Recap: The Best of Integrated and Elegant Sports Watches of 2024
Watches with an integrated design, elegant sports watches, luxury sports watches… Call them what you want, but we’re talking about one thing precisely: watches that play on the vibe created by the AP Royal Oak in 1972, watches with integrated bracelets and a combination of sporty elements and elegance. We're all well aware that the luxury sports watch segment has exploded over the past few years. To the point where almost all brands had to have one in their collection. This year, we’ve seen the trend slowing down a bit… just a bit, as there were still plenty of elegant sports watches released – the most talked about being undoubtedly the Patek Philippe Cubitus. We've gone through all the new entries of this year and have narrowed it down to what we think are the five best in the game in 2024.Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar John MayerThis QP version of the AP Royal Oak might not be the most revolutionary model of the year, but it is nevertheles

Touched By The Hand Of Maradona (who offered a Hublot to the Pope) - Monochrome Watches
Thirty years after an act of personal divination brought the World Cup to Argentina, football superstar Diego Maradona (a.k.a Hand of God) was brought face-to-face with Pope Francis (a.k.a Man of God) for charity football tournament organized by His Holiness… and a?surprise came in the middle of the game, not touched by the hand but?strapped around the wrist this time.Hublot are never shy about asserting their sporty nature and demonstrating to the world their love of sports and sporting events. Indeed, there are few brands that I can name who have worked to assiduously to court so many athletes and teams. This time however, Hublot have gone in an entirely different direction: one of their international ambassadors - football great Diego Maradona has chosen fellow Argentinian, Pope Francis as the recipient of a brand spanking new Hublot Big Bang Unico watch. Ad - Scroll to continue with article

What happens at TAG Heuer? (unemployment, layoffs, repositioning) - Monochrome-Watches
The last Baselworld edition seemed to be a good one for TAG Heuer. We saw the introduction of a brand new, in-house developed and manufactured, chronograph movement, named calibre CH80 (initially introduced as calibre 1969). And there was a new, and very good looking, TAG Heuer Carrera that was equipped with this new in-house movement. Shortly after Baselworld we already heard that it would get a few design changes, which we showed you here. However, the time of celebration is over. First we heard that the launch of?calibre CH80 was postponed. Then, we read that TAG Heuer had to let some?personnel go, so we wondered: what is going on at TAG Heuer?We already told you that we were?impressed?by the new Carrera CH80 – a truly inspired watch, with an in-house movement. The design was great, the specifications of the movement too. It was called to a great success. But in the middle of this celebration, the LVMH group and Jean-Claude Biver (head of watches for?the group and previously C

Introducing the IWC Portofino Hand-Wound Day & Date - Monochrome-Watches
In the rush of Watches & Wonders 2015 (the Hong-Kong watch fair), it’s now IWC’s turn to come with a novelty: the?IWC Portofino Hand-Wound Day?&?Date. We’ve recently covered various iterations of IWC’s Portofino models, like the recent Monopusher Chronograph,?the Pure Classic edition?and the one that featured in The Collector’s Series.?The new Portofino Day & Date comes with interesting features, all based on the same nice and massive 8-day power reserve hand-wound in-house movement.The IWC Portofino is the elegant and vintage-inspired proposition of the brand, with a large, round case and a clean and pure dial. What makes this watch kind of special is the use of IWC’s own movement, with a very large diameter that completely fills the case – something that is extremely pleasant (and rare enough in the industry to be mentioned). This Calibre?59220 features a single but large mainspring that can provide energy to the watch during 8 da

Hands-On: Patek Philippe Calatrava Pilot Travel Time Chronograph 5924G
It has been eight years since Patek Philippe launched a Pilot-style watch. It was the unexpected Travel Time 5524G, a watch that caused a lot of discussions, mainly due to its controversial appearance and a confusing attachment to the Calatrava family. The inaugural reference, the variants to follow, including the now-discontinued 7234, and the 2019 Calatrava Pilot Alarm Travel Time 5520P, with its four protruding pushers, continue to look slightly odd compared to the rest of the Calatrava watches. Still, the new aesthetic introduced by Patek Philippe in 2015, with a nod to a historical 1936 model called the “hour angle dial” (a unique watch with unique features and an hour hand making one trip around the dial in 24 hours), is here to stay. So you better get used to these not-so-Patek-ish – whatever this means – timepieces. The Pilot style series is expanding its reach with two recently added Calatrava Pilot Travel Time Chronograph models. We spent enough time w