Watches NEWS
The Collector's Series: the Breguet Type XX that ignited Brice's Passion for Watches - Monochrome Watches
It was an immense pleasure to sit down with our very own associate editor, Brice Goulard, and hear where his passion for watches comes from. Brice is the only Frenchman in the Monochrome lineup, so me being from the UK, we try to avoid talking about the Football or le Rugby. Luckily we have no problems talking watches, so we caught up with Brice in Paris to find out why Brequet is so close to his heart and why the Type XX is historically so important.How did you first get into watches?My first contact with watches will sound familiar to many collectors. I was 15 years old and my father offered me a 1960s mechanical chronograph that was previously owned by my grandfather. I guess it was a Yema, a French brand that used to be extremely popular in France in the 1950s / 1960s. However, don't ask me for more details about this one, as I only had it for a short period of time, before it had been stolen! Anyway, this watch was the starting point of everything (and it explains why I'm here, at
In-Depth - A Complete Collector's Guide to Daniel Roth and His Career
Daniel Roth is one of the most remarkable watchmakers of all time. During his 50-year career, Roth has worked with countless high-end brands and designed dozens of intriguing timepieces with complex technical features, including a Tourbillon with an 8-day power reserve, an instantaneous Perpetual Calendar and a Westminster Grande Sonnerie Carillon with four gongs. Surprisingly, not much is known about his roots and early days. Watch enthusiast Denny Grigolo from Italy undertook the time-consuming task of finding everything there is to know about Daniel Roth's story. MONOCHROME is grateful and proud to publish an English recap of his four-part research article, Daniel Roth: Storia di un Genio. Paying tribute to one of the most illustrious names in contemporary watchmaking necessarily starts with the story of another founding father of high watchmaking and genius, Abraham-Louis Breguet.Image by Jean Daniel NicolasNote: This article has been made possible by collating data from four in-de
Cartier Time Art - Mechanics of Passion opens its door in Zurich - Monochrome Watches
Cartier just opened the Cartier Time Art exhibition in Zurich, Switzerland. A beautifully designed exhibition with an huge number of very rare vintage Cartiers. If you have the opportunity to visit… do so!?Cartier shows 156 of its historical timepieces, selected from the treasures of the Cartier Collection. Some timepieces are among the first wristwatches Cartier made and this is even more special if you consider that Cartier’s Santos Dumont is said to be the first real wrist watch. Besides the oldest Santos Dumont timepieces, there are also early models of the Tank Cintree and a Cartier Crash. Ad - Scroll to continue with article Many of the timepieces have quite a story to them, however the story of the Cartier Crash is really remarkable. The Crash was?originally designed and launched by Cartier London in 1967.?Until a few decades ago Cartier was c
Montblanc 1858 Monopusher Chronograph Limited Edition 100 - Hands-On (Specs & Price)
In the past years, Montblanc has treated us to lots of horological sweets. That sweetness came mainly in the shape of chronographs fitted with the old Minerva calibres 16.29 and 13.21, both showcases of how incredibly beautiful old Minerva chronographs can be. It started (again) with the arrival of CEO Jer?me Lambert (now COO of most Richemont watch brands) who launched the Pulsograph into the Heritage Spirit collection back in 2014. This beauty was equipped with the historical Minerva calibre 13.21. In the following years, various iterations of the 1858 Chronograph Tachymeter were introduced, powered by the magnificent large chronograph calibre 16.29.First, the 1858 Chronograph Tachymeter appeared in a steel case with a blue dial, later in red gold with a matte black dial, a bronze version with a champagne coloured dial, and a bronze piece unique with a vintage green dial for last year’s Only Watch auction. Now it appears in a limited edition of 100 pieces with the same striking
Introducing: The Return of the Tissot Sideral Collection (Video & Live Pics)
The popularity of vintage- or retro-inspired watches is evident, as we see new releases based on old designs pop up almost every week. Most of these date back to original creations from the 1960s and 1970s, perhaps the ‘Golden Age’ of watch design. This is the era that brought us watches like the Royal Oak and the Nautilus (and the PRX!), handsome chronographs like the TAG Heuer Carrera and Monaco but also a literal smorg?sbord of cool and capable dive watches. This was also the period Tissot had some fun with incorporating newly conceived materials in watchmaking, such as fibreglass! At the time, this was a groundbreaking and still quite novel material, which found its way into the Tissot Sideral. Now, decades later, the Sideral makes a return not with fibreglass but forged carbon fibre instead!The Tissot Sideral dates back to the late-1960s, and it is quite a special watch in the brand’s history. Tissot has often played around with innovative and unusual materials,
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