980 articles · 90 videos found · page 25 of 36
Monochrome
Perpetual calendars are, without a doubt, an integral part of Audemars Piguet’s history, and the Royal Oak has carried its strand very convincingly since 1984. With the introduction of the Royal Oak Selfwinding Perpetual Calendar Openworked powered by the new Calibre 7139, AP signals a clear generational shift. Released alongside a Code 11.59 counterpart, which […]
SJX Watches
A long defunct Geneva watchmaker, Niton has been revived and is getting off the ground with the Prima, a historically-inspired jump hour watch. With some serious tricks up its sleeve – the proprietary calibre is surprisingly excellent – the Prima might just be the right new-meets-old infusion the watch market needs. Initial thoughts Bringing back defunct but once illustrious watch manufactures is not a sure thing, and Niton might be more challenging than most given the lack of name recognition. The brand, however, did have a glorious, if short, history. The introductory model of the recently revived brand is the Prima. While the watch takes its inspiration from pieces made in the 1930s, the overall impression is more evocative of retro-futuristic 1960s. Rounded typography, thick indices, and a concentric pattern on the central minutes disk all make for a look that’s equally comforting and refined. Arguably the best surprise is the in-house NHS01 inside the Prima. A square movement developed in-house, the ambitious, hand-wound NHS01 integrates the jump hour complication with the in-line minutes disk and small seconds display, all while bearing the coveted Poinçon de Genève. Seeing a small independent brand earn the demanding hallmark for its first run of pieces is nothing short of amazing. Both versions of the Prima sit at under the CHF50,000 mark, which places the model in the upper echelons of pricy independent time-only watches. However, one might argue the P...
SJX Watches
Audemars Piguet (AP) updates the Royal Oak Selfwinding Chronograph 38 mm with a new manufacture calibre, sapphire display back, while slightly tweaking the iconic design – and retaining the price of its predecessor. The new cal. 6401 comes with welcome quality-of-life improvements such as a longer power reserve and instantaneous date without tradeoffs in wearability, beat rate, or even cost, making this compact chronograph one of the most sensible and compelling offerings in the Royal Oak line. Initial Thoughts AP debuted the first Royal Oak chronograph in 1997 and it was powered by the Frederic Piguet cal. 1185, a landmark movement for automatic chronograph design. Now, nearly three decades later, AP is a true industrialised manufacture, and the cal. 1185 has been replaced with the new cal. 6401, a modern movement that with meaningful upgrades under the hood. This also comes with some minute tweaks to the dial and a crowd pleasing display case back, while the case and bracelet remain as excellent as always. Laudably, this comes without a significant price increase, with the new Royal Oak Chronograph 38 mm in steel costing only 3.6% more than its predecessor. New Engine AP’s new cal. 6401 is a solidly-spec’ed movement despite being small and thin for a modern chronograph. It’s wide and taller than the Frederic Piguet cal. 1185 but only slightly. It is 27 mm in diameter (up from 26.2 mm) and 5.7 mm tall (up from 5.5 mm) though even with the addition of a sapphire ...
Monochrome
Sellita has introduced a new evolution of its most ubiquitous automatic movement: the SW200-2 Power+. This new calibre is designed to sit alongside the well-known and widespread SW200-1 during a transition phase, before progressively replacing it across collections. At first glance, nothing seems to have changed. The SW200-2 Power+ shares the same dimensions, architecture, and […]
Monochrome
Since its rebirth in 2015, Czapek & Cie has produced a focused but diverse family of collections: the elegant Quai des Bergues, the sporty-chic Antarctique, the recent Promenade, the exceptional Place Vendôme, and the refined Faubourg de Cracovie chronograph series. Introduced in 2018, the Faubourg de Cracovie was Czapek’s first chronograph, powered by the calibre […]
Two Broke Watch Snobs
The new Mido Multifort 8 One Crown delivers a simplified integrated bracelet watch design powered by the brand’s Calibre 80 movement.
Monochrome
Bulgari unites its rich heritage of goldsmithing and expertise in watchmaking with the Maglia Milanese Monete. A fabulous secret watch hidden by an ancient Roman coin, the Maglia Milanese Monete features a beautifully woven gold Milanese mesh strap and is powered by Bulgari’s miniature in-house Piccolissimo BVP 100 calibre. Unveiled during LVMH’s Watch Week in […]
SJX Watches
Louis Vuitton sharpens its haute horlogerie credentials with the Escale Minute Repeater, a chiming complication paired with a jump hour and retrograde minutes display. Built around La Fabrique du Temps’s proven minute repeater calibre, the watch trades the previous Escale minute repeater’s world time function for a cleaner, more focused dial dominated by grey flammé guilloché. The result puts Louis Vuitton in direct competition with established players in complicated watchmaking, and comes complete with a discreet repeater slide hidden within the signature trunk-inspired lugs. Initial thoughts On the back of a strong 2025, Louis Vuittion doubles down on haute horlogerie, now in a more traditional case than last year’s Tambour. While the brand still offers the quartz Tambour Street Diver for just a few thousand dollars, Louis Vuittion’s ambitions clearly lie in the high-end. After years of strategic acquisitions and investments, the brand has the industrial base to compete and the know-how to do things its own way. The Escale Minute Repeater is the embodiment of Louis Vuitton’s ambitions, and is competitive with other minute repeaters from established haute horlogerie brands thanks to its modern movement and tasteful details. In short, it shows the brand understands the tastes of the day, and, more importantly, how to deliver a compelling package that leans into Louis Vuitton’s unique legacy and brand DNA. Furthermore, the minute repeater is something of a s...
SJX Watches
Having recently given the Monaco a rattrapante makeover, TAG Heuer has unveiled the Carrera Split-Seconds Chronograph, the first-ever split-seconds chronograph in the history of the storied Carrera line-up. The watch combines the brand’s contemporary ‘glassbox’ case design with the Vaucher-derived TH81-01 movement, the only split-seconds calibre in production capable of tenth-of-a-second resolution. Built of grade 5 titanium inside and out, the Carrera Split-Seconds is positioned as both a technical showcase and a halo product for the brand. Initial thoughts It’s more than a little surprising that the Carrera, one of the most storied names in sports chronographs, has never been made in a split-seconds variant until now. In the vintage era, many of Heuer’s peers introduced split-seconds chronographs with movements sourced from Valjoux, which also supplied the ebauches for the Carrera, which suggests the technology was well within reach. That said, the Carrera Split-Seconds Chronograph is arguably worth the wait, marrying the contemporary glassbox case design with the one of the only split-seconds chronograph calibres capable of tenth-of-a-second resolution. It’s a coherent product in more ways than one, carrying on the brand’s history of commercialising third-party calibres in design-forward, performance-oriented watches. In terms of design, the Carrera Split-Seconds feels more refined than the Monaco Split-Seconds, avoiding the superfluous “rattrapante” a...
Monochrome
Mido’s flagship Ocean Star collection is a contemporary evolution of its 1940s Ocean Star dive watch family. Often described as an all-round ‘surf and turf’ model, the Ocean Star 200C, introduced in 2021, comes with upgraded features like ceramic inserts and textured, colourful dials and Swatch Group’s latest-generation calibre 80. The new Ocean Star 200C […]
Monochrome
On 17 February 2026, the Chinese New Year kicks off with the Year of the Fire Horse, the seventh animal in the Chinese Zodiac and a symbol of power, speed and confidence. Echoing the attributes of the zodiac animal, Oris has equipped this 43mm stainless steel model with its powerful calibre 113, an advanced hand-wound […]
SJX Watches
The Panerai Luminor Perpetual Calendar GMT Platinumtech PAM01575 is one of the most unconventional perpetual calendars on the market, combining the brand’s military-inspired emphasis on legibility and robustness with a high-spec, crown-operated perpetual calendar movement designed for daily wear. Housed in a hard-wearing 44 mm Platinumtech case and powered by the P.4100 calibre, the PAM01575 challenges expectations for what a Panerai can be, applying the brand’s utilitarian DNA to one of watchmaking’s most respected complications. A user-friendly perpetual calendar Panerai is a brand rooted in its identity as a supplier of watches and dive instruments to the Italian navy. The brand’s utilitarian aesthetic, with bold dial markings and a distinctive crown guard, earned it a cult following in the early 2000s, and while some of the enthusiasm of that era has waned, the designs remain as recognisable as ever. Military watches are usually designed to be legible and robust, user-friendly traits that make them appealing to civilians. User-friendliness is something of a complication in its own right, and in some ways is one of the final frontiers of movement design. This includes both legibility, and the priority of information on the dial, and functionality, ensuring that the movement is easy to operate and resilient against mishandling. These issues are especially present when it comes to perpetual calendars, which must present a lot of information; George Daniels famousl...
SJX Watches
The Monochrome Montre de Souscription 4 Seconde Morte (MdS4) is a limited-edition collaboration between the team at Monochrome Watches and Austrian independent Habring², built around the brand’s signature jumping seconds complication. Powered by the hand-wound A11S calibre, the watch reflects the marque’s focus on technically robust, thoughtfully refined movements and offers a straightforward value proposition. Limited to 33 individually numbered pieces and sold exclusively through a short souscription-style sales window, the MdS4 highlights both Habring²’s technical merit and Monochrome’s aesthetic sensibilities. Initial thoughts Richard and Maria Habring are outliers in the field of independent watchmaking. Among the sole guardians of the Austrian watchmaking tradition, the husband and wife team produce a range of deceptively technical (yet honestly priced) watches. This rare combination makes the brand’s watches appealing to many insiders like the team behind the Dutch website Monochrome Watches, that have just announced their latest 1930s-inspired collaboration. While the watch and its movement are the work of Habring², the team at Monochrome turned to designer and Time+Tide contributor Pietro Pilla for the Art Deco-inspired dial design. The discreet black dial features applied Roman numerals that alternate with delicate teardrop-shaped indexes, a choice that helps prevent the dial from looking too crowded. The printed railroad scale that rings the dial i...
SJX Watches
AP House Singapore is staging its first exhibition, making full use of the expansive space inside Singapore’s iconic colonial-era Raffles Hotel. 150 Years of Refined Elegance is a showcase of miniaturisation, covering Audemars Piguet’s smallest and thinnest movements, including an 18 mm-wide minute repeating calibre from the late 19th century. Taking place in the basement of the “house”, the exhibition starts with watches from the 1920s and ends in the current day that includes the Royal Oak Mini and the recently launched 38 mm perpetual calendar models. The Royal Oak Mini in “Frosted” gold Although not described as such, the exhibition naturally focuses a great deal on ladies’ watches, one of the recent themes of AP’s marketing. Unsurprisingly, one of the prominent figures in the exhibition is Jacqueline Dimier, chief designer at AP from 1975 to 1999 who conceived of the 29 mm Royal Oak for ladies shortly after the launch of the original “Jumbo” ref. 5402ST in 1972. Exhibition details The exhibition is open daily from 11 am to 8 pm and takes place at AP House Singapore located in the Raffles Hotel Singapore. Entry is free but registration is required; visits can be scheduled at Audemarspiguet.com.
Monochrome
Armin Strom’s celebrated Gravity Equal Force series expands with an elegant twist, the Ultimate Sapphire Salmon. Continuing the brand’s exploration of colour and transparency, this latest edition pairs technical mastery with artisanal finesse, featuring a hand-guilloché salmon mainplate and the brand’s innovative constant-force calibre, bringing new vibrancy to one of modern horology’s most inventive movements. […]
SJX Watches
Biver expands its Automatique line with a diverse set of new dials that underscore the brand’s fascination with permanence, ranging from billion-year-old mineral stones to finely executed enamel and traditional guilloché. In a year crowded with stone-dial releases, the latest Automatique models stand out for the coherence of the concept and the quality of execution, offering collectors a mix of exotic materials, artisanal craft, and a technically unusual calibre across a wide price spectrum. Initial thoughts Jean-Claude Biver talks a lot about eternity. The slogan for his namesake brand, “eternity has no competition”, is an eloquent expression of what drives the Biver family enterprise, founded with his son Pierre and now led by chief executive James Marks. Beyond the ability to keep time, mechanical watches appeal to enthusiasts precisely because they seem to exist outside of time. Few modern products are crafted from such noble or enduring materials, and for many people a mechanical watch is among the most lasting man-made objects they will ever encounter. Biver’s obsession with eternity is clear in the products themselves. In the case of the Automatique, the brand has chosen to use especially long-lasting materials like gold for the movement plates and bridges, going so far as to used a high-palladium gold alloy that will not tarnish over time. The overly robust cases are another clue as to the motivations of the people behind the Biver brand. Water resistant t...
SJX Watches
De Bethune plans to bring hairspring production in house, aiming to become one of the very few firms able to process alloy wire into a finished balance hairspring. This requires De Bethune’s new hairspring workshop to master wire drawing, rolling, cutting, heat treatment, and assembly. The rationale? “Externally produced hairsprings meet standards based on averages that do not enable fine adjustment of the dimensions to suit a particular balance wheel or its specific positioning in a calibre,” according to De Bethune. De Bethune’s “flat end curve” mated to a hairspring sourced from a supplier. Initial thoughts As De Bethune explains it, making its own hairsprings will allow the brand to tailor its hairspring to a specific balance or movement. Since its founding in 2002, De Bethune has presented itself as being on the cutting edge of chronometry, debuting a new balance design every year from 2004 to 2010. The brand was also quick to embrace silicon, and even briefly attempted a kilohertz magnetic oscillator system, Résonique. A new year, a new balance. Sometimes two new balances. Given De Bethune’s focus on chronometry, making its own hairsprings seems like a natural next step. However, there is a reason so few brands make their own hairsprings: the process is a difficult and demanding one that benefits greatly from economies of scale. For example, H. Moser & Cie. makes less than 4,000 watches per year, however, its sister company Precision Engineering claims...
Monochrome
Since 2017, the French watch brand Baltic has built its reputation on compact, retro-inspired designs with sharp detailing and accessible pricing. The Prismic collection, launched in 2024, marked a step up in refinement: a 1960s “cocktail watch” take with a complex steel-and-titanium case, crisp Dauphine hands and a slim hand-wound Swiss calibre. Later that year, […]
Monochrome
As the only French manufacturer to design and produce its movements in France, Pequignet flies the Tricolour with pride. With four in-house calibres under its belt, Pequignet’s ambitious plan to become an integrated manufacture became a reality in 2011 with the presentation of the Calibre Royal, followed by the Calibre Initial of 2021. The latest […]
SJX Watches
Audemars Piguet unveiled the unexpected at Dubai Watch Week: an intelligent watch winder created in collaboration with Dubai Future Labs. Designed specifically for the brand’s latest perpetual calendar calibre, the device uses computer vision, a motorised arm, and Bluetooth connectivity to wind the watch, read the dial, and set all calendar indications automatically. It’s a curious blend of haute horlogerie and consumer robotics. Initial thoughts Perpetual calendars have long bedeviled collectors and after-sales service departments alike. Often tedious to reset after non-use, they can break or bind if adjusted at the wrong time. In the past couple of decades, this problem has been largely solved by watchmakers like Dr. Ludwig Oechslin, Stephen McDonnell, Andreas Strehler, Greubel Forsey, F.P. Journe, and most recently by Audemars Piguet. Given that Audemars Piguet is among the names that have developed a fool-proof perpetual calendar, the intelligent watch winder seems like a solution in search of a problem. The choice of the launch platform is also puzzling. On one hand, I understand why Audemars Piguet would develop the winder for its new cal. 7138; it makes sense to promote the new product. But on the other hand, the box would be far more useful if it worked for the brand’s earlier generations of perpetual calendars, which are more liable to break from improper use and need to be adjusted using pushers in the case. There are also many more of them in circulation, ...
Monochrome
The TAG Heuer Monaco, along with the Carrera, has long been a platform for technical bravura, and the new Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph Air 1 takes the idea into the next decade by marrying a rattrapante calibre with radically rethought case architecture and additive-manufacturing technology. Let’s have a look at what surely is one of the […]
Time+Tide
It's equipped with the Calibre FPMP2, the brand's first-ever in-house movement with fully designed architecture.The post Felipe Pikullik steps into in‑house with the Mondphase II appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
What does a manufacture calibre really mean? Looking at Tudor's organisation, it becomes clearer...The post Are Tudor watch movements in-house? What is Kenissi? Andrew explains all appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Monochrome
Chronoswiss has always moved in its own rhythm. From the regulator wristwatches that defined its 1980s identity to today’s bold Lucerne-built timepieces, the brand has never shied away from doing things differently. Few statements were as radical as the Digiteur, a watch without hands, powered by a mechanical calibre, yet read like an early digital […]
Time+Tide
This flying saucer-like watch sports a newly designed calibre with jumping hours and dragging minutes, accessible via a hinged cover.The post Czapek’s Time Jumper goes fully funky for the manufacture’s 10-year revival anniversary appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Monochrome
Mido’s TV-shaped Multifort has quietly become one of the most distinctive value propositions in the sports-chic bracket. The core model provided you with the compact square-with-rounded-corners, TV-shaped case, a big date at 12 o’clock, and a modern Powermatic-based calibre, while last year’s S01E01 Test Screen showed how playful the format could be without losing seriousness […]
Monochrome
In a surprising and quite unexpected move, Alpina celebrated its 140th anniversary in 2023 by unveiling a highly limited run of Heritage Carrée Mechanical watches, featuring the authentic calibre 490 hand-wound movement from 1938 inside, restored and presented in a silver case. Following positive reactions and to ensure continuity, the brand introduced non-limited versions in […]
SJX Watches
The Patek Philippe approach to watchmaking has developed through a steady accumulation of choices. Since 1839, the manufacture has refined its mechanical language through proportion, regulation, and clarity in construction. Each calibre reflects priorities shaped by experience, built for durability, and adjusted for lasting performance. Understanding the technical evolution of Patek Philippe requires attention to the principles that govern its construction: structural integrity, material stability, and a consistent focus on functional accuracy. Many manufacturers embraced modernity through visible transformation and stylistic experimentation, while Patek Philippe evolved through careful integration of innovation that served enduring mechanical aims. Its development follows a logic defined by proportion, restraint, and the pursuit of lasting technical harmony. The modern-day, expansive manufacture in Plan-les-Ouates in Geneva From Jean Adrien Philippe’s keyless winding system of the 1840s to the introduction of silicon components in the twenty-first century, progress has remained guided by internal reasoning and accumulated skill. Each movement expresses a study of mechanical relationships refined over time, where advances emerge from clarity of purpose and precision in design. The chapters that follow trace this progression through its historical sequence. Each period reflects a technical response to changing demands: the shift from pocket to wrist, the rise of automati...
Monochrome
The Defy Skyline collection by Zenith has quickly become the modern pillar of the brand’s angular, integrated, and technical sports collection. We’ve seen the series stretch into complications and materials, most notably last year’s steel and black ceramic Skyline Tourbillons built around the high-frequency El Primero calibre 3630. The latest chapter elevates form and finish. […]
Monochrome
Dive watches span the spectrum: retro throwbacks that trade on romance, do-it-all desk divers that split time between meetings and marinas, and true instruments built for cold, dark water. This segmentation is very much in place at Oris, and the Aquis Pro 1000m belongs in the last category. Previously available with a manufacture Calibre 400 […]
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