Watches NEWS
Wilhelm Schmid, 10 Year at the Helm at A. Lange & Sohne - Monochrome Watches
Wilhelm Schmid has been ten years with the brand that ‘never stands still’. After a career at BMW, among others in South Africa, he arrived in Glashutte to be the new CEO at A. Lange & Sohne, the pinnacle of German watchmaking. With a background in sales and a strong passion for mechanics, it seemed like a match made in heaven. Wilhelm Schmid's past ten years at Lange were during a pretty turbulent period. It already started in the aftermath of the massive global recession that started in 2008, now the corona pandemic that has a huge influence on the watch industry, the opening of the new manufacture, and of course the sad passing of Walter Lange.?Frank Geelen, MONOCHROME Watches – How was it, ten years ago, to arrive in Glashutte at a watch company, after a long career at BMW in sunny South Africa? Ad - Scroll to continue with article Wilh
Hands-On - TAG Heuer Monaco 1989-1999 Edition 50th Anniversary CAW211X.FC6468 (Specs & Price)
Today in New York, TAG Heuer just presented the third of five limited-edition timepieces to mark the Heuer Monaco’s 50th anniversary. We could have expected the brand to come with faithful vintage re-editions, but instead, TAG Heuer will create 5 watches inspired by 5 different decades. After a funky 1970s Green version and a bold, fiery red racing-inspired model for the 1980s, it is time to look at the 1990s, a decade driven by industrial-design and street-style fashion. Meet the TAG Heuer Monaco 1989-1999 Limited Edition and its unprecedented grey-blue design.50th Anniversary – 5 decades – 5 TAG Heuer MonacoThe Heuer Monaco was presented in 1969. Back then, it was one impressively modern watch, for two reasons. First, the square shape of its case was bold, unprecedented and was matched with an equally bold, brushed blue dial. Second, inside the case was Calibre 11; a movement known as the Chrono-Matic, which was the result of a joint-venture uniting Heuer, Breitling
Hands-On - Breguet Classique Extra-Plate 5157 Pink Gold (Specs & Price)
Creating a two-hand ultra-thin watch is, believe it or not, one of the most complex exercises for a watch designer. Because of the extreme simplicity of such pieces, it is easy to end up with the most boring watch possible – and how do you differentiate yourself when you simply have nothing to express…? This is where the?Breguet Classique Extra-Plate 5157 (and its 2018 pink gold version) is brilliant. It manages to be extremely pure, clean and simple and at the same time remains a quintessentially Breguet product.With ultra-thin, time-only watches, what sounds initially like an advantage is actually a disadvantage. Don’t think for a second that creating a pleasant ultra-thin, time-only watch with its own personality is easy. In fact, it can be much more complex than a watch with complications – a topic we discussed here with another brand – as there is a very low margin to express the DNA of the brand: a small case, two hands and a dial… That’s
Urban Jurgensen 1140RG - Hands-On Review (Specs & Price)
Every brand, at least those with a historical background, has?its own hallmarks, those unmistakable signs that create its?DNA, helping people to quickly identify a watch from a certain brand. For some, it is the shape of the case or a hand, for others it could be the complication used. For one brand, Urban Jurgensen, these are small details, however with such a level of execution that they deserve an entire story in this magazine – something that we’ll try to illustrate with the latest addition to the catalogue, the superb 1140RG in Rose Gold with a dark brown dial.The?Urban Jurgensen reference 1140 is a watch that we already covered here, when the brand unveiled a stunning?platinum version, with blue dial and applied Breguet numerals (yes, in this case, the name Breguet doesn’t only refer to the manufacture but also to the shape of the numerals, which have been widely used in the watch industry). In this case, we refer to the classical version of this watch, with a t
The Gold Allure of the New Vacheron Constantin Overseas Self-Winding 35mm - Monochrome Watches
The Overseas is Vacheron Constantin's luxury sports watch proposal, a well-furnished collection that was redesigned in 2016 and now boasts a wide selection of models for men and women. Complemented by automatic, anti-magnetic movements and finished to Vacheron's exceptional standards, the versatility of the family is underscored by its winning DIY system to change the mood of the watch with any of the three bracelets/straps provided. During Watches & Wonders 2023, Vacheron introduced two smaller, slimmer-sized Overseas Self-Winding models – 34.5mm and 35mm diameter x 9.3mm thickness – to cater to smaller wrist sizes, with or without diamond-set bezels. The latest Overseas is a luxurious 35mm full-gold watch with a golden dial and a sparkling diamond-set bezel.Vacheron's Overseas luxury sports watch collection has a fascinating history. When it surfaced in 1977 for the brand's 222 anniversary (revisited in 2022), it quickly established itself as a member of the Holy Trin