In-Depth: The History of the Zenith El Primero, The Glorious High-Frequency Automatic Chronograph
In our series on historically significant calibres, the best way to honour the El Primero calibre is by highlighting its qualities, functional characteristics, and pivotal role in shaping the watchmaking industry. While the tale of its salvation in 1976, along with that of Zenith as a company, by a courageous man defying the ill will of American owners is fascinating, the El Primero’s legendary status is primarily due to the use of advanced technology available at the time of its creation, excellent engineering and movement design, and a modern, industrial approach to production.?Still, had it not been for Charles Vermot, a Zenith workshop manager, who disobeyed orders to sell the metal presses and tools for manufacturing the El Primero as scrap and instead hid the necessary drawings and tools, watchmaking history would be missing some thrilling episodes. We will return to Vermot’s story shortly, but first, let us revisit how the El Primero came to be.Episode I – The

The New Bulgari Serpenti Misteriosi And Monete Catene Secret Watches (Live Pics & Price) - Monochrome Watches
Among the six novelties Bulgari will unveil during Geneva Watch Days are four extraordinary high jewellery secret watches. The brand's famous mascot, the Serpenti, snakes back into the limelight decked out in gemstones and powered by the smallest mechanical movement on the market. Another iconic Bulgari design is the incorporation of ancient Roman coins into jewellery and watch designs, and the Roman brand releases two secret Monete Catene watches attached to the wrist with supple chain bracelets, also equipped with Bulgari's miniature Piccolissimo calibre BVL 100.Last year Bulgari had a treat for fans of the Serpenti and launched a collection of Serpenti Misteriosi high jewellery watches powered by the brand's tiny, weeny Piccolissimo mechanical movement. Taking advantage of the brand's formidable know-how in developing ultra-thin movements for the Octo Finissimo collection, the Piccolissimo calibre BVL 100 measures just 12.30mm across, is 2.50mm thick and weighs 1.30 grams. One of th

Salon Exceptional Watches 2019, this Weekend in Prague - Monochrome Watches
While the watch industry ticks in time to two massive watch fairs, Baselworld and SIHH, these two events are mostly meant for brands to present their novelties to a public of professionals – retailers and journalists. However, some local events around the globe allow watch collectors and enthusiasts to discover the collections – think SIAR, Dubai WW, Salon QP. Happening this weekend (October 19-20) is the largest watch exhibition in central and eastern Europe. It is named Salon Exceptional Watches 2019, it gathers 44 brands and it takes place in the beautiful city of Prague, Czech Republic. Salon Exceptional Watches 2019, previously taking place in Brno, now in Prague, will be the 6th edition of this event, held in the beautiful premises of the ?of¨ªn Palace, a historic venue in the centre of Prague, close to the National theatre. This event is now central and eastern Europe’s largest watch exhibition, with no fewer than 44 br

5 Cool Finds - 5 Multiple Time-Zones Watches to Inspire the Traveler in you - Monochrome Watches
Last week’s 5 Cool Finds’ selection was for the pleasure, to awake the horology enthusiast in you. This week, we move to practical functions – which does not mean the watches you’ll are not nice pieces… Today, we want to inspire the traveler in you, with 5 watches that will help you to keep track of time in (at least) two regions of the world. GMT, dual-time, world-timer… All of these names result in the end in watches that can be seen as the most practical pieces those days. Together with our partner?Chronext, here are?5 multiple time-zones watches that will benefit the travelers that?all of us are these days.if you are a?recurring reader of Monochrome, you should know the coming fact:?multiple time-zones watches, whether we talk GMT, Dual-Time or World-Timer, are with no doubt the most practical type of watches we can find these days. The world has become a village and lots?of us are crossing time-zones, for pleasure or business, several times a ye

Introducing the Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle World Time 2015 Edition - Monochrome-Watches
Alongside being a very elegant watch, the?Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle World Time has something special, something more, something that all world-time watches should have. Usually, this kind of watches comes with a display capable of displaying?24 different time-zones. Convenient right? Yes and no, as the world doesn't just have 24 but in fact 37 time-zones. Only a few watches can show all of the 37 time-zones and?this is indeed the case with this?Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle World Time, which comes with?a new face for 2015, including a new engraved gold dial.A world-timer is a watch that makes sense in our modern era, with more and more people working in international environment and traveling more often than ever before. The world became a global village where theoretically everyone will meet once. However, we do have to consider that we’re not all living on the same time-zone and a world-time watch can be an extremely useful ally. A world-timer usually features a d