Monochrome
Rolex has changed… Not marginally, but significantly. We knew the brand was capable of being rather unpredictable and capable of bold creative moves, such as bubble-decorated dials and watches with a guilloché pattern. The days when Rolex simply revamped a collection every 10 years by implementing incremental upgrades and releasing new dial colours every two […]
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One of the first purpose-built modern dive watches produced in the mid-1950s, Blancpain’s Fifty Fathoms was a key player in the development of “skin diving” and the watch selected by several elite diving corps. Taken out of production in the 1980s, Swatch Group’s Marc A. Hayek resuscitated the Fifty Fathoms in 2003. In 2007, the […]
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In 2023, Jean-Claude Biver, an industry veteran who requires no introduction, returned to the spotlight after retiring from his latest position at LVMH when, with his son Pierre, he unveiled the Biver Carillon Tourbillon, the debut timepiece from the newly minted family-name brand. True to form, expectations were sky-high, with the launch setting a tone […]
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60 different references… This is how wide Tissot’s best-selling collection, the sporty-elegant integrated PRX watch, has become in about 4 years. Ranging from compact and affordable quartz models to more expensive watches with gold fluted bezels and chronograph movement, and basically everything you can imagine in between (even a forged carbon edition), you’d think the […]
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With the massive return in popularity of integrated bracelet watches in the past few years, metal bracelets have made a sensational comeback, to the point where these are no longer exclusive to sports watches. But how annoying is it to see a brilliantly designed watch, on which the brand has taken great attention to detail […]
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Of all the new releases from Tudor at this year’s Watches and Wonders, the standout piece was undoubtedly the evolution of the Black Bay 58 line, now presented in a striking all-burgundy design, with both the dial and bezel dressed in the deep red tone. While the dial colour holds historical significance, the real game-changer […]
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Hamilton’s military credentials date back to World War I when the American brand supplied precision railroad watches to soldiers under the command of General Pershing. With a well-earned reputation for reliability and robustness, during World War II, Hamilton stopped civilian production to concentrate exclusively on providing the US Army with field watches. Now one of […]
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Raymond Weil’s Millesime collection, launched in 2024, is a charming retro-inspired family that has caught many a watch aficionado’s eye. Injecting a new lease of life into a brand that was often overlooked, the Millesime family is out to conquer the market of neo-vintage dress watches with modern specifications. Coupled with competitive prices, the Millesime […]
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If you ask yourself what’s the most classic dress watch ever made by Patek, and probably one of the most important models of the category, the answer should ultimately be the Calatrava. Not much to debate here. The collection, created in 1932 with the reference 96, has had such an influence on the watch industry […]
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With Christine Hutter at the helm, Moritz Grossmann – an indie brand that since 2008 pays tribute to one of the pioneers of Glashütte’s watchmaking – has consistently showcased its prowess in crafting technically sophisticated timepieces. The brand has also impressed with exquisitely crafted dials created using time-honoured techniques. This year marks an intriguing evolution […]
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Introduced in 2010, De Bethune’s DB28 family distils the essence of Denis Flageollet’s unique watchmaking style with its futuristic silhouette, floating lugs, delta-shaped barrel bridge, exposed balance wheel, and, more often than not, the brand’s signature blued titanium elements. In 2015, the DB28 was revisited in a sportier version with a 100m water-resistant case known […]
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Despite being an experienced watchmaker in his 50s, Nicolas Delaloye remains one of the discreet names in the independent watchmaking scene. But there are good reasons for that. This AHCI member just regained his independence and re-started making watches a few months ago, after a long period serving as a watchmaker-restorer at the Patek Philippe […]
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Union Glashütte, now part of Swatch Group, marks its birth in 1893 when Johannes Dürrstein founded the Uhrenfabrik Union in the heart of Germany’s watchmaking region. Balancing vintage and modern elements with appealing designs and a reasonable price-to-quality ratio, nowadays the brand receives proper attention with releases like last year´s Noramis Chronograph Sport with its […]
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Audemars Piguet recreates a colour intimately associated with its first Royal Oak model of 1972. Although the colour described as “Bleu Nuit, Nuage 50” has appeared on many dials, it has never been replicated in high-tech ceramic. Inspired by the clear night skies of the Vallée de Joux, this darker tone of blue ceramic is […]
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The latest watch in the very appealing Hermès Cut collection is more than just a jump from 36mm to 39mm, as it adds the ability to “suspend time” (Le Temps Suspendu) with a complication first seen in the 2011 Arceau collection. At the press of a button, the hour and minute hands move into a […]
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At the opening of the Watches and Wonders 2025 salon, Rolex presented quite a lot of new models, starting with the all-important Land-Dweller collection, as well as a new white gold and ceramic dial GMT-Master II Sprite and a fantastic new metal bracelet (named Settimo) for the 1908 collection. There was also a new, bold […]
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Unveiled at Watches and Wonders 2025, the 1816 Chronograph blends a modern integrated bracelet design with more traditional elements drawn from Louis Moinet‘s classic repertoire, in particular from the fascinating and remarkable Compteur de Tierces, one of the precursors of the modern chronograph. Powered by an appealing, traditional hand-wound chronograph movement, this new Louis Moinet […]
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Watches and Wonders 2025 is about to close its doors and it’s time for Team MONOCHROME to fly back home after one of the most intense weeks of the year. We’ve seen hundreds of watches, if not thousands, published way over a hundred articles, took several thousands of photos and published over a dozen videos […]
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This year at Watches and Wonders 2025, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s emblematic Reverso, a timeless timepiece dating back to 1931 – as we explained in this in-depth article – will have its moment. Indeed, the brand is focusing entirely on its icon, and with some handsome new releases. In 2023, the slimmer pink gold Reverso Tribute Monoface Small […]
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Perrelet’s flagship Turbine, with its mesmerising 12-blade turbine spinning to reveal glimpses of the lower dial, returns with a sporty chronograph complication. Bold and contemporary, the new generation of Turbine Chrono Neo in lightweight titanium cases relies on an elegant, highly legible display of elapsed times using two central chronograph hands. The three new Turbine […]
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Hublot pulls out all the stops for the 20th-anniversary celebrations of its iconic Big Bang with a one-of-a-kind “Materials & High Complications” set composed of five unique pieces. Flaunting tourbillons, chronographs and minute repeaters – and in one case, a combination of all three – this unique set traces the material innovation and high-end complications […]
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With its long-winded name, IWC’s new watch can best be described as the more complex brother of a Performance Chronograph released in 2023 for four-wheeled pilots. Equipped with the brand’s innovative perpetual calendar movement and its uncommon digital display, the Performance Chronograph IW388801 comes with a dashing black and golden colour scheme. Presented in 2023, […]
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A couple of years ago, IWC introduced a Big Pilot’s watch with a device developed by the brand’s Experimental Engineering Division to protect the movement from extreme shocks. Not any only shock, mind you, but acceleration forces in excess of 30,000Gs (akin to the speed of a battleship shell) that no pilot could survive. Today’s […]
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Jaeger-LeCoultre unveils a spectacular pink gold Reverso with a minute repeater powered by a new, fully integrated and shaped in-house movement. Taking advantage of the sleek Art Deco geometry of the Reverso and its swivelling case with two faces, the Grande Maison showcases its refined artistic crafts with an elegant guilloché decoration on the front […]
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Piaget’s swank 15102 reference, better known as the Black Tie watch, captured the zeitgeist of the early 1970s with its oversized 45mm cushion-shaped gold case, dramatic sweeping gadroons and sleek black dial. Reputedly American Pop artist Andy Warhol’s favourite model, Piaget was given the green light last year to rename its cult watch the Andy […]
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Alpina, a subsidiary of the Citizen Group since 2016 – specializes in sports watches, while its sister brand Frederique Constant focuses on accessible luxury. Its core collections, the Startimer, Seastrong, and Alpiner, embody the adventurous spirit of aviation, sea exploration, and mountaineering. Within the Alpiner lineup, the Extreme series includes a chronograph, regulator, skeleton models, […]
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Roger Dubuis celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, a milestone that calls for a look back at its remarkable journey. While the brand’s history may not be long, it is undeniably rich and eventful. Today, however, the focus is on the latest revelation at Watches and Wonders Geneva: the Excalibur Grande Complication. This new timepiece […]
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While Chopard’s high-end L.U.C watches are built to outlast generations, the watchmakers and artisans who make the watches are not. Foresight is not a common virtue, but co-president Karl-Friedrich Scheufele is determined to pass the baton and prepare future generations of watchmakers. The watch unveiled today is a testament to his commitment. Celebrating the 200th […]
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IWC’s Ingenieur collection has been slated for growth this year, welcoming new sizes, materials, and complications. Representing the most compact member of the family to date, the new 35mm Ingenieur is a smart move to conquer more wrist sizes in the ever-expanding unisex sector. Presented in three variants, the smallest descendants of Gérald Genta’s design […]
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Grand Seiko got into the spotlight in 2023 with the launch of its first-ever mechanical chronograph, the Evolution 9 Tentagraph SLGC001, filling the gap in the brand’s 60-year legacy of precision watchmaking – surprisingly, it was missing one until recently. For 2025, Grand Seiko introduces the Tentagraph SLGC007 – a near-identical successor to the original, […]
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