Fran?ois-Henry Bennahmias, CEO of Audemars Piguet, about AP Certified Pre-Owned Watches, Leaving SIHH and more - Monochrome Watches
Recently, Audemars Piguet has had a lot of hot news headlines – unprecedented revenues, quitting the SIHH, new technological partnerships. We decided that it was time for us to move to Le Brassus and have a good talk with the one person to answer our questions: Fran?ois-Henry Bennahmias, CEO of Audemars Piguet. It isn’t the first time we’re in conversation with?Fran?ois-Henry?– see here, here and here – and each time, his?straight talk brings the right answers. Today’s video interview (viewable on top of this article) is full of interesting facts and observations.Without going too much into the details about the interview – we leave this to Fran?ois-Henry – there are several important topics that we wanted to clarify about Audemars Piguet. 1 billion Swiss Francs revenue – Even though?Fran?ois-Henry Bennahmias emphasizes the fact that this number wasn’t the end-goal of the brand’s strategy, nobody can overlook this impres

Watches and Formula 1 - Episode 5 - The French Connection, Renault Sport F1 x Bell & Ross
Renault came into Formula 1 with a bang, which is to be taken quite literally. At a time where the rulebook seemed virtually limitless, the French manufacturer brought turbocharging into the mix. Fueled by an insatiable hunger for power, combined with ground effects aerodynamics and just about the most daring drivers Formula 1 has ever seen, the constructor pioneered its way to the top! Since 2016 they are back as a constructor and partnered with Bell & Ross, which seems like a very French match. Today we unravel the history of Renault in Formula 1 and why the connection to Bell & Ross is a very logical one.Bell bottom pants were quickly getting out of style and punk rock was on the up and up, as the most hairy-chested men risked their life every race piloting hugely complex and dangerous machines in Formula 1. As the 1977 season kicked off with a new team on the grid; Equipe Renault Elf, new technology was introduced. But the story is more complex than that, as a number of pat

F.P.Journe Launches "Patrimoine", a new service to acquire past collections, restored in-house - Monochrome Watches
We, watch collectors, all know how difficult and risky it can be to purchase?a used watch. How can I verify the authenticity of the watch? Are all the parts originals? How the desired watch has been serviced or worn? What amount of trust?should I give to the seller? Is it a stolen watch? What warranty will it come with? Too many questions that some will never agree with?and thus, you will stick to new watches. To counteract this issue, F.P. Journe just launched Patrimoine, a new service for?collectors to enrich their collection by giving them the opportunity to purchase rare watches that are no longer manufactured (brass movement, unique pieces, limited editions), entirely serviced, controlled and restored in-house. Interesting, right?With this new F.P. Journe “Patrimoine” service, the deal is pretty simple. F.P. Journe sources and purchases, when an opportunity arises, watches from past collections that are no longer in production (think brass movement, unique pieces, and

Introducing the Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra Pyeongchang 2018 Limited Edition (specs & price) - Monochrome Watches
The association of Omega Watches with?the Olympic Games is a long, very long story. Since 1932, Omega is the official timekeeper of the Games. Besides the technical aspect of this?partnership, Omega also celebrates this association via several limited editions dedicated to the aficionados, like the?Speedmaster Mark II Rio 2016, the?Seamaster Planet Ocean Sochi 2014 or the?Seamaster Bullhead Chronograph Edition Rio 2016. It’s now time to look at the coming Winter Games, which will take place in South Korea. And here is the first dedicated watch, the?Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra Pyeongchang 2018 Limited Edition.To celebrate the 2018 Winter Games, Omega chose to edit a new watch based on the classical and rather elegant Seamaster Aqua Terra. The Aqua Terra is a casual sports watch, not a proper tool like the Seamaster 300 or the Seamaster Ploprof. It remains rather comprehensive?on the wrist at 41.5mm. Unlike its diver-oriented siblings of the Seamaster collection, it doesn’t fe

Introducing The Mighty Oris AquisPro 4000m (Live Pics & Price)
As we’ve seen in this article, recent years have brought us incredible developments in the field of deep diver’s watches – think about Omega and its Ultra-Deep Seamaster 6000m and ’s Deepsea Challenge RLX Titanium, a watch capable to withstand?the pressures at the deepest point on Earth. For many years already, Oris has demonstrated its capacity to create impressive instruments; watches created for a mission. Up until now, the brand’s most powerful model was the Oris AquisPro Date 1000m, a watch that our resident dive watch reviewer Derek named “one serious piece of dive gear.” And it does get even more serious now with Oris’?most water-resistant dive watch ever, the new and (objectively massive) AquisPro 4000m.? Let’s be real immediately, the AquisPro 4000m is a big watch that isn’t meant to be worn on a daily basis. Comfort and elegance were not part of the initial brief… It comes with an oversi