Five watches presented this year that shows it's hip to be square
Heuy Lewis & The News sang “It’s Hip To Be Square” in their hit song from 1986 and in watches, you could kind of say the same. Amongst watches, square ones always tend to stand out a bit more, and few have even stood the test of time and earned the status of horological icon. Watches like the TAG Heuer Monaco or Cartier Santos need little introduction, really. But more recent offerings tend to tap into the same group of possible clientele that’s into square-shaped watches. And to be honest, I have two on my personal wishlist as well. there’s just something unique about having a square watch on the wrist. So with that in mind, we’re taking a closer look at 5 new watches with a square(-ish) case!TAG Heuer Monaco Purple EditionArguably one of the most famous square watches available, the TAG Heuer Monaco has become an icon thanks to a brilliant marketing ploy by Jack Heuer, using the Monaco Grand Prix and Steve McQueen to make it beyond cool. Many i

Industry New: Richemont Reports Stable Sales For the First Semester 2024, Results Down for Watches
Switzerland-based luxury conglomerate?Richemont Group has just issued its trading update for the six months ended 30 September 2024. The Group delivered an overall stable performance with flat sales at constant exchange rates and -1% at actual rates, at EUR 10.1 billion. At EUR 2.2 billion, profit is down 12% at constant rates and down 17% at actual rates. This resilience of sales in a challenging environment for the luxury industry was secured by the performance of Jewellery Maisons (Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, in particular), up 2% at actual rates. On the other hand, sales of specialist watchmakers were down by 17% at actual rates, to EUR 1.7 billion – showing the importance of Jewellery in the group, with sales reported at over EUR 7 billion. For reference, according to the FHS, the Swiss watch exports are down 2.7% compared with 2023 over the first nine months of the year. LVMH reported sales down 2% overall and down 5% for their Watches and Jewelry Division over the

In-Depth: Diving With The New Aquastar Model 60
Aquastar made a name for itself in the early 1960s as one of the first purveyors of purpose-built dive watches. Starting as a company that made watches and other maritime instruments, it became one of the most well-known watch brands for serious SCUBA divers and underwater professionals. It found a certain type of fame on the wrists of everyone from Jacques Cousteau’s team of explorers to US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh, who wore an Aquastar while aboard the bathyscaphe Trieste for his pioneering journey to the bottom of Challenger Deep at a record-breaking depth of 10,911 metres (for the record, the Deep Sea Special was strapped outside, some Longines stopwatches were onboard, and Walsh was wearing an Aquastar). After a bit of a lull during the quartz crisis, Aquastar was revived in 2020 by none other than Rick Marei, the man famous for rejuvenating another esoteric dive watch brand, Doxa. Today, we take the brand’s latest creation underwater, the Aquastar Model 60, a tribu

Review Tissot PRX 40 205 Powermatic 80 (Specs & Price)
The trend for 1970s-inspired sports watches with integrated bracelet doesn’t seem to slow down. In fact, multiple brands are entering the race, whether in the entry-level segment or all the way up in haute horlogerie. One of the latest contenders in this very highly prolific segment is coming from Tissot, with the PRX watch. While already presented (but not here… more on that in a few) with a quartz movement, today the Swatch Group-owned brand unveils a more desirable mechanical version. And we have a closer look at this new Tissot PRX 40 205 Powermatic 80 in the metal.If you’re a web-surfing, social-media-connected watch enthusiast, you’ve probably already seen the quartz edition of the Tissot PRX. While some fellow watch blogs/magazines jumped on the occasion, we at MONOCHROME decided to wait before having a look at the PRX. Call us posh if you want, I’d call us true to ourselves and to our love for watchmaking… Mechanical is our passion, battery-p

Introducing the White-Dial Airain Type 20 ACE
Founded in 1934, Airain was well known for its Type 20 flyback chronographs in the mid-20th century, supplying the French military along with brands like Breguet and Mathey Tissot. These chronographs could be instantly reset to zero by pressing the 4 o'clock pusher via the flyback function and had specific requirements like a bidirectional 12-hour rotating bezel, 35-hour power reserve (minimum) and lume on both the hands and Arabic numerals. Airain didn't survive the quartz crisis and loss of French military contracts, but was revived in 2020. The Airain Type 20 ACE is the latest chrono model and introduces bold and modern styling from a collaboration with Dutch retailer Ace Jewelers.The stainless steel case is 39.5mm in diameter and 10.85mm in height (without the double-domed sapphire crystal), which is close to the original at approximately 38mm in diameter. There's a bidirectional 12-hour countdown bezel with black numbers and marks, and classic chrono pushers at 2 and 4 o'clock. Th