Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver Khaki - Hands-On, Price
You are all familiar with the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver, a piece that has been in the ROO collection since 2010 designed for action men who want a robust companion for their extreme sports/lifestyle. What was once considered a big bad boy watch back in 1993 has now settled down and even its dimensions have become the accepted norm for sports watches. Every so often, AP refreshes its diver with new colour combinations. Today we'll be looking at the khaki Royal Oak Offshore Diver unveiled along with three other models in 2018.The Genesis of the Royal Oak OffshoreIt's hard to be the descendant of a living legend. I can only imagine 22-year-old Emmanuel Gueit's look of shock when Stephen Urquhart, then joint managing director of Audemars Piguet, gave him a brief in 1989 to design a new version of the Royal Oak that would attract a younger crowd. The original idea was to launch the watch in 1992 to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the Royal Oak. Without revisiting the mu

Designing Time with Creativity and Haute Horlogery: Part 2 - CABESTAN - Monochrome Watches
Yesterday we have shown you a magnificent timepiece, the 4N-MVT01 (see article here), a watch with a truly innovative display, consisting of 10 rotating discs. To continue this series of articles, we want to present you another striking way to display the time, here with drums integrated directly in the movement. The Cabestan Terra Luna offers not only a spectacular dial but also an outstanding piece of horological art, which we are proud to make you discover. Cabestan makes the Time rollCabestan is not a new actor in the market of Haute Horlogery. Whereas the CEO of the brand just changed a few months ago, the watchmaking team remains built around Eric Coudray, one of the geniuses of the industry, previously part of the Jaeger-LeCoultre team and inventor of the Gyrotourbillon! We are naming some serious references indeed and rightfully so, because the Cabestan Terra-Luna is an extremely impressive timepiece. It is a complicated and innovative timepiece with a very interesting way to d

Branding and Jaquet Droz's automata - Monochrome Watches
It¡äs a funny thing with brands: we can hardly imagine today that there used to be a time that practically every name of a customer, retailer or group of collectors, could be easily stamped on a dial, movement or case.The now prestigious names of established brands were hidden away, either engraved in the movement, the case-back or even unmentioned. The brand, if watch producers even considered themselves to be one, was a modest servant of the public. Jaeger-LeCoultre produced dentist tools and shaving equipment to survive and Patek Philippe watches that are now sought after in auction houses, were proudly bearing the names of the retailers on the dial, above or even sometimes instead of the brand itself. There are also many examples of and Tiffany & Co like this vintage pre-daytona that somehow didn’t sell that well, back in the days. Ad - Scroll to continue with article

First Look: The New Rado True Round Open Heart Collection
Since the launch of the Diastar, the world’s first scratchproof watch made from ultra-resilient tungsten carbide in 1962, Rado has become a byword for high-tech materials, especially high-tech ceramic. In tune with the latest trend for skeletonisation, Rado has issued a host of openworked models, ranging from golden oldies like the Captain Cook and Diastar to more contemporary models like the True Square Open Heart. Four models of the brand’s True Round high-ceramic collection are the next in line for treatment and roll into surgery for an open-heart operation. Unlike its predecessors, the surgery is far less invasive, resulting in a dial that has not compromised legibility in the name of skeletonisation.?Four models, including a limited edition, represent the new True Round Open Heart sub-collection. All four models share a monobloc 50m water-resistant high-tech ceramic case with a diameter of 40mm and a thickness of 10.4mm. Ad - Scroll to continue with article

Vacheron Constantin and the Geneva Seal - Monochrome Watches
In the world of watches and especially the world of Haute Horlogerie, there are several quality signs. The COSC chronometer test the most well known and many timepieces from many brands are certified by the?Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute. Another proof of quality, one that goes much further than ‘just’ the timepiece’s accuracy, is the Hallmark of Geneva or also referred to as Geneva Seal. As of June 2013 all Vacheron Constantin timepieces bearing this seal of quality will comply with the newest standards. In two videos Vacheron Constantin explains the Geneva Seal’s history and the impact on the production of watches of this Genevan brand.?The Geneva Seal was set up on November 6, 1886. This was done on request of the Societe des Horloger, who saw the international reputation of Genevan watches being compromised by both Swiss and foreign counterfeiters. The main task was to protect the reputation of the name “Geneva” which was inscribed