-LeCoultre's Master Control Calendar broke rank with the past and appeared in an all-steel version two months ago. As the brand's classical, slightly vintage branch, the Master Control family combines technical rigour with aesthetics inspired by the round timepieces made by the brand in the 1950s. Equipped with an interchangeable stainless steel bracelet and a sober silver dial, the Master Control Calendar in steel is sportier, more contemporary and far more versatile than the leather strap options.Earlier this year, we covered the blue dial model of the Master Control Calendar, a limited edition to mark the 30th anniversary of the Master Control line. As you no doubt recall, the particularity of JLC's triple calendar is the jumping date that performs a leap from the 15th to the 16th of each month to ensure the moon phase display is not obscured. However, and apologies to those of you who love blue dials, the watch is a case study in blue. With blue backgrounds for the apertures

First Look: The Green Panerai Luminor Marina Titanio PAM03325 (Incl. Video)
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 tandem with a series of Luminor Marina models, Panerai adds a dashing new lightweight model to the ranks: the Panerai Luminor Marina Titanio PAM03325. Not only does it stand out by its formidably robust specs, but also thanks to a handsome sunray-brushed green dial!Paneristi will already have spotted that this new PAM03325 is, of course, a Luminor Marina, which means there’s a small seconds indication positioned at 9′. The design is hardly a surprise, as it shouldn’t be, given the watch’s instantly recognizable profile. It comes down to a cushion-shaped case with a circul