Recap: MONOCHROME's Top Ten Novelties From Watches & Wonders 2023
It was impossible to miss the sleuth of new watches presented during last week’s Watches & Wonders fair. The 2023 edition of what is now the biggest watch-related event of the year saw many new and very exciting new watches being presented. We tried to bring you as much as possible already, but there is still much more to come that we haven’t been able to cover yet. But what are the absolute best watches? This is a tough question to ask, with over 50 brands on display, all bringing new models or adaptations of existing ones to the table. The MONOCHROME Editorial Team has taken a vote though, to pinpoint what we think are the Top Ten novelties presented in the confines of Geneva’s Palexpo halls last week, and here’s the rundown, in completely random order.IWC Ingenieur AUTOMATIC 40We’re not going to talk about the elephant in the room (the price) but rather embrace the fact the legendary Gerald Genta-designed?IWC Ingenieur finally makes a return! Availa

A. Lange & Sohne Little Lange 1 Moon Phase "25th Anniversary" (Specs & Price)
It's becoming an established routine now: every month, for the last eight months since January 2019, we receive news of the latest birthday present to celebrate 25 uninterrupted years of the Lange 1. The Little Lange 1 Moon Phase is the ninth anniversary model out of a grand total of ten special models dedicated to the Silver Jubilee of the Lange 1 (you will find a list with links of all the watches at the end of this article). The Little Lange 1 Moon Phase, a limited edition of 25 watches, is the exact same watch as its predecessor but dressed up for the grand occasion in a white gold case with blue trimmings with the incorporation of a hand-engraved white gold lunar disc.PROVENANCEThe Little Lange 1 Moon Phase made its debut in 2017 and was clearly positioned as a women's watch. Housed in a little' 36.8mm pink gold case, the highlight was the stunning silvery-white guilloche dial and luxurious pink gold details on the dial. It was as beautiful as it was intelligent winning over the h

Introducing the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Laptimer Michael Schumacher (Specs & Price) - Monochrome-Watches
The Royal Oak Concept is a playfield for Audemars Piguet. The brand from Le Brassus uses this watch for their most complicated and most innovative movements. They recently introduced their own interpretation of what could be the best minute repeater;?Royal Oak Concept RD1 Acoustic Research Minute Repeater. Now it’s time to move to another complication, the chronograph – and the watch they now introduce could possibly be the ultimate racing chronograph. Here is the?Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Laptimer Michael Schumacher.Before we start to explain this watch, and in order to prevent any bad comments, we want to make clear that, even considering the actual condition of Michael Schumacher,?this watch had been developed together with him before?his accident and is now launched?with the agreement of the family. We’re not going to discuss about this here but we’ll only focus on this impressive piece of horology.In?2010, Audemars Piguet teamed up with F1 legend?Mi

The dilemma of Constant Force in Watchmaking - Monochrome Watches
Constant force is a holy grail of watchmaking and chronometry. The varying driving force delivered to the regulating organ of watches affects their rate, because balance wheels are not perfectly isochronous - isochronous means that the period of oscillation is independent of the amplitude of oscillation. Modern barrels and the Swiss lever escapement offer satisfactory regularity. Still, in their ongoing search for precision, watchmakers are showing renewed interest in taming power even further. Here is our technical guide to the complex concept of constant force.The barrel is the device that stores energy in a watch movement. It contains the mainspring coiled around the barrel arbor, which is put under tension to power the movement. The force delivered by the barrel is irregular. Strong torque is provided when it is fully wound, then it slowly wanes throughout the power reserve duration. This affects the rate of watches because balance wheels are not perfectly isochronous. The period o

Tudor Black Bay Ceramic Master Chronometer M79210CNU
About a week ago, Tudor, the trendy and stronger-than-ever sister-brand of , presented a new watch, the Black Bay Ceramic. While good-looking and made from a material that is a first (almost) for the brand’s successful dive watch, there is much more behind this watch than just a new look. Tudor could have stopped its development here with this new ceramic model, and it would have been fine. BUT (yes, it’s a big one), there is something under the hood that means a lot, both for Tudor, for the industry and for the Group. This watch is indeed a Master Chronometer, a watch that has been certified according to the ultra-demanding standards defined by METAS, with impressive accuracy and top-tier magnetic resistance. And that’s the first time we see this on a watch that isn’t an Omega. Today, we’ll have a look at this new Tudor Black Bay Ceramic M79210CNU, but mostly, we’ll explain what the Master Chronometer certification means.First… the watchLet