We all know that there are tons of brands that are dormant or defunct that are deserving of a revival, and a number of those are actually being brought back through passion and perseverance. One brand to add to that list is Monceau, a once-respected Swiss watchmaking name now in the hands of Simon Ryan. […]
Here, at MONOCHROME, we write about watches. That’s our job. However, before that became what we do on a daily basis, we all shared a sheer passion for watches, with, of course, our personal preferences. Our founder, Frank, is well known to be a fan of independent watchmakers and monochromatic watches (obviously…) I, for instance, […]
Voutilainen, Sarpaneva, Laine… Just three names coming from Finland that have made an impact on independent watchmaking the world over. But it doesn’t end there, as recently we’ve uncovered young and exciting Finnish watchmakers like Kortela Valta and Reima Koivukoski. And there seems to be something special in the water in the “Land of a […]
If you own mechanical Swiss watches, one of them potentially came to you with a COSC chronometer certificate. But not everyone knows exactly what this certificate means. The COSC is the Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres or the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute. COSC certifies Swiss-made movements or watches as chronometers (not to be confused […]
anOrdain, the Glasgow-based independent watchmaker celebrated for reviving enamel artistry in contemporary timepieces, now broadens its repertoire with the Model 2 Porcelain. Building on the success of its Model 2 with the vitreous enamel dials, this new chapter sees anOrdain take a step into the world of true porcelain, developed over a three-year period in […]
For a retro-styled chronograph, the beauty lies in mechanical and historical details. With the new Chronographe Télémètre, Angelus again reaches into its storied archives to recreate the past and distil its essence into a remarkably fresh and undeniably refined timepiece. The latest addition to the La Fabrique collection, the Chronographe Télémètre debuts in three variations: […]
A young French brand, Awake Watches was founded by Lilian Thibault in 2019 with the idea to raise awareness of our planet’s limited resources. From there, the brand diversified with NASA-themed models or watches with a dial inspired by the natural geometry of a sunflower. Last year, Awake released Son Mài, its first permanent collection […]
In 2014, Arnold & Son marked 250 years of John Arnold’s horological legacy with the debut of the Double Tourbillon Escapement, a timepiece that introduced a mechanically ambitious concept: two independent time displays, each driven by its gear train and regulated by its tourbillon. This duality, both technical and aesthetic, was made possible through separate […]
Following the detonation of Hublot’s extroverted Big Bang chronograph in 2005, the collection gradually expanded with several sub-families unified by their bold designs and distinctive fusion of materials. A couple of these sub-collections, like the Spirit of Big Bang with its tonneau-shaped case and the more recent Square Bang, departed from the round shape of […]
Pascal Raffy’s acquisition of the historical Swiss watch brand Bovet in 2001 was accompanied by an ambitious dream of reviving the brand as a temple of decorative arts and Haute Horlogerie. Towering above conventional watchmakers with its complex in-house movements, dramatically staged complications, and lavish artistic flourishes, Bovet’s watches are as unique as they are […]