The Best High-End Skeletonized Watches of 2022 So Far - Monochrome Watches
It takes tremendous amounts of knowledge and craftsmanship to open up a dial or a movement, or both for that matter, to reveal the inner beauty of a watch. The art of skeletonization remains one of the most intriguing watchmaking styles available. And I don't mean cutting a hole in the dial to reveal the balance wheel. No, I am talking about exposing as much as possible, even leaving a traditional dial out of the equation altogether. I am talking about proper fully skeletonized watchmaking, and this year we've already seen quite a few extremely impressive examples.Cartier Masse MysterieuseThe enigmatic Cartier Masse Mysterieuse is easily one of the most fascinating watches presented in 2022. This puzzling watch by the Grand Dame pushes the Mysterieuse concept to the next level. Set in a 43.5mm wide platinum case is a completely suspended, self-driving movement. The semi-circular construction also happens to be entirely skeletonized, revealing its intricacies yet never fully disclosing

Hands-On: The New Longines Conquest 2023 Chronograph
The name Conquest is an important one at Longines, as it refers to a long-lasting collection that was first introduced in 1954. A surprising fact about this name: it was the first step in an emerging marketing strategy for the brand, which was to give a name to a family of watches, creating a collection. Something that seems common these days but proved powerful back then. Since then, the name Conquest has been synonymous with classic, all-rounder watches. The previous Conquest (not to be confused with the dive-oriented HydroConquest) had been around for many years and had started to look slightly outdated. But this year, Longines has decided to revamp entirely its go-anywhere, do-anything collection with the new Longines Conquest 2023. And after our introduction of the entire collection, it’s now time to have a closer look at the chronograph edition.The Longines Conquest started its life in 1954 – to be precise, on April 3rd, 1954, Longines filed a patent for its Conquest

Hands-On: The Downsized 2023 Chopard Mille Miglia Classic Chronograph
Chopard has been the official sponsor and timekeeper of Italy's Mille Miglia since 1988, and co-president Karl-Friedrich Scheufele has participated in every race from 1989, covering over 30,000 competition miles. In fact, this has been the longest partnership in history between a watchmaker and a major motorsports event, and 35 previous watches in the Mille Miglia collection consolidate this link. The latest Mille Miglia Classic Chronograph models were inspired by the event's classic cars with distinctive features on the cases, dials and straps. The watches are also smaller for 2023 and produced in a new, exclusive material.?Unlike prior models, like the 42mm Mille Miglia 2020 Race Edition, the new models have a more compact design at 40.5mm in diameter and 12.88mm in height (slightly thicker than the 2020 model's 12.67mm). It also comes in anti-allergenic, brushed and polished Lucent Steel A223, an exclusive alloy that took four years to develop. It has a luminous appearance (hence th

Pre-SIHH 2012 - new IWC Pilot Watch TOP GUN Collection and much more Monochrome Watches
IWC declares 2012 as the year of the Pilot's Watch. They will treat us with many new models and establish the Top Gun collection as an independent collection within the IWC Pilot's Watch family.The first to be shown to us, is the brand new Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Top Gun Miramar. But there’s more news of increased diameters, different design elements, a new in-house fly-back chronograph caliber and an all new Pilot’s Watch Worldtimer! Let’s take a look at what has changed… Ad - Scroll to continue with article First a new model: the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Top Gun Miramar. This is the ‘regular’ chronograph in the newly established Top Gun collection within the Pilot’s Watch Collection. It’s grey ceramic case has a diameter of 46 mm. Inside ticks a new movement, caliber 89365, which seems a variation

In-Depth: The History of the ETA Unitas 6497 and 6498
How do a pair of manually wound, time-only, pocket watch-sized, potentially outdated movements introduced in the 1950s earn a place in our series on significant calibres, alongside the well-known El Primero and Valjoux 7750 chronograph calibre and the omnipresent automatic ETA 2824 and 2892? Several factors contribute to their importance. Despite seeming unusual today, the large diameter of these movements became a notable advantage during the mechanical renaissance of the 1990s. This era saw the international embrace of larger timepieces, a trend often credited to Panerai, which used the ETA/Unitas 6497 to power its reissues from that decade. The Lepine 6497 and its Savonette version 6498, known for their robustness, reliability, and accuracy, were well-designed and easy to regulate to chronometer standards. The 6497 is the most widely used teaching calibre in watchmaking schools, as it is easy to understand and handle. The versatility and adaptability led to these movements’ ad