Introducing The Chopard Alpine Eagle 41 Shikkoku Japan-Only Edition
Chopard is out to conquer the Land of the Rising Sun with an exclusive 100-piece edition of its Alpine Eagle watch. By far the darkest iteration of the brand’s luxury sports watch, the dial is inspired by a jet-black tone known in Japan as shikkoku. This intense black colour is obtained from the millenary Japanese lacquerware technique known as urushi. Promoted by Chopard’s ambassador, the Japanese rugby player Keita Inagaki, the Alpine Eagle 41?Shikkoku Japan-Only breaks rank and eliminates the date indication to preserve the brooding monochromatic mood of the dial.ShikkokuAlthough Chopard has produced dials with urushi lacquer, this Alpine Eagle is not made using this ancestral technique. Instead, it adopts the signature black colour associated with urushi lacquerware. As the darkest shade of black – a predecessor of Vantablack, if you like – the Japanese associate its impenetrable darkness with the idea of mystery, simplicity and tranquillity associated with

Appointments at LVMH: New Head of Watchmaking Division and Frederic Arnault Head of Strategy at TAG Heuer - Monochrome Watches
In an article published yesterday by French business magazine Challenges (see the article here, in French), it seems that the Watchmaking Division of LVMH (TAG Heuer, Hublot, Zenith) is about to be reshuffled. The article mentions (without sources or quotes) two important appointments: Frederic Arnault, the 23-year-old son of Bernard Arnault (CEO of LVMH), gets a new position at TAG?Heuer and?Stephane Bianchi is appointed as the head of the?Watchmaking Division.?First, it appears that a young man, Frederic Arnault, Bernard’s penultimate son (aged 23), takes on a much more important position at TAG Heuer. Already appointed Head of Connected Watches at TAG in July 2017, he will now be the Head of Strategy and Digital of the brand. Passionate about new technologies, this recent Polytechnique graduate (just like his father) was already in charge of the brand’s 2.0 products, yet he’s now offered a much wider position at TAG Heuer, a brand with revenues of EUR 900 million.T

Introducing: Tudor Pelagos FXD GMT Zulu Time x Marine Nationale
Tudor‘s connection with military forces is no secret anymore. The most famous of these partnerships is, without a doubt, the co-creation of specific dive watches for the French Marine Nationale, which resulted in some of the most appealing mil-spec models ever made by Tudor. Revived in 2021 with the launch of the Pelagos FXD platform, initially developed with a French Navy specialist unit, the collection has since expanded with a black Pelagos FXD model, the Alinghi Red Bull Racing watches and the FXD Chrono Cycling Edition. Today, Tudor goes back to the roots of the collection with yet another collaboration with the Marine Nationale. But this time, it’s not a dive watch anymore, but a model dedicated to the French Naval Aviation, a pilot’s GMT watch that is known as the Pelagos FXD GMT Zulu Time.Just like mother brand , Tudor has long been involved with military forces. Following the creation of the Submariner in 1953, started to develop more accessible models und

What Makes The Seiko Prospex Divers "Turtle" and "Samurai" Such Cool Pieces?
When it comes to watches, we can sometimes be a bit posh at MONOCHROME – or, put more elegantly, we can be quite selective and have a soft spot for anything high-end. We love watchmaking in its purest form with complex mechanisms and Haute Horlogerie decoration. We can’t help it. But… We love watches in general and we also genuinely enjoy well-executed accessible watches. And in this field, Seiko with the Prospex collection is certainly among the best contenders. Think “Turtle” and “Samurai”, think “PADI” editions, think cool diver’s watches that retail for less than half a grand. And today I’ll give you my personal view on why all watch enthusiasts, seasoned or new to the game, fortunate or not, should really consider taking a serious look at these two, very cool watches.This article is not intended to be an in-depth review but more of an opinion piece. To learn more about the Seiko Prospex Diver’s PADI “Sam

A Letter From The Editor - Monochrome Watches
It’s been a pleasure to see the number of readers increase every month and I always enjoy your emails, responses and reactions through all our social media channels. Thank you for that! Since Monochrome has started, back in 2006, it has been a thrill to see Monochrome grow to become one of the defining blogs (or online magazines) about watches. And as you know, we focus mainly on (ultra) Haute Horlogerie and Independent Watchmaking. My latest acquisition perfectly fits the bill. It is a vintage Patek Calatrava ref. 3484 that I bought it for a special occasion. Read on to find out what that special occasion was and to read more news about Monochrome.I have been looking to get a dot.com ever since the beginning, however the owner of monochrome.com didn’t want to relinquish that domain. So the search went on and in a few weeks we’ll be migrating monochrome-watches.com to monochrome-watches.com. And there will be more, like a new video page, a web shop, loads of reviews (