Category: High-end Watches

H. Moser & Cie. Launches The Swiss Mad Watch, The Most Swiss Watch Ever (With A Swiss Cheese Case… Yes!) & The Venturer Swiss Mad

Please read Swiss Mad, not Swiss Made. Recently, the high-end, yet irreverent, watchmaker H. Moser & Cie. reported to us their wish to get rid of the “Swiss Made” inscription on the dial of their watches, as well as the upcoming launch of the most Swiss Watch ever created. Yes, as few might know, “Swiss Made” doesn’t mean 100% made in Switzerland. And this is something Edouard Meylan (the brand’s CEO) sees as a betrayal towards customers. Well, now that we know the announcement, it is time to see what all that noise really means. The answer sits in two watches, including a concept piece, the Swiss Mad Watch, a 100% Swiss Made watch, from Swiss Materials (including a Swiss cheese case and a Swiss cow strap…) and the Venturer Swiss Mad, a more traditional commercial piece, yet 100% Swiss Made too. And if you want to know, yes it is bold, yes it irreverent, yes it is a gimmick, yes it is kind of stupid, but, (oh yes!) it is a superb move to shake up that sleeping industry.

9 years ago

Hands-On With The Impressive Armin Strom Edge Double Barrel Rose Gold

Recently, our contributor Peter took an in-depth look (to say the least) at a watch, and he immediately loved it. Presented at Baselworld 2016, later reviewed in our lines, the Armin Strom Edge Double Barrel, in its first execution (in black PVD-coated steel), is a robust sports watch combined with a real, technical and impressive haute horlogerie movement – as usual for the brand, with a high degree of skeletonization and of decoration. Later this year, the brand introduced the rose gold version, and today we take a closer look at it – and you’d be surprised how a change of material can transform a watch…

9 years ago

SIHH 2017 – Introducing the Christophe Claret Maestro

As the SIHH is getting closer to us, some new watches are being introduced, but not only from the usual suspects (Richemont Group brands) but also from independent watchmakers that are exposing at the ‘Carré des Horlogers’. Christophe Claret is one of them, and as you might know, the brand is not shy in creating impressive piece of haute horlogerie. For their second participation to the SIHH, they come with a watch that could almost be seen as their ‘entry-level’, yet still fitted with the great expertise of this manufacture: the Christophe Claret Maestro.

9 years ago

SIHH 2017 – Introducing the Christophe Claret Maestro (updated with preview photos)

As the SIHH is getting closer to us, some new watches are being introduced, but not only from the usual suspects (Richemont Group brands) but also from independent watchmakers that are exposing at the ‘Carré des Horlogers’. Christophe Claret is one of them, and as you might know, the brand is not shy in creating impressive piece of haute horlogerie. For their second participation to the SIHH, they come with a watch that could almost be seen as their ‘entry-level’, yet still fitted with the great expertise of this manufacture: the Christophe Claret Maestro.

9 years ago

“What If” – The Laurent Ferrier Galet Square With My Dream Sector Dial

Yesterday, Brice wrote a piece about his own dream, a timepiece that is an answer to the question “What if… you could create your own dream watch?“. I must admit that his vision of a Panda Datograph in Steel was properly stunning. With that same question in mind, I imagined something different. Similar to yesterday’s dream watch, today’s “dream watch” will also be of significant quality (meaning price is not an object) and one that doesn’t exist. There’s one piece by Laurent Ferrier that I’m sure I’ll never be able to own. Sad, but true. And this brings us to the creation of this dream piece, a Laurent Ferrier Galet Square in Steel with that oh-so-lovely “Only Watch” sector dial (sort of).

9 years ago

“What If” – The A. Lange & Söhne Datograph in STEEL

What if… What if I could imagine and create my dream watch, the timepiece I always dreamed of, the watch that does not exist and that I’d love to own one day. Well, if you read Monochrome on a regular basis, you already know that we’re not shy when it comes to making predictions and using Photoshop to imagine potential Rolex watches (don’t worry, we will be doing it again for Baselworld 2017…). Today though we have something a bit different. I’ve been playing around with Photoshop again but not to create a potential Rolex, but rather to imagine my dream watch, a watch that I’m pretty sure will never exist but that haunts my nights. For me, it is the A. Lange & Söhne Datograph, the ultimate chronograph by my standards and a watch that I’ve dreamed about seeing in stainless steel… What if?

9 years ago

Pre-SIHH 2017 – IWC Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar Chronograph (and a bit about the future collection to come)

It has become sort of a tradition for IWC now. Each year, when the SIHH is about to open, we all know that the Schaffhausen-based manufacture will come with an entirely revisited collection. After the 2016 Pilot’s Watches, the 2015 Portugeisers, the 2014 Aquatimers and the 2013 Ingenieurs, it’s now time to revamp the other collection, a range of watches that might not be the most popular among a large audience: the Da Vinci. An icon of the 1980s, this watch has since seen many variations, being even dressed in tonneau-shaped case. For the SIHH 2017, IWC goes back to the roots of the collection and, to open the festivities, introduces the flagship version: the IWC Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar Chronograph.

9 years ago

The Nine Reviews You Loved Most in 2016 On Monochrome-Watches

Like we always say, Reviews are crucial for us, at Monochrome-Watches – and for two main reasons. First of all, in order to bring you the best possible stories and the most objective opinions, we need to have some proper wrist-time with the watches. It’s no debate here: wearing the watch and experiencing it for a while, as if we were owning it, is mandatory. It is our editorial philosophy. Second, as watch journalist, we believe that our reviews will influence your choices and for that reason, we think that you also need these reviews to make the most informed purchases. This is why, to close 2016, instead of showing you our most read stories, we’d like to show you the nine reviews you loved most this year on Monochrome-Watches (based on page-views and reactions).

9 years ago

Flowers of Evil – Skull Watches That Keep You On Time… Until It’s Your Time!

“A Carcass” (a must-read; here) is without doubt Charles Baudelaire’s most infamous poem, exploring the idea that beauty can be found in even the most morbid scenes. Like Baudelaire’s “Flowers of Evil“, skull watches attempt to extract beauty from horror. These magnificent mechanical works of art emblazoned with the face of death are at once both shocking and engaging. They also serve an important purpose, an allusion to which we can find in one of the last stanzas of the poem

9 years ago

A. Lange & Söhne: State of the Art Tradition

When our editor in chief, Frank, asked me if I was interested in photographing seven (yes 7) A. Lange & Söhne watches, I was as happy as a kid in a candy (electronic?) store. I took this opportunity to think about the brand. What differentiates Lange? What makes their watches unique? Why do people pay an enormous amount of money for a simple hand-wound watch? I will share my personal views as well as photos to illustrate my points. In many ways, Lange watches resemble – or exceed – the reliability, robustness, quality and performance of German cars. When you strap a Lange watch on the wrist, it is as if you just took your seat behind the steering wheel in a German luxury car.

9 years ago