Lange & Sohne Pour le Merite - An interview about Honouring Fine Watchmaking - Monochrome Watches
The Lange & Sohne Pour le Merite Collection is a pinnacle in fine watchmaking. Our friend Peter Chong, who featured here on Monochrome on many ocassions, wrote a book about the very best watches coming from Saxony, Germany. Friend of Monochrome, Peter Nievaart, interviewed Peter Chong about his passion for A. Lange & Sohne and the book he wrote in honor of the Pour le Merite Collection. Peter Nievaart in conversation with Peter Chong….Pour le Merite book - photo by Edwin HeusinkveldLast Christmas I received a truly remarkable book about the Pour le Merite collection of A. Lange & Sohne, written by Peter Chong. It is not just a book about watches. It a tribute to fine watchmaking in Glashutte with a monumental size of 42 by 30 centimeters. The book contains many A3 and A2 sized photos of various details, including finishing and the servicing of a Tourbillon Pour le Merite. The size and the quality of the photos provide a unique view on the fine parts of a watch movemen

First Look: The White Gold AP Royal Oak Jumbo Extra-Thin Openworked 16204BC
Last week, we covered most of the new models introduced by Audemars Piguet, as part of the 2024 collection – which included a new ROO time-and-date, a handsome new alloy named Sand Gold and a striking collab watch with John Mayer. There is one watch that we’ve kept away for now, but it’s a stunner. Based on our all-time favourite, the Jumbo Extra-Thin case (the original Royal Oak…), AP is bringing a new version of the Extra-Thin Openworked in white gold (16204BC) with a sleek grey-on-grey colour scheme.?The Royal Oak Jumbo Extra-Thin Openworked reference 16204 was introduced as part of the 50th-anniversary collection in 2022, which included the all-important 16202ST, the revised version of the classic Jumbo. Basically an openworked version of the aforementioned model, the Jumbo Openworked brought back a concept that was launched for the model’s 40th anniversary, with the reference 15203PT, a 40-piece limited edition. Ad - Scroll to continue with

On the Road to SIHH 2018 - What You'll See on MONOCHROME (And there's a lot...) - Monochrome Watches
The SIHH 2018, the first watch fair of the year, kicks off on?Monday, 15 January. And we will be there with the “big guns”…?For five days, 18 of the most prestigious and established brands, as well as 17 independent watchmakers, will unveil their new collections and we, at MONOCHROME, are committed to bring you all the important?novelties and make sure that you don’t miss anything from the show. Here’s what you can expect to see.Coming Monday, 15 January, at 9:00 exactly (GMT+1) the SIHH 2018 will open its doors to a public composed of watch specialists, retailers and journalists. Eighteen established brands (A. Lange & Sohne, Audemars Piguet, Baume & Mercier, Cartier, Girard-Perregaux, Greubel Forsey, Hermes, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Montblanc, Panerai, Parmigiani, Piaget, Richard Mille, Roger Dubuis, Ulysse Nardin, Vacheron Constantin, Van Cleef & Arpels) and seventeen independent watchmakers (Armin Strom, Claret, DeWitt, F.P. Journe, Ferdinand

The Collector's Corner - Discussing the IWC Deep One IW3527
The fourth entry in The Collector's Corner sees us returning to IWC, and though the company might best be known for its pilot’s watches, we are taking a plunge into the depths today. There are dive watches, and there are DIVE watches – the latter refers to watches that are so over-engineered that they are basically a piece of survival kit in their own right. The IWC Deep One is a DIVE watch, and it is our subject today. And it's one of the most fascinating, instrumental, and collectable watches of the brand.?BackgroundWe took a look at IWC's history leading up to the quartz crisis in our first post in The Collector’s Corner?before we dove deeper into the pivotal role Gunter Blumlein played in shaping what we know as the modern IWC. Instead of treading that same ground (or water - ok, I'll stop with the puns now!) again, let us look at some lines of sports watches that emerged in this era.? Ad - Scroll to continue with article

Oris Big Crown Pointer Date Calibre 403 (Specs & Price)
The fifth edition of Dubai Watch Week kicks off with over 45 participating watch brands eager to unveil their novelties. Oris, the Swiss brand from Holstein, presents a new chapter in the life of its iconic Big Crown Pointer Date. A fundamental piece in the brand's history since 1938, the Big Crown Pointer Date is now powered by calibre 403, the new, in-house developed automatic movement with impressive resilience to magnetism, a solid five-day power reserve and a ten-year warranty.Introduced in 1938, the Big Crown Pointer Date was conceived as a pilot's watch and featured an oversized crown to help pilots adjust the time without having to take off their gloves. Another signature trait was the original date complication that used a central pointer hand. In constant production for over 80 years, the Big Crown Pointer Date was upgraded in June this year and equipped with the new automatic calibre 403. Based on the groundbreaking 2020 calibre 400 series, described by Rolf Studer, Oris's C