Category: independent watchmaking

Hands-on – The new Brellum Wyvern Manufacture Limited Edition

If you are a regular reader of MONOCHROME, you are probably familiar with Brellum. This young micro-brand was launched two years ago by Sebastien Muller with the Duobox, a cool, retro-inspired chronograph powered by COSC-certified Valjoux 7750 movements. After this first (and rather successful) attempt with a sporty chronograph, it is time for the brand to expand the collection with a new classic watch, the Brellum Wyvern Manufacture.

7 years ago

Just Because – The Car Clock by John-Mikael Flaux

There is an inextricable link between cars and watches. It isn’t as simple as saying that “People who love watches also love cars” or the other way around, there is something more to it. Something deeper. Perhaps it is the immediate sense of belonging that a fine watch or fine car brings out in their owners? You fall in love with one marque and that’s it. Once you “join the team” you stay with the team for a long, long time. It isn’t about brand loyalty – people switch brands; billions of marketing dollars are spent to ensure we do. It is about the “thing”; the watch, the car, music, a whole list of things that enter our lives that we continue to obsess over until we are too old and too grey to obsess anymore. It could be Ferrari as easily as it could be Audemars Piguet as easily as it could be Manchester United.

7 years ago

Video – Inside Bovet, a Unique Manufacture of High-End, Astronomical Watches

The independent watchmaking “scene” is vast and comprises dozens of brands, ateliers and one-man shows. What still impress us here, at MONOCHROME, is how those watchmaking brands manage to create passion and to differentiate with striking products. Among them is Bovet, a unique manufacture with impressive horological skills, superbly decorated movements and a focus on astronomy, creating watches like no others. Today, we’re in Motiers, at the brand’s headquarters, to talk with owner Pascal Raffy about these fascinating timepieces.

7 years ago

First Look – The new Grönefeld 1941 Principia – Simpler, Automatic, Still Superbly Finished

It took Tim and Bart Grönefeld, the charismatic “Horological Brothers”, almost three years to reveal a new watch. Certainly, they are not the most prolific watchmakers when it comes to novelties – meaning that when something new is coming to the market, we’re quite enthusiastic. While all of their previous creations feature a complication (a tourbillon, an oversized dead-beat second or a remontoire), their new watch is a simple automatic 3-hander. But we prefer to avoid the word “entry-level” here as, clearly, the new Grönefeld 1941 Principia is all about (very) fine watchmaking.

7 years ago

Hands-on – H. Moser & Cie. Pioneer Tourbillon – Made to be Worn

H. Moser & Cie. unveils its latest take on the flying tourbillon complication housed in a stainless steel Pioneer case ready to battle the elements. This is not Moser’s first tourbillon – it has already appeared in the upmarket Endeavour, Venturer and Swiss Alp Watch collections – nor is it the first complication to reach the Pioneer family, which hosts a QP complication. The novelty here is the combination of a one-minute flying tourbillon and its corresponding automatic movement inside the sportier case of the Pioneer. Forming part of Moser’s SIHH 2019 novelties, the brand that likes to row against the tide of convention has decided to beat the flurry of pre-SIHH teasers and puts the Pioneer Tourbillon for sale on the market today. Shielded by its beefy 42.8mm steel case that is water-resistant to 120m, this is Moser’s concept of an ATV tourbillon that can take on the challenges of everyday wear and tear – and also the brand’s most accessible tourbi ever.

7 years ago

Hands-on – The Impressive Armin Strom Masterpiece 1 Dual Time Resonance

In 2016, Armin Strom impressed us with a brand-new watch featuring a stunning complication. Armin Strom is a watch brand that was known mainly for its bold skeletonized movements, however mostly time-only watches. But with the Mirrored Force Resonance, the brand showed unprecedented horological skills. This year, the brand pushes the concept even further, not only by using the concept of Resonance but by using the double-balance construction to create a Dual Time watch. Two movements in one watch… Meet the Armin Strom Masterpiece 1 Dual Time Resonance.

7 years ago

In-Depth – Jacob & Co – The Method Behind the Madness

One of the most sensational watches presented at Baselworld 2018 is a creation by Jacob & Co. The uber-complex Twin Turbo Furious is a beast of a watch featuring an insane, staggering combination of complications: a double high-speed triple axis tourbillion; a decimal minute repeater; and a mono-pusher chronograph with reference time indication! For some, the discovery that the most complex watch of Baselworld was a ‘Jacob the jeweller’ creation came as a surprise, for others who have been following the brand, the Twin Turbo Furious is representative of the spectacular, mind-bogglingly complicated watches the brand is capable of producing.

7 years ago

Value Proposition – The anOrdain Model 1 – With Enamel Dial Hand-Made in Glasgow, Scotland

There are a lot of new watch brands coming to market these days. And I mean A LOT. Some go down the popular Kickstarter route, whilst others – like the brand we’re looking at today – prefer to do things the old-fashioned way. The one thing they all share in common is a desire to differentiate themselves from each other and from other established players. It’s a tall order in what is a very crowded market, and many never quite get there. Newcomer, AnOrdain, from Glasgow, has adopted a decidedly simple approach to standing out from the crowd and so far, it seems to be working. Today, we’re getting hands-on with their first watch, the Model 1, which features a stunning enamel dial made in-house.

7 years ago

Introducing – HYT H20 Brown Limited Edition

With HYT, an independent watchmaker headquartered in Neuchatel, time is fluid. Since 2012, it has measured time in the most unconventional way. Its flow is displayed by the continuous movement of a coloured and a transparent liquid in a capillary. Several models have been presented since the inception of the brand and here’s the latest creation: the HYT H2O Brown.

7 years ago

Just Because – Salmon Dial Watches and Limited Editions by Hodinkee and Revolution

Last week Hodinkee introduced a limited edition Grönefeld 1941 Remontoire, and, Revolution & The Rake announced a limited edition Chopard L.U.C 1860. Both superb dress watches, time-only, white metal case and… a salmon colour dial! Now, I’m a sucker for salmon dials, especially in a white metal case and I think both these limited editions are to die for. And both actually pack more than meets the eye, so all the more reasons to have a closer look.

7 years ago