Buying Guide - Best of Perpetual Calendar of 2021 by MONOCHROME
As we’re getting closer and closer to the end of the year 2021, we continue our series of buying guides looking at the best watches of the year per category. We’ve already looked at the best chronographs, the best of independent watchmaking, the best traveller’s watches and more. And today, we take a closer look at one of our favourite complications, the perpetual calendar. A must-have for high-end watchmakers, and one of the most classic haute horlogerie complications, this year we’ve some particularly attractive perpetual calendar watches being released. And here are our top 5 models equipped with this complex type of display.?Editor's note: this list reflects the preferences of MONCHROME's editorial team and results from an internal vote. This list is, of course, non-exhaustive and remains subjective. If there are other watches equipped with a perpetual calendar launched in 2021 that made an impression on you, feel free to share your thoughts with us in the c

COOL FINDS: 3 rarities from indie watchmakers - Monochrome-Watches
After showing you some highly interesting vintage timepieces?from Heuer and some rare vintage chronographs from Airain or Universal Geneve, we wanted to move on to our favorite subject: independent watchmakers. Those type of watches are always made in very limited editions and finding pre-owned ones is complicated. Here are three rare birds that you might like as much as we do.A classical Speake-Marin J-Class ResiliencePeter (Speake-Marin) is a very good friend of Monochrome-Watches. We’ve always thoroughly enjoyed?his work. He has now moved on to building some very nice, more affordable, pilot watches (the Wing Commander, the Seafire Chronograph and the Spirit MkII) but he also has his classical line, the J-Class, represented by dress watches, with in-house calibers and even a tourbillon. Ad - Scroll to continue with article The one presented here is a Re

The Speedmaster Chronicles #1 - James H. Ragan, The Man Responsible for the "Moonwatch"
Here it is: Episode 1 of our series of videos dedicated to the one-and-only Omega Speedmaster “Moonwatch“. Certainly one of the most iconic watches ever created, many stories have been written about this stopwatch. Yet, today, we are proud to have a special guest with us for the first episode of “The Speedmaster Chronicles“. Without him, the Speedmaster would have never been named the “Moonwatch” and all the fame and dreams around this watch wouldn’t exist. Here is James H. Ragan,?Former NASA Program Manager and Aerospace Engineer – or the man who tested the Speedmaster and who gave it the “Flight Qualified By NASA For All Manned Space Missions” certification, allowing the Speed to finally make it to the Moon.Born in 1957 with the Ref. CK2915, introducing for the first time the concept of the outer tachymeter scale (no more printed on the dial), the?Omega Speedmaster properly won its spurs on?July 21, 1969, when strapped aroun

Introducing TAG Heuer Autavia 60th Anniversary Flyback Chronograph and GMT
The Autavia is an important collection for TAG Heuer. The watch, the first designed and launched under the leadership of Jack Heuer in 1962, is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. The name, a portmanteau of automobile and aviation, makes no doubt on the vocation of the watch, an instrument to time events and races. As such, the chronograph has always been part of the collection’s DNA. Yet, when the name was revived in 2019 with the new collection, this complication was missing and the watch was only offered in time-and-date editions. But since 2022 marks 60 years of Autavia, the brand has decided to correct things and presents a collection of 3 new models, with the new TAG Heuer Autavia 60th Anniversary Flyback Chronograph and GMT 3 Hands.Quick reminder. The name Autavia first appeared during the 1930s – in 1933 to be precise – on dashboard instruments made by Heuer. The name was born from the contraction of AUTomobile and AVIAtion. It would later be associate

Introducing The New Ulysse Nardin Freak One (Live Pics & Price)
The Freak, the brainchild of the late Ulysse Nardin owner Rolf Schnyder and genius watchmaker Ludwig Oechslin, has been with us for 22 years. The first Freak was packed with innovative ideas that would transform the conservative ways of watchmaking, changing perceptions. Since 2001 the watch with no crown to wind and time set, no conventional hands to point hours and minutes and no dial per common designation have appeared in several variants, yet looking at the timeline, many would agree that the new 2023 edition, the Freak ONE, could be the prettiest.The new Ulysse Nardin Freak ONE celebrates the previous, with many features popping up with just a glance. Still, it is a tribute to the first Ulysse Nardin Freak, highlighting the avant-garde design and technology of one of the most forward-thinking creations of this century so far. Ad - Scroll to continue with article