Almost two years ago, we published a story about two young and talented watchmakers coming out of A. Lang & Söhne to set up shop for themselves. Johannes Kallinich and Thibault Claeys, founders of the Kallinich Claeys watchmaking atelier, were hard at work to develop and build their first watch, the Einser Zentralsekunde. On paper, […]
Flying higher, longer and faster than any aircraft that came before it, the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird is a legendary marvel of engineering. So much so, that it still inspires people to this day. People like Martin Frei and Felix Baumgartner, the gifted duo behind the hyper-technical independent watchmaker Urwerk. Their latest is the EMC SR-71, […]
Have you ever found yourself torn between two rather similar-looking watches and not knowing which one to go for? I’m pretty sure we’ve all experienced this at some point, maybe even two watches from the same brand. The choice of a blue or green dial, or any other colour for that matter, can already be […]
It’s common knowledge that the vast majority of watches use centrally mounted hands continuously rotating 360 degrees in a clockwise direction to tell time down to the hours and minutes, and most often the seconds. Often the seconds indication is moved to 6′ or 9′ and has its own separate sub-dial, but that pretty much […]
Konstantin Chaykin’s work as an independent watchmaker is probably mostly known by his ever-growing collection of Wristmons. This series of watches, starting out with the playful Joker watch in 2017 but getting more and more creative and complex plays into the Pareidolia effect. This is the tendency for people to see faces or other patterns […]
Vacheron Constantin taps into a more creative vein with the latest quartet of watches celebrating ancient Chinese culture. Emerging from Vacheron’s Métiers d’Art atelier, the four models offer two different interpretations of the legendary Chinese motif known as the “Seawater Cliff”. The motif, which appeared in the 14th century, represents the sea crashing against steep […]
The ref. 5236P, unveiled by Patek Philippe in 2021, is a veritable time capsule inspired by the linear perpetual calendar pocket watches of the 1950s and 1960s. Think of the ref. 725/4 with its American digital perpetual calendar or the ref. 699, which also boasted a minute repeater. The magic lies in its calendar display, […]
Since the start of MONOCHROME almost two decades ago, we have come a very long way. Through almost 10,000 articles, we have brought you some of the most amazing watches from all corners of the world. Despite the fact we always publish our stories in English and work with an international team, we are of […]
As a platform dedicated to fine watchmaking and a deeply rooted passion for independent watchmaking, the Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants (or AHCI) is very close to our hearts. This institution, preserving the traditions of watchmaking by forming a community of watchmakers, was founded by Svend Andersen and Vincent Calabrese. It has brought forth many illustrious […]
Master watchmaker Svend Andersen has been a renowned figure on the independent watchmaking scene since 1980. The Danish watchmaker’s ingenious and original approach to complications, including his sophisticated calendar watches and world timers, has captivated collectors and top-tier watch brands for years. To celebrate his 40th anniversary in watchmaking in 2020, Svend Andersen produced a […]