Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Jumbo Extra-Thin 15202IP Titanium/Platinum Smoked Blue Dial - Review (Specs & Price)
When we received?the whole bunch of novelties that AP was about to launch at the SIHH 2018 (and there was a lot), one watch stood apart from the rest. Strangely enough, this watch is far from being a true revolution.?Not that the RD#2 isn’t a stunning development, but we were all, at the MONOCHROME redaction, focussed on this new?Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Jumbo Extra-Thin 15202IP. Already stunning on the official images, we needed to see it in the metal. And boy, what a beauty it is.I know I might sound quite enthusiastic, but I’ve always had a soft spot for the Royal Oak, especially the Jumbo Extra-Thin 15202. For various reasons, it is, to me, the one to have – if you’re into modern watches, otherwise the original 5402ST is a no-brainer. With its 39mm case, its thin automatic movement, its time and date display without seconds hand and its finely guilloched dial, it is in many aspects the version that is the most faithful to the original 1972 watch, a sort of

Recap: The Best Travel and GMT Watches of Watches & Wonders 2024 and Around
Long praised for being some of the most practical and relevant timepieces around, Travel and GMT watches are classics that most brands need to have somewhere in their collections. Whether we’re talking about classic multi-time zone watches with a central 24-hour hand, dual-time models with additional indications on their dials or complex world-time timepieces, the Geneva Watch Week and Watches and Wonders 2024 gave us the opportunity to discover a myriad of new models in these categories. And here are the 5 most appealing Travel and GMT Watches we’ve seen.Tudor Black Bay 58 GMTLet’s start strong, with an absolute winner… It’s not often that we are as enthusiastic as that, but the new Black Bay 58 GMT is a fantastic watch, a new model that simply answers what the watch community was asking for; a more compact, slimmer BB GMT. And here we are, with a 39mm case with 12.8mm thickness, still capable of diving, with an almost “coke” bezel (sorry fa

Pre-Baselworld 2019 - Chopard L.U.C XPS Twist Qualite Fleurier (Specs & Price)
The XPS by Chopard has been one of the best examples of the modern, chic, ultra-thin watch for over 20 years now. Elegant, beautifully crafted with great mechanics, one could regret a certain lack of audacity in the design, with most of the pieces being quite minimalistic. While keeping the L.U.C codes alive, Chopard brings a fresher take on the model as a preview of Baselworld 2019. Meet the?Chopard L.U.C XPS Twist Qualite Fleurier – and indeed, it comes with a twist!The XPS is the direct descendant of the first?L.U.C watch introduced in 1996 with the ultra-thin, in-house calibre 1.96. A movement that is still used today, the calibre 1.96 has undergone various updates and multiple configurations, yet the base is the same. It was?the first calibre created by Chopard Manufacture in 1996 after Karl-Friedrich Scheufele initiated a programme to produce movements in-house in Fleurier. The first L.U.C branded watch was a discreet, gold-encased piece with an elegant guilloche dial and a

TAG Heuer and Abarth partner with the Abarth 595 Competizione by TAG Heuer and a dedicated Carrera - Monochrome Watches
Abarth, the customization department of Fiat that some of you may know for the funky 1970s cars and numeral victories in rally, is about to launch a new limited edition of its fastest, funniest car, the?Abarth 595 Competition resulting here from a partnership with TAG Heuer. This?Abarth 595 Competizione by TAG Heuer features a specific matte grey wrapping, 17″ racing wheels, Brembo brakes and racing seats in Alcantara… Wait, is Monochrome-Watches turning into a car magazine?… No worries, the main point of interest here concerns what will be delivered with the car, a specific limited edition watch, the TAG Heuer Carrera Abarth 595 Competizione.Why is this partnership so cool? Usually, watches associated to cars are of two types. The first ones are made on request of the brand and sold directly by the car manufacture, like the not-so-cheap quartz Ferrari watches, sold on their own website or BMW watches sold at the car dealer. The other types are watches made by watch m

Industry news - Omega Opens New High-Tech Factory in Biel
Today, Omega just unveiled their brand new eco-friendly premises designed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban. Located next to the brand's historical building where the brand is headquartered, the new factory was inaugurated today (Editor's note: November 2, 2017) and it is an important step for the brand, allowing it to centralise its forces, hitherto spread out between various sites. No revolution there (which Omega does not need) but an evolution bringing watch assembly training and quality control (T2/T3/T4 for those familiar with the Swatch Group production flows), under one roof, and providing a cutting-edge setting to operate the brand's production activities. The technology used inside the building is indeed impressive. This is evident with watchmakers and operators' workplaces benefiting from robotic assistance at the highest level, but also with the organization of the workflow and control procedures. The central stock is fully automated and