While we won’t do the entire story of the Speedmaster once again here (look here for that), we can quickly talk about a complication that first appeared on this watch in 1985; the moonphase display… For a watch that went on the Moon and that is named the Moonwatch, it’s quite appropriate, don’t you think? […]
Independent watchmaking is the very fabric of MONOCHROME, the stuff that gets us excited the most, our literal raison d’etre. It’s been part of our DNA since the start of our platform, and naturally, we continue to advocate our love and bring you the best of the very best from Indie brands the world over. […]
Talking about calendar watches is a vast topic, which can range from fairly simple mechanisms to some of the most complex movements watchmakers have invented. Indeed, this category ranges from the classic triple calendar (mechanically, an evolution of the date complication with no self-adjustment of the length of the months) to the finest version, the […]
Since its founding, Rolex has been a powerhouse of Swiss watchmaking and the name is synonymous with luxury and success. Founded by Hans Wilsdorf as Wilsdorf and Davis in 1905, it wasn’t until 1908 that the patronym Rolex was registered as the brand name. Some of the most iconic models like the Submariner, Explorer, GMT-Master […]
Blancpain’s longstanding tradition of calendar complications stood it in good stead when it approached the complexities of fusing elements from Chinese and Gregorian calendars to produce the Villeret Traditional Chinese Calendar in 2012. Celebrating the Chinese New Year that kicks off on January 29, 2025, the latest Villeret welcomes the Year of the Wood Snake. […]
Calendar indications are a classic of watchmaking. But not all calendar watches are born equal. As our own Xavier Markl explained in this Technical Perspective article, calendar watches range from basic date displays to the ultra-rare and highly complex secular calendar mechanism, and everything in between. Next to the highly praised perpetual calendar, there is […]
Ochs und Junior (in reality, it should be written ochs und junior, no capital letters) was founded in 2006 by Ludwig Oechslin, Beat Weinmann and Kurt König – the former being one of the most revered inventors of the Swiss watch industry, the former Director of the International Museum of Horology and the man who […]
In 1893, Johannes Dürrstein, a distributor for A. Lange & Söhne, founded his own watchmaking business, which eventually evolved into what we now know as Union Glashütte. Today, the Swatch Group-owned brand is famous for keeping the traditions and aesthetics of Saxon watchmaking, offering a range of competitively priced models across seven collections. The 1893 […]
German entrepreneur Johannes Dürrstein opened a manufacture in Glashütte in 1893 to produce quality Glashütte watches at significantly lower prices than other manufacturers in town. Closed in 1933 and acquired by Swatch Group in 2000, Union Glashütte is proud of its Saxon watchmaking heritage and sticks to the founder’s policy of competitive prices. One of […]
Coinciding with Watches & Wonders Shanghai, Vacheron Constantin gets a head start on the 2025 Chinese New Year and releases two limited editions celebrating the Year of the Snake. An annual tradition now for the past 12 years, the brand’s richly decorated Chinese Zodiac pieces not only pay homage to China’s cultural traditions but highlight […]