De Bethune DB28 Black Matte - Reviewing an Unusual Masterpiece (Photos, Specs and Price) - Monochrome Watches
In the past years we have reviewed some quite impressive timepieces. We showed you classic styled Haute Horlogerie, like for instance the JLC master ultra-thin 1907 and the iconic Lange 1 from A. Lange & Sohne. The good things about Haute Horlogerie is that it is not bound by certain style codes, and is rather defined by the quality. Recently we've worn a thoroughbred Haute Horlogerie piece that, in its looks, does not share much with the aforementioned watches, except that it indicates the time with an hour and minute hand. Upon closer inspection however, there are much more similarities than expected based on a first glance. We're talking about the De Bethune DB28 Black Matte.For those unknown with De Bethune, I think it's best to say that all their timepieces feature a rather unusual look/style, although most come in a round case, feature two hands to indicate the time, and are attached to the wrist with a strap. It's mainly details that are just different. For instance the crow

Hands-On: The New Hublot Big Bang MP-13 Tourbillon Bi-Axis Bi-Retrograde
MP at Hublot is shorthand for Masterpiece and is the venue where some of the most outlandish designs and daring horological concoctions congregate. The latest member of the MP club is the Hublot Big Bang MP-13, a limited edition of 50 numbered pieces conceived as exclusive collector’s trophies. Housed in an unusual-shaped 44mm brushed titanium case, the mechanical spectacle provided by a double-axis tourbillon and bi-retrograde hours and minutes underscores Hublot’s in-house capabilities as a purveyor of highly complex movements.Unusual shapeThe titanium case, which many fans of the brand will identify with the MP-09 Bi-Axial Tourbillon of 2017, measures 44mm and has a thickness of 16.7mm. Decorated with sleek satin-brushed surfaces and polished bevels, the complex case construction case respects specific design codes of the Big Bang with its protective lateral rubber inserts and signature H-shaped functional screws on the bezel, reduced from five to six. The reason there a

Seiko Darth Tuna SBBN013 Prospex - A long-term personal review (live pics, specs & price) - Monochrome-Watches
Last week article was a prequel, a necessary “mise-en-bouche” for the long-time and highly personal review of the?Seiko Darth Tuna SBBN013 Prospex that you’re about to read. The Seiko Tuna is an important, yet iconic watch, a pioneer on its own – and a collection?that boasted during its 40 years of life many innovations, with one and only goal in mind, satisfying the professional divers with an efficient and reliable instrument. It was important to learn first about the history of Seiko Tuna before moving to this review of the?Seiko Darth Tuna SBBN013 Prospex. Now you’ll certainly ask yourself why a quartz watch came to be reviewed on Monochrome? Well, in one word, just be aware that it’s not every cheap quartz watch, it’s a Seiko Prospex. And if it has a quartz movement, it’s just to be even more reliable, secured and precise. After a review of the entry-level Seiko SKX007, it’s time now to move to serious watches, with the Darth T

Patek Philippe Ref. 5235 Annual Calendar Regulator - Monochrome Watches
Patek Philippe’s new Ref. 5235 Annual Calendar Regulator embodies a number of novel facets never before featured in the manufacture’s collection. It is the first Patek Philippe wristwatch with a regulator dial!The Patek Philippe Ref. 5235 Annual Calendar Regulator features a dial with an unusual arrangement - large sweep minute hand combined with subsidiary hours at 12 o’clock and subsidiary seconds at 6 o’clock.?Free-standing precision pendulum clocks with regulator arrangement kept the precise time in watchmaking workshops and observatories, for more than 200 years,?until they were finally superseded by quartz- and radio-controlled reference instruments. When adjusting their timepieces, watchmakers needed an unobstructed view of the seconds hand, which is why the hour display was moved to an off-center location where it would not sweep over and thus partially cover the seconds dial for several hours in the course of a day. Ad - Scroll to continue wi

MIH Ga?a Watch - Monochrome Watches
The abbreviation MIH probably doesn’t mean much to most of our readers, except to our hardcore watch enthusiasts (or WIS, which stands for Watch Idiot Savant – another horological abbreviation) who will immediately recognize the acronym. MIH stands for Musee International d’Horlogerie and during the time that Mr Ludwig Oechslin was the curator of the museum, he introduced the MIH Watch. A portion of the proceeds goes to the museum to fund special restoration projects. And now there’s a new MIH Watch called the MIH Ga?a Watch.?The first MIH Watch has been appreciated by watch collectors and enthusiasts from all over the planet. It was sort of a love child of Ludwig Oechslin, Paul Gerber and Christian Gafner. The latter designed the watch, while Oechslin created the annual calendar on top of a Valjoux 7750 chronograph and independent watchmaker Gerber rearranged the chronograph’s actuators and levers for it to become a monopusher chronograph. While that firs