Category: High-end Watches

Introducing – Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Tourbillon Duoface

When you think Jaeger-LeCoultre, you immediately think Reverso. Thin, elegant, discreet and with the iconic reversible case. There had been some highly complex versions though in the collection, just like the Reverso Tribute Gyrotourbillon for the 85th anniversary of the model or minute repeaters. Today, La Grande Maison is bringing back complexity in its emblematic watch, with a slim, visually clean and elegant tourbillon model, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Tourbillon Duoface.

6 years ago

Independent Watchmaking – Laurent Ferrier Galet Minute Repeater (Hands-On)

Laurent Ferrier is known to be on the simple side of things. Well, at least, when it comes to the design. Indeed, when your 3-hand watches are fitted with a tourbillon double hairspring or a natural escapement (direct double impulse) and a micro-rotor, you can’t be named “simple” anymore. With its latest creation, the most complex in the collection so far, Laurent Ferrier doesn’t break his habits. Meet the impressively clean Laurent Ferrier Galet Minute Repeater.

6 years ago

Hands-on – Patek Philippe Ref.5270/1R Gets the Midas Touch

The combination of a chronograph and a perpetual calendar is the epitome of what Patek Philippe does best. This year we were regaled with not one but two 5270 references, one in platinum with a much-praised salmon-coloured dial and this rose gold model with an ebony dial. Dripping in 18k rose gold from head to toe, Patek’s Ref. 5270/1R is as different from its platinum brother as chalk and cheese. With the same sophisticated in-house manual-winding movement as its sibling, the 5270/1R comes with a sumptuous rose gold bracelet with the QP correctors artfully hidden in the links.

6 years ago

Independent Watchmaking – Sitting at the Workbench with Karsten Frassdorf and an In-Depth Look at the Spirograph Tourbillon’s Calibre 360

If you are a regular reader of Monochrome-watches you might be familiar with Montres KF’s Spirograph, a wristwatch that can withstand shocks up to 5,000G and magnetic fields up to 1,000 Gauss. Inside the 45mm Spirograph is the calibre 360, a hand-wound movement regulated by an eye-catching and unique oversized tourbillon. We sat at the […]

6 years ago

Women’s Watch Wednesday – Bovet Dimier Récital 11 Miss Alexandra: Once in a Blue Moon

Shattering the prevailing opinion that women just want a pretty dial and couldn’t care less about mechanical complications, Bovet presents a timepiece that seduces on the mechanical and aesthetic fronts – and how! Complicated yet feminine, poetic but not affected, Bovet’s red gold version of the Dimier Récital 11 Miss Alexandra puts on a blue-hued […]

6 years ago

In-Depth – The Art of Hand-Guillochage at Breguet, Preserving Traditional Crafts

A classic Breguet is easily recognizable, even at first glance. The fluted caseband, the welded lugs, the Breguet hands, the Breguet numerals, the secret signature are some of the immutable codes that make a Breguet a Breguet. The timelessness of the brand resides in a style that was established by Abraham-Louis Breguet over 2 centuries ago. The great watchmaker has got the most profound influence on the horological art. Some of his inventions changed the world of watchmaking: the perfecting of the self-winding with his ‘perpétuelle’ watches, the ‘pare-chute’ shock-protection system, the tourbillon or the Breguet hairspring to name a few. But today, we’ll focus on the art of guilloché or engine-turned dials.

6 years ago

Interview – Armin Strom’s Serge Michel and Claude Greisler talk about what makes the brand unique and what’s coming next

Armin Strom is not a usual brand. And this is not only due to the unique design of their watches. We’ve told it to you several times when reviewing their timepieces and when we took the opportunity to visit the manufacture – because Armin Strom is a truly integrated manufacture that produces most of the parts of a watch and that has a true innovation power (see the Resonance watch). Today, we take the time to talk with Serge Michel and Claude Greisler, owners of the brand, to talk about what makes this watch manufacture unique and what they have in mind for the future.

6 years ago

In-Depth – Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Qualité Fleurier (and what this quality label stands for)

Designed back in 1996 by Michel Parmigiani, the Toric made a comeback a few months ago with the Toric Chronometer. Displaying time and date only, it is much more than a traditional three-hander. And this year, it has been fitted with a tasteful guilloche dial and it has been submitted with success to the demanding Qualité Fleurier criteria. A good reason to go hands-on with this superbly crafted dress watch.

6 years ago