The Auction Hammer - The start of a new season - Monochrome Watches
Auction seasons has begun again after a brief summer recess. On September 14 Antiquorum auctions off 319 items in their New York auction. While going through their catalogue one cannot do anything else then to be surprised and wonder.for a wide variety of reasons.Take for example lot 13.?This features an IWC Aquatimer 2000 (ref. 3568) that was originally sold on May 20th?2011… One wonders how a watch that is less than 6 months old can be on auction so soon? Since Antiquorum rates the watch as very good' one can expect that it is slightly worn. With an estimate off? $2,000 - $3,000 USD this might be a nice opportunity to get this very young divers watch out of Schaffhausen for a sharp price. Ad - Scroll to continue with article Talking about estimates, sometimes utterly astonishment is an understatement when it comes to this topic. Lot 260 features a 2002 B

Interview - The Online Watch Market - Tim Starcke from Chrono24
It’s often said that the online world of buying (and selling) watches is kind of murky. I remember the days, actually not so long ago, when most watch brand websites started with a pop-up warning the visitor about watches for sale in the online world. Now, only a few years down the line, those very same brands have started to develop their own e-commerce channels. Besides these official e-commerce channels, the internet is teeming with online marketplaces and we will be asking the CEOs of the largest and most reputable online platforms to tell us more about their company, themselves and which watch tops their personal wish list.Today we start this series of interviews with none other than Tim Stracke. He pioneered the online watch market with Chrono24, which we can safely say set the benchmark. Whenever I need information about a specific pre-owned watch, and especially its price range, I visit Chrono24. And I’ve been doing this for as long as I can remember in my search fo

The devil is in the details... of the dial (case study with the Patek Philippe 5496P-015) - Monochrome Watches
You see, here at Monochrome-Watches, we always praise the complexity?of movements, we always emphasize on the amount of work done by watchmakers to assemble complications or to achieve a perfectly polished bevel, to finish?an internal angle or to obtain?black polishing – we even did a technical guide about it. We also look at “metiers d’art” – engraving, enameling, micro-painting. However, there’s one thing we tend to neglect?and that is actually much more important than we think: the dial. Yes, a dial can be very simple – most of them are actually painted plates with numerals and track printed. However, some dials can be proper demonstrations of art, showing microscopic elements finished with extreme care. People say that the devil is in the details… In the case of the?Patek Philippe 5496P-015, the devil is clearly in the dial.Why are we usually giving?our interest mainly on movements? It is simple. The movement of a watch is the beating

Success made by Panerai - caliber ETA/Unitas 6497 - Monochrome Watches
The pocket watch movement Unitas 6497 is a reliable workhorse. It’s being used in numerous watches… not only pocket watches! It actually got the most fame because it was used by Panerai. Since Panerai gained name and fame among watch collectors, so did the movement Panerai used in most of their watches of that time, Unitas caliber 6497. The last few years there are numerous brands using this reliable movement. I had the idea manually wound movement where mostly used by high-end brands in very exclusive watches. Most mid range brands offering watches of a few hundred euro up to a around 1,500 – 2,000 euro used automatic movement for their mechanical watches. Today it’s hard to ignore the presence of manually wound watches in this price range. Panerai caliber OP XIThe above caliber OP XI has been heavily modified by Panerai. With new bridges and a swan neck regulator for fine adjustment this variant of the Unitas 6497 belongs to the very best available. Other bran

First Look: The New TAG Heuer Carrera Glassbox Purple Editions
The TAG Heuer Carrera requires little to no introduction anymore. With its name inspired by the perilous Carrera Panamericana race, the model became one of the most iconic racing-inspired watches. Since its introduction in 1963, its design has evolved in many directions. Presented in 2023, marking the 60th anniversary of the collection, the handsome Carrera Glassbox was an instant hit. This modern take on the concept retains the angular lugs and clean lines of the classic Carrera. But it distinguishes itself with a prominently domed sapphire crystal and a bezel-less design. Multiple variations have been released since it was first launched. And on the occasion of the LVMH Watch Week 2025, we get two new models with gradient purple dials, bringing a distinctive, elegant flair to the collection.Expanding the colour palette of the Carrera Glassbox series, these two new Carreras follow the introduction of a purple version of the Monaco chronograph in 2022. The first model is an iteration o