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Praesidus is well known for military-inspired collections, and the Jungle Field line is a modern take on the GG-W-113 US military specification introduced in 1967. The spec called for a lightweight pilot and aircrew watch at 33mm or 34mm with a matte black dial, 12/24-hour numerals and hacking seconds. The 34mm Jungle Field OG was […]
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Although it was never really gone, there seems to be a renaissance of the Jumping Hour, or Heures Sautante complication, and we’re quite delighted about this. There’s an interesting convergence in jump hour watches: the display is often simpler than a watch with central hands, but the mechanism behind it is quite challenging! Energy needs […]
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The Quartz Crisis of the 1970s and 1980s was a defining moment for the industry, to say the least. Following Seiko’s Astron in 1969, the first quartz watch to hit the market, a huge swathe of traditional brands closed down as cheap, extremely accurate and virtually maintenance-free Japanese quartz watches hit the streets. Add to […]
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The mad scientists of Donkervoort, the only active Dutch sports car manufacturer, have done it again. They have raised the performance bar set by the already razor-sharp F22 even further. Although it looks vaguely the same as its predecessor, the new P24 RS is almost entirely new, featuring the latest innovation Donkervoort has to offer. […]
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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 […]
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Today, we’re launching a new service to enable you to find answers to your (horological) questions faster and more easily. The new MONOCHROME AI chat will answer your questions, similar to ChatGPT, however, based entirely on all MONOCHROME content of the past 20 years. Since we’ve seen the rise of ChatGPT, Gemini and the likes, […]
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Pforzheim is known as Germany’s “Golden City” for its jewellery and watchmaking (alongside Glashütte) activities, and both Laco and Circula have deep roots there. Each brand is celebrating an anniversary, 100 years for Laco and 70 years for Circula, and they’ve partnered to celebrate with a pair of watches honouring each brand and German watchmaking […]
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We’ve all had the experience of putting down our watch a little too carelessly, and accidentally scratching it on something sharp, or even worse, knocking it off and seeing it fly across the room in Hollywood-esque slow-motion while screaming “NOOOOooooo!!!” at the top of your lungs. It’s happened to me, and I know it has […]
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Since founding Sarpaneva Watches in Helsinki, the independent Finnish watchmaker Stepan Sarpaneva has consistently explored an approach shaped by the Nordic visual universe, mechanical honesty and a powerful sense of narrative. Best known for his Korona case design and expressive moon displays, Sarpaneva has built a recognisable catalogue which offers a combination of traditional watchmaking […]
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British indie brand Farer was founded in 2015 by four friends with backgrounds in watch retail. Using Swiss-made mechanical movements, Farer offers a portfolio of confident designs with an eccentric British twist and competitive prices, thanks to the brand’s direct-to-consumer approach that eliminates intermediaries. The name Farer, derived from Old English terms like seafarer and […]
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Launched in 2021, the Tonda PF collection introduced a new vision of contemporary haute horlogerie built around restraint, proportion and what CEO Guido Terreni calls “private luxury”, watches designed to be lived with rather than constantly replaced. Among the first models was the Tonda PF Micro-Rotor, a slim automatic watch with a date display. The […]
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British driver George Russell, currently racing for Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team, joined IWC’s paddock of ambassadors in 2022. Exchanging the steering wheel of his F1 for the design board, Russell worked alongside IWC’s creative team to design the new limited edition Pilot’s Watches, emblazoned with the F1 pilot’s signature blue colour featured on his […]
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The revival of a long-dormant watchmaking name always sparks our curiosity at MONOCHROME. Born in 1919, the Manufacture des Montres Niton S.A. became known for its watches and movements featuring jumping hours. Niton supplied movements to Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, Cartier, Gubelin and many more… Today, the brand returns with the Niton Prima, an elaborate […]
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In recent years, Audemars Piguet has decisively refined the Code 11.59 collection, transforming it into a serious platform for contemporary haute horlogerie. For 2026, the brand unveils a fresh interpretation of the Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon, now with an ivory-toned signature dial and a sophisticated mix of white gold and black […]
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Audemars Piguet introduced the Code 11.59 in 2019, emerging as a contemporary AP-style expression of classic watchmaking. Over the years, the line has matured, expanded and reviewed its proportions. Introduced in 2023, the 38mm case offered a more compact and versatile interpretation of the Code 11.59 design. In early 2026, the brand presents two new […]
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Urwerk’s mechanical ingenuity and sci-fi vessels have propelled the brand into the realm of cosmic watchmaking. Renowned for their wandering hour and satellite indications, founders Martin Frei and Felix Baumgartner captured the three dimensions of time, rotation and orbit with the UR-100 SpaceTime of 2019. An evolution of the UR-100, the UR-100V returns to Earth […]
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The trend for stone dials has had a bandwagon effect in the watch industry, with players, small and large, succumbing to the temptation of adorning their models with exotic stones and even slivers of meteorite. However, like Piaget, Audemars Piguet got a head start in the field, with stone dials on its ultra-thin dress watches […]
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Vacheron Constantin’s Overseas luxury sports watch family is now in its third generation, but its roots trace back to the 222 model of 1977. A well-represented collection with complications and straightforward time-and-date models, the Overseas is widely acclaimed for its attractive design, high-end finishings, in-house movements and versatility. In 2019, a tourbillon was added to […]
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Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak Offshore, also known as The Beast, muscled its way onto the scene in 1993 as a beefier and bolder version of its famous sibling, the Royal Oak. Drawing its inspiration and name (offshore) from the world of powerboat racing popular in the 1980s, the ROO family expanded, and in 2010 surfaced […]
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Since its debut in 1993, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore has served as the brand´s most expressive, aggressive, and experimental platform. Bigger, bolder and much more muscular than the original Royal Oak, the Offshore lived up to its “Beast” nickname, while becoming a showcase for material innovation and colour exploration. The 2021 redesign marked […]
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We closely and thoroughly examined the Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-Thin Openworked in steel (16204ST) when it was introduced for the RO´s 50th anniversary, as the model has become a reference for how Audemars Piguet approaches the skeletonisation of an icon. Since then, it has been followed by precious metal executions in white gold (16204BC) and yellow gold (16204BA). […]
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Launched by Audemars Piguet in 2019, the compact Royal Oak Selfwinding Chronograph 38mm was welcomed by men and women alike. Fitted with a modified Frédéric Piguet 1185 ébauche, the big news for the most compact RO chronograph is the introduction of a brand new in-house calibre with a longer power reserve and a 4Hz frequency. […]
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For its 150th anniversary, Audemars Piguet has chosen a format that predates the wristwatch yet remains central to the brand’s most ambitious technical expressions: the pocket watch. The new 150e Héritage pocket watch directly references the Manufacture’s historic ultra-complicated pocket watches of 1899 (L’Universelle) and 1921 (La Grosse Pièce). It is also connected to milestones […]
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A perpetual calendar is a complication very much dear to Audemars Piguet. Since the mid-20th century, the manufacture in Le Brassus has offered many variations on how this “celestial” mechanism could be presented, displayed and used. From the world’s first leap-year perpetual calendar wristwatch in 1955, to the ultra-thin automatic QPs of the late 1970s, […]
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Audemars Piguet continues to refine one of its most emblematic complications with the launch of a new Royal Oak Selfwinding Perpetual Calendar in 41mm, entirely crafted in “Bleu Nuit, Nuage 50” ceramic. More than a new colourway, this release brings together two of the Manufacture’s most significant recent developments: the darker, historically rooted blue ceramic […]
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With 3 of its 4 main collections based on the original Royal Oak design, it’s fair to say that Audemars Piguet is a bit conservative in some aspects. But, from time to time, and not without great boldness, the brand releases something unexpected and not octagonally designed. As the best example of what AP can […]
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The watch culture in the Netherlands has been steadily growing over a good number of years, and we’re able to show another new and rather neat watch project to the already diverse group of brands and watchmakers stemming from our small country. Founded by two Dutchmen with a deep passion for watches and developed over […]
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After several years working closely with Greubel Forsey, Michel Nydegger has now spent a year and a half at the helm of the brand founded by Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey. With a deep, first-hand understanding of the manufacture, its philosophy, and its people, Nydegger offers a thoughtful perspective on leadership and sustainability at one […]
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Here’s the third of the five collaboration watches done by Louis Vuitton with some of the most revered independent watchmakers. Indeed, following the LVRR-01 Chronographe à Sonnerie made with Rexhep Rexhepi, founder of Atelier Akrivia, and the LVKV-02 GMR 6 made with Finnish-born watchmaker Kari Voutilainen, it’s time now for LV to unveil its project […]
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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 […]
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