While today the world relies mostly on two measurement systems (metric and imperial), things haven’t been always that simple. Each country, each culture, sometimes even each corporation had its own units and ways to measure its commodities or production. And if you're into watchmaking, you might have spotted one of these old units when it com..................
2020-04-09 More
Seiko’s excellent reputation in the field of dive watches is unquestionable. We’re talking top-tier actor, member of a fine club of influencers that helped shaped what the modern dive watch is today. Yet, on the contrary to some Swiss competitors and their 1953 introductions, Seiko waited for a few more years before taking the plunge. I..................
2020-04-08 More
After a few months of intense work, discussions, tests and designs, we couldn’t be prouder to present the 2020 version of MONOCHROME. Refreshed, cleaned, more interactive and more dynamic, with new sections and improved navigation, this is the new face of your “Online Magazine Dedicated to Fine Watches”. But no worries, it is stil..................
2020-04-06 More
When it comes to watches, we can sometimes be a bit posh at MONOCHROME – or, put more elegantly, we can be quite selective and have a soft spot for anything high-end. We love watchmaking in its purest form with complex mechanisms and Haute Horlogerie decoration. We can’t help it. But… We love watches in general and we also genuine..................
2020-04-05 More
For seasoned collectors and long-time watch enthusiasts, the name Dr Helmut Crott will certainly sound familiar. But this discreet gentleman is a far cry from your typical flamboyant CEO or industry insider. Understated, humble but extremely knowledgeable. The kind of man that you can learn a lot from; a man with more than half a decade of experien..................
2020-04-02 More
About a week ago, Audemars Piguet introduced a very surprising watch. Designed as the first watch in a new collection inspired by the brand’s rich past, the [Re]master01 watch is a remastering of a beautiful historic model. Based on a 1943 two-tone chronograph with Art Deco design, this rare and handsome watch had a hand-wound movement with &..................
2020-03-31 More
There's no denying the current situation and, as a consequence, its effects on the global economy. Certainly, this is nothing compared to health issues caused by Coronavirus, but still far from insignificant. Gross domestic product, employment (and therefore consumption) and financial markets are under severe strain. Key luxury markets around the w..................
2020-03-30 More
A new edition of the Monopusher Chronograph in stainless steel with a salmon dial joins Montblanc's highly successful Heritage family. Inspired by historical Minerva wristwatches from the 1940s and 1950s, the Heritage collection can boast true vintage credentials, not faux ones like so many watches spawned during the ongoing fever for retro. This l..................
2020-03-30 More
A few days ago we gave a big shout-out to some of our friends who also run online watch magazines. However, the online world for watch shopping offers much more choice! Now that you’re (most likely) in confinement – hopefully well and healthy – you can still buy watches and have them delivered to your door. Besides the friends tha..................
2020-03-29 More
The appetite for vintage timepieces has grown at a rapid pace over the past few years. Collecting vintage watches can be a fantastic hobby but there are pitfalls to avoid. The pre-owned and vintage watch market is a jungle. The quality and authenticity of what you are buying are key. Many watches have endured quite some action over their lifetime a..................
2020-03-27 More
Since its very creation, Bell & Ross has focused on military forces and, as its preferred theme, pilots. From the earliest days, when the watches were manufactured by Sinn to the present collections, pilots have been the central focus of the brand’s core collection. But “pilot” is a wide definition. The needs of a jet fighter ..................
2020-03-26 More
NOTSAG is a unique brand for many reasons. The name itself is an anagram of Gaston, the founder's oldest son with developmental challenges including mitochondrial disease, severe autism and a GABBR2 mutation. Most readers at MONOCHROME are familiar with Only Watch auction, a charity auction held every two years to support research for Duchenne musc..................
2020-03-26 More
For those who are into watchmaking, the name Audemars Piguet might represent some of the finest watches, but also modern and bold designs. Whether it is the iconic Royal Oak, the robust Offshore or the recent Code 11.59, Audemars Piguet rarely looks to the past when it comes to its watches, or at least when to comes to the design of its watches. Bu..................
2020-03-25 More
As we explained to you a week ago, weird times call for agility and confinement has forced us to change a bit the way we work and the content we’ll be covering in the coming weeks. Does that mean you won’t see great content on MONOCHROME? Certainly not. In fact, we currently have more time to focus on certain things we tended to forget,..................
2020-03-25 More
Team MONOCHROME is working from home. This is our regular work mode since we’re spread all over Europe (and one in the US), but the way we work has been heavily affected. The closure of manufactures means less access to new watches to photograph and review.? All my trips to watch events/launches to shoot new videos and all my scheduled meetin..................
2020-03-25 More
After Watches & Wonders (ex-SIHH) and Baselworld announced the cancellation of their 2020 editions amid fears of a possible COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic, a group of brands decided that they could react to this situation and offer, through agility and ingenuity, a different approach to the presentation of new watches. With these lost opportunit..................
2020-03-24 More
It’s no secret that the current situation with COVID-19 has had dramatic effects on the consumption of luxury goods, including watches. Manufactures are closed ( , Patek, AP, TAG Heuer and many more have ceased operations for a couple of weeks), and even though shops might be opened in certain regions, the mood isn’t ripe for spending U..................
2020-03-24 More
If chronographs are a hot complication today, chronographs in a vintage package are even hotter, and if they happen to be fitted with a classic Minerva movement, we're talking coveted collector's piece here. Despite the cancellation of all the major watch fairs, we were able to spend some time and take photographs of the latest Montblanc Heritage M..................
2020-03-23 More
No need to remind you about the current situation and the gloomy atmosphere.? So how about cheering yourself up by treating yourself to a little something to fulfil your love for watches in these sad moments? And because you’re probably in the same confinement situation as we are (most of the MONO’ team is…), let’s do it onl..................
2020-03-22 More
The Calibre 11, or Chrono-Matic (depending on the brand using it) needs no introduction anymore. It is, with its two competitors, the Seiko 6139 and Zenith El Primero, amongst the most important movements ever created. Why? Because it was part of the earliest automatic chronograph movements launched in 1969 and celebrating its 50th-anniversary last..................
2020-03-20 More
The FHS, the Swiss Watch Federation, just released its export statistics for the month of February 2020, and, as you might expect, these are down. The value of exports contracted by 9.2% to CHF 1.6 billion. But, this does not even reflect the severe and jittery situation on the market provoked by the Coronavirus Pandemic. If exports were down 51% t..................
2020-03-19 More
Hamilton is no stranger to the instrument watch. In fact, the brand owns multiple collections designed to remind its glorious past as one of the major providers of timepieces for military forces and watches for a specific purpose. This is true, for instance, with the military-inspired Khaki Field watches, a tribute to its?mid-20thcentury archives (..................
2020-03-19 More
Minimalistic but detailed, designed with true ergonomics in mind, as precisely built as the cars that share their name with this watch… Porsche Design watches are unique, in the best sense of this word. But they aren’t just an exercise in style; what you get with Porsche Design watches goes well beyond just a pretty face. We’ve se..................
2020-03-19 More
As the trend for vintage-inspired watches consolidates, brands continue to dig into their archives to find inspiration and breathe new life into past models. Milus, a brand with over 100 years of history and recently revived has some rich background in field watches and divers’ instruments. Following the Snow Star, the brand also reissues one..................
2020-03-18 More
The 1970s was a decade of revolutions. The world made huge strides creating some of the most impactful inventions coupled with striking designs. Well, if you are 1970s-ready and seeking a healthy dose of nostalgia, Hamilton celebrates the 50th anniversary of the world's first digital watch, the Pulsar. And it does it by re-editing this model in a v..................
2020-03-18 More
Back in January 2020, as the first watch presented by the brand in this new year, TAG Heuer introduced a pretty big watch… Really, the kind of watch that, at first sight, has all the elements to become a classic. Certainly, this wasn’t the most adventurous of TAG’s creation, but let’s be real, it simply looked good – a..................
2020-03-16 More
America’s answer to restrictions on Swiss watch imports… This could be the best way to explain what the Wakmann Watch Company really is. The relationship between the large US consumer market and other countries wishing to export products is a complicated one. Wanting to be as modern a society as possible, allowing your citizens a wide c..................
2020-03-13 More
Instead of unveiling a brand new 2020 model hot off the production line, today is all about indulgence as we revisit a timeless beauty: the Breguet Classique Hand-Wound 5287 chronograph. Although it was originally introduced in 2013 and still available in some boutiques, it is no longer being produced. This probably means that the Classique 5287 wi..................
2020-03-12 More
Today, TAG Heuer launches a new Connected watch and we sat down with Frederic Arnault, TAG Heuer's Chief Strategy and Digital Officer, to talk about the new Connected Watch. How does it fit in the entire TAG Heuer line-up and what are the possibilities? One thing seems clear, TAG Heuer is able to use its 160 years of watchmaking experience to creat..................
2020-03-12 More
It is often said that in watchmaking the entry-level complication – understand here any additional indication that isn’t the hours, minutes or seconds – is the date function. While this is true for most of the watches, when it comes to a masterpiece of engineering such as the A. Lange & Sohne Zeitwerk, adding a date was a veri..................
2020-03-11 More
What we’re looking at today might simply be a new dial colour, but it made quite a lot of noise when we introduced it a couple of weeks ago. Multiple reactions here and on our Instagram account made us realize that a dial colour can make a hell of a difference on a watch. So today we take a closer look, with our own live photos, at the brand ..................
2020-03-10 More
We didn't expect anything less. To celebrate its 60th anniversary, Grand Seiko launches its new hi-beat mechanical calibre 9SA5, the foundation stone for an entirely new generation of Grand Seiko watches. Representing an advancement as revolutionary as the first calibre 9S of 1998 – the base movement powering all watches in the Grand Seiko (b..................
2020-03-05 More
We see more and more “watch clubs” popping up around the globe. Don’t get us wrong, we actually encourage these initiatives as they are the best way to generate passion and increase horological knowledge among their members. One of these social hubs is named “Qatar Watch Club” and despite being quite young, it has alre..................
2020-03-03 More
There’s nothing unusual in seeing a brand ambassador wearing one of his sponsor’s timepieces. Pretty normal. Seeing them posting a close-up photo of a watch on Instagram is already something less common. But what we’ve spotted yesterday is even less “classic style”. While it’s no surprise to see David Beckham spo..................
2020-03-03 More
Cuba isn't the first place that comes to mind when you think about watchmaking. Cuervo y Sobrinos is arguably the only luxury watch brand with true Latin roots, born in Havana's San Rafael Avenue. Now headquartered in Le Noirmont, Switzerland, the brand combines contemporary Swiss craftsmanship with design inspiration from Havana's golden years. Th..................
2020-03-03 More
Luxury watchmakers have to face turbulent times. The two major trade shows, Watches & Wonders (ex-SIHH) and Baselworld have just announced the cancellation of their 2020 editions amid fears of a possible COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic. With these lost opportunities to meet retailers and the press, watch brands need to handle business that would ..................
2020-03-02 More
Twenty years ago Chanel launched the J12, a luxury sports watch decked out in high-tech ceramic with incredible appeal and a stellar trajectory. The first unisex watch crafted in sleek black ceramic, the J12 has been revisited in Haute Horlogerie complications and dressed up in Haute Joaillerie attire without ever losing its dynamic personality. Al..................
2020-03-02 More
As we explained yesterday in a more technical/historical article, this year is special, being a leap year. As such, this is the perfect time to talk perpetual calendars, watches specifically designed to take into account this specificity of the Gregorian calendar, when February lasts 29 days instead of its usual 28 days. And today’s perpetual..................
2020-03-01 More
Every four years is a leap year and the month of February gets an extra day, a leap day, on February 29th. 2020 is a leap year and everything flows smoothly at regular, four-year intervals until 2100, which we discover is not a leap year. Wait a minute, 2100 is divisible by four, so what is going on? Find out why the leap year can be erratic and ot..................
2020-02-29 More
Aquastar is a very niche brand, specialized in diver's instruments. It is also a rather young brand, in the vintage field, as it was only established in 1962. The brand started supplying watches to Jacques Cousteau's dive team in 1965, and it seems that the brand’s founder, Frederic Robert, working under the umbrella of the JeanRichards Compa..................
2020-02-28 More