How Germany and elegance turned out to be a great formula - Monochrome Watches
If someone says the word Germany', not a lot of people will start reminiscing about romantic afternoons full of classic values like elegance, delicacy, sensitivity or even the slightest susceptibility to following heart instead of function. But that's wrong. Anyone who has actually ever really seen that country knows that this culture has so much more to offer than Autobahn, Autobahn, Autobahn. It's always hard to speak for 85 million people but Germans do share a love for these classic values. The Germans are quite sensitive, in fact. I think the most beautiful German word is Fingerspitzengefuhl,' which is literally translated as the feeling in the tip of your fingers'. Yes, Germans are that sensitive indeed.Now, let's start by admitting that I'm not completely objective when it comes to ‘ze Germans’. Since I was born and raised in The Netherlands (Amsterdam, yes, of course, Amsterdam), I wasn't supposed to really like them. I don't want to mention ‘The War’ th

Hands-On: The All-New Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Worldtimer
Slightly overlooked and possibly in the shadows of the classic Seamaster Diver 300M, the Planet Ocean is the most capable collection of dive watches in Omega’s range, comprising models from 600m up to 6000m water-resistance (without counting the all-mighty Ultra-Deep that survived the Mariana Trench). Born in 2005, it will be celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and we can possibly expect a few surprises coming from Bienne. And the first one to emerge from the depths is this unprecedented take on the powerful Deep Black collection, the first PO to receive a world time complication. Here’s the brand-new Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Worldtimer.?The worldtimer function isn’t new to Omega, which has been using its in-house Calibre 8938 within the Seamaster Aqua Terra collection since 2017. In the same vein, the Seamaster Planet Ocean, despite being an ultra-focused dive watch capable of withstanding incredible depths, also had its fair share of complications, rangi

Interview Justin Reis CEO WatchBox, on Preowned Luxury Watch Market
The vintage and pre-owned luxury watch market is thriving like never. It has transformed dramatically over the past few years with the arrival of strategic investors. One of the world’s leading second-hand watch e-commerce platforms, WatchBox, recently secured USD 165 million in funding to support its expansion. MONOCHROME reached out to Justin Reis, CEO of WatchBox, to discuss the development of the company and its plans for the future.Justin Reis, CEO of WatchBoxXavier Markl, MONOCHROME – The second-hand or pre-owned luxury market is growing fast. So did WatchBox. What has been the road so far?Justin Reis, CEO of WatchBox – Since WatchBox launched, we’ve welcomed physical expansion, a shifting mindset amongst collectors, the embrace of the pre-owned category by the industry, a global pandemic, and unprecedented demand for high-end, collectable watches. This “road” is an expressway! Ad - Scroll to continue with article

The new 2014 Omega Seamaster 300 - what it should look like when presented in Baselworld - Monochrome Watches
Baselworld 2014 is really close and at Monochrome Watches headquarters we are all craving for the new models that will be presented. A few days ago, we've played with rumours about and Tudor and yesterday Omega posted an intriguing image on their Facebook page. So we've played with Photoshop again, and here is a preview of what we think what Omega’s new Seamaster will look like. Since we already know that Omega will present a re-edition of the Speedmaster Mark II (that we introduced here) we’re super curious about that dark picture. It shows some deep-water scenery with Another wonder is about to emerge from the Ocean’s darkness and Few watches are worthy of the word iconic written on it. Puzzling, isn't it? And then came something really intriguing (and frustrating) - a very dark picture only showing a watch's outlines. Ad - Scroll to continue with article

Vintage Meets EV revolution, with an Electrified Classic Mini - Monochrome Watches
Returning readers of MONOCHROME might have picked up on a few hints and stories that have sparked (pun intended) this one. The EV revolution in the automotive industry. Where the average Joe is accustomed to seeing electric vehicles on the road by now, with vast numbers of Tesla's whizzing around, there's one segment that has been getting more and more traction: classic car conversions. We've covered a high-dollar, extremely limited bespoke Rolls Royce Phantom V by Lunaz Design, but this time around we dive into an electric car conversion that is a) much more affordable and b) probably a lot more everyday fun!Once again, I truly hope that this trend of converting vintage cars to electric power, whether you like it or not, doesn't transcend into classic watches converted to quartz movements. Of course, the two are completely different and I highly doubt a classic Patek Philippe or Breguet will ever be retro-fitted with a quartz movement. The trend to convert vintage cars to electric pow