Monochrome
Awake has built a clear identity around thoughtful materials and craft, moving from early eco-focused projects to last year’s Son Mai lineup, watches that brought traditional Hanoi lacquer work and silver-leaf dials into a permanent, Swiss-powered collection. The Fragments series is the next chapter: three limited editions that fuse Vietnamese Son Mai lacquer with mother-of-pearl […]
Monochrome
Hanhart’s roots run deep in the history of mechanical chronographs. Founded in 1882 in Germany’s Black Forest, Hanhart became a mid-20th-century reference for timing instruments. Its stopwatches and pilot chronographs set benchmarks for robustness, legibility, and ergonomics, a legacy carried forward by today’s collections, most notably, the 417 ES. First developed for the German armed […]
Monochrome
Dressed in all black, the Type 3 BB2 is the perfect representation of what independent watchmaker Ressence is all about. Founded in 2010 by industrial designer Benoit Mintiens, watches by Ressence are pretty much incomparable to anything else on the market thanks to the brand’s out-of-the-box thinking, technical innovation and no hands or crowns. In […]
Monochrome
At MONOCHROME, we have a soft spot for… well, monochrome. The balance of light and shadow on a dial, the quiet elegance of a perfect photograph… something about removing colour to reveal form, texture, and contrast that we find so immensely appealing. So when we learned that Elka Watch Co., the young Swiss brand known […]
Monochrome
Most of us associate Hamilton with robust military field watches employed by the US Army during WWII and their successful second lease of life in the Khaki collections. One of the quirkier models to emerge from Hamilton’s American era was the Ventura, the world’s first publicly available battery-powered watch, with a crazy, futuristic, asymmetrical case […]
Monochrome
Even without going back to the roots of the brand, when it was founded in 1960, there are more than one emblematic model within the current Grand Seiko catalogue. You can, of course, think about the Snowflake, the SBGW231 and SBGW301 and, one that is all the more important to me, the GMT Elegance SBGM221. […]
Monochrome
The Seiko Presage Classic Series has been on a quiet roll. Last year’s SPB463/465/467 trio set the tone with soft, bowl-shaped cases, curved dials inspired by silk, and a 3-day automatic movement that made the Presage feel both more Japanese and more purposeful. The open-heart SPB469/471 extended the idea with radial “raw silk” textures and […]
Monochrome
Since its introduction in 2021, the PRX collection by Tissot has never ceased to amaze and to grow in size. This range, one of the most accessible and compelling Swiss-made sporty-chic watches with an integrated bracelet, has become a commercial hit and has been offered in an array of colours, sizes, complications and materials. From […]
Monochrome
TAG Heuer‘s 2025 overhaul of the Formula 1 collection introduced new, shaped titanium cases, tighter proportions, integrated rubber straps, and crisper dials that pushed the line back to the front of the grid. Timely, as TAG Heuer (under LVMH) also returned as the official timekeeper of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship. Now the brand […]
Monochrome
When it comes to complications, Vacheron Constantin is a veritable Titan in the arena and has earned its rightful place in the pantheon of high complications. Celebrating its grand 270th anniversary this year, Vacheron has outdone itself in 2025. Following the release of the world’s most complicated pocket watch last year, Vacheron Constantin has pulled […]
Monochrome
A Chinese brand founded by two Frenchmen, Atelier Wen, has come a long way since introducing its first watches in 2018. After a break to redefine their brand, the founders launched Perception, a unique combination of a guilloché dial inside an integrated, sporty-chic watch proudly made in China. This collection has given the brand quite some visibility. It’s now time […]
Monochrome
Benrus, founded in 1921 by the Lazrus brothers in New York, has always been at its best when it taps into the things it once did for real: dependable field watches for the U.S. military, purpose-built dive pieces from the boom years of recreational diving, and compact daily beaters that wore smaller than their spec […]
Monochrome
Released just three weeks ago, Louis Erard surprised the watchmaking scene with its first integrated sports watch, the 2340. A sporty-chic titanium and steel watch with a sophisticated integrated bracelet, the 2340 marked a radical, new direction for the brand, which has relied extensively on its classic Regulator watch for numerous collaborations. Surprising us yet […]
Monochrome
A historical name of the watch industry (founded in 1934), Lebois & Co was revived in 2015 by Tom van Wijlick, a Dutch entrepreneur who’s also responsible for the comeback of Airain and its Type 20 and 21 pilot’s watches. Although still hesitant at the beginning, the brand truly found its stride with the 2022 release of the […]
Monochrome
Bell & Ross has gotten a lot of mileage from its distinctive cockpit instrument-inspired watches with round dials in square cases and four exposed screws in the corners. Fusing these traits, the first BR-01 of 2005 with its whopping 46mm diameter squarely put the French brand on the horological radar. A year later, Bell & […]
Monochrome
Every week, on Sunday morning, we entertain you (hopefully) with a series of watches sharing a common theme. While this can be anything, really, we revisit topics from time to time to see what’s new and fresh. One of the most popular topics of debate is colour, and as such, we revisit one of the […]
Monochrome
With well over a century of watchmaking from the day the brand was founded until today, the world of Rolex can be a daunting one. As the most prolific and widely known brand, and with countless references, generations and innovations coming from the Swiss manufacture, it’s understandable some might get absolutely lost in the details. […]
Monochrome
Stainless steel, whether 316L or 904L, is now the most common metal for modern watch cases and bracelets. There’s a good reason for this: it’s robust, highly corrosion-resistant, easy to machine and polish, and very affordable. By and large, it’s the perfect watch case material. Gold and platinum are the go-to precious metals for cases […]
Monochrome
“What could have been…” is a remark often heard when talking about cancelled racing programs, failed prototypes or one-hit wonders. In the world of motorsports, there have been plenty of examples of this. Cars that raced just once, never managed to move beyond the development stage, or existed only in rumours, even. Think of the […]
Monochrome
Urwerk has spent nearly three decades rewriting the rules of how a wristwatch tells time. Since Martin Frei and Felix Baumgartner founded the brand in 1997, the core idea has stayed very consistent: wandering satellite hours sweeping past retrograde minutes, executed as a sort of kinetic sculpture. Models like the UR-103 put the satellite carousel […]
Monochrome
For our latest independent watchmaking discovery, we talk to Alex Goetschi, a young self-taught watchmaker from Switzerland with a very interesting story. Under the name of Manteio, which comes from the Greek word for Oracle, he finds inspiration in Greek mythology. And what better topic for your first watch than the ‘King of the Gods’ […]
Monochrome
Northern Watches, launched by the Norwegian-born and Swiss-based watchmaker Stian Lofstad, arrives with a clear message: show the whole day at a glance, keep the design clean, and build it in Switzerland with proven movement. The debut range splits into two references, the bronze-cased NW1 Bronze Age and the steel NW2 Northerner, but the concept […]
Monochrome
Independent and intentionally small, Brellum is the brand of fourth-generation watchmaker Sébastien Muller, and is built on three constants: COSC certification across the board, full movement decoration under a domed exhibition back, and direct-to-consumer production capped at 299 pieces a year. The catalogue splits into clear families. The Duobox, with its twin box sapphires and […]
Monochrome
Every brand from Apple to Zenith touts at least one watch that is “built for adventure”, “to stand the test of time”, or to “take a licking and keep on ticking” (okay, maybe that last one is less current). One look at the watch marketing out there today, and you will be inundated with images […]
Monochrome
French brand Yema got a foothold in the watch world with its rugged tool watches, exemplified by models like the mighty 300 water-resistant Superman skin diver of 1963. Proud of its French roots, Yema secured strategic alliances with the French Navy (Marine Nationale) to develop military tool watches. Based on its 1970s Navygraf dive watch, […]
Monochrome
Farer is a British watchmaking brand founded on the principles of adventurous design, accessible quality, and mechanical integrity. It builds its reputation by blending Swiss craftsmanship with bold colour, texture, and storytelling. Every Farer collection feels both familiar and fresh, rooted in heritage but always forward-looking. The Moonphase Collection, launched in 2023, brought that same […]
Monochrome
A slightly more discreet member of the Nomos family, the Metro is a more youthful, cosmopolitan, and modern take on the brand’s clean design language, compared to the deliberately austere Tangente and the classic Ludwig. Soft in shape, elegant with a twist, the Metro is a watch that deserves more attention. And, with the latest addition to the collection, […]
Monochrome
CIGA Design has carved out a distinct lane in contemporary Chinese watchmaking: bold industrial design, visible mechanics, and aggressive value. Founded by industrial designer Zhang Jianmin, the brand built early recognition with skeletonised mechanical pieces and unconventional case forms, then vaulted onto the global stage with the award-winning Blue Planet, cementing its credibility beyond the […]
Monochrome
Citizen… The very name of the brand is highly meaningful. “Watches made for all citizens.” Last year, when we visited the exhibition retracing 100 years of the brand, it became clear to me that the brand was doing things in a very particular way. The idea behind Citizen isn’t just to be accessible; it is […]
Monochrome
Delma isn’t a newcomer pretending to be a tool-watch brand. The independent, family-run company has been crafting robust sports watches in Lengnau since 1924 and has earned its reputation with capable (or highly capable) divers since the late 1960s. Within that foundation, the Oceanmaster line (introduced in 2017) is the brand’s nautical instrument: a large […]
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