Watches NEWS
First Look: The Discreet Luxury of the Chopard L.U.C 1860 Flying Tourbillon
Karl-Friedrich Scheufele's dream of mechanical independence materialised in 1996 with the presentation of Chopard‘s first in-house movement known as calibre 1.96. Produced in Chopard’s Fleurier manufacture, the calibre was fitted inside the first L.U.C 1860 watch, writing a new chapter in the brand's high-end watchmaking journey. Recognised as one of the finest ultra-thin micro-rotor automatic movements produced in Switzerland, calibre 1.96 has spawned a generation of sophisticated movements like the flying tourbillon introduced in 2019. The latest reference, powered by the tourbillon calibre L.U.C 96.24-L, is the epitome of a dress watch flaunting perfect proportions, a gorgeous hand-guilloche dial, a hinged, hunter-style caseback revealing the superlative in-house movement. A limited edition of 10 pieces, the L.U.C 1860 Flying Tourbillon is a proponent of quiet luxury, a product that whispers rather than shouts luxury.Although the first model to feature the ultra-thin fly
Hands-On: The Handsome 36mm Salmon Chopard L.U.C 1860 In Steel
Developed over three years, Chopard’s calibre 1.96 with a gold micro-rotor and a slim height of 3.3mm was released in 1996. Garnering praise as one of the finest automatic movements available, the movement established the brand as a true manufacture. The first watch to feature the in-house calibre was the L.U.C 1860 of 1997 with a 36.5mm case and elegant guilloche decoration on the dial. The latest L.U.C 1860 looks back to this 1997 timepiece and reproduces the compact 36.5mm case size but crafts it in Chopard’s exclusive Lucent Steel A223 alloy,? a first for the L.U.C family. Like the first L.U.C 1860, the dial is beautifully decorated with hand-guilloche patterns, but the date window has been eliminated. ?Compact dress watchThe compact 36.5mm diameter and thin 8.20mm thickness of the case are clearly indicative of its dress watch category. Crafted in Lucent Steel, a resistant and luminous alloy usually reserved for the Alpine Eagle collection, the three-part case features
Dietrich O.Time now in colored forged carbon (and even a luminescent carbon one...) - Monochrome Watches
In watchmaking, who thinks?innovative materials usually says high price. That’s somehow a rule. Look at recent watches with?sapphire crystal cases. Most of them are over half a million CHF – even the cheapest one isn’t cheap… Same goes for complex ceramics, or watches associating different kind of solid, ultra-light or ultra-resistant materials. Carbon fibre isn’t always ultra-high-end, however few are the watches with such material priced under 10k. Well, Dietrich watches, with their usual value for money rule, will bring you forged carbon cases, some with colored incrustations and even luminous cases (yes, for real) together with a mechanical movement for a price you don’t expect. Here are the?Dietrich O.Time now in colored forged carbon.The concept of?Dietrich watches: having a fun, highly designed watch, with mechanical movement, built with Swiss quality standards and for a reasonable price. As we’ve seen previously,?Emmanuel Dietrich?succe
Weekly Watch Photo - IWC Big Pilot's Watch - Monochrome Watches
IWC totally understands how to promote their watches. I think they’ve been looking closely at what watch fans have been doing at forums and what Monochrome also does once a week… sharing beautiful photos of beautiful watches.For the launch of the new Pilot’s watch collection, IWC created a set of very cool photos of their newest timepieces. We already showed you photos of the new Pilot's Watch Chronograph Top Gun Miramar and the Pilot’s Watch Mark XVII. Today we show you the Big Pilot’s Watch ref. 5009 and the Top Gun and Top Gun Miramar Editions.When IWC released the first Big Pilot’s Watch (ref. 5002) in 2002 it was, together with Panerai, THE watch that changed the fashion of the watch world from what we call now-a-days ‘medium-size’ to BIG. In those days, any watch larger that 40/41 mm in diameter was considered large. I still recall people saying my TAG Heuer Monaco (square case, 38 x 38 mm) being very big. Imagine how much the perce
Introducing: The Most Complicated Watch Ever, the Vacheron Constantin Berkley Grand Complication
Back in 2015, on the occasion of the brand's 260th anniversary, Vacheron Constantin unveiled the Reference 57260, a pocket watch made-to-order for a collector considered the most complicated in the world – with no fewer than 57 complications, including Gregorian, Judaic, and lunar calendars. On the occasion of Watches & Wonders 2024, the Geneva-based manufacture goes even further with another commissioned piece (by the same collector), the Vacheron Constantin Berkley Grand Complication. Uniting no fewer than 63 complications, including the first Chinese Perpetual Calendar, it becomes the most complicated watch ever created. Again!Before delving into the details and intricacies of this utterly complex creation, a few words about its story. It took a dedicated team of three watchmakers an impressive 11 years to craft this exclusive bespoke timepiece, with one entire year devoted solely to the assembly process! Such a journey exemplifies a remarkable human endeavour and adventur