Monochrome
Every week, we look at countless watches to feature in our Buying Guide, narrowing them down based on a common theme such as colour, material, complication or case shape. Scouting what fits within our selected topic at hand sometimes reveals surprising trends, and this time, we reached an eye-opening conclusion. In the field of relatively […]
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It was twice around the clock again in Daytona, Florida, as the 2025 edition of the Rolex 24 at Daytona kicked into high gear this past Saturday at 01:40 pm local time. The stage for the 63rd running of the legendary endurance race is of course the Daytona International Speedway. The world’s top drivers lined […]
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When you read magazines like MONOCHROME, stepping into the (absolutely fascinating) world of mechanical watchmaking can be frightening. Not only can these watches be hard to understand, filled with complications and complex mechanical devices, but the prices at which most luxury watches are offered generate a “glass ceiling” effect that’s hard to break. There is […]
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Shellman is a renowned watch retailer in Tokyo, represented by independent brands and a curated selection of vintage watches. Over the years, Shellman has commissioned limited editions from refined Swiss brands like Habring and Andersen Genève. The latest collaboration is with Raymond Weil, and the watch selected by Shellman is the Millesime Centre Seconds, the […]
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The cool Rado Captain Cook Over-Pole is back! Dating back to models from the 1960s, this evocative name was used for several Rado models, in particular, travel watches with a world time bezel – while the Captain Cook name immediately refers to the brand’s vintage-inspired dive watches. The Over-Pole came back in 2022 as a […]
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The Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry has just released their export statistic for 2024 – December ended the year on a negative note with exports down 5.4%. For the year as a whole, the Swiss watch industry exports recorded a decrease of 2.8% compared to 2023. Following two years of robust growth and all-time […]
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Fire can be an absolutely devastating, unforgiving thing. We’ve all seen the harrowing images coming from LA, where wildfires have been wreaking havoc through large swathes of the coastal city. Thousands of people have lost everything, abandoning their homes and lives to escape the fire, with many tragically losing their lives as well. In a […]
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Born in 1962, the Rado Diastar marked the brand’s incursion into the exciting territory of innovative materials. Combining carbide tungsten, hard metal and faceted sapphire crystal with a retro-futuristic case, the Diastar was the first step in Rado’s journey into the world of high-tech ceramics and other exciting materials. Celebrating its 60th birthday in 2022, […]
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Fears Watch Company, initially founded in 1846 in Bristol (UK), thrived as a family-run business for over a century before closing its doors in 1976. In 2016, Nicholas Bowman-Scargill, the great-great-great-grandson of its original founder, revived the brand, bringing new life to this historic name. Nicholas happens to be an early supporter and friend of […]
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It’s the time of year when businesses announce their financial performance. Following Richemont and LVMH, Swatch Group has just released its 2024 results. In a challenging environment for the watch industry, the sales of Swatch Group – the Swiss powerhouse and owner of Omega, Longines or Tissot – were CHF 6,735 million, down 12.2% at […]
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Once upon a time (in 2019, to be precise), Grand Seiko released a quartet of watches known as the Sekki collection, models inspired by seasonal changes with colourful dials. Issued exclusively in the US and then made available worldwide, a single model dominates the Heritage 62GS Sekki collection, the much-hyped pink-toned SBGA413 Shunbun, closely followed […]
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Let’s get up close and personal… We have already explored the revamped IWC Ingenieur Automatic 40 in detail when it was launched in 2023, the same year that the Schaffhausen-based brand decided to give this long-lasting collection its 1976 Genta-inspired design back. More recently, what is now a strong contender in the luxury sports watch […]
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Panerai’s watches were born with saltwater in their veins. Designed for Italian Navy frogmen on the eve of WWII, Panerai’s rugged Radiomir not only timed their secret underwater missions and detonations, but its luminous radioactive radium-based paste lit up the murky depths. Panerai has always cultivated strong ties to all things nautical, including the purchase […]
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A watch that combines robustness and fine watchmaking – something we even put to the test in the wild, believe it or not – the H. Moser & Cie. Pioneer has been seen in a variety of editions since its introduction. Bright colours, appealing skeletonized haute horlogerie movements, and even a funky retrograde seconds display […]
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Maybe the latest Urwerk timepiece is not as bright-coloured as some other brand’s watches we’ve seen lately, but who would have thought that the signature monochromatic, for many years seemingly grey and black-coloured Urwerk catalogue would be adding so many different hues? Hunter Green is not exactly overly vibrant, certainly not as much as the […]
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Late last year, we reviewed the latest edition of David Candaux DC1, crafted in titanium. A few months earlier, we had the pleasure of sharing an interview with the talented independent watchmaker from Le Solliat in Vallée de Joux, who has earned a reputation for his exceptional craft, having contributed to the creation of ultra-complicated […]
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In the context of a global decline of the luxury goods demand, LVMH, the world’s largest luxury goods group, reported revenues of EUR 84.7 billion for 2024, +1% on an organic basis, after a record performance in 2023. In the fourth quarter, organic revenue growth came to 1%, accelerating with respect to the third quarter. […]
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Under Manuel Emch’s capable and creative leadership, Louis Erard has evolved from relative obscurity to become an exciting player on the watch scene, offering original timepieces by contemporary artists, designers and watchmakers. However, what makes Louis Erard’s doubly attractive is the combination of original content with accessible prices. The notion that a handcrafted Grand Feu […]
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While primarily known for its minimalistic watch displaying the time thanks to a single hand (which is used to display the hours mainly, and a deliberately vague indication of the minutes), MeisterSinger is no stranger to additional complications, in particular astronomical and calendar features – admitidely, a great match with slightly old-school and poetical single-hand […]
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It’s now widely known that Citizen can be pretty aggressive when it comes to its price policy. Whatever the range of watches you’re looking at, you’ll always end up with great value for your money – the EUR 299 Tsuyosa is a great example, but so are the Promaster Automatic Diver or the Challenge Diver […]
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Being a watch enthusiast/collector often requires looking at things with more than a little bit of romance. To make us want to keep acquiring the same tiny combination of metal, gears and springs over and over and over again, a watch must be more than the sum of its parts. Sometimes, that means looking back […]
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In what might be considered a surprising change of course, Ulysse Nardin announces its collaboration with Amoureuxpeintre, an edgy urban fashion designer who has been invited to reinterpret the Blast Skeleton X. Adopting the stark minimalism associated with Amoureuxpeintre’s design philosophy, the grey monochromatic suit and blurry, frosted windows of the Blast Skeleton X give […]
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One of the most publicised adventurers and a Panerai ambassador for around two decades, Mike Horn has been known to push the limits of his gears – watch included – to levels that you and I would probably never dare to imagine. Should his polar expeditions, high-altitude climbs or even underwater explorations be considered a […]
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“Guess what? I got a fever… and the only prescription is more Salmon Dials!” It could be our horological equivalent of SNL’s famous “More Cowbell!” sketch with Christopher Walken. If you don’t know what that is, I strongly urge you to Google it and then come back here to continue reading. Regardless, it’s no secret […]
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It’s a tradition at the start of every year that the world’s best and most ambitious adventurers on two and four wheels trek to the Saudi Arabian desert. The venue is the famous Dakar Rally, the most gruelling off-road endurance race on the calendar. While no longer a contest starting in Paris and finishing in […]
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Iterations are the name of the game. When a watch brand stumbles upon a successful design for a timepiece, it would be fiscally foolish not to try and build upon it. What that means in the tiny world of watches is usually tiny little upgrades, or more often than not, not even upgrades but more […]
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Nomos, the independent German watch brand based in Glashütte, the cradle of Germany’s finest watchmaking traditions, was founded in 1990 and has earned a merited reputation for high-quality craftsmanship, in-house movements and minimalist designs. As the largest producer of mechanical watches in Germany, Nomos is also keen to lend a helping hand to humanitarian associations […]
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One of France’s oldest family-owned and run luxury companies, Hermès started life in 1837 as a producer of harnesses and saddles in Paris. Renowned for its impeccable artisanal craftsmanship and intrepid artistic flair, Hermès manages to endow its watches with a singular dash of poetry. The equestrian-inspired profile of the Arceau, which has hosted poetic […]
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For the independent watchmaking brand MING, the deep-sea adventures began a few years back when the company released its 18.01 Abyss Concept, followed by the 18.01 H41 Titanium models, both with a 1000m water-resistance, both a step away from the dressy lineup MING was known for at the time. Last year, based on the 37 […]
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Gerald Charles, the watch brand founded by the late watch designer Gérald Genta in 2000 and now in the hands of Federico Zivani, celebrates its 25th anniversary with two special editions of its flagship Maestro watch. As a brand that relies on one case design alone, it is surprising how much variety it has introduced […]
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