Girard-Perregaux Laureato Ghost Limited Edition Bamford - News, Price
Revisited in 2016 with a line of limited editions, followed by serial production models a year later, the Laureato is Girard's Perregaux vision of a luxury sports watch. A few months back we covered the Girard-Perregaux Laureato Absolute Crystal Rock with a sandwich dial and a case crafted from carbon glass. Now, the Swiss luxury watchmaker celebrates 45 years of the Laureato with a 45-piece limited edition Laureato Ghost watch in collaboration with successful watch customizer, Bamford Watch Department.The original, 1975 Girard-Perregaux LaureatoAny watch manufacturer attempting a steel sports watch during the 1970s deserves some recognition and Girard-Perregaux happened to have developed a particularly successful one named the Laureato. At the time (1975), Girard-Perregaux was one of the very few watchmakers daring to do so, after Audemars Piguet's Royal Oak of 1972, of course. The concept of the Laureato became an important pillar for the brand, carrying some main attributes; a thin

Czapek Antarctique, The Brands Luxury Sports Watch (Review, Price)
The luxury sports watch is one of the most successful categories, dominated by cult classics such as the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and the Patek Philippe Nautilus – two timepieces that defined the genre back in the 1970s. Smaller independent watchmakers are now entering the category. Brands like Laurent Ferrier, Urban Jurgensen or H. Moser & Cie. have recently unveiled steel sports watches with an integrated bracelet. It is now Czapek's turn to present its take on the genre with the Antarctique.Czapek is an independent watchmaker with an original business model. The brand was launched a few years ago, reviving the name of an illustrious Czech-born Geneva-based watchmaker. This renaissance was orchestrated through an equity crowdfunding campaign, a unique case in high-end watchmaking, allowing passionate watch lovers to be part of a brand, many of them active in supporting and advising the team. On the manufacturing side, Czapek operates as a horizontal manufacture creating a

First Look: The new Longines HydroConquest GMT 43mm collection
Next to the vintage-inspired Legend Diver collection, the Longines HydroConquest is a more utilitarian, robust, classic diver, with water-resistance up to 300 metres, a unidirectional, external rotating bezel, a screw-in crown and a screw-down caseback. Following the introduction of the practical, versatile and mostly visually appealing HydroConquest GMT last year in a 41mm case, Longines now launches a larger 43mm version available either with a green, black or blue dial, and with several strap/bracelet options.Essentially, this new version of the Longines HydroConquest GMT shares all the characteristics of the 41mm version we saw about a year ago. The main change is related to its diameter, which now sits at 43mm. On one hand, this new, additional, larger watch feels a bit unexpected at a time when smaller watches are coming back in vogue. On the other hand, it is just an additional choice that will find its fans – Longines explains to us that there was demand from certain mark

Tudor and its Heritage - The old and new Tudor Ranger face to face - Monochrome Watches
Last week, we started a new series of articles named “Tudor and Its Heritage“. As you might have guessed, we are here looking at how Tudor Watches successfully drew the lines of the Heritage collection by looking at some of its glorious vintage watches, however not copying them, but re-interpretating some key elements into a modern package. Vintage-inspiration, not vintage reedition. Our?first episode focussed on the most expected ones, the Submariners and the actual?Heritage Black Bay. However, the Heritage collection does comprise much more, including the Tudor Heritage Ranger, inspired by one of the most controversial watches of the brand, the Oyster Prince Ranger. And we have them face to face today – and we have a little extra too…Background – The story behind?the Tudor Oyster Prince RangerWhy stating straight “one of the most controversial watches by Tudor”? For the catchy sentence? To make?some noise?… No. Actually, this is a real

Pre-Montblanc Heritage Chronometrie Date by Hand (hands-on review, specs & price) - Monochrome Watches
Earlier today, we showed you in advance (and with hands-on thoughts) one of the SIHH 2016 highlights from Montblanc, the Heritage Chronometrie Chronograph Quantieme Annuel. You thought that?was all… You were wrong, as Montblanc has more to show us for this 2016 edition of the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie.?After the complicated chronograph with annual calendar, here is a simpler, more affordable and even more dressy edition, from the same collection, the?Montblanc Heritage Chronometrie Date by Hand.The date is THE basic complication in a watch. Whether we’re talking about dress watches, dive or?sports watches, chronographs, vintage-inspired or modern watches, simple or complicated timepieces, we can find this complication (yes, even the date is a complication. In fact, everything that is not linked to the time – hours, minutes and seconds – is a complication) in more than 50% of the watches, making it an almost necessary feature for commercial reaso