No need to remind you about the current situation and the gloomy atmosphere. So how about cheering yourself up by treating yourself to a little something to fulfil your love for watches in these sad moments? And because you’re probably in the same confinement situation as we are (most of the MONO’ team is…), let’s […]
The Calibre 11, or Chrono-Matic (depending on the brand using it) needs no introduction anymore. It is, with its two competitors, the Seiko 6139 and Zenith El Primero, amongst the most important movements ever created. Why? Because it was part of the earliest automatic chronograph movements launched in 1969 and celebrating its 50th-anniversary last year. […]
Hamilton is no stranger to the instrument watch. In fact, the brand owns multiple collections designed to remind its glorious past as one of the major providers of timepieces for military forces and watches for a specific purpose. This is true, for instance, with the military-inspired Khaki Field watches, a tribute to its mid-20thcentury archives (the […]
The 1970s was a decade of revolutions. The world made huge strides creating some of the most impactful inventions coupled with striking designs. Well, if you are 1970s-ready and seeking a healthy dose of nostalgia, Hamilton celebrates the 50th anniversary of the world’s first digital watch, the Pulsar. And it does it by re-editing this […]
Well-executed dials, decorated with classic Grand Feu enamel or elaborate guilloché, can add thousands to the price and define the character of a piece; however, there are times when the sheer absence of a dial can result in the most intriguing aesthetic. André-Charles Caron, legendary clockmaker for Louis XV of France in the mid-18th century, […]
Hamilton introduced the updated Khaki Field Mechanical in early 2018, which complemented the original hand-wound model without replacing it. The dial dropped the 3 o’clock date and adopted a vintage military aesthetic from its mid-20th century archives (the Hamilton “Hacked”). Back then, the now-Swiss brand was American and produced robust, reliable watches for the military […]
Certainly, EUR 5K or more will buy you superlative finishing, innovation, modern materials, superior precision… And status. Luxury watchmaking doesn’t come cheap – most of the time for obvious reasons – but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the desirable ticking sound of a mechanical watch with a much tighter budget. In fact, there are […]
Last week, we published an in-depth technical article on the ETA C07.811 movement, also known as the Powermatic. This time, we’ll show how versatile this movement and its evolutions really are. In this guide, we’ll take a look at three watches from Hamilton, Tissot and Certina with totally different concepts – dressy, diver or military […]
As 2019 is coming to an end, we’ve gathered the MONOCHROME redaction team and started to think about the watches that most impressed us this year. After a look at the best chronographs, the best dive watches and the best traveller’s watches, it is time to think value propositions… And in 2019, we’ve seen some pretty cool […]
1969 was a revolutionary year for watchmaking with the advent of the automatic chronograph with three distinct projects presented almost simultaneously. Fifty years down the line, Zenith has been celebrating the 50th anniversary of the El Primero with great fanfare, Seiko commemorates 50 years of automatic chronographs, and TAG Heuer pays tribute to its 50-year […]