Searching for vintage watches is both an exciting odyssey and a dangerous, risky path. We are pretty sure you’ve been in that situation, when?the enthusiasm?of finding the right timepiece is facing the question of authenticity and trust of sellers. As we love all watches here at Monochrome, we wanted to share with you our?interest for iconic,.................. 2014-06-16 More

‘TV Screen’ watches (we should name it ‘Cathode Tube Screen’ watches now, in our era of LED TVs) were a phenomenon that showed up in the 1970s, that were only manufactured during that decade, and that we didn’t see anymore, except for the Patek Philippe Nautilus. But in the early 2010s, it became old enough to be cool .................. 2014-06-13 More

Richard Mille’s RM 010 is an all-time classic by now and most watch connoisseurs recognize its tonneau-shaped case, with skeletonized movement and sapphire dial, instantly. Handling the red gold version for a few minutes, several years ago, was enough to be convinced of the superb quality and comfort. Yet Richard Mille believed it was possibl.................. 2014-06-10 More

Watches and sports cars?are?two universes that match perfectly. Heuer and Ferrari: two iconic brands that dreams are made of. For this Weekly Watch Photo, we put a gorgeous vintage Heuer Camaro on our own exclusive Monochrome Rally Strap, and strapped it on our wrist.?And with the help of one of Monochrome’s?friends, we drove a stunning red I.................. 2014-06-09 More

At?Baselworld 2014, TAG Heuer’s main novelties were Carrera models with 3 hands and a day/date window. Not really something that we here at Monochrome-Watches get extremely exited about. However we already got a bit of a pre-announcement of the new Carrera, which would be introduced after the summer, and that got us on the tip of our chair. T.................. 2014-06-06 More

Amsterdam is booming! Especially the ‘Museum District’ is taking the lead, with new luxury mono-brand boutiques popping up like tulips in spring, and the re-opening of two of Netherland’s most important museums – the Stedelijk Museum and the Rijksmuseum. Just around the corner from the aforementioned musea is the Pieter Corn.................. 2014-06-06 More

Recently we visited the Richard Mille in Switzerland. However it’s difficult to say that we visited THE manufacture, because there are several locations where the various parts are manufactured, finished, and assembled. Part “in-house” and partially not; so in the typical Swiss horological tradition. This gave us the chance to lea.................. 2014-06-05 More

During Baselworld 2014 we had an opportunity to sit down with the AkriviA crew, including its master watchmaker and founder Rexhep Rexhepi. The young brand stepped up to the plate back in 2012, with quite a complex first creation: The AkriviA Tourbillon Monopusher Chronograph. Under the Swiss sunlight at this year's fair, we got some hands-on time .................. 2014-06-03 More

When IWC opened its new boutique in Amsterdam last month, we had the chance to get some hands-on time with the new IWC Pilot Watch Chronograph Edition ‘Le Petit Prince’. This latest edition of the Pilot Watch Chronograph features a striking blue dial and is the third edition to support the Antoine de Saint-Exupery Youth Foundation, in i.................. 2014-06-03 More

If you look at the last few Longines we've written?about, you’ll immediately notice that they are all part of the Heritage collection, the tribute watches?to Longines’ great history. For instance, we’ve presented you with the Heritage Diver,?honoring?1970’s diving watches; the Conquest Heritage, a faithful re-issue of the or.................. 2014-06-02 More

The Navitimer is Breitling’s most emblematic watch. Presented in 1952 with?the reference 806 as the ultimate pilot chronograph, equipped with a very useful slide rule, it was endorsed as the official timekeeping instrument of the?AOPA – the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. At that time, with its 42mm, it was already huge, especia.................. 2014-05-28 More

Introducing the new Panerai Luminor 1950 3-Days GMT 24h, ref. PAM00531, that comes with a new in-house movement, with a 24-hour second time zone function. Typical Panerai, this isn’t the smallest timepiece. It’s 44mm large case is quite massive, and isn’t easily overseen when on the wrist. But it makes sense, this type of watch wa.................. 2014-05-27 More

I think we don't have to explain the concept of brand ambassadors and that most high-end watch brands have a “few” celebrities that can be considered “Friend of the Brand. Globally IWC has quite a few friends of the brand, and also in every market there are some local friends of the brand. We had the chance to sit down with Richar.................. 2014-05-26 More

Earlier this year Formula One driver Romain Grosjean was added to Richard Mille’s stable of top sporters, or official partner’s as they prefer to call them. Grosjean will be wearing, and thus testing, the?new RM 011 Lotus F1 Team-Romain Grosjean?automatic flyback chronograph movement in the colors of the British racing team. The case is.................. 2014-05-24 More

Longines’ history is full of highly collectible watches and the brand is clearly?aware of that. With its Heritage collection, Longines?pays tribute to some of the most important timepieces of its past, as the Heritage 1973 Column-Wheel inspired by 1970’s racing chronographs, the Conquest Heritage that pays tribute to the original 1954 C.................. 2014-05-22 More

This year at the?Baselworld?watch fair,?Blancpain presented a chronograph version of its Bathyscaphe, the clean and vintage inspired version of the Fifty Fathoms. A very seductive dive watch available in full black ceramic or in?stainless steel, now?proposed with a flyback chronograph caliber. And the main point of this watch is here: its new hi-be.................. 2014-05-21 More

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 wat.................. 2014-05-19 More

We were all so excited with the idea of the re-edition of the Seamaster 300 that we actually didn’t expect?a new version of the Speedmaster in Baselworld 2014. Last year, Omega went the extra mile: playing the vintage card?with the Seamaster 300 and the?Speedmaster Mark II?or?being innovative with the introduction the first fully antimagnetic.................. 2014-05-19 More

When Jaeger-LeCoultre introduced the Grande Reverso Ultra-Thin Tribute to 1931, at the SIHH 2011, it was an instant hit. The legendary and iconic Reverso might just have found its perfect dimensions, with the ultra-thin case that is just 7.2 mm in height. With the newest version, the Grande Reverso Ultra Thin 1948, JLC harks back to the 17th annive.................. 2014-05-13 More

Every year IWC redesigns / updates one of the six ‘families’ in their collection and this year that was the Aquatimer family. Last year it was the Ingenieur family of watches that we extensively covered?here, here, here and here. Although this is the ‘Aquatimer year’, IWC has just announced two new members of the Ingenieur f.................. 2014-05-12 More

Next week Bonhams is going to put three military timepieces up for auction: two from International Watch Company (IWC) and one from a company with the name Record (see the catalog here). This trio belongs to a distinctive fellowship of military watches, created for the British Military under the auspices of the MoD, known to collectors as the Dirty.................. 2014-05-09 More

It is good to be the king. In the absence of lineage and title, it is equally satisfying to have the watchmaker of kings cater to one's aspiration. In 1758, watchmaker Jaquet Droz, in a profitable journey to the Spanish court, laded a carriage with six clocks. This inaugural trip paved the way for his automatons, clocks and watches to find their wa.................. 2014-05-08 More

What's so special about a Richard Mille watch? We all know about the exclusivity (less than 3,000 pieces per year), the impeccable quality and the celebrity ambassadors. But there are many more features that added up to the success of this highly exclusive watch brand: exclusive materials, astonishing finishing, distinctive complications, innovatio.................. 2014-05-06 More

Yesterday we showed you four WW-II pilot’s watches, one of which was hidden in a prisoner of war’s underpants, and today we can show you the actual Marine Chronometer of the HMS Beagle where it was together with Charles Darwin, for his epic five-year voyage to South America and the Galapagos Islands.??The British Admiralty sold it in?19.................. 2014-05-01 More

Last year IWC introduced not only an entirely renewed Ingenieur collection, at the annual Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie. Later in the year they (more or less) quietly introduced two new models in the Portuguese collection: the Portuguese Hand-Wound 8-Days and the IWC Portuguese Chronograph Classic. Today we’re going to have a clo.................. 2014-04-29 More

Over the past couple of years we've introduced you to a number of Dutch watchmakers. Can we disregard the watch industry in our small but proud nation? No, we can't. We briefly covered Pellikaan back in 2011, with the release of the Limited Edition for Dutch football club F.C. Utrecht. Join us as our own Flying Dutchman' Robin Nooij takes an in-dep.................. 2014-04-28 More

After the appointment of Jean-Frederic Dufour as new CEO of and of Jean-Claude Biver as CEO of all watch brands of the LVMH Group (see here), it's now the turn of Kering (former PPR) - including Girard-Perregaux, JeanRichard and Boucheron - to name a new CEO. That new CEO is Albert Bensoussan, formerly Sales Director?for Louis Vuitton Watches.?Wh.................. 2014-04-25 More

When you think of the Netherlands, you’re likely to think about tulips, wooden shoes, windmills, canals and probably some of Amsterdam’s other (red light) delights. However do not forget the recently opened Stedelijk Museum and Rijksmuseum, the famous Van Gogh Museum, the Hermitage Museum and of course the Anne Frank House. Amsterdam ha.................. 2014-04-25 More

Behind its visual appeal, its design and all those little things that jump out from its specifications sheet perhaps a wristwatch's essence is that it is a highly personal item which also can be used to measure time. Timing events can be for something as simple as making al dente pasta, or more complicated like sport events, aerial manoeuvres, divi.................. 2014-04-22 More

Chronographs are certainly the most common complication in the watch industry, going from affordable luxury segment, such as Longines, to rugged toolwatches such as the Graham Chronofighter that we reviewed a few weeks ago or even highly complicated Haute Horlogerie timepieces like the new De Bethune DB27 Maxichrono. And to think of it, a mechanic.................. 2014-04-15 More

Before Baselworld 2014, we played with the teaser photos and video that Omega released prior to the official launch during the fair, and we showed you the important details first here. When the fair started, we finally got to see and handle Omega’s modern interpretation of a classic. We go hands-on with the new Omega Seamaster 300 Master Co-A.................. 2014-04-14 More

This is quite something. Just two years ago Patek Philippe introduced a new 5980/1A with white dial (for laymen: that’s the Nautilus Chronograph) and now, two years later, they discontinue the steel 5980/1A models and replace it with a steel Nautilus Chronograph with a second time zone, as we know it from the Aquanaut Travel Time ref. 5164.Th.................. 2014-04-11 More

A few months ago, TAG Heuer presented a brand new in-house calibre called 1969. It was clear that Baselworld would be the place for TAG Heuer to present a new watch that with that movement. And they did come with a very nice one, the Carrera CH80, a retro-style Carrera inspired by the very firsts 1960's versions. What we didn't expect, was that the.................. 2014-04-10 More

End of last year we introduced the new Monochrome Web-Shop and our hand-made premium leather watch rolls. We’re very proud that our customers were very impressed by the impeccable quality. Since we write about the most beautiful and exclusive timepieces of our planet, we feel that our products should be on par with that. So we searched long, .................. 2014-04-10 More

Bulgari sets a new record for the world’s thinnest tourbillon. Both for the thinnest tourbillon movement and for tourbillon watch. Bulgari not simply breaks the previous record by a few percent, no, the previous record is simply CRUSHED by what Bulgari accomplished with the new Octo Finissimo Tourbillon. The spectacular ultra-thin tourbillon .................. 2014-04-08 More

In the world of watches there are many chronographs. Mostly with mechanical chronograph movements that were developed in the 1960’s or 1970’s. Just recently – now ETA stopped supplying movements to non Swatch Group brands – we see some newly developed chronograph calibers. But nothing comes close to the new chronograph movem.................. 2014-04-07 More

We already told you that Tudor has been looking at their own past, for inspiration. In the past years they have introduced quite a few vintage-inspired models, and this year they surprised us with another version of the Tudor Heritage Black Bay, now in ‘Midnight Blue’. For too long, Tudor has been the little brother of ‘the Crown&.................. 2014-04-07 More

Every year IWC selects one watch from their collection, usually a new model, that will be introduced with a beautiful deep blue dial and with a closed and engraved case back. There’s a good reason for this, that goes further than just a striking blue dial. These blue dial models are ?limited editions that IWC introduces (every year) for the L.................. 2014-04-04 More

Exactly 60 years ago, on April 3rd 1954, Longines filed for patent for its Conquest collection and name. To celebrate the 60th anniversary, Longines has launched the Conquest Heritage 1954-2014, a limited edition in steel, rose gold or yellow gold. And just like the original versions, the case back of these commemorative pieces is decorated with a .................. 2014-04-03 More

No, we’re NOT going to talk about a watch, we’re talking about movements. Omega starts introducing the new Master Co-Axial movements into the collection with 8 new calibres. These new calibres are the first truly anti-magnetic mechanical movements in the watch industry and they can easily resist magnetic fields up to 15,000 Gauss. That&.................. 2014-03-31 More