Women’s Watch Wednesday – The Spectacular And Resilient Montres KF EI8HT Lady

Montres KF is an independent watch brand created by German master watchmaker Karsten Fraessdorf in 2016. Renowned for his hyper-resilient, exposed, oversized and patent-protected Spirograph Tourbillon, Fraessdorf’s watches are packed with technical solutions, allowing them to be worn and enjoyed on a regular basis. The latest model to issue from his La Chaux-de-Fonds workshop is […]

Independent Watchmaking – The New Montres KF EI8HT

If you follow the world of independent watchmaking, you are probably familiar with Karsten Fraessdorf and his work for Fabrication De Montres Normandes, Heritage Watch Manufactory, Leroy… without mentioning other behind-the-scene developments for watch brands. The German master watchmaker is one of those rare talents capable of creating watches literally from the ground up, including […]

3 years ago

Just Because – The Best of Indie Watchmaking Seen Through the Casebacks – Part 2

Following Part 1 of this journey through the fascinating world of independent watchmaking, which we published last week, we continue today with the second part of this collection of superb watches… Instead of looking at the watches in the conventional way from the dial side, we’re looking at them from the reverse side.  And seeing […]

4 years ago

Baselworld 2019 – Best of Show, including a Plethora of Tourbillons and another World-Record

Baselworld 2019 has come to an end. As always, it has been a rather packed event, despite a strange impression with the absence of Swatch Group’s brands, several other brands and an unusually high number of brands presenting their watches in different locations around the official ‘Messe’. If the mood was good overall, the future of the show was on everyone’s lips with speculations surrounding the attendance of the LVMH brands, Breitling and many more to the next editions of the fair. Now the dust has settled, team MONOCHROME looks back and chooses the best of show…

5 years ago

Baselworld 2019 – Montres Karsten Frässdorf Spirograph Tourbillon Sport – a Unique Balance Wheel with Auxiliary Thermo-Compensation

If you are a regular reader of MONOCHROME, then you are no doubt already familiar with Karsten Frässdorf. After working behind the scene for several brands, the German Master watchmaker decided to create his own brand. His first creation with Montres Karsten Frässdorf, the Spirograph Tourbillon, is an innovative Tourbillon fit for daily wear and […]

5 years ago

Independent Watchmaking – Sitting at the Workbench with Karsten Frassdorf and an In-Depth Look at the Spirograph Tourbillon’s Calibre 360

If you are a regular reader of Monochrome-watches you might be familiar with Montres KF’s Spirograph, a wristwatch that can withstand shocks up to 5,000G and magnetic fields up to 1,000 Gauss. Inside the 45mm Spirograph is the calibre 360, a hand-wound movement regulated by an eye-catching and unique oversized tourbillon. We sat at the […]

6 years ago

Review – Spirograph Tourbillon by Karsten Fräßdorf – a tourbillon for proper daily use

I said it before and I’m saying it again, my wrist is rather lucky, as it gets to wear quite some extraordinary timepieces. For the past three months, I’ve been wearing the Spirograph from master watchmaker Karsten Fräßdorf, and it has been worn as a daily beater. And that was exactly what Karsten asked me: “Wear it as your daily watch and do not treat it as a fragile timepiece only because it features a large tourbillon“. Wearing the Spirograph proved to be a sheer pleasure and I enjoyed that huge tourbillon more than I ever thought I would. In fact, it has been one of the nicest watches I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing, ever. Here’s a full review of the Montres-KF Spirograph, a tourbillon wristwatch that can easily withstand shocks up to 5,000G and magnetic fields up to 1,000 Gauss (and that makes it a perfect tourbillon for everyday wearing.)

6 years ago