Hands-on with the 2016 edition of the A. Lange & Sohne Saxonia Thin, with new face (live pics, specs & price) - Monochrome Watches
This 2016 edition of the SIHH has been very productive for A. Lange & Sohne (again…). We’ve seen the stunning (yes, that’s an understatement) Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon, the poetical and kind of magical Grand Lange 1 Moon Phase Lumen, the very elegant and balanced Saxonia Moon Phase or the highly technical Richard Lange Jumping Seconds. Clearly, the Saxonian Manufacture didn’t disappoint this year. Besides these proper novelties, there was also an update of an existing watch introduced, a watch that may not be the most coveted creation of Lange but one that really has charm and a discrete elegance, the?A. Lange & Sohne Saxonia Thin, which?now features a new face.As said in the introduction, the?A. Lange & Sohne Saxonia Thin isn’t a proper novelty, as the previous edition of this watch was?introduced at the SIHH 2011, as you can see here, in our dedicated article. However, we have to remind now the 2015 edition of the SIHH, where A. Lange &a

Pre SIHH 2012 - The new Lange und Sohne Datograph Auf/Ab - Monochrome Watches
Lange und Sohne call it the new benchmark in chronograph design and we think they are absolutely right. The new Datograph Auf/Ab sets the bar at a new level and the improvements go beyond adding a power reserve indicator.?According to many collectors the normal Datograph was already one of the most desirable chronographs ever made, only surpassed by it’s bigger brother the Lange und Sohne Double Split. Will the new Datograph Auf/Ab bring a change in that hierarchy? Ad - Scroll to continue with article Let’s look at what’s been changed/improved.First of all the case size has increased from 39 mm to ?41 mm. Something that might seem like ‘almost nothing’ is a big change for Lange und Sohne because they usually keep diameters at a moderate, almost old fashioned, size of less than 40 mm. While we at Monochrome prefer such ideas about th

Introducing The Zenith Defy Skyline Tourbillon (With High-Frequency Regulator)
Zenith’s Defy family is represented by seven sub-collections, including the recent Defy Skyline range. The name of the collection dates to Zenith’s 1902 line of robust pocket watches bearing the name ‘Defi’ only to pop up again in 1969 to distinguish the toughest member of the first El Primero references. For the Defy Skyline collection, Zenith borrowed specific design cues from the 1969 model but toned them down to produce a contender in the luxury sports watch segment without excess vintage overload. The two new Defy Skyline models are fitted with a high-frequency tourbillon movement securely contained in a robust and sporty 41mm Defy case, ensuring the complication can be enjoyed daily and in practically any situation.As a more subtle and contemporary interpretation of its 1969 ancestor, the 41mm Defy Skyline Tourbillon flaunts an octagonal case but has replaced the tetradecagonal (14-sided) bezel with a 12-sided one. Decorated with vertical brushed surfaces

Collector's Corner - The iconic Cartier Tank Americaine
We've spent quite a lot of time talking about sports watches in The Collector's Corner. In the last article, we took a look at the Breguet Type XX, but now we head back to the realm of the dress watch. No more dress complications this time - we've had quite a few of those already (both from JLC and from Breguet). No, now we talk about the pinnacle of the dress watch: time-only, and what better way to highlight this than to talk about a watch made by Cartier? The jewellery house excels in unconventional and daring designs, and though many of their most iconic watch case shapes date back to the first half of the 20th century, our subject today is the spring chicken of the bunch.Cartier's iconic rectangular wristwatch, the Tank, was born in 1917 and said to be inspired by the stark lines of Renault FT-17 tanks. In the decades since, the Tank design was iterated on but the focus always lay on elegance and on pushing the boundaries of case shapes (Tank Chinoise or Asymetrique, anyone?). Ind

Patek Philippe Split Seconds Perpetual Calendar 5204R-011 (Specs, Price)
If there’s one combination of complications that Patek has been famed for, it certainly is the chronograph perpetual calendar – something the brand inaugurated with the iconic reference 1518. Following this tradition, the brand has been playing with various watches around the topic, and the king of them all has to be the reference 5204, a watch that packs a traditional hand-wound chronograph, with an additional rattrapante function and a perpetual calendar on top of it… Quite a watch, obviously. This watch, the Patek Philippe 5204R Split-Seconds Chronograph Perpetual Calendar, already in the collection with two other references, is now released in a new combination of rose gold with a slate grey dial.Under this new 5204R-011 is a mighty, complex watch that sits on top of the range of the hand-wound chronographs by Patek Philippe. To put it simply, it packs everything the brand has under its sleeve, meaning a split-seconds or rattrapante function and the best of calend