Recap - MONOCHROME's 10 Most Read Reviews of the Year 2021
The end of the year is near, and we’ll soon be turning the page on 2021, a year of transition and (again) unexpected things. Sure, it was better than 2020 and its constant ups and downs, and sure it has been a great year for MONOCHROME, with the launch of two Montres de Souscription (with Habring2 and Czapek), the addition of new members to the team, and probably the most articles published in a single year. Indeed, we published over 1,100 articles this year (not counting the remaining days of 2021), and it’s time for us to have a look at what were your ten favourite articles of 2021.Thank you all for reading MONOCHROME, commenting, and sharing your passion for watches with us.10 – Audemars Piguet x Marvel Royal Oak Concept Black PantherIt’s not really a surprise to see this watch making it to the top 10. It certainly was one of the most discussed watches of the year. And rightfully so, since the result of the collaboration between Audemars Piguet and Marvel, a

Collector's Series - Marko Koncina and His Cartier Tortue CPCP Perpetual Calendar
Today, we'll talk about a watch owned by someone that is a voice and face of the watchmaking community, someone that you might have already seen through your screens. Indeed, Marko Koncina is a 29-year-old entrepreneur from Zurich, Switzerland, and he is the driving force behind the Swiss Watch Gang Youtube and Instagram channels. Today, we'll discuss a watch that is supremely elegant, mechanically complex and rare. Marko will tell us about his great passion for a platinum Cartier Tortue Perpetual Calendar from the all-time classic CPCP collection – also known as Collection Privee Cartier Paris.Frank Geelen, MONOCHROME – When did this Cartier Tortue become yours? Ad - Scroll to continue with article Marko Koncina, Swiss Watch Gang – It became part of my collection in March 2021 and I bought it from a retailer in Luzern, Switzerland, which had i

And now for something completely different for the wrist - Cartier Nail Bracelet - Monochrome Watches
You don’t need a watch. At least not for just telling the time. That’s what I hear from time to time and I’m the first to admit that’s entirely true. For me a watch is a piece of jewelry or a fashion statement.?Maybe you didn’t see this coming, at least not from me, as I’ve been passionately writing about the beauty of mechanical wrist watches for more then 6 years now. And today I’m writing about something else for the wrist. Like Monty Python said: ‘And now for something completely different’.Since I’ve been sharing beautiful photos as Weekly Watch Photo, I noticed more and more people wear a bracelet or beads around the wrist, besides their beloved wrist watch. It’s a nice way to add something extra. A bit of style, a fashion statement. Because I haven’t ever seen anyone else then Nicolas Hayek (former CEO of the Swatch Group, savior of the Swiss watch industry, the man behind the Swatch watches that got all of

Introducing: The Longines Ultra-Chron Carbon, A First For the Brand
Everyone is familiar with Zenith's high-frequency El Primero automatic chronograph movement, released in 1969. However, not everybody is familiar with the world's first high-frequency diver. The laurels, in this case, go to Longines with its 1968 Ultra-Chron ref. 7970 with a 5Hz frequency and a depth rating of 200m. Reintroduced in 2022, the Ultra-Chron returns in 2025 in a carbon fibre case.No stranger to high-frequency calibres, in 1914, Longines produced a 5Hz handheld stopwatch with a split-seconds hand capable of measuring 1/10th of a second. In 1916, it unveiled its 50Hz, 1/100th of a second stopwatch. Ten years before Zenith's El Primero, Longines produced the first wristwatch with a 5Hz movement (calibre 360) to compete in observatory chronometry competitions (it was manual winding). In 1968, Longines introduced its 5Hz calibre 431 inside a diver's watch, converting the Ultra-Chron into the world's first high-frequency diver with an accuracy of one minute per month. If you'd li

Oris Divers Sixty-Five Fratello Limited Edition
As you might have guessed from its name, the now very well-established?Oris Divers Sixty-Five was inspired by a watch created back in… 1965. A classic skin diver model, with recreational divers in mind, it has since its comeback been made in countless editions, colours and sizes. But there’s more than just the original (and rather quirky) model. Proof; the latest limited edition created by our friends of Fratello in collaboration with Oris. This time, they have looked back at a later edition from 1968, which might have quite some historical importance too… Meet the new Oris Divers Sixty-Five Fratello Limited Edition.Behind the successful Divers Sixty-Five collection is the resurrection of a specific model born in 1965, this dive watch with a compact case, slim profile and cool, original dial with trapezoidal markers. A watch that has been later derived in a multitude of editions, with larger or smaller cases, in steel, in bronze (or even in both), and importantly with