OPINION - Joining Forces For The Best? The Tudor / Breitling Mechanical Alliance
Prior to Baselworld 2017, at their annual pre-Basel event, Tudor unveiled the new Black Bay Chronograph. The first thought of?the crowd of journalists present (us included) was?“in-house chronograph movement!” The excitement lasted for less than 5 minutes however, as the announcement was quickly followed?by?the official disclaimer. Indeed, despite the?“MT” nomenclature, this movement is not produced by Tudor, but rather by Breitling, which soon after, announced the launch of a?new 3-hand movement, based on a… Tudor calibre. The question is, is this a good thing or not? It looks like?we’re going to find out with the new Tudor / Breitling alliance.The “in-house” debateBefore going into the details of this recently announced?Tudor / Breitling Mechanical Alliance, it’s worth taking a look back at the notion of “in-house” or “manufacture”, which has been one of the main trends of the last 10 / 15 years. Prior to t

HIBAW: (Honey I Bought Another Watch!) On February 14th, Stop Thinking About Jeweled Movements For A Second and Start Thinking About Jewelry! - Monochrome Watches
It has been too long since we last posted a HIBAW story. But no worries, just in time for Valentine’s Day, our contributor Mario comes to the rescue!?St. Valentine's Day is upon us again. Time to tell our inamoratas that we love them! Shall we say it with chocolate? Too many calories! Shall we say it with roses? Roses fade and turn brown and sickly. Shall we say it with a poem etched into a card? Unless your last name is Shakespeare or Shelley or Keats don't bother; the words of the romantics can sometimes have two meanings' (yup - I just paraphrased Stairway to Heaven'!) My suggestion then it so say it with something unambiguous - DIAMONDS! Ad - Scroll to continue with article [A quotient of you will read this and ask yourselves: Why does he write these?' Why does Frank put them out there?' You say: I don't need help picking out gifts for my gal! All the

Introducing Classi, a connected strap that makes any watch feels smarter (but not looking like a Cupertino guy) - Monochrome Watches
Here’s the dilemma: you love watches, mechanical watches, with a classical or vintage look. On the other hand, you also love connected items and the concept of a smart watch is something you dug into, especially since the introduction of the Apple Watch. However, you don’t like it. You think it’s not going to fulfill your needs of mechanical / vintage / luxury timepieces (and you’d be right). You don’t want to wear two watches either and the solution found by Sinn is… weird. Well, Maintool, a young French startup, might have a solution for you, with a?discreet?connected strap that can be used on any kind of watch. Here’s Classi.The concept is simple. You have a watch, any kind of watch, classic, vintage, sporty, mechanical, tourbillon, cheap, ultra-expensive, ugly… whatever, you love it. Thus, an Apple Watch or a Samsung Gear is not an option. You definitely don’t want to wear these soulless digital objects, which are definitely goi

Recap: The Best Pilots Watches Of 2024
The Pilot’s Watch has always been one of the most popular types of watches, and for good reason. The utilitarian nature of the aviator watch lends itself perfectly to everyday life, thanks to excellent legibility (often), striking looks and robust construction. This year is no exception, as plenty of very cool new pilot watches entered the market. But which are the best ones? And do we see some new and unexpected entries takeover from established pilot’s watches? We’ve put our heads together to mull over what we think are the best Pilot’s Watches of 2024, and it’s a wonderful mix of bld and new!Albishorn Type 10 ChronographFirst up is an unexpected newcomer, the Albishorn Type 10 Chronograph. This fledgling independent watchmaker is headed by Sebastien Chaulmontet, a chronograph specialist and Head of Innovation and Marketing for Sellita. Under the moniker of “imaginary vintage“, Albishorn seeks to capture the spirit of what could have been bac

Hands-On - The Raketa Baikonur Watch For Cosmonauts (Specs & Price)
When having in mind the association between space exploration and watchmaking, many will think about the Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch, the Bulova Moon Chronograph the Fortis Official Cosmonauts Chronograph. And rightfully so, as these watches are probably the most popular space watches. Yet, there were many more timepieces to make it into space, or specifically designed for astronauts/cosmonauts. One of them comes from a country that has been a pioneer in everything related to space, Russia. Developed in 2016 with cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, one of the men who contributed the most to the space conquest, this piece is the Raketa Baikonur Watch and today we go hands-on with it.60 years of space conquestA couple of weeks ago, mankind celebrated the 60th anniversary of the first-ever manned spaceflight. Indeed, on 12 April 1961, right in the middle of what will be known as the space race, Russia, through the Vostok program, will be the first nation worldwide to send a man into outer s