1972-2022. Yes, Audemars Piguet‘s most emblematic watch, and one of the most iconic watches of the entire industry, the Royal Oak, is celebrating its 50th anniversary – even though, looking at the watch, it doesn’t reveal its age. As you’ve come to expect, the brand will be using this jubilee as the occasion to revamp some o.................. 2022-01-26 More

Kill your darlings is what they say, and around the same time last year, Patek Philippe killed the 5711, and Audemars Piguet killed the uber-popular 15202. Within a few weeks, the two most popular watches on planet Earth were discontinued, generating a good deal of turbulence in the world of watches. AP’s Royal Oak Extra-Thin, a.k.a. ‘J.................. 2022-01-26 More

More and more women enjoy mechanical movements and Glashutte Original's two watch collections for women?–?PanoMatic Luna and Lady Serenade – are fitted with in-house automatic calibres. With Saint Valentine's Day just around the corner, GO presents a romantic version of its Lady Serenade with pink sapphire crystal accents and a diamond-.................. 2022-01-26 More

Rome-based watchmaker/jeweller Bvlgari has unique credentials as a maker of chiming watches. Following the acquisition of Gerald Genta and Daniel Roth some 20 years ago, the brand has inherited and cultivated a tradition of crafting exceptional striking watches. Bvlgari is one of the very few makers to produce grande sonnerie wristwatches or to be .................. 2022-01-25 More

An opulent marriage of Haute Horlogerie and Haute Joaillerie, Bvlgari’s colossally complex Octo Roma Emerald Grande Sonnerie is embellished with enough gemstones to pave a Roman road. Equipped with a four-gong Westminster chime with automatic winding regulated by a tourbillon, this impressive Grande et Petite Sonnerie is Bvlgari’s most .................. 2022-01-25 More

Wait… What? An Oris Aquis dive watch with a cloisonne? enamel white gold dial, priced at EUR 23,500… Yes, that thing, as surprising as it may sound, is real. And yes, it is quite a departure from the usual price range and utilitarian style of the brand. In short, it is quite an unexpected release by Oris, to say the least, and quite a b.................. 2022-01-25 More

The Big Crown Pointer Date collection has been part of the history of?Oris?since its introduction in 1938. It has even pulled Oris through the quartz crisis and as such is one of the pinnacles of the brand. Reinstating the Big Crown Pointer Date as a full collection in 2018 meant we've seen multiple variants of this interesting, very retro-styled w.................. 2022-01-25 More

Introduced over 15 years ago, the Hublot Big Bang and its art of fusion concept have given birth to countless variations in all manner of sizes, material or complications. The versatile, ever-evolving Big Bang is often bold, aggressive or polarizing. As its name suggests, it is not meant for the faint of heart Presented on the occasion of the LVMH .................. 2022-01-24 More

If you are a fan of Bvlgari’s Serpenti watch and passionate about mechanical movements, we have news for you. The Italian brand renowned for its ultra-thin movements is shifting gear and using the formidable know-how obtained with its Octo Finissimo collection to create the new Piccolissimo watch movement, a teeny-weeny micro-mechanical calib.................. 2022-01-24 More

Last year TAG Heuer revamped the well-known Aquaracer Professional range, the brand's long-standing dive watch collection. It featured an updated, more refined look that was in line with the collection's lineage that started with the 2000-series in the early 1980s. The DNA is especially apparent in the overall shape of the case, which is retained a.................. 2022-01-24 More

As we’ve just entered the LVMH Watch Week, the other French luxury powerhouse, Kering (ex-PPR) has just announced the finalisation of the management buy-out of Girard-Perregaux and Ulysse Nardin, thus selling its watch activities to the current management of the brands. Following some talks that started a few months ago, it is now confirmed t.................. 2022-01-24 More

The Royal Oak Jumbo, a watch known under its current guise as the reference 15202, is one of the most sought-after and desirable watches produced by the Swiss industry. Its popularity has reached far beyond just the small circle of seasoned collectors. It’s a cult object, a design icon. Yet, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Jumbo Extra-Thin 1520.................. 2022-01-23 More

Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past two months, the whole buzz surrounding the Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711 Tiffany-Blue dial made for the 170th anniversary of the NYC-based jeweller and watch retailer should be something quite familiar to you – and maybe, you’re also rather bored with this story by now. But, today, i.................. 2022-01-22 More

Malek bin Easa is a regular contributor to MONOCHROME. Malek is the driving force and founder of the Emirates Watch Club and in that position a well-known figure in the Arab watch scene. This time we asked the Dubai-based collector about one of his most cherished timepieces, his Schwarz Etienne Roma Synergy by Kari Voutilainen. A model that has his.................. 2022-01-21 More

Let's play a word association game. When you hear the name Omega, what is the first thing that pops into your head? If you're like me, it instantly conjures up thoughts of Speedmaster chronographs and space exploration. This is no small thanks to Omega's marketing prowess and (well-deserved) pride at being on the wrists of the men who boldly went w.................. 2022-01-20 More

Products are introduced. Products have a commercial life. Products are discontinued. There’s nothing exceptional in this, it’s named a product life cycle… Regularly, for various reasons, watch brands add or remove some references from their collections, whether because of a need to innovate, because of the introduction of a new de.................. 2022-01-20 More

As we’ve explained in the past already, the name Gerald Charles might not be as familiar as Gerald Genta, but they actually belong to the same man. And behind the name Gerald Charles is an independent watchmaker that aims at reviving the spirit of the watches designed by the genius man in the mid-2000s. Something that we’ve demonstrated.................. 2022-01-19 More

Following the announcement a few months ago of its strong performance over the 6 first months of its fiscal year, Richemont today released its sales figures for the third quarter ended 31 December 2021 – remember that Richemont closes its books on 31 March – and once again confirms the trend seen over the past year, with recovery of sal.................. 2022-01-19 More

Mostly known for the design of one of the most iconic cars ever created, a line that is extremely enduring (yes, we’re talking about the Porsche 911), Ferdinand Alexander “Butzi” Porsche was a genius, a visionary, and a talented designer of all things. As the founder of the?Porsche Design studio, we should keep in mind that the fi.................. 2022-01-19 More

First released in early 2021 with quartz movements, followed by a highly anticipated automatic model in mid-2021, the Tissot PRX has been an immense success for Tissot, which managed with this watch to captivate the growing interest in sporty-chic watches with integrated bracelets, at a fair price. First released with classic full-steel cases and e.................. 2022-01-17 More

It seems that the world has gone mad… In just a month, the watch world has been talking almost exclusively about one thing, the last batch Patek Philippe 5711 and its ‘Tiffany Blue’ (or light blue) dial. Over the past 5 weeks, this has become THE trend to follow. And then consider that any attention for light blue dials was almost.................. 2022-01-16 More

Welcome to The Collector's Corner, a new series of stories about watches from the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, and maybe the occasional watch from the 1970s. You could say, ‘post quartz-crisis watches’ or watches from the renaissance of high-end watchmaking or ‘youngtimers’ or ‘neo-vintage’. Whatever you (or we).................. 2022-01-14 More

In a world that seemingly goes mental from time to time, it's worth trying to keep a clear focus on things. The Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711/1A-018 Tiffany is out of reach for pretty much all of us, and prices for the Oyster Perpetual with Turquoise dials have been pushed to ridiculous heights. The watch world tends to sway back and forth between.................. 2022-01-14 More

The word icon is, unfortunately, used and abused by the industry. There are, nevertheless, true iconic watches, most of them introduced during the golden era of mechanical watchmaking during the 1950s and 1960s. When it comes to “modern icons”, watches that have been presented after the quartz crisis, few can rival the importance of the.................. 2022-01-13 More

The vintage and pre-owned luxury watch market is thriving like never. It has transformed dramatically over the past few years with the arrival of strategic investors. One of the world’s leading second-hand watch e-commerce platforms, WatchBox, recently secured USD 165 million in funding to support its expansion. MONOCHROME reached out to Just.................. 2022-01-13 More

Vacheron Constantin is a veritable pioneer in horological complications and began producing complications soon after its foundation in 1755. The tradition of piling complication upon complication is alive and kicking today.?Designed to celebrate its 260th anniversary in 2015, Vacheron released ref. 57260, the most complicated pocket watch ever with.................. 2022-01-13 More

First things first, the watch industry is going a little crazy as Tiffany seems to be all the rage at the moment. Thanks to the Patek Philippe Nautilus with Tiffany dial going through the roof recently, all things closely matching the famous Tiffany Blue seem to skyrocket in attention, and prices. And then we learn about the Batavi Architect Turquo.................. 2022-01-12 More

The Autavia is an important collection for TAG Heuer. The watch, the first designed and launched under the leadership of Jack Heuer in 1962, is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. The name, a portmanteau of automobile and aviation, makes no doubt on the vocation of the watch, an instrument to time events and races. As such, the chronograph .................. 2022-01-11 More

We've heard about Oris' incentives to support the removal of plastics from the ocean and make straps and dials from recycled PET, about initiatives to restore the coral reefs and conservation efforts to ensure the blue whale and dolphin are protected from underwater noise pollution and fishing nets, but this is probably the first time we've come ac.................. 2022-01-11 More

The highlight of 2021 for Grand Seiko has been, without a doubt, the White Birch Hi-Beat SLGH005, a watch that came on the market with a stunning silvery-white textured dial, a relatively new case design (sharper and slimmer) and an impressive movement with multiple mechanical innovations, including the Dual Impulse escapement. For a couple of year.................. 2022-01-10 More

If you’re a recurring reader of MONOCHROME, you should very well be aware that we, as a team, have a thing for chronographs, and specifically, vintage-inspired chronographs manufactured by?husband-and-wife duo Richard and Maria Habring. After all, this was the inspiration behind our very first Montre de Souscription, a sector dial monopusher .................. 2022-01-07 More

Forget about the hype, go your own way… Look beyond the mainstream, seek new brands, look for the unusual and go for what you truly love! This is how you could summarize this new instalment of our collector’s interviews. Today we meet with Scott (29), a collector from Seattle, Washington in the USA. And he has a love for unusual, weird .................. 2022-01-07 More

A. Lange & Sohne is a brand we hold in high regard, for being able to perfectly blend formidable watchmaking capabilities with artistic craftsmanship. Whether we're talking about something extremely complex as the Tourbograph, or perhaps a more classical 1815, the attention to detail is on par across all collections. During the past year, A. La.................. 2022-01-06 More

Although it doesn’t have the cachet of a Speedmaster with its legendary Moon landing or a Seamaster worn in an action-packed James Bond episode, the Omega Constellation is one of the brand’s oldest and most enduring collections that started life in 1952 as a precision chronometer wristwatch. Revisited over the years, the transformation .................. 2022-01-06 More

Batavi Watches is named after an ancient Germanic tribe living along the river Rhine in what is known as the Netherlands. The spirit of the Batavi people resonated with the brand's founder, Ugur Mamak, mostly as the tribe fought off several attempts by oppressors, including Julius Caesar. Going against the grains in an effort to find its bit of the.................. 2022-01-06 More

Repeater clocks were invented well before electric lighting, in order to be able to consult the time in the dead of night. By activating a trigger or a pusher, a repeater chimes the time on demand and is often regarded, and rightfully so, as one of the pinnacles of mechanical watchmaking. Dozens of components, manufactured to exact tolerances, must.................. 2022-01-05 More

Looking back at 2021 as Oris must be quite satisfactory since, at least according to us, it has introduced a fair number of very good watches. Of course, it’s mostly about the new Calibre 400 series of movements, developed in-house, but that's not all. Across pretty much all collections in the brand's arsenal, we saw new models with upgraded .................. 2022-01-05 More

In September 2021, Audemars Piguet introduced two new models to its Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Chronograph?line-up. Decked out in light blue or khaki, there are plenty of novelties on the dial and in the strap department, but above all, the big news is the incorporation of Audemars Piguet’s latest automatic flyback chronograph movement, c.................. 2022-01-04 More

One of the stars of the LVMH Group, Bvlgari, the Swiss manufacturer with Italian roots, has earned a place in the watchmaking spotlight by continuously presenting record-breaking watches with the Octo Finissimo collection. And year after year, since the first one in 2014, the brand does not disappoint. Sure enough, in 2021, we saw the introduction .................. 2022-01-04 More

Almost exactly 3 years ago, Omega gave Speedmaster fans one of the best possible gifts possible, the re-introduction of the historic Calibre 321, the movement that first equipped the Speedy from 1957 to the late 1960s. This will be followed by another important introduction, that of the Speedmaster Moonwatch Calibre 321, a watch that we extensively.................. 2022-01-04 More