Why I Don't Understand The Hate For The AP Code 11.59 Anymore
What do you do when you want to launch a new collection alongside a truly legendary range that once redefined what luxury watchmaking was? Do you tweak a design and pray it doesn’t get any banter because it looks too much like your precious icon? Or take off in a completely different direction altogether, to find new inspiration and break new grounds in terms of design? Either way, it’s a tough thing to do for sure, but Audemars Piguet took the gamble in 2019 when they introduced the Code 11.59 collection. Hugely different from the famous Royal Oak and Royal Oak Offshore, but somehow it didn’t capture the heart of collectors and enthusiasts. Was it really that bad? And is it still to this day, that bad? No, it wasn’t back then, and even less these days, which watches like the Code 11.59 Universelle have clearly proven. Through clever use of design, materials, colours and by now extremely complicated movements, the Code 11.59 has seriously matured. But somehow, i

Phillips Sells the Omega Tourbillon 30 I, One Of The First Tourbillon Wristwatches Ever, For a Monumental CHF 1,428,500 (Most Expensive Omega Ever Auctioned) - Monochrome Watches
Today is the second day of the Geneva Watch Auction Six (GWA6) by Phillips. While there were some impressive lots (is that even a surprise from Aurel Bacs and Phillips…), with a Patek 2523 or an incredible Patek 2497 in white gold, the star of the show for us here, at MONOCHROME, certainly was the?Omega Tourbillon 30 I – a 1947 watch and one of the very first tourbillon wristwatches ever made, and the first to have been completed in Switzerland. This watch just sold for an impressive CHF?1,428,500, making it the most expensive Omega ever auctioned.The story behind this watch is rather impressive. While the tourbillon is, as many of you know, the invention of a certain Abraham Louis Breguet in 1801 (or?at least the patent is from that year, even if it was not revealed to the public until 1805), it has remained a pocket watch feature for close to 150 years. What is today an almost common complication was not back in the days, and it has always been a feature reserved for ultr

Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Automatic Steel Blue Dial - Hands-On Specs & Price
The luxury sports watch segment is one of the most dynamic categories of the industry. Many brands have given us their take on the genre with successes and failures. The Bvlgari Octo Finissimo is, without a doubt, one of the defining watches of the last decade and has secured an?impressive series of world records for thinness. But it would be reductive to think that the success of the Octo Finissimo is limited to breaking records. More than anything else, the Octo Finissimo is a style statement. Fabrizio Buonamassa and the Bvlgari watch design team created a modern icon, whose ultra-thin profile broke into the market in muted monochrome attire. However, the model now reveals its versatility. Introduced in Dubai in January, the Steel Satin-Polished version of the Octo Finissimo Automatic drastically changed this already great watch. And there's now a blue dial version coming.There was already a lot to love about the grained lacquered black dial steel satin-polished version of the Octo F

Hands on with the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Ultra Thin - Monochrome Watches
Our contributor from Down Under gets hands on experience with the new Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Ultra Thin.?Earlier this year, you read about two special new Jaeger-LeCoultre models for 2011, the Memovox Tribute to Deep Sea? and the?Reverso Ultra Thin Tribute to 1931 on Monochrome. Recently, I was fortunate enough to be able to get hands-on with both of these watches at a local AD. A few weeks ago I shared my experience with?the Tribute to Deep Sea?and now it's the Ultra Thin's turn. Ad - Scroll to continue with article The Reverso Ultra Thin has been produced in a regular production model in steel that sports a black dial, and a limited edition of 500 in pink gold with a silvered dial and applied gold plated hour-markers and numerals. It was the latter that I had the opportunity to spend some time with.The first thing to note about this watch is, of course, its

First Look: The New Piaget Polo Skeleton Ceramic
Polo is a highly important name for Piaget. It dates back to 1979 when the brand launched its luxurious solid gold watch with an integrated bracelet and signature gadroons all around. Although it was recently recreated, today’s audiences associate the name Piaget Polo with something far more contemporary and sleeker. Presented in 2016, the Polo collection is the brand’s vision of a luxury sports watch with time-and-date and chronograph options. One of the most appealing options in this collection is the Polo Skeleton, adding thinness and mechanical pedigree to its streamlined design. And this year, it’s back in a bolder, more masculine and sportier model, the Piaget Polo Skeleton Ceramic.?Over the decades, the Polo collection has evolved from a slightly extravagant and opulent watch – typical 1980s luxury – to a more discreet and casual model. When it was introduced in 2016, the contemporary Piaget Polo S collection opened the door to stainless steel cases