Watches NEWS
Handwerkskunst according to A. Lange & Sohne - Interview with CEO Wilhelm Schmid - Monochrome Watches
The other day I had the distinct pleasure of spending a few days with A. Lange & Sohne in Florence, Italy. The main purpose was the launch of the Lange 1815 Rattrapante Perpetual Calendar Handwerkskunst and four new blue dial version (Lange 1, Lange 1 Daymatic, Saxonia and Saxonia handwound), all of which we already showed you last weekend. The team at Lange organized several field trips' to various handcrafts, like lithography, fabric weaving and printing, among others, and we visited one of the most prestigious winemakers from Tuscany (the region in which Florence is located.) Wilhelm Schmid, the brand's CEO, tells us more about Handwerkskunst and handcrafts, plus I'll share wrist shots of a group of Lange collectors whom I accidentally ran into. Be warned LOTS of photos! Like all its predecessors the new Handwerkskunst represents an exuberant variation on an existing model (the 1815 Rattrapante Perpetual Calendar in this case) and is actually not the discrete style that we know
Live Impressions on the New Omega Seamaster Diver 300M James Bond (Specs & Price)
Last week, Omega introduced a new Bond-themed Seamaster Diver 300M, inspired by the 1969 film On Her Majesty's Secret Service. When we posted this watch on Instagram, the reactions were telling. One comment read: I'm a die-hard Omega fan (own 3) and I do not like this watch. There's 4 colour combo's going on with it. One other comment read: Too much. () Looks like brainstorming in a Kindergarten. So did the comments below the article we published, with press images, right after the watch was presented. As always, it is hard to judge with these images, so we decided to give this watch a second chance, but this time live and on the wrist.The Omega Seamaster Diver 300M James Bond On Her Majesty's Secret Service was introduced a week ago and celebrates the 50th anniversary of the classic Bond movie it's been named after. Why exactly this movie, I don't know? This Lazenby flick is not exactly the best Bond ever made. Quite the contrary, really. But let’s not get into that for today's
Hands-on with the deconstructed Cartier Crash Skeleton (live photos, specs & price) - Monochrome-Watches
A few months ago, we explained to you why Cartier should be taken seriously in terms of watchmaking. Forget about the jewelry image of the French Maison, they are now able to create both classical watches (with a deep historical background… did I say Tank?), modern collections (like the new Cle de Cartier or the diver watch Calibre de Cartier) and also?superb Haute Horlogerie timepieces (like for instance the recent?Rotonde de Cartier Grand Complication). Cartier is also very strong with?skeleton watches and one of their latest creations shows these skills in a surprisingly original way. Here is our hands-on with the?Cartier Crash Skeleton in platinum.Let us rewind the tape a bit and go back briefly over?the latest?watches introduced by Cartier. If you look closely, the French Maison focused its haute horlogerie collections mainly on squelette / skeleton watches. Here’s a quick list of skeletonized timepieces made by Cartier:The?Rotonde de Cartier Grand ComplicationThe?Roto
Hands-On Seiko 5 Sports Time Sonar SRPJ45 and SRPJ47
It’s fair to say that the Seiko 5 Sports collection is one of the most versatile mechanical watch lineups in its price range. If on top of versatility, we tally the factor of manufacture-made movements, as well as the overall quality the Japanese brand is known for, the Seiko 5 Sports collection is practically unbeatable. A potential contender could be the Swatch Sistem51 – with even lower prices – but without the range and resilience of a Seiko 5 Sports model. And some new “Time Sonar” models have recently been released… Sounds familiar? Yes, but these new references SRPJ45 and SRPJ47 are a bit different and non-limited.In addition to the traditional configuration and Field models, we’ve seen the Seiko 5 Sports watch emblazoned with the motorcycle livery of the Honda Super Cub. It has also been reinterpreted by Japanese artist Kosuke Kawamura with cool, colourful translucent dials inspired by the 1970s Time Sonar-inspired references SRPJ41 and
Bremont Wright Flyer - The story of a bad communication with its 'in-house' movement - Monochrome-Watches
“Learn from your mistakes” – and from those made by your competitors –?should have been in Bremont’s handbook. However it wasn’t. Remerber in 2009, TAG Heuer’s Calibre 1887?created?huge discussions after its release. What TAG Heuer claimed to be an in-house movement was in fact based on a Seiko ebauche, that was modified by TAG Heuer. No big deal in terms of product or quality (lots of brands use externally sourced movements) but a massive loss of credibility and bad communication. You thought the lesson was imprinted in every brand’s mind. Wrong! Bremont made?the same mistake with its new Wright Flyer Limited Edition. – UPDATED WITH FORMAL STATEMENT FROM BREMONT –The Bremont Wright FlyerBremont is a UK-based watch brand specialized in chronometers inspired by aviation. If you’ve been reading Monochrome for a longer time, you would have seen our coverage of their chronometers and the review we did of the Supermarine 500.
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