Retrospective: What are The World's Thinnest Watches Per Category?
Ultra-thin watchmaking is a fascinating topic, one of our favourite areas of expertise here, at MONOCHROME. Ultra-thin watchmaking is horology at its purest, a no-compromise search for the slenderest movement that has to be considered a true complication. While high-watchmaking often seeks to bring as many complications as possible in a single movement, ultra-thinness is all about miniaturisation. We’ve recently published a video retracing the battle for the world’s thinnest mechanical watch, a race that implied Bulgari, Piaget and Richard Mille, ending up with a record thin watch of 1.70mm, the Octo Finissimo Ultra COSC. But let’s dive deeper into the topic, by looking at the world’s thinnest watches per category. The thinnest mechanical watch? The thinnest chronograph? The thinnest watch ever? We have them all here.?Note: this article is meant to become one of MONOCHROME’s classics and will be updated according to the state of the industry, depending on

Value Proposition: Dietrich 1969 - Avant-Garde Timekeeping for a Fun Price - Monochrome Watches
At Baselworld I’m always running (OK, speed-walking) from one meeting to the next, in order to see all the brands that we like to cover for you here, on Monochrome Watches. One of the last days of the fair I’m being stopped by a friend who shows me some watches and introduces me to the owner of the brand. The watches look pretty awesome, and features some recognizable design cues. And the pricing is at least as cool as the watches. Meet the Dietrich 1969 watches!Despite being in a hurry, I took a few minutes to talk with brand founder, owner, designer and an overall nice guy, Emmanuel Dietrich. He told me that had been working on his watches for several years, designing the proper looks, and finding the suppliers who can deliver the quality that he was looking for. Dietrich explained?me that the latter had been the most difficult challenge, as he was looking to deliver a quality level that might be expected from a Swiss brand. So although Dietrich 1969 uses Japanese Miyota

A Journey to Red Bull Racing and through the racing heart of TAG Heuer - Monochrome Watches
Saturday means another kind of mechanics here, at MONOCHROME. As every week, we share with you our second passion: cars (like real cars, those that smell and make some noise). For this week's Petrolhead Corner installment we visited Red Bull Racing in Milton Keynes to have a chat about the bond between TAG Heuer and Red Bull. The relation between TAG and motorsports isn’t anything new; it was initiated long time ago by Mr. Jack Heuer himsel. In Milton Keynes we found out why relative newbie, Red Bull Racing, was the right partner to build the strongest collaboration on the grid.It's not necessarily the story marketing departments would like to hear, but it's fascinating to see just how spontaneously Jack Heuer’s involvement in car racing got started – and how naturally it has evolved. In his autobiography, TAG Heuer honorary chairman Jack Heuer describes going to the Monte Carlo rally in 1958. At the finish line, he writes, we studied every car arriving to see what ti

Tudor Black Bay Ceramic Master Chronometer M79210CNU
About a week ago, Tudor, the trendy and stronger-than-ever sister-brand of , presented a new watch, the Black Bay Ceramic. While good-looking and made from a material that is a first (almost) for the brand’s successful dive watch, there is much more behind this watch than just a new look. Tudor could have stopped its development here with this new ceramic model, and it would have been fine. BUT (yes, it’s a big one), there is something under the hood that means a lot, both for Tudor, for the industry and for the Group. This watch is indeed a Master Chronometer, a watch that has been certified according to the ultra-demanding standards defined by METAS, with impressive accuracy and top-tier magnetic resistance. And that’s the first time we see this on a watch that isn’t an Omega. Today, we’ll have a look at this new Tudor Black Bay Ceramic M79210CNU, but mostly, we’ll explain what the Master Chronometer certification means.First… the watchLet

Piece Unique - Vacheron Constantin Maitre Cabinotier Retrograde Armillary Tourbillon, using complications from the ref. 57260 - Monochrome Watches
In September 2015, in order to celebrate its 260th anniversary, the old and respectful Maison Vacheron Constantin unveiled what was the most complicated watch ever created with 57 complications, the Super-Complication, known under the ref. 57260. A question that came to our minds at that time concerned the deployment of some of the features used in this stunning?pocket watch into more reasonable watches. This is now the case, with a simpler watch bearing 2 of the mechanisms used in the 57260. Well, we say simpler but clearly, this new?Vacheron Constantin Maitre Cabinotier Retrograde Armillary Tourbillon is far, very far from being a common wristwatch, as coming with a twin instantaneous retrograde system and a double?axis tourbillon…The?Vacheron Constantin Maitre Cabinotier Retrograde Armillary Tourbillon is based on the researches made by the team responsible for the?ref. 57260, the world's most complicated watch with 57 complications. Furthermore, not only it uses some of the m