Announcing - The New and Improved MONOCHROME Website
After a few months of intense work, discussions, tests and designs, we couldn’t be prouder to present the 2020 version of MONOCHROME. Refreshed, cleaned, more interactive and more dynamic, with new sections and improved navigation, this is the new face of your “Online Magazine Dedicated to Fine Watches”. But no worries, it is still MONOCHROME all the way!What’s new? First of all, we wanted to discreetly bring back our somehow forgotten but beloved “Monochrome Brown”, which has been used for years at MONOCHROME, changed to a full black-and-white scheme and now back in the game. This is our signature colour and we’re proud of it! Ad - Scroll to continue with article Besides this visual detail, we’ve worked intensively on the new homepage. This is where you’ll be able to navigate, discover, enjoy. There are more

Opinion: Why i Think The Zeitwinkel 273 Sapphir Fume Is The Brand's Finest
The independent watchmaking scene is quite widespread, yet there are several key players who always seem to be in everyone’s spotlight and others who are not. One of the brands that, to me at least, operates a bit under the radar is Zeitwinkel. I’ve always had a soft spot for the brand’s contemporary designs paired with German Silver movement construction. One model in particular has stood out to me ever since it was introduced; the Zeitwinkel 273¡ã Sapphir Fume. Now, it’s not often I come across this watch, so when I recently had a long and engaging chat with co-founder Albert Edelmann and spotted him wearing that very watch, I hatched a cunning plan. As you can see, that watch is now temporarily in my possession (hence the worn state), and I will explain why I think this is the best watch coming out of Zeitwinkel’s atelier.Although Zeitwinkel admittedly is quite a niche brand, it has been around since 2006. Founded by a group of passionate watch enthusias

the 2020 Cartier Santos-Dumont XL Hand-Wind (Specs & Price)
Revisiting the oldest men's wristwatch in 2020 has its difficulties. How far can you stray from the original without corrupting its essence? But, how far should you honour its essence without creating a fuddy-duddy watch? Well, Cartier's latest Santos-Dumont XL manages to reconcile both these extremes in what is perhaps the most historically faithful yet appealingly proportioned and elegant iteration to date. Three versions – in steel, in two-tone steel and pink gold and in solid pink gold – of the Santos-Dumont XL were presented in the digital edition of Watches & Wonders 2020, all fitted with mechanical movements and, here's the other bit of great news, at prices that sound pretty fair. We were fortunate enough to spend some hands-on time with the two-tone and the steel models and were pretty impressed.BackgroundWhen Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont commissioned a watch from his friend Louis Cartier in 1904 that he could wear while piloting his flying machines

The black & white Brellum Pandial LE.2DD Chronometer
Sebastian Muller, the fourth generation of a Swiss watchmaking family from the Jura, founded Brellum in 2016, a small independent brand with a production of around 299 pieces a year and a focus on affordable chronometer-certified chronographs. The Pandial, Brellum’s two-tone vintage-inspired chronograph fitted with a Valjoux 7750, returns in a classic black-and-white panda suit after its debut in a blue-and-white model earlier this year. A limited and numbered edition of 33 pieces, the Pandial LE.2DD Chronometer is delivered with a stainless steel bracelet and textile strap and retails for just over EUR 3,000.Racing-style chronographThe Pandial DD (day/date) LE.2 is packed with functions and features a racy external tachymeter scale, similar in style to the tachymeter that Omega released on board the Speedmaster in 1957. Other racing chronograph details include the piston-style pushers flanking the large knurled crown. The robust 100m water-resistant stainless steel case measures

2021 TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 300 Automatic Collection Review
Following updates in several collections in recent years, with revamped Carrera and Monaco lines, TAG Heuer is ready to present its updated Aquaracer 300 collection. More refined yet still very recognisable, the new range has been fully revamped without losing its DNA. Taking a look at its origins, which can be traced back to the 2000-series from the early 1980s, we go hands-on with the new TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 300 Calibre 5 Automatic collection.BackgroundThe TAG Heuer Aquaracer 300 collection can trace its roots back to the ref. 844 of 1978 (more on that in another article, with something cool to come) and the Heuer 2000, introduced in 1982. This versatile dive watch, when the company was still just Heuer, was the successor to the 1000 series. The Heuer 2000 collection was available in quartz and automatic versions and proved immensely popular, spawning all sorts of varieties. Models ranged from simple, three-handed quartz watches to a chronometer version and everything in