Chopard’s Subtle L.U.C XPS Facelift Is A Nice Reminder of Just How Handsome It Is

Chopard is unveiling a subtle facelift of the dapper, comfortable and incredibly well-engineered L.U.C XPS. The good news is that it comes in different versions which will suit all tastes and pockets: from the unapologetically smart blued-dialed platinum version to the more affordable steel version, a great opportunity if you are looking for a high-end “haute-horlogerie” dress watch at an accessible price point. Here’s an early hands-on look.

7 years ago

Hands-On – Czapek Genève Quai des Bergues Guilloché

The name Czapek, once famed as a partner of what would become Patek Philippe, came back to the forefront of the scene late 2015 with the elegant and well-thought out Quai des Bergues. The watch was awarded the public prize at GPHG 2016, one of the most (if not the most) meaningful industry award ceremony, which is no small achievement. The collection reflects the Czapek ethics to propose finely crafted classics whose understated style offers a distinctive twist and a distinctive character.

7 years ago

News – GPHG 2017 Finalists Announced – Plus Our Analysis and Predictions

Every year in Geneva is the GPHG (Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève), or the so-called Oscars of the Watchmaking Industry, which celebrate the best watches of the year – the most advanced, the most innovative, the most creative timepieces – as well as the best in show, the Aiguille d’Or. Today we’re able to bring you, hot off the press, the complete list of finalists selected by the Jury. Only six watches remain in each of the twelve categories and, while the final jury selection will only been given on November 8th, 2017, we can already give you the full list, our impressions and our usual predictions about the possible awarded watches.

7 years ago

Introducing the Hautlence Vortex Gamma, With Exclusive Vibrant Case Material That Can Take On Any Color

Hautlence’s creations are bold… Very bold! They play on the shapes, on the display, on the mechanics, on the style and they can even create objects to be worn on the wrist that are not meant to be timepieces, simply because they don’t indicate the time (think Labyrinth or Pinball pieces). That’s just a different state of mind! And while we knew they could go quite mad with colours, they are now pushing boundaries even further, with the new Hautlence Vortex Gamma, featuring a vibrant case material that can take on any colour or shade and that can be bespoken to the delight of its clients.

7 years ago

A Full Month of Power on the Wrist – Hands-On with the A. Lange & Söhne Lange 31

For the average automatic or hand-wound watch, a power reserve longer than 3 days is already quite comfortable. Yet, some watches can do more… A week? Easy. Over 10 days? It exists. But what if your watch was able to run for a full month, without the need for you to wind it? Clearly, this would be massive – and it would be the same kind of useless necessity that is offered by a Bugatti Chiron and its 1,500bhp engine… Such a powerful watch exists and is named the A. Lange & Söhne Lange 31. And while it is not a proper novelty, the recently introduced white gold/grey dial version is the occasion for us to look back at this monument, and to all the issues that go along!

7 years ago

Ulysse Nardin Goes Back To Astronomical Watches with the Complex Moonstruck Worldtimer

Ulysse Nardin’s history is deeply linked to Marine chronometers, yet there’s another speciality, rather forgotten, that the manufacture masters (and which is not that far from Marine watches), the astronomical watches. Some may recall the mid-1980s Trilogy – Astrolabium Galileo Galilei (introduced in 1985), Planetarium Copernicus (introduced in 1988) and Tellurium Johannes Kepler (introduced in 1992). This year, UN introduces yet another astronomical watch, the Moonstruck Worldtimer, combining the movements of the moon and sun in relation to the Earth, as well as a map of the tides and (novelty) a world-time display. You say complex, we say exciting.

7 years ago

Review – Urban Jurgensen Reference Big 8 in Steel, An “Entry-Level” Full of High-End Details

Recently at Monochrome, we re-discovered a brand that properly “flies under the radar” but that, believe us, has so much to offer: Urban Jürgensen. We already showed you some of their watches, including the 1140 collection, with exclusive movement (and even a hypertechnical detent escapement) or the Jules Collection. But what can you get for less than 13,000 Euro when you open the door of an Urban Jürgensen retailer? This is the question we’ll answer today, with the “entry-level” proposition, the Urban Jürgensen Reference Big 8. (spoiler alert… you’ll get a hell of a lot)

7 years ago

American Brand RGM celebrates 25th Anniversary and invites you to visit their Pennsylvanian Manufacture

For those lovers of American horology, RGM has something very special going on in Mount Joy, PA, next month that you may not want to miss. The American brand, founded by watchmaker Roland Murphy in 1992, celebrates its 25th anniversary with an open house on September 15 and 16, 2017. Additionally, on Saturday the 16th, following the morning open house, visitors will join Murphy for a three-hour private tour of the nearby National Watch and Clock Museum (NAWCC) in Columbia, PA. There, RGM will unveil several new watches made to celebrate the quarter-of-a-century birthday.

7 years ago

Mechanical Exception – Six of the Most Stunning Technical Developments of the Past Months

Mechanical innovation is often regarded as the epitome of fine watchmaking. For whatever reason, I had been under the impression that we had not seen many new developments over the past few months. Well, looking back at some of the latest introductions, some impressive pieces of ingenuity have been presented. We take a look at with some of the most inventive, complex and intricate mechanisms of 2017.

7 years ago

Introducing the Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Collection Excellence Platine

In the past years Vacheron Constantin has been harmonizing the collections, and within the new line-up they kept some room for one very special collection, comprising only platinum watches. This is the Collection Platine Excellence and the newest piece within that collection is the Patrimony Collection Platine Excellence. Like the other models in the Collection Platine Excellence, it features the distinctive sand-blasted platinum dial that adds an ‘understated cool’ to it.

7 years ago