In-Depth - A Look at Shaped Watches by Vacheron Constantin and Patek Philippe through History - Monochrome Watches
When thinking about the archetype of the round Swiss watch, the first names that come to mind might very well be Patek Philippe or Vacheron Constantin. As the custodians of Geneva's watchmaking tradition, influenced by the sober protestant spirit, both brands stand for subtle, understated elegance. However, beyond the design conventions dictated by the round wristwatch, Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin have in common a long, rich legacy of shaped watches. After Cartier, Monochrome brings together a (non-exhaustive) selection of shaped watches from Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin.Hands turn in a circle. The semantic notion of what a clock should look like is round. The circle is the direct consequence of the mechanics to display the time and it is the most versatile shape in many respects. The first wristwatches were mostly pocket watches, modified later to be strapped on the wrist. However, designing shaped watches gave watchmakers an?opportunity to express their creativit

Petrolhead Corner: A Week With The Porsche 911 Dakar And Matching PD Watch
Have we lost the plot? Are we abandoning watches? No, of course not, but this time around the Petrolhead Corner is serving up something very special. Yet with us, watches are never far away as we will be going over the connection between Porsche, the car manufacturer and Porsche Design. How? By looking at two benchmark products as examples; the mad Porsche 911 Dakar, and a matching special edition of the Porsche Design Chronograph 1. We put the car through its paces both on and off-road, and it was mad fun! Oh, and the watch too of course, as that’s kind of our thing after all. So sit back, relax and enjoy the show!Now, before I start rambling on about Porsche, its 911 Dakar, the Porsche Design watches and so on, I want to make one thing very clear. Frank and I do not consider ourselves professional motoring journalists, and it probably shows in the video. We can tell you all about watches, and quite a lot about cars, but we are no Jeremy Clarkson, Henry Catchpole or Matt Watson.

In-Depth - A Guide to the Depth Gauge Watches
If scuba diving is a popular recreational sport, it is a dangerous activity that needs to be properly prepared and monitored. If a diver ascends too quickly, this can lead to decompression illness that can be painful and life-threatening. As depth increases the physiological effects become greater. A reliable dive watch and a depth gauge are essential pieces of diving gear designed to monitor depth and track the duration of an underwater adventure. Both variables are needed to use decompression tables. Traditionally, divers used a dive watch and a depth gauge to calculate decompression time at given depths. Although many divers today choose to dive with a computer, some still use a mechanical depth gauge, even if only as backup.The 1960s Favre Leuba Bathy 160 was one of the first wristwatches to incorporate a mechanical depth gauge. It could register depths of up to 160 feetA handful of manufacturers have developed watches incorporating a mechanical depth gauge, starting with Favre-Leu

Value Proposition - The Stowa Flieger Blue Limited (specs & price) - Monochrome Watches
From time to time, we set our selection-mode to another level, far from our actual posh, high-end standards, with a “value proposition” watch that we think deserves to be featured, for its great design, for its great quality / pleasure / price ratio or because we simply like it. It is the case with the new?Stowa Flieger Blue Limited Edition, which basically renew the concept of the B-Uhr watches in a more contemporary (and more wearable) style. A mechanical movement, a bit of vintage pleasure and some originality with a blue dial… That’s what you’re going to have with this new Stowa.Stowa, together with some other brands (IWC, Lange, Laco and Wempe) was manufacturing watches for the German pilots during World War II, watches known by collectors under the name B-Uhren or ref.?FL23883. These pilot watches are now iconic and known all around the world by collectors. Several brands (in fact Laco, Stowa and IWC) decided to reintroduce these watch in more modern

Ochs & Junior Calendario CentAnni Perpetual Calendar
Where other brands choose the path of complexity and try to outdo one another in parts count, Ochs & Junior goes the opposite direction. In a literal pursuit of simplicity, the independent watchmaking brand is famous for doing extremely creative things with as little as possible. This includes an Annual Calendar with only three moving parts and an extremely accurate moon phase indication using only five components. Slightly breaking with tradition, as the latest series of watches will not be customisable, Ochs & Junior continues its dedication to simplification with the new Ochs & Junior Calendario Cent'Anni CCA Perpetual Calendar.Collectors and enthusiasts familiar with the brand will know the history and philosophy, yet it remains a fascinating story to tell. Ochs & Junior is the brainchild of Dr Ludwig Oechslin, a legendary name in the watchmaking world. The Ulysse Nardin Freak is widely regarded as his biggest achievement since it was the first production watch ever