Watches NEWS
A guide to the Certifications and Quality Seals - Monochrome Watches
COSC, Geneva Seal, Fleurier Quality Foundation, ISO standards Watchmakers endorse their products with various certification marks to demonstrate their commitment to quality. These certifications address to multiple aspects of quality, relating to criteria as different as precision, durability, robustness, aesthetic or even provenance. This installment of A Technical Perspective provides a guide to quality and chronometric certifications seals.A bit of historyVery early, and well-before marketing or advertising were theorized, watchmakers worked on building a reputation of quality around their products and their name. The concept of chronometry really developed during the 18th century, when long-haul travellers needed sharp timekeepers to enable them to determine their position at sea reliably. Manufacturing precise watches became a subject of competition between watchmakers, specifically at observatories, which were founded as guardians of accurate time. There was fierce rivalry at obs
Bucherer Acquires Another US-Based Retailer: Baron & Leeds - Monochrome Watches
In January this year, Europe’s largest watch retailer announced the acquisition of US-based group Tourneau?from Green Equity Investors IV LP,?an investor group that owned Tourneau for decades. While this represented a first (and major) step in the American strategy of the Swiss retailer, the group didn’t stop there and yesterday,?Tourneau's parent company Bucherer USA?announced it has?purchased Baron & Leeds, another US retailer.Baron & Leeds was founded in 2002 and operates four stores in California and?Hawaii – two official boutiques and two eponymous stores. The boutiques are located at South Coast Plaza in California and at International Market Place in Honolulu. The two Baron & Leeds stores are based on?Maui. Amongst the brands in its?portfolio, Baron & Leeds is the official retailer for? , Tudor, Patek Philippe as well as several jewellery brands.Yesterday,?Swiss company Bucherer, via its US-based subsidiary company Bucherer USA (which now ma
The Collector's Corner - Discussing the IWC Deep One IW3527
The fourth entry in The Collector's Corner sees us returning to IWC, and though the company might best be known for its pilot’s watches, we are taking a plunge into the depths today. There are dive watches, and there are DIVE watches – the latter refers to watches that are so over-engineered that they are basically a piece of survival kit in their own right. The IWC Deep One is a DIVE watch, and it is our subject today. And it's one of the most fascinating, instrumental, and collectable watches of the brand.?BackgroundWe took a look at IWC's history leading up to the quartz crisis in our first post in The Collector’s Corner?before we dove deeper into the pivotal role Gunter Blumlein played in shaping what we know as the modern IWC. Instead of treading that same ground (or water - ok, I'll stop with the puns now!) again, let us look at some lines of sports watches that emerged in this era.? Ad - Scroll to continue with article
Introducing the Omega DeVille Hour Vision BLUE for Orbis - Monochrome Watches
Blue is the new black. That was something we heard a lot this year at the SIHH and Baselworld. Many watch brands introduce watches with a blue dial and we at Monochrome do fancy some of them. IWC on the other hand, introduces an annual limited edition with a BLUE?dial that is dedicated to a good cause, like this one. Now Omega also introduces a watch with a striking blue dial, and dedicated to a good cause. The Omega DeVille Hour Vision Blue is dedicated to the world's only Flying Eye Hospital, named Orbis.Omega chose two to launch two blue dial version of the Constellation and the DeVille Hour Vision on which we’ll focus here today. When the DeVille Hour Vision was introduced in 2007, it was THE watch?that introduced Omega’s Co-Axial calibre 8500/8501. It was the first calibre with the new co-axial escapement and these?movements were entirely created in-house. The Omega DeVille Hour Vision features a unique case with a?360¡ã see-through case-body which is set in a robust 41
Weekly Watch Photo - Vacheron Constantin Wristshots from the Hour Lounge - Monochrome Watches
Another week, another Weekly Watch Photo here at Monochrome. A while ago Alex Ghotbi, community manager of Vacheron Constantin’s “in-house” forum, started the Friday “what’s on your wrist” post by showing the Overseas Chronograph with blue dial (click here for our hands-on report) on his wrist. I liked that photo a lot and yesterday I browsed through the Hour Lounge to search for more beautiful wrist shots of the Overseas Chrono and ended up with some entirely different photos.While I was actually searching for photos of the sporty and casual Overseas, I saw a photo of the Historique American 1921 and I like this model so much. The search went on, but I noticed that my focus was changed and thus I selected other photos, not of the sports watch that the Overseas is, but photos of stylish, refined and even elegant dress watches. No wonder, actually, because that’s exactly what we can expect from Vacheron Constantin. Together with Patek Philippe a
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