Breitling Chronomat 44mm Blacksteel Special Edition - Looking Into The Past And The Present Of This Extraordinary Line of Sport Chronographs - Monochrome Watches
Breitling was founded in 1884 and right from the start the company specialised in chronographs. In fact?it’s fair to say that many of the modern-day chronograph characteristics?we know and love can be attributed – at least in part – to developments undertaken by?the company. In 1942, Breitling introduced the first watch with a circular slide rule, the Chronomat. Some years later (1954) the legendary Navitimer made its debut. The focus of today’s article however is on the Chronomat, perhaps one of, if not, the most commercially successful Breitling model?of the past sixty years. Contrary to popular?belief, it is the Chronomat not the Navitimer that has proven to be Breitling's biggest seller. Today we’re taking a closer look at?the latest iteration, the?Chronomat Black Steel 44 SE. First though, some background.What is the Chronomat?It is generally accepted that the Chronomat made its public sales debut in 1942 and this is the date that has been quoted for

Pre-SIHH 2017 - IWC Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar Chronograph
It has become sort of a tradition for IWC now. Each year, when the SIHH is about to open, we all know that the Schaffhausen-based manufacture will come with an entirely revisited collection. After the 2016 Pilot’s Watches, the 2015 Portugeisers, the 2014 Aquatimers and the 2013 Ingenieurs, it’s now time to revamp the other collection, a range of watches that might not be the most popular among a large audience: the?Da Vinci. An icon of the 1980s, this watch has since seen many variations, being even dressed in tonneau-shaped case. For the SIHH 2017, IWC goes back to the roots of the collection and, to?open the festivities, introduces the flagship version: the?IWC Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar Chronograph.With the new Da Vinci collection, IWC Schaffhausen has returned to the round case that was so successfully established by the Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar in 1985. It means we are bidding farewell to the tonneau case and reafirming our commitment to the classic proportions the

Introducing the TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer-02T Tourbillon - a chronograph & tourbillon just under 15,000 CHF (specs & price) - Monochrome Watches
Here is the deal… TAG Heuer has just released a new Carrera watch featuring?(please, take a seat…) their?own in-house chronograph and tourbillon movement for JUST 15,000 Swiss Francs including taxes. Yes, you read it correct, there’s no typo here. We’re not talking about 150,000 Swiss Francs but really fifteen thousand Swiss Francs, including 8% Swiss taxes. Frankly, this is beyond impressive. It’s almost unbelievable. However, this new proposition by TAG Heuer leaves?us with a few?questions. And you know us, at Monochrome-Watches, we’ll try to answer them. Here’s an overview of the new?TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer-02T Tourbillon – a chronograph & tourbillon for?15,000 CHF.The?TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer-02T TourbillonWell, for the first paragraphs of this article about the?TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer-02T Tourbillon, we’re going to hide our usual alertness and critical approach, and first focus on what we are looking at. Using the same conce

American Obscurities: Bare Steel and Plexiglas-Bodied Cars - Monochrome Watches
American car culture can be a weird thing sometimes, incomparable to other cultures. It is an endless source of interesting stories and cars. It might not be to everyone's liking as there's a wide range of styles and followings. This week we take a look at two stories by two leading manufacturers displaying their skill and know-how in new technology and design. On one hand, we have a transparent car by Pontiac (General Motors) from the 1930s and on the other, we have a trio of bare steel Fords.General Motors, parent to a whole portfolio of brands, and Ford are leading car manufacturers, both in the US and abroad. Besides building regular road cars for regular people, they have spawned some hugely interesting machines that get Petrolhead's gears racing a little faster! Most people might think of a Mustang, Camaro, Corvette, Charger and Challenger, a Viper or other muscle and sports cars. And you'd be right, all very lovely stuff. But there's more, especially when you look at concept car

First Look: The Retter Mistral, An Accessible Thin Dress Watch with Style
Retter isn't a brand that many are familiar with as its first watch launched only a couple of years ago, the 22 Automatic. It was a solid first effort with the always popular integrated sports watch aesthetic, but the follow-up Mistral is a more mature and elegant dress watch, with a truly ultra-thin case (a term a bit too loosely thrown around). Both the case and dials have interesting, well thought designs that are above the microbrand norm, while the hand-wound Swiss movement really completes the package. It's quite a leap from the 22 Automatic, which was already an impressive inaugural watch, and it comes with a palatable price to boot.?There's an interesting approach to this stainless steel case design, which initially was going to have an interpretation of the classic 1950s Corne de Vache lugs. The look of soldered lugs on such a thin case just wasn't working, so the team created a multi-piece design with a mid-plate holding the lugs, which would then be hidden by a thin shell in