Buying Guide - 5 of the Best Panda Chronograph Watches of 2021
Panda chronographs are favourites among watch fans. Providing high-contrast readability, these sport watches with white or silver dials and contrasting black sub-dials – or the opposite, the so-called reversed panda, with black dial and light sub-counters – became all the rage during the 1960s and 1970s. However, their modern-retro flair never went out of style, and 2021 brought its crop of Panda dials. We’ve selected five that we think are the best among this specific style of chronograph.Carl F. Bucherer Heritage BiCompax AnnualThe elegant Carl F. Bucherer Heritage BiCompax Annual is back with a reverse Panda dial featuring a black galvanised background and snailed silver-coloured counters. The retro Arabic hour numerals, the tachymeter scale, the syringe-style hour and minute hands and the double-domed sapphire crystal underscore the watch’s vintage flair. Visible via the exhibition caseback, the automatic movement combines a chronograph and annual calendar i

Hands-On - Bulgari Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Skeleton (specs & price)
Bulgari Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Skeleton - The record-breaking Octo Finissimo Tourbillon now comes in a skeleton' version. The perfect opportunity to satisfy our curiosity, taking advantage of the now unobstructed view of the inner workings of the thinnest Tourbillon ever. A testament of the Bulgari watchmaking expertise, the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Skeleton combines several smart technical solutions. More than that, its open-worked movement illustrates the brand's design capabilities down to the very last details.At Baselworld 2014, Bulgari set the record for?the world thinnest tourbillon with the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon. Its movement (1.95mm thick), housed in a slimmed-down Octo case (5mm thick), is now proposed in an open-worked version - and the most impressive is that, even if now skeletonized, the watch and the movement keep the exact same dimensions. After having?the slimmest tourbillon movement ever created (with the non-skeleton version), Bulgari is now holding the title

Chopard L.U.C Louis-Ulysse - The Tribute - Monochrome Watches
There has been a much publicized concern within the watch industry about over reliance on one or two key suppliers of components. Some companies have addressed this by purchasing their own case makers, developing their own movements and seeking greater independence.?Chopard, the family owned concern, has sought vertical integration, with virtually all components being made in- house.?I recently toured one of their production facilities in Meyrin on the outskirts of Geneva. The breadth of skills within the company is staggering. They even have their own foundry where ingots of precious metals for case making are formed! Ad - Scroll to continue with article My admiration for Chopard's L.U.C models is immense. The finishing of the watches surpasses many timepieces with greater brand awareness. Several of the watches bear the Poin?on de Geneve, the Hallmark of Genev

IWC Portugieser Hand-Wound Tourbillon IW545801 - Review, Price
Over the second part of its life, which started in the early 1990s under the guidance of Gunter Blumlein, the IWC Portugieser has become the most emblematic model in the brand’s collection. Elegant without being formal, simple yet with great character, it’s a model that we’ve seen equipped with pretty much every possible complication. From simple time-only models to an ultra-complex Constant Force Tourbillon, there’s a model for everyone. And today, as part of the brand’s action to gradually revamp the collection, IWC Schaffhausen is launching a new sleek tourbillon model, the complex evolution of the Portugieser Automatic 40. Here’s the new IWC Portugieser Hand-Wound Tourbillon IW545801 in Armor Gold.?Looking at the current Portugieser collection, IWC has somehow divided the range into three distinct lineups. Besides the sportier Yacht Club watches, there are the large and more complex automatic models, such as the 7-day Automatic, the classic 7-day

Hands-On: The Simple Yet Characterful MeisterSinger Neo Collection
For obvious reasons, the watch world tends to glorify complexity and the accumulation of functions into a single watch. We, at MONOCHROME, are no better than the rest of the crowd and we can spend days contemplating a Grande Complication watch, or a timepiece with a novel, ultra-complex escapment. However, we also tend to forget the primary function of a watch; indicating the time. Mastering complexity can be complex. But so does simplicity. The less is more approach has long been a difficult exercise, where making a watch interesting and characterful by striping down everything unnecessary is not often convincing. With its updated Neo Collection, German brand MeisterSinger has decided to focus on the essential, to the point where not even the minute hand makes sense. Is it enough to be appealing? Let's check it out.?The brand launched by Manfred Brassler in 2001, MeisterSinger, has since its early days focussed on a highly specific display, its signature “decomplication” i