Industry News Archives - Page 37 of 47

Recap – The 5 Highlights of the Watchmaking Industry in 2017

As 2017 is coming to an end, and before the new horological season starts with the SIHH (as of January 15th, 2018), we thought it was important for you to understand what happened this year in the watchmaking industry. The idea here isn’t to focus on watches, we’ll have another recap article for that. In all fairness, 2017 has been an eventful year. From the game of musical chairs at Richemont to the comeback of growth, let’s make a throwback to the highlights of the watchmaking industry in 2017.

A Technical Perspective – The Flexure Revolution, Compliant Mechanisms applied to Watchmaking

In mechanical engineering, compliant mechanisms (monolithic or joint-less structures) are flexible mechanisms that transfer an input force or displacement to another point through elastic body deformation, using the elastic properties of matter to affect the motion of mechanical components. These monolithic, compact and precise components replace several mechanically assembled parts. The absence of mechanical coupling eliminates contact, play, friction, wear, lubrication or dispersions.

Announcing – “The Speedmaster Chronicles”, Our Largest Video Project Ever (and It’s All About The Moonwatch)

Today, we’re extremely proud to announce that tomorrow, 11 December 2017, our largest video project ever (and we’ve done quite a few – see here) will go live, and it will last for no less than 5 days. It took us some great efforts to gather all these amazing guests, to find the right angle, to define what it would look like, and of course to film it… Here it is, “The Speedmaster Chronicles” will start tomorrow 5:00 PM (Europe Time) – 11:00 AM (New York time) – 12:00 PM (Hong Kong time).

News – TUDOR Announces Agreement With World Rugby, Reinforcing The Brand’s #BornToDare Campaign

After welcoming David Beckham and Lady Gaga as brand’s ambassadors and members of the #BornToDare campaign, then followed by a partnership with world-famous rugby team the “All Blacks”, Tudor continues to gown with the announcement today in Monaco of a new agreement, this time with World Rugby, which includes a partnership with Rugby World Cups (and more), then reinforcing the links between Tudor and the oval ball.

Announcing – The New MONOCHROME Shop, Redesigned and Restocked

Today, I am proud to announce that MONOCHROME is, again, moving one step forward. Last year, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of our watch-magazine and, in addition to that, we increased our team of experts who work hard to provide the articles we hope you enjoy to read. Now, it is another announcement that I’d like to share with you, as we’re launching the new, redesigned and re-stocked MONOCHROME Shop. This means a fresh and clean website (see here) and great products that we personally curated, with the usual MONOCHROME style. I hope you like our new straps and watch rolls as much as we do!

Dominique Renaud’s Innovative Concept DR01 Is Completed, Working… And We Go Hands-On With It

Innovation in the field of escapements and oscillators is the new frontier in technological breakthrough of mechanical watches, as evidenced by revolutionary concepts by Ulysse Nardin, Girard-Perregaux, Parmigiani Fleurier or more recently the Zenith Defy Lab and its mind-blowing oscillator. Among these, Dominique Renaud presented an impressive concept dubbed DR01, the first of twelve just before Baselworld 2016. His idea is to manufacture 12 watches (each to be commissioned, personalized and priced at CHF 1,000,000), 12 evolutions of the concept to reach a fully developed version. It is now time for the horologist to unveil the progress made with this development and introduce the first watch in this series of twelve. Monochrome reports from Geneva where Dominique Renaud is exhibiting his project and the first watch in the series of 12.

Fabergé’s Aurélie Picaud Wins Woman of the Year Award at Eve’s Watch Awards

In a predominantly male-dominated watch world, we have some women in top positions who are making a definitive mark. Eve’s Watch aims to put the spotlight on those women, and on a choice of women’s watches that have been awarded best in one of twelve categories. Additionally, there’s a thirteenth award, chosen by the public. Last week, Aurélie Picaud, Timepiece Director at Fabergé, was awarded Woman of the Year at the 2017 Eve’s Watch Awards.

Business News – Richemont Appoints Jérôme Lambert As COO of All the Maisons (Ex. Cartier/Van Cleef) and Announces Strong 2017 Half-Year Results

Since a year, the Richemont Group is operating a deep internal restructuration. First of all, the group announced the appointment of both Lambert as Head of Operations and Kern as Head of Watchmaking, Marketing and Digital, followed by the “Big Reshuffle” at the head of several Maisons. Yet, this plan completely shattered on July 14th, 2017 when Georges Kern announced its departure from the group, as joining Breitling as new CEO. With the need to take action, Richemont is today appointing a new chief, in the name of Jérôme Lambert, to the newly created role of Chief Operating Officer. Lambert will be responsible for all the Maisons other than Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels. In addition to that, Richemont also published its mid-year results, and they are quite reassuring.

Follow Live – The Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève 2017 (GPHG 2017)

The Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève can be seen as the Oscars of the Watchmaking industry, by awarding the best watches introduced during the year. From ladies watches to chronographs or mechanical exception, the entire spectre of the production is covered. This year, we are proud to announce that MONOCHROME is joining the short list of official media partners of the GPHG. Before the ceremony starts, you can check the finalists of the GPHG 2017 here (with some personal notes and predictions from the Monochrome redaction team). And because this event is also a celebration of the passion we all have for the beautiful horology, we virtually invite you to follow the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève 2017 (GPHG 2017) ceremony live here, in English or in French.

Industry News – US-Brand Timex Goes Back to Mechanical After 35 Years of Quartz, with a $200 Hand-Wound Watch

For most of the youngsters, Timex is synonymous of accessible, fashion-oriented quartz watches. However, if we look back in time, Timex actually played a major role in the history of the American mechanical watch. Timex was one of the most, if not the most prominent US-based manufacture, until the early 1980s when the company made a drastic strategic move. Yet, times are changing, and without saying that Timex is about to go back to its glorious past position, it is to be noted that the US-based brand returns to mechanical, with the Timex Vintage Marlin, a hand-wound watch priced under $200. A lot to love, and also not to love… You’ll see!

Watch Dandy

Category: Industry News