Alpina AlpinerX Launches on Kickstarter and it's Selling Like Hotcakes - Monochrome Watches
Smart watches, quartz watches, digital watches… that’s nothing for MONOCHROME. You know us, we cover high-end mechanical watches (and a value proposition once in a while), because the beauty of mechanics is what gets us going. The other day, however, Alpina launched their latest creation on Kickstarter and I think that’s rather novel. A big and established brand launching their latest watch on a digital platform mostly used by new-comers.It’s not the watch that we’re interested in, it’s the business aspects of this rather unusual move from Frederique Constant / Alpina that got our attention. Big brands usually do not launch online. Maybe a handful of?pieces will be sold exclusively online like for instance Jaeger-LeCoultre did with the Geophysic?True Second Limited Edition and, during SIHH 2018, with the Polaris Memovox. It happens, but only scarcely and in limited quantities. Until now that is! A full online launch of Alpina’s newest piece, a

Introducing: IWC Pilot Performance Chronograph Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month
With its long-winded name, IWC's new watch can best be described as the more complex brother of a Performance Chronograph released in 2023 for four-wheeled pilots. Equipped with the brand's innovative perpetual calendar movement and its uncommon digital display, the Performance Chronograph IW388801 comes with a dashing black and golden colour scheme.Presented in 2023, IWC's Pilot's Watch Performance Chronograph 41 is a racing chronograph with a tachymeter scale on its bezel, the racetrack alternative to IWC's well-stocked portfolio of pilot's chronographs powered by the same in-house automatic chronograph movement: calibre 69385. Ad - Scroll to continue with article The second part of the equation relates to IWC's unusual digital perpetual calendar combined with a flyback chronograph. Inspired by the displays of IWC's Pallweber pocket watches from the 1880s with

Collector's Series - @NYCWATCHGUY And His Urwerk UR-220 Falcon
A collector active on Instagram, @NYCWATCHGUY lives in the Greatest City in the World (his words), New York, and works as a venture capitalist but at heart, he is a watch meme maker. His many talents inspired him to a hobby we can all relate to; collecting watches. His journey started out traditionally but led him to more out there' watches. His Urwerk UR-220 Falcon is not the first watch of the brand to be featured in the Collector's Series, but clearly is one of the most impressive.Frank Geelen, MONOCHROME – How did you find out about Urwerk? Ad - Scroll to continue with article @NYCWATCHGUY – I definitely came across Urwerk casually on watch blogs in the early days of my watch collecting journey (around 2012). I always thought they were cool, but as someone who just owned a starter Zenith at the time (and the state of my bank account), making the

The Collector's Series - Our first female collector and her glorious vintage Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso - Monochrome Watches
It happened. Although, quite frankly, I am rather ashamed to admit it, as it simply shouldn’t have taken so long. This week, it gives me great pleasure to welcome our first female collector, Lara Berry and her glorious vintage Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso to the Collector's Series.In a previous life, Lara worked for Experian in the finance data industry. Having spent several years in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Australia, she returned to the UK, when in 2015 she left the firm as an Account Director. She joined the well-regarded vintage watch dealers – Sonning Vintage Watches in March 2015 to help support the company’s growth plans. Now a Director at Sonning, I have to confess, prior to the interview, I asked Lara if she ever looked back on her corporate days since becoming self-employed. She simply smiled and said it was the best thing she had ever done. I am sure many of you would share the sentiment. Without further adieu, Lara and her vintage Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso:

First Look: The Vacheron Constantin Patrimony x Ora ?to for the Model's 20 years
Vacheron Constantin celebrates the 20th anniversary of its Patrimony collection with a special edition produced in collaboration with French designer Ito Morabito, more widely known as Ora ?to. The understated soul of the Patrimony is inspired by Vacheron’s slim men’s dress watches of the 1950s, a formula applied across the board to all Patrimony references. As the epitome of technical complexity married to restrained style, the Patrimony is a natural partner for Ora ?to, whose designs are directed by his pursuit of providing simple responses to complex problems. Produced in a limited edition of 100 pieces, the Patrimony x Ora ?to comes in a 40mm yellow gold case with a mesmerising dial composed of concentric circles.Introduced in 2004, Vacheron Constantin's Patrimony collection took its design cues from the brand's ultra-slim 1950s timepieces. Famous manual-winding movements like the 2.94mm thick calibre 1001 and the 1.64mm thick calibre 1003, powering the references 6179