Urwerk has been making remarkably avant-garde watches for two decades now, but it did not produce a reversible watch, until SIHH 2017. That’s where the watchmaker took the covers off the UR-T8, a limited edition to mark its 20th anniversary. Made of titanium, the front and back plates of the case are covered in an […]
As of now, you should know that H. Moser & Cie hallmark is all about purity – and a certain rebellious spirit about a touchy subject, Swiss Made… Purity goes all along Moser watches, from the uncluttered dials, to the lack of logos (that is simply unique in the industry) or the case. Yet, purity doesn’t mean plain, boring or void of interest. The brand achieved to be bold, with no artifices. How? With a distinctive shape, distinctive dials and, more surprising, bright colors. Following the spirit of the Funky Blue dial, which has become the brand’s signature, H. Moser & Cie. now introduces the Venturer Small Seconds XL, their largest watch, now in a “Purity” version and with an audacious Cosmic Green dial.
Vincent Calabrese unveils Kronos, a creation bridging two arts (watchmaking and painting) and two cultures (Greece and Japan). Designed in cooperation with Japanese painter Shinji Himeno, its dial features an allegoric micro-painting picturing Kronos, the Greek god of time, and is powered by Calabrese’s signature wandering-jumping hour
Watchmaker Urwerk has turned its engineering skills on a more fluid problem, tying up with Scotch whisky distillery Macallan to build a high-tech flask for its single malts. The Macallan x Urwerk Flask has a aluminium outer shell that contains a pair of titanium tanks, along with a stainless steel mouthpiece. Covered by a hinged, sprung screw cap, […]
Inspired by a jellyfish, the HM7 Aquapod is round, unlike other Horological Machines, but that’s the only thing that’s conventional about it. Though the jellyfish link is not immediately apparent, the Aquapod is immediately recognisable as a marine watch of sorts, with a rotating bezel that’s reminiscent of a lifebuoy. And like it or not, […]
What makes the beauty of an object? Its design… Right, that was an easy answer. But if look closely, what is hidden behind the word design? Like in architecture, watchmaking uses shapes, proportions, perspectives, empty and full parts, layers and steps, in order to create a three dimensional object. This is what Louis Moinet tends to do with their new watch, the Metropolis. More contemporary, more sculptural, still with an in-house movement of great quality but with a more aggressive price policy. The industry evolves and micro-brands, even the high-end ones, have to take the train on time. And that Metropolis is an interesting move.
Schwarz Etienne, a brand that flies under the radar for many but if you take the time to look a little closer, you will soon discover that it has a lot to offer. Its product offering is structured around three main collections (plus a few exclusive pieces). Recently we had the opportunity to visit to the manufacture, which was an eye-opening experience, to say the least. The brand has incredible potential and already boasts a surprisingly high level of vertical integration – in particular the in-house production of hairsprings with E2O innovations, their sister company located in the same facilities in La Chaux-de-fonds. That’s rare enough and it really needs an in-depth explanation.
UR for URWERK. T for Transformer. 8 for the motion of this reversible case. Add 20 for the 20th anniversary of the brand, and you’ll have the URWERK UR-T8, a watch that is just the concentrate of everything Martin Frei and Felix Baumgartner have created so far, everything they tried to express in their watches since 1997, everything they experienced in terms of style and way to indicate the time. The UR-T8 is all of that. It’s bold, it’s futuristic, it’s provocative, it’s highly unusual… It’s everything why we love URWERK, and more than that. See, we love it… but here is why.
When it has been launched, back in December 2015, we’ve been fairly surprised with the Ressence Type 5… In a very good way, this has to be said. For sure, a dive watch from Ressence was really not expected, however, when knowing the evolution of the concept initialized with the Type 3, it felt like a natural evolution. Apart from the cool display, this watch, thanks to its oil-filled dial, allowed to be the only mechanical dive watch with zero reflections underwater (and if you’re doubtful, see our field test here). Just between the SIHH and the upcoming Baselworld, Ressence now comes with a full titanium version of this watch, the Type 5G, and it has some arguments to convince. And after you saw it yesterday on all our competitors’ websites with press photos, we, at Monochrome, go hands-on with it.
First introduced in titanium with a black dial, then in a functional black-on-black guise, the Ressence dive watch is now given a restrained palette with the Type 5G that matches the face and the watch case, in keeping with the minimalist approach of the Belgian watchmaker. The dials and bezel of the Type 5G are in […]