Category: independent watchmaking

Introducing – MB&F’s New Legacy Machine, the Split Escapement or the LM-SE

Recently, MB&F announced the final edition of their most successful watch in the “Legacy Machine” Collection, a sort of farewell version of the LM1, with a stainless steel case and a brown dial, to close a 6-year story. But this watch was not intended to be seen as the end of the road, because, as ever Max Büsser and his friends had something new in mind, a new watch that could possibly replace the LM1 in the heart of collectors (if ever this watch needed to be replaced)… Here is the new MB&F LM SE – Legacy Machine Split Escapement – straight on the market in 4 different versions, and with a movement that has some stories to tell.

8 years ago

MB&F HM8 with Cassandra Legendre – The Most Artistic and Offset Piece of Only Watch 2017

Only Watch 2017, the much-awaited 7th edition of the biennial fundraiser for research on muscular dystrophy, is fast approaching. Only Watch kicked-off their world tour in Monaco on the occasion of the Yacht Show before heading to Bangkok, Singapore, Dubai, Istanbul, Hong-Kong, Taipei, New York and Los Angeles. 50 one-of-a-kind watches will be auctioned by Christie’s in Geneva, Hotel des Bergues, on November 11th, 2017. Today, we take a closer look at the MB&F Horological Machine N°8 ‘Only Watch’, made with young artist Cassandra Legendre.

8 years ago

Review – Dissecting the Laurent Ferrier Montre Ecole in Steel to Understand the Meaning of Haute-Horlogerie

This article first started its life as a classical review, as we like to do here, on Monochrome. However, as I was drawing it in my mind, I quickly understood that the Laurent Ferrier Montre Ecole was a perfect piece to do something slightly different, to write an article with a different structure. In fact, we often have questions about how high-end watches can cost such incredibly high prices. Well, today, by properly dissecting this Montre Ecole, I’ll tend to explain why a 3-hand watch in stainless steel can be priced CHF 35,000 – and indeed, it’s all about the smallest details…

8 years ago

Introducing Octopod, The Newest, Aquatic-Inspired Table Clock By MB&F and L’Epée

MB&F has always been built around collaborations with other watchmakers/designers/friends. All about the brand turns around collaborations, which led to the creation, over the 11 years of existence of the brand, of some of the boldest watches of modern days. But not only… These joint-ventures also brought some ultra-cool pieces, such as music machines or timekeeping UFOs, a mix between art sculptures and table clocks. After Destination Moon, Balthazar or Melchior, all of them inspired by space and sci-fi, here is Octopod, the newest collab table-clock made with L’Epée 1839 – and this time we move into aquatic themes.

8 years ago

Hands-On – Urban Jürgensen Adds Handsome Grenage Dials to the Reference 1142

While mass-luxury can sometimes be loud and exuberant, proper high-end, exclusive and hand-made watches don’t need such profusion. As we always tend to demonstrate here, at Monochrome-Watches: “the devil is in the details”. A garde-temps can be apparently simple, almost minimalistic, and however, it can reveal splendid, yet almost invisible, details that make it far more precious than a diamond-paved, full gold watch. As we already reported, Urban Jürgensen timepieces are to be placed in such a category, and the new Reference 1142 with Grenage dials might even push the idea one step further.

8 years ago

Women’s Watch Wednesday – GoS Watches Unveils All-New Sarek Ladies Line for 10th Anniversary

Having covered the watch and jewelry world as a journalist for more than three decades, I have had the great fortune of watching many start-up brands continue on to success. GoS Watches is one such brand. Highly unusual in its offerings, GoS Watches celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, and in honor of that anniversary, the brand unveils its first timepiece dedicated to women: the GoS Sarek Lady.

8 years ago

Introducing – URWERK UR-105 CT Streamliner, The NYC-Inspired Targa Watch (Hands-On)

As some of you might know (and we told you here, on Mono’), independent brand URWERK is celebrating this year its 20th anniversary. Hard to believe, but the baby has grown up to become an adult… Will that means becoming serious and void of creativity? Certainly not. This year, the brand presents the URWERK UR-105 CT Streamliner, a modern watch inspired by the earliy years of the creators, Martin and Felix. A look back over the shoulder, but not with nostalgia or regret.

8 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.

8 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)

8 years ago