Tudor Predictions 2024 - The Potential Return of the Tudor Oysterdate Big Block
A few days ago, the MONOCHROME team delivered our yearly forecast of potential launches for the 2024 Collection. As always, we try our best to guess what the Crown will be presenting at the watch industry’s largest fair, Watches and Wonders. While trying to imagine and design these potential models, we also started to think about its sister brand, Tudor. This year, we’ve had intriguing snippets of evidence about what could be the main new model to be released by the brand in April 2024… A mix of a unique piece presented for Only Watch and an unexpected return of Tudor to motorsports?as the partner of Visa Cash App RB Formula 1 Team, which made us realise that it could well be the year of the return of the Tudor Oysterdate Big Block Chronograph.?Brands like and Tudor don’t do things without a commercial reason. Brands of such stature don’t get involved in multi-million partnerships with a Formula 1 team without a commercial goal. There is, without a d

Chopard?L.U.C Quattro Spirit 25 Jumping Hour - Hands-On Review, Price
We, at MONOCHROME, see hundreds of watches a year, and I'm no exception to the rule. And of course, we all have our preferences regarding which watches we believe are special. Case in point today, as I had been eager to be able to get my hands on this new L.U.C watch since it was announced during the 2021 edition of Watches & Wonders. The Chopard L.U.C Quattro Spirit 25 was well worth the wait. Standing out with clear graphics and elegant minimalism, the first jumping hour watch within the Chopard collections indicates the hours in digital format via an aperture in its pure white Grand Feu enamel dial. Let's take a closer look.Alongside its impeccable watchmaking credentials, the singularity of the L.U.C collection lies in a distinctive perception of elegance. Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, Co-President of Chopard, has always given the watches of this collection an understated, elegant twist. Released on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Chopard Manufacture, the beautifully ex

Introducing the IWC Portofino Hand-Wound Day & Date - Monochrome-Watches
In the rush of Watches & Wonders 2015 (the Hong-Kong watch fair), it’s now IWC’s turn to come with a novelty: the?IWC Portofino Hand-Wound Day?&?Date. We’ve recently covered various iterations of IWC’s Portofino models, like the recent Monopusher Chronograph,?the Pure Classic edition?and the one that featured in The Collector’s Series.?The new Portofino Day & Date comes with interesting features, all based on the same nice and massive 8-day power reserve hand-wound in-house movement.The IWC Portofino is the elegant and vintage-inspired proposition of the brand, with a large, round case and a clean and pure dial. What makes this watch kind of special is the use of IWC’s own movement, with a very large diameter that completely fills the case – something that is extremely pleasant (and rare enough in the industry to be mentioned). This Calibre?59220 features a single but large mainspring that can provide energy to the watch during 8 da

Buying Guide - Some of the Best Nautical-Inspired Watches of 2022
Dive watches, pilot’s watches, automotive-inspired watches, traveller’s watches… These might well be the categories of watches we most often cover on MONOCHROME. There’s one style of watch, inspired by the antique concept of the Marine Chronometer, that is somehow a bit more niche, but nevertheless often comes with a cool, summery elegance; the nautical-inspired watch. Meant to look good on land or on the deck of a boat, and in time for yachting or sailing season, we’ve decided to take a closer look at some of the best nautical-inspired watches available now on the market.The Breguet Marine Hora Mundi 5557The Marine collection is all about the exploration of the seas – well, considering its positioning now, it’s more about the exploration of the yacht-club. Nevertheless, it is directly inspired by the past of the brand – when A.L. Breguet was Chronometer-maker to the French Royal Navy – and is the brand’s vision of a sporty-ch

British Watchmaking: Introducing the Garrick Shaftesbury SM301 (specs and price) - Monochrome-Watches
England might not instantly leap out as a natural ancestral home for a new watchmaking company, but for Garrick and its owner David Brailsford, the location of its centre of operations was never in question. Watchmaking has a rich historical connection with England, and back when the foundations of the science were being established, the city of London was at the forefront of technical innovation in horology, and it is upon that history that the Garrick Watch company was conceived.For a new company to cite such horlogic legends as Arnold, Mudge, Harrisson, Graham and Tompion as its inspiration is an eyebrow raising way to make an entrance, but the new Garrick Shaftesbury SM301 watch and the approach to its creation make for an impressive statement of intent. Ad - Scroll to continue with article The Garrick Shaftesbury SM301 is a fresh and confident debut from th