Business - Analysis of the Swiss watchmaking industry in 2014 - Monochrome-Watches
The?Swiss watchmaking industry is known to be a dream factory. If you’re a collector and a frequent reader of Monochrome-Watches, you certainly know what we mean by that. However, Swiss manufactures are also (actually mainly) businesses, with a unique goal: selling watches, achieving a worldwide recognition and creating value. In order to understand a bit more about this industry that we too often view only from the product side, here are some interesting figures about the year 2014.Let’s start immediately with the impressive numbers. While the production numbers of Swiss-made watches is almost insignificant as part of the entire annual watch production (which includes all vast numbers of cheap quartz watches produced in China), the value created by the Swiss manufactures is imposing. As the graph shows, Switzerland only produces one watch against?fifty?produced in the entire world. When you consider those numbers, just think that this small country is also responsible of m

Why I think the Omega CK 859 is the best new Omega of the year.
Usually, when a brand launches one or more new models, or perhaps even an entire collection, they want to generate a bit of buzz. Get the news out with a big bang, creating a splash upon launch that ripples through for a couple of days or even weeks. I sometimes wonder then, why from time to time a novelty is quietly and unexpectedly released. Case in point, the incredibly gorgeous Omega CK 859 Re-edition. No press release, no big campaign, just a devilishly good-looking watch no one saw coming. And to me, it's hands-down the best new Omega we will be seeing this year.I have several reasons why I genuinely believe this is the hottest watch coming from Omega in 2022 and I will happily explain. The backstory of this watch and its release is funny, and a-typical of the industry. It wasn't announced by Omega itself or an affiliated PR agency. It was just there out of the blue. Spotted on social media, we reached out to Omega to find out more and it tested our patience a little. What was go

Omega Speedmaster Speedy Tuesday Limited Edition - Specs & Price
If you are into watches, and most definitely into an icon of watchmaking named the Omega Speedmaster, the word #SpeedyTuesday might familiar. Created in 2012 by our colleagues of Fratello Watches, this must not be sued up to a single tag for social media but more as the?rallying cry of all Speedmaster passionates (and, yes, we’re amongst them). To mark this great achievement – which definitely serves Omega as a whole – the brand is proud to introduced a 2,012 pieces limited edition with several unique features, inspired by a 1978 Vintage “Alaska Project” edition, the?Omega Speedmaster Speedy Tuesday Limited Edition.We’re not going to go over all the specs of the?Omega Speedmaster Speedy Tuesday Limited Edition simply because this edition is based on the more than famous Professional edition “Moonwatch”. It means a 42mm stainless steel case, the iconic 1861 movement (virtually the same movement that powered the timepieces NASA's astronauts

Hands-On - 2022 TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 200 in 40mm
Last year TAG Heuer revamped the well-known Aquaracer Professional range, the brand's long-standing dive watch collection. It featured an updated, more refined look that was in line with the collection's lineage that started with the 2000-series in the early 1980s. The DNA is especially apparent in the overall shape of the case, which is retained albeit updated in the latest collection. New for 2022 is the addition of a slightly less beefy and bulky diver, and we've already gotten our hands on it prior to the LVMH Watch Week. Here's the new 40mm TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 200.The origins of the Aquaracer collection can be traced back to the early 1980s when TAG Heuer presented the 2000-series of watches. This series of dive and chronograph watches lasted until 2005, a year after TAG Heuer used the Aquaracer moniker for the first time. Since then, it has been a stable part of the brand's portfolio. Ad - Scroll to continue with article

Recap: The Best GMT and Travel Watches of Watches and Wonders 2025
We, at MONOCHROME, have long been strong advocates of the GMT, Worldtimer and Dual-Time complications. Why? Simply because when rightfully implemented, these additional features make some of the most practical watches possible – and we’re talking real-life practicality here, not an equation of time that no one has ever really understood (sorry, I had to say it…) And I can tell you that we were happy to see that brands during Watches and Wonders 2025 and the Geneva Watch Week came fully loaded, with an array of GMT and Travel watches. Here are some of the best we’ve seen – with one important?exclusion, the Bovet Recital 30 (an absolutely brilliant watch) that we’ll feature in another selection.?Armin Strom Dual Time GMT Resonance Manufacture SteelLet’s start with the most complex watch on the list (thanks only to the alphabetical order…), which is much more than just its dual-time complication. This model is the second in the line-up, foll