Buying Guide: Going All-Out With Outrageously Expressive Watches
A couple of weeks ago we did a rundown of what we felt are some of the best dress watches for the festive season. A time when we get together with our loved ones to celebrate, enjoy, and take a little break from our daily concerns. While a dress watch certainly seems like a fitting choice for celebrations, there is another way to do things. Why not let loose a little and go for something outrageously expressive? We’re still talking mechanical watches here, so expect complications and decorations throughout, yet in a very outspoken manner. Time to pop the champagne!Roger Dubuis Knights of the Round Table Merlin editionGather around is to be taken quite literally in the Roger Dubuis Knights of the Round Table Merlin Edition, as it spreads twelve handcrafted and finely detailed sword-wielding figurines around the dial. These surround 56 individual glass, gold and basalt blocks resembling the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, once said to be crossed by Merlin the Magician.

The Speake-Marin Magister Tourbillon, the back to basics watch - Monochrome Watches
Peter Speake-Marin is going back to his roots with a tourbillon, after an incursion in the world of sports watches. This complication is of very special significance for him. This is a good reason to take a closer look at his Magister Tourbillon, bringing together a host of details characteristics of his watch design we have been enjoying for some 15 years.Background / Reminder about Peter Speake-MarinAfter qualifying as a watchmaker at Hackney Technical College in London, Englishman Peter Speake-Marin moved to Switzerland in the late 1980s. There, he further learnt his trade at Wostep, the renowned watchmaking school in Neuchatel. Returning to London, seven highly formative years to set up and run the antique watch restauration department at Somlo antiques in Piccadilly London were an influential period on his career, allowing him to discover the valuable works of past masters. In 1996, he was attracted back to Switzerland to develop high complications for Renaud & Papi, the high-

Buying Guide: The Call Of The Deeps, With 5 Of The Most Focused Instrument Dive Watches
Don’t look for elegance, restrained dimensions, comfort on a daily basis or the ability to wear these watches with a sporty-chic attire at a cocktail party this summer. These watches are not meant for that. These watches are not luxury items (well, some have a luxury price tag, but that’s not the point) but tools created to fulfil a mission. Today, in our latest buying guide, we’ll look at some of the most focused, purpose-built diving instrument watches you can imagine. Watches that are meant to explore the greatest depths, watches that are equipped with functions that only a professional diver will ever use, watches that are big and bold for reasons. It’s time to put on your wetsuit and refill your breathing apparatus because we’re looking at five of the most instrumental dive watches.?Our resident dive watch reviewer and diving enthusiast Derek?on the job.Today’s selection of watches isn’t necessarily about the greatest water-resistance. Of

Doxa Sub300 50th Anniversary - Review, History, Specs & Price
At Baselworld 2016, Doxa introduced its 50th Anniversary Sub300 model, a great dive watch with unquestionable pedigree. So we, at Monochrome, eagerly waited for a prototype to arrive at the HQ for a review. Once a black-dial Sharkhunter variant received, we immediately put it to its paces comparing, debating and discussing about it. That is the purpose of this article: make you understand how important and cool this watch is. However, before I proceed with my assessment, I feel that a short overview of the history of the company is needed to put things into a proper perspective.Background - Doxa through historyDoxa was founded by Georges Ducommun as Georges Ducommun, Fabriques Doxa in 1889 in Le Locle, Switzerland. The company rose to prominence in 1908 with the introduction of an 8-day watch movement, which offered motorists and aviators a dash-mounted timepiece providing greater ease of reading. Doxa patented an instrument, using this movement, purpose-built to be mounted on cars' an

Vacheron Constantin Traditionelle Complete Calendar White Gold
It’s been a busy year over at Vacheron Constantin with the opening of its largest boutique in New York and a satisfying mix of releases, both old and new. Its luxury sports watch family, the Overseas, expanded with precious case materials for its QP and Tourbillon and two ruggedly sporty Everest editions. Vacheron also celebrated the centennial of the wonderful American 1921 with a trilogy of vintage revivals in its Historiques collection. Just when it looked like the Traditionnelle collection would be given a miss, last month Vacheron presented its Traditionnelle Complete Calendar with a new dial colour and case material. Although it shares the same specs as the original model introduced in 2018, the latest iteration is sleeker, sharper and darker thanks to its slate grey velvety dial. Let’s take a closer look at this alluring, more contemporary take on the triple calendar.?Getting hipper in old age?It might be the world’s oldest manufacture in continuous production,