SIHH 2019 Audemars Piguet CODE 11.59 Collection (Live Photos, Specs & Price)
This is the big one for SIHH 2019! Here's an early hands-on article to what will most likely be one of the most discussed watches of the fair – and a crucial event for the brand, CODE 11.59 by Audemars Piguet. Very simply because there has been no product launch of this magnitude over the past 20 years for the brand. Picture this, 13 new references, 6 news models, 3 brand new calibres – including the much awaited in-house integrated chronograph! The ambition: to write a new page in the brand's history, creating a new pillar in the collection next to the Royal Oak, Royal Oak Offshore, Royal Oak Concept and Millenary.Why a new collection?Somehow, nobody had anticipated a launch of these dimensions from Audemars Piguet. The Royal Oak is an established icon and one of the most successful watches today on the market. Some brands just stick to what they do well. Having such a strong product is a unique asset but putting all your eggs in one basket has its risks. Yesterday’s

Introducing The New Adventure-Themed Longines HydroConquest 41mm
Known for its chronographs and elegant, vintage-inspired timepieces, Longines is no stranger to the field of dive watches. Recent examples such as the Ultra-Chron Diver or the Legend Diver Gradient showed that the brand was talented when it comes to introducing past icons. But the brand also has a solid collection of modern dive watches, with the competent and quite accessible HydroConquest. Available in an array of sizes and colours, Longines has recently added a new version to its collection. And with its vintage, adventure-inspired colour scheme, it could be the coolest example so far.? The HydroConquest is the modern vision of a dive watch, according to Longines. Classic in its design, robust, fully equipped and meant to be a powerful go-anywhere-do-anything watch, it was first released in 2007. Benefitting from a makeover in 2018 with a fresh palette of colours and matching ceramic bezels, streamlined dials, revised movements, and several case sizes (32mm, 3

Inside the IWC Manufacturing Centre and the 'MY IWC' 8-Year Warranty Program - VIDEO
If you want to get a good understanding of a watch company, visiting the manufacture is really something you should plan. This is how you truly discover how a manufacture builds its watches, defines quality, and find out what is made “in-house”. IWC was born from an industrial vision, as F.A. Jones set up his manufacture next to the river Rhine. Here, he could combine American production methods, hydro-power from the river and Swiss watchmaking skills. IWC Schaffhausen recently opened its new, and very impressive “Manufacturing Centre”. IWC has invested heavily in building a large portfolio of movements in these new production facilities. This is key for the brand to be able to innovate and to have total control over its quality. Ad - Scroll to continue with article Join us inside the

Hands-On - The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 70th Anniversary Act 1
Renowned as the blueprint for modern dive watches, Blancpain's archetypal Fifty Fathoms of 1953 is coming up for its grand 70th birthday. As an essential player in the development of scuba diving and the watch chosen by elite diving corps worldwide, the heyday of the Fifty Fathoms spanned from the mid-1950s to the early 1980s. Following a period of dormancy, Marc A. Hayek, Blancpain's CEO, decided to revive the Fifty Fathoms in 2003, coinciding with its 50th anniversary. Three series of 50 watches were unveiled in 2003, marking the definitive return of this icon. Today, 70 years after the debut of the Fifty Fathoms and 20 years after its rebirth, Blancpain kicks off a year of celebrations with a new 42mm model offered in three series of 70 pieces each, available for pre-order on Blancpain's website in January 2023.ClarificationIt might seem a bit confusing that there are three series of one watch (a total of 210 watches). However, each series is reserved for a specific region of the wo

Video - Hands-On with the The Ulysse Nardin Blast Tourbillon
A couple of weeks ago, the MONOCHROME team visited Geneva Watch Days, which will probably be the only major watch fair for Europe this year. On this occasion, we visited brands, talked with their teams and, of course, saw some of the models recently introduced in the metal – and yes, after months of digital-only presentations, this really made a difference. And of course, some watches made quite an impression on us, such as the new Ulysse Nardin Blast Tourbillon, a bold, radical and modern take on the brand’s new design codes. And with our latest video, you can also discover this watch in motion.To explain this new high-end, complex and striking watch, we talk to Ulysse Nardin’s Chief Product Officer, Jean-Christophe Sabatier, giving us the full story on how the brand developed this new movement, how the watch was designed and how – something quite rare – both elements have been, from the very beginning, imagined jointly, and not as separate parts. In fact