Watches NEWS
Industry Swiss Fund Partners Group Invests in Breitling
Long a family-owned company, Breitling saw CVC Capital Partners acquire an 80% stake in their capital in 2017 (in a deal valued at more than EUR 800 million, or USD 928 million) while the Schneider family kept the remaining 20% of the capital. Subsequently, quitting a Richemont senior leadership role, George Kern was appointed CEO of the brand. Swiss-based Fund Partners Group now enters the capital of the brand with a significant minority stake (estimated at 25%). The co-founder of Partners Group, Alfred Gantner, will join the Board of Breitling.Quoting Vontobel analyst, Philippe Bertschy, Swiss newspaper Le Temps reports that Breitling “should achieve a turnover of nearly 700 million Swiss Francs during the fiscal year which will end on March 31st“. According to the Handelszeitung, this 25% stake is bought for 712 million Swiss Francs which would value Breitling at 2.8 billion Swiss Francs. This reflects a significant value creation over the past years and Capital Partners
The Vintage Corner - The Universal Geneve Space Compax
This watch, the Universal Geneve Space Compax, is one of the classics of 1960s design, with all of the great elements needed to make a fairly complicated wristwatch seem practical and attractive at the same time. In the 1950s, the final DNA Chain double helix was discovered and influenced furniture designers with their coat stands and hat racks. Later, the 1960s were all about racing cars and ultimately Space Travel. The thoughts on the name of this watch are that Universal Geneve wanted to create the idea that its watch could also be adopted by NASA for the Space Programme but actually, it was just the epitome of European styling.Alain Delon, Romy Schneider and Princess Grace's 1958 Riva Tri-ToneThe Universal Geneve Space Compax is a beautiful watch but not quite as robust as the Speedmaster – something I found out when restoring these watches back to their former glory. It is more a watch to step off your Riva motorboat at the quayside of the Monaco Yacht Club, just like the 19
On the Road to Baselworld 2018 - What Youll See on MONOCHROME - Monochrome Watches
, Omega, Patek Phillipe, Tudor, TAG Heuer and many more… Tomorrow, the 2018 edition of world’s largest watch fair, Baselworld, will open its doors. Hundreds of new watches will be revealed to members of the press, retailers and collectors. Even though the general consensus around the fair itself seems quite negative, the industry is in relatively good shape and this won’t prevent the MONOCHROME team to “veni, vidi, referi”?– “go, see, report” live from the fair, with an incredibly?large coverage. Baselworld is coming, and we are on the road to Switzerland.We know that this edition of the Basel Watch Fair will be into the limelight, as the show itself has been widely criticized. Expensive, outdated, old-school, unadapted to the current market and to new consumer behaviours… Baselworld has never been in such a position – and these bad feelings come from all parties: brands, retailers and press members. While in 2015 there were
First Look: Wristcheck x Atelier Wen Perception ´«³Ð with Seconde/Seconde/
Just like the phoenix rises from its ashes, something beautiful can emerge from destruction. Or, in this case, almost destruction… What you see here should not have existed. What you see here should have gone straight into the trash, resulting from rejection at quality control and not passing the desired standards. What you see here is a watch that celebrates resilience and redemption. What you see here is a watch that feels familiar for a reason, but?that has been given a sense of artful dismissal by its creators and a well-known guest who’s all about twisting things. What you see here is the Wristcheck x Atelier Wen Perception ´«³Ð with Seconde/Seconde/, and it should not have existed. But it does.?Looking closely at this new edition of the Atelier Wen Perception, you are bound to recognise its Jade green dial colour, its integrated design and its highly intricate dial pattern. For the most part, this new take on the Chinese-inspired and partially made luxury sports watch i
The Ubercool Tudor Pelagos FXD Now Comes In Black
The diving heritage of Tudor can be basically split into two chapters. On one end you have the very retro-inspired Black Bay line-up, and on the other end the more professional Pelagos collection. Either of the two are fan-favourites and perform very well in most circumstances in life. But, in a surprising twist, two years ago Tudor released a very special take on the Pelagos with the Pelagos FXD. This watch paid tribute to past watches used by Combat divers and was developed with the Marine Nationale, the French Navy. It had fixed lugs and a special inverted diving scale on the bidirectional bezel. Now though, Tudor introduces a new take on the Pelagos FXD, in a black colour scheme and with a regular bezel.The case is yet again machined out of titanium and measures 42mm in diameter and 12.75mm in thickness. From lug end to lug end, you’re looking at 52mm in length. On top of the titanium case is a titanium rotating bezel, unidirectional instead of bidirectional. The black cerami
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