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Today, 29 February 2024, is a pretty special day for calendar watches… and specifically perpetual calendar timepieces. To mark the leap year, Blancpain is releasing a new version of its Villeret Quantième Perpétuel – or Villeret Perpetual Calendar – an elegant and functional available already in steel, red gold or a limited edition in platinum. […]
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With the addition of the Free Bridge models to the Bridges family in 2020, Girard-Perregaux articulated its vision, stating that “with these models, our master watchmakers have reimagined the company’s famous Bridges, first seen in the 1860s“. The goal was to create a seamless connection between tradition and modernity, tradition being the prominent movement bridges […]
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Hermès, a French powerhouse of everything luxury that is still mostly owned by the direct descendants of the founder (the Hermès dynasty and the Dumas family), is in a class of its own. The same goes when it comes to the Group’s watch division, Hermès Horloger. A discreet giant of the watch industry, Hermès has […]
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American designer Ralph Lauren has forged an emporium on his vision of laid-back sophistication carefully choreographed in settings designed to evoke a certain lifestyle. Ralph Lauren’s preppie collegiate apparel incarnated by the Polo shirt of 1971, for instance, was equated with the game of polo, and his Safari apparel collection of 1984 harnessed the designer’s […]
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The world of independent watchmaking has always been a place of passion, inspiration and excitement for us. It has been at the heart of MONOCHROME from the get-go, and even today we find joy in discovering new and intriguing watchmaking adventures from all corners of the world. This time we stop in Morbihan, France, to […]
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It’s been a while since we last saw Clarkson, Hammond and May, whether on screen or here, at MONOCHROME. A few days ago, Amazon Studios unveiled the second to last episode of the three middle-aged men’s car show, The Grand Tour. Combining this and the fact that Top Gear has been taken off air by […]
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Louis Erard continues its path onwards and upwards with yet another artistic iteration of its Excellence Petite Seconde. A flagship model at Louis Erard since 2020, this model is an attractive dress watch with a small seconds counter available in 39mm and 42mm cases. The uncluttered dial of the Petite Second has been treated to […]
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Pulling out all the stops before Watches & Wonders 2024, watchmaker Arnold & Son presents two skeletonised models powered by one of the world’s thinnest flying tourbillon movements, now dubbed Ultrathin Tourbillon Skeleton. While these new models have been treated to some design tweaks and a new tourbillon carriage, these editions of the Ultrathin Flying […]
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Operating out of La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, for several years now, the brand Edouard Koehn carries four distinct collections. Of particular interest is the model introduced in 2021 as part of the World Heritage line, blending two practical complications: world time and alarm functions. While several mechanical watches offer combinations of an alarm with a GMT […]
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Partnering with auctioneer Sotheby’s, Omega has recently offered for sale 11 unprecedented MoonSwatch Moonshine Gold suitcases. Surfing on these vibe of the Moonshine gold watches wasn’t the idea, however. There was a good cause behind these sales, as all of the auction proceeds are to be given to Omega’s long-term partner, Orbis International. And with […]
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Jack Mason is an up-and-coming microbrand with a growing portfolio of divers, chronographs and day/dates, and the latest Strat-o-Timer GMT is the most polished of the bunch. With a dive watch vibe and in-house regulation, it’s bold and stylish, with an accuracy rating well above the norm for the specific Miyota movement it uses. Of […]
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German watchmaker Union Glashütte aptly labels its Noramis collection as “charming classics”, a description that is hard to dispute. The collection offers an array of chronographs and sporty and car-racing-inspired timepieces, yet the Noramis Date stands out as the most quintessentially classic in the lineup. Despite a range of special editions boasting themed dials and […]
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When it comes to mechanical watchmaking, it’s common practice to split it down to the middle and group together manual winding watches on one end, and automatic ones on the other. But, as we will showcase in this Buying Guide, there’s a whole range of systems developed to provide energy to a watch. Sure, manual […]
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Did you ever get stopped in your tracks by a single moment or a picture? Did you ever have an irresistible urge to drop everything and frantically try and find out more about it? I have, and I’m sure a lot of you will also have such memories. For me, the most recent time it […]
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Some names carry more historical weight than others. Names like Daniel Roth, George Daniels or even Gerald Genta and Philippe Dufour represent a time when independent watchmaking was far from the hype and fame it is associated with today. These were times when the industry was on the verge of collapse. These were times when […]
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Talking about Bell & Ross means talking about square watches. The two go hand in hand, like a fine wine and a good piece of cheese. The brand became known for its circle-in-a-square design since the first BR 01 in 2005, and even today, Bell & Ross finds ways to keep it fresh and interesting. […]
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Hanhart, the German brand that started life in Switzerland as a manufacturer of stopwatches before relocating to Germany in 1902, gained renown as a producer of Flieger (pilot’s) chronographs. In the mid-1950s, Hanhart built the 417, the first pilot’s chronograph for the German Armed Forces, with an emphasis on robustness, reliability, and readability. In circulation […]
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Do you remember what you were doing at the age of 17? I bet it wasn’t something in the line of making watches, was it? I know I wasn’t at least, and it must be said that accomplishing your first commercially available watch at such a young age is quite remarkable! Even more so when […]
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Last year, we introduced the Ace Jewelers x Elka Watch Co Diversity Series, which artfully blended the cultural influences of the Middle East and Asia, presenting the four distinct watches showcasing Western Arabic, Eastern Arabic, Chinese, and Hebrew signed dials. Before that, we also delved into the narrative of the new Swiss brand led by […]
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With its watches featured in more than 500 major films since the 1930s, Hamilton has played a stellar role in Hollywood. The Frogman, Indiana Jones, Interstellar, Dead Poets Society… Just to name some of Hamilton’s appearances on screen. For its latest feature, Hamilton reveals its role in one of the most anticipated movies of 2024. […]
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Drawing from over 170 years of watchmaking heritage, Tissot frequently delves into its archives for inspiration. The company has a penchant for reviving iconic models that have left an indelible mark on its history. Consider any timepiece from the Heritage series – the 1973 Chronograph, the 1938 Heritage COSC, the Visodate, or the 1938 Telemeter […]
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Zenith’s Defy family is represented by seven sub-collections, including the recent Defy Skyline range. The name of the collection dates to Zenith’s 1902 line of robust pocket watches bearing the name ‘Defi’ only to pop up again in 1969 to distinguish the toughest member of the first El Primero references. For the Defy Skyline collection, […]
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Max Büsser might have a fervent imagination, capable of dreaming up spaceships to relay time in the most unusual way to his fellow earthlings, but he also has his feet firmly on the ground. Following the buzz surrounding the launch of the brand’s first perpetual calendar in 2015, a groundbreaking movement with a mechanical processor […]
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H. Moser & Cie. has developed its own interpretation of terms bandied around in the watch industry. Concept watches, in the terminology of most brands, are usually spectacular one-off vehicles to flaunt a new development, test the waters, and then decide if a tuned-down version makes it into serial production. At Moser, concept watches can […]
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The watch industry and its market are in constant evolution, with new brands appearing almost daily. The distribution has to face intense volatility due to the duplication of selling channels, the increased pressure of business combinations and the recent rise of certified pre-owned (CPO), which concerns Rolex but also many more brands. A handful of […]
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A phygital retailer with headquarters in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 10TenLabs operates a hybrid online business – with physical activities in the form of lounges/galleries by appointment and a club dedicated to showcasing independent watchmakers. In celebration of the opening of their galleries in Saudi Arabia, 10TenLabs is launching the Klepcys GMT Palm Najid […]
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The brainchild of Japanese independent watchmaker Hajime Asaoka, known for his high-end tourbillons or chronographs, Kurono Tokyo is the man’s vision of a more accessible brand. Still driven by an almost obsessive attention to detail, which somehow explains the low availability of these watches, Asaoka is here focussing on design more than watchmaking. Following the […]
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Minase, a Japanese microbrand specialising in complex watch cases with superlative handmade finishings, is gaining traction in Western markets. Based in Akita, Minase was born in 2005 as a spin-off of Kyowa, a specialist manufacturer of watchmaking tools. With a strict focus on the external parts of the watch, Minase relies on Swiss movements. The […]
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Amidst the rapid expansion of the steel sports watch with an integrated bracelet category, selecting the right (meaning available and accessible) timepiece has become increasingly complex. However, this watch by O&W; (the contemporary side of Ollech & Wajs) stands out distinctly amidst the influx of new models. Rooted in the legitimate design ethos of the […]
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Lorca is a new microbrand with an inaugural piece offering GMT functionality, which is always nice to welcome to the market. Its Canadian founder (with both Swiss and Canadian roots) now resides in New York, but the watch has a positively European style and Swiss-made designation. The movement is also a step above your typical […]
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