Two Monochrome Editions by Harry Winston - Monochrome Watches
A few months ago, we at Monochrome received a call that blew our socks off. The guys and gals from Harry Winston had some great news they wanted to share with us. In preparation for this year's Baselworld, they were looking to do something special besides the annual Opus timepiece. The final suggestion was to debut two watches, one of them being an elegant dress watch and the other a more expressive timepiece.That's how we would have liked to have started this story, but sadly that is not the reality. However we do feel quite privileged to have a Harry Winston watch bearing our online magazine’s name. And the best part is, there is not just one, but two of them out there! Meet the?Harry Winston Midnight Monochrome Automatic and Ocean Dual Time Monochrome.The Midnight Monochrome is the dress watch, with a rather stunning looking grey dial.?The dial is made to look very much like a piece of slate, and closely resembles this stone, which gives it a smooth, yet still kind of rough ap

The Best of Indie Watchmaking Seen Through the Casebacks Part 1
Turning a watch over can be a moment of pure enjoyment. Beyond the intricacies of the mechanics of time, the meticulous search for perfection in their manufacturing, the time spent to decorate parts, the path for beauty and balance, is the hallmark of what we call Haute Horlogerie. We have put together some superb watches produced by Indie watchmakers, and we're only going to look at them through the caseback, movement side. For viewing pleasure exclusivelyThe list below gathers only ‘small’ independent watchmakers without mentioning larger brands such as Patek Philippe, A. Lange & Sohne or Audemars Piguet. Naturally, this isn’t an exhaustive list, so do not hesitate to mention your favourite craftsmen or watches in the comment section below!Akrivia Chronometre ContemporainRexhep Rexhepi ascent to become one of the rising stars of independent watchmaking is due largely to the splendour of his movements. With the Chronometre Contemporain, AkriviA focuses on the ess

IWC Pilots Watch UTC Spitfire Edition MJ271 ref. IW327101 - SIHH 2019 (Specs & Price)
As part of its thematic focus on Pilot’s Watches for the SIHH 2019,? IWC resurrects one of its signature complications, a device that was used in the past on pilot’s watches, the UTC for “Universal Time Coordinated” – a watch also known as the TZC for “Time Zone Corrector”. A practical?dual-time watch, which is easy to use and fitted with clever features, makes?a lot of sense in the context of a pilot’s watch. We are very pleased to see the return of this complication with the?IWC Pilot's Watch UTC Spitfire Edition MJ271.The UTC Watch by IWCBack in 1998, as part of the prolific Pilot’s Watch collection, IWC launched a new watch named the?UTC Pilot's Watch ref. 3251 (which you can see below). While the design was not surprising – clearly in the vein of the rest of the collection – the complication included in the watch was an interesting development. And don’t be fooled by the simple look of this piece, it is in fac

The most talked-about chronograph watches of the Geneva Watch Week
Outside of Watches & Wonders 2022, there was plenty more going on in the heart of Geneva. While close to 40 brands exhibited at the Palexpo complex, several other brands were present at Time to Watches or the Masters of Horology venues in the city, or even spread around some of the lakeside hotels. With so many new watches being presented, we take a look at some of the most talked-about chronographs presented during what we labelled the Geneva Watch Week.Jacob & Co Jean BugattiJacob & Co is known for over-the-top, ultra-complex watchmaking spectacles, yet the new Jean Bugatti Chronograph feels, different. It is still an extremely complex watch but with a more restrained exterior. The innovative double retrograde chronograph is paired with a twin-flying tourbillon escapement. The chronograph display is quite different from traditional ones, with a dashboard-like design. The elapsed seconds are shown by a pair of retrograde hands, indicating the tens and single units. The min

Hands-On - Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight 39mm 79030N - Baselworld 2018 (Specs & Price)
This year, at Baselworld 2018, the main novelty for Tudor was the Black Bay GMT – a watch that was a?hot topic of debate, released in tandem with? ’ version of the Steel-Pepsi GMT watch. But was this watch the most important piece in the new collection? Maybe not. Tudor also introduced the?Black Bay Fifty-Eight. A weird name for a watch that, at first sight, seems to be just another Black Bay diver. But let’s get straight to the point: this new ref.?79030N could well be the best Tudor Black Bay so far, and here’s why.Background – the Black Bay conceptThe Tudor Black Bay was?born in 2012, as the second step in Tudor’s revival era – one year after the Heritage Chrono and the same year as the Pelagos – under the Philippe Peverelli/Davide Cerrato management. The Black Bay clearly redefined the brand, repositioned the collection, made the brand sexy again and put it back on the road to success. The Black Bay was and still is the brand’s