Chronographs for Collectors: Hamilton Fontainebleau Chronomatic Calibre 11 - Monochrome Watches
Who still has the 1970s chronographs from Hamilton in mind? Set apart in the shadows by Breitling and Heuer watches, However Hamilton played a crucial role in the launch of the famous Chronomatic calibre. The brand's flagship model at that time was the Fontainebleau - named after a famous French castle. A nice chateau that deserves to be re-visited today.Collectable Hamilton chronographs today suffer from a communication, at the time of their launch, less striking than the others. On one hand you had Jack Heuer successfully associating his brand and his watches to the world of racing cars and Willy Breitling to the world of aviation. Hamilton however never associated its chronographs to any universe. Hamilton chronographs and in particular the Fontainebleau, today only have their design and technical quality to rely on. And those from the Fontainebleau should be considered.First of all, there's the movement. Equipped at its launch with the Chronomatic calibre 11, the Hamilton Fontaineb

Top 10 of Baselworld 2017 by Xavier Markl
The 100th?anniversary edition of Baselworld has just came to an end. It has been another packed event, despite a strange overall impression and the current situation that prompted brands to be more cautious. As for each fair, the offerings are diverse but we have to come with our highlights. A tough choice but as we had to pick ten, here are the Baselworld 2017 watches that have caught my eyes – presented without specific order But?as always with?Monochrome watches, it is guaranteed 100% quartz- and android-free!Bulgari Octo Finissimo AutomaticBulgari's record-thin version of their Octo Finissimo with automatic winding was one of the highlights of the fair. Crafted in titanium, this lithe wristwatch is powered by the caliber BLV138, just 2.23mm thick! Still, whether you care about records does not really matter; like its manual wound siblings, the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Automatic is simply?magnificent. It is comfortable, elegant looking and its micro-rotor movement is superb. One

Introducing: An Array of new Longines Master with Engraved Dials
Possibly the most classic and timeless range of Longines, the Master Collection has long been slightly overlooked since its inception in 2005, maybe due to a rather shy design. Yet, in 2022 to mark the brand’s 190th anniversary, Longines gave this collection a highly appealing twist, with grained dials and engraved Breguet-like numerals, elevating this collection to a whole new level. Following the success of the 3 original limited editions, the brand released a more compact small seconds collection, this time part of the permanent range. And now, it’s time to establish this design and engraved dials as classics, with now fewer than 15 new references, in steel and gold, and in 40mm and 34mm cases.?Since its creation in 2005, the Longines Master Collection has been one of the brand’s most important ranges. Classic, elegant and contemporary, it was also a vessel for complications, as it even included an annual calendar or refined moonphase models. Design-wise, this coll

SIHH update - IWC - Monochrome Watches
IWC releases a lot of new watches this year. An all new Aquatimer line, a new Big Ingenieur and Big Pilot, new Da Vinci and the last year released vintage collection is now available in rose gold. And finally the long awaited Deep Two.After the Deep One high-end divewatches with a mechanical depth gauge where simply not available for a long time. Panerai and Jaeger-LeCoultre both released a divewatch with a depth gauge, however the one Panerai introduced in the PAM 307 is not a mechanical depth gauge! Ad - Scroll to continue with article Last year i wrote about two IWC divewatches, the titanium Aquatimer 2000 and the Deep One. I guess IWC has created a new way to measure the depth, because the technique used in the Deep One depth gauge was probably not the best choice.Unfortunately i have no technical information about the Deep Two, except some simple specificat

EXCLUSIVE: First look at the TAG Heuer Autavia 2017 (the result of the Autavia Cup) - Updated with Price and Availability - Monochrome Watches
If you remember, earlier this year, in March 2016, TAG Heuer came with a superb idea: the opportunity for?collectors to vote and to decide which vintage Heuer Autavia will be the inspiration for a modern reedition of this mythical watch. The audience chose?one of the coolest editions, the?Autavia 2446 Mark 3 “Jochen Rindt”. The result of the development was to be expected at Baselworld 2017… However, we had to take into account J.C Biver’s productivity and a certain event, the Heuer Collectors Summit (where we are today!) And guess what… the very first prototype of the?TAG Heuer Autavia 2017 is already shown to the attendants of the Heuer Collectors Summit, and we get to show it to you.?Before looking closer to the new 2017 TAG Heuer Autavia, it’s good to have a look at the heritage of this legendary timepiece. Most collectors and enthusiasts mainly know the TAG Heuer Carrera as one of the brand’s most important historical models, however it wa