Category: Luxury Watches

Size Does Not Always Matter. Up-close and Personal With The Tudor Heritage Black Bay 36

I must admit that, when the Tudor Heritage Black Bay 36 Ref. 79500 was introduced at Baselworld 2016, I was quite indifferent towards it. My mind was tuned towards and only in favor of all the other Black Bay’s, the black, the total black and the bronze. These I said to myself were proper watches, bold, and greatly executed. The 36mm was overall a watch I could not understand. However, when I finally strap it on my wrist for some days, in order to write this review, I started to realize that it probably conformed with that famous motto from the great F. A. Porsche: “A formally harmonious product needs no decoration, it should be elevated through pure form.” So I started to completely change my attitude towards it. This watch has something special and we will find out in our review of the Black Bay 36.

9 years ago

Bringing Back The Golden Age Of Travel With Glashütte Original

We live in a fast-paced, hyper-connected world of couch surfing, ride sharing, instant communication and all manner of other technological marvels I can barely grasp. Not surprisingly we are now travelling more than ever before – both domestically and internationally – which is great. The problem? Travel has become such a common place occurrence that many of us seem to have forgotten how to dress for the occasion. Chic dresses have been replaced by yoga pants, tailored suits passed over in favour of jeans with a stretchy waist and don’t even get me started on the watches (or lack thereof). It wasn’t always this way though you know.

9 years ago

Pre-SIHH 2017 – Piaget Altiplano 60th Anniversary Collection, Celebrating 60 Years of Ultra-Thin Watches

Keep these three informations in mind: 1957 – 9P – 2mm. Three informations that sum up an immense technical achievement and define an icon of the watchmaking industry: the Altiplano. If we had to summarize Piaget to one single fact, it would inevitably be “ultra-thin” watches – even if this would clearly be a disappointing shortcut. Since 1957, Piaget is one of the best, if not the most significant representative of the ultra-thin concept, a story that started with the calibre 9P and its 2mm height (and now, you know why these three informations are so important). To celebrate 60 years of ultra-thin watchmaking, here is the Piaget Altiplano 60th Anniversary Collection, to be introduced at the SIH 2017.

9 years ago

IWC Introduces the Aquatimer Chronograph Edition “Sharks”

Today, increasing numbers of shark species are facing extinction. More than 100 million sharks are caught every year whilst continued over shing depletes their nutritional resources. To help awareness about this issue, IWC is about to launch a specific limited edition of its Aquatimer Chronograph, the Edition “Sharks”, with specific dial and engraving. Overview.

9 years ago

Montblanc Introduces Bronze Into Its 1858 Collection, Including The Stunning 1858 Chronograph Tachymeter

The Montblanc 1858 Collection certainly is one of our favorites here, at Monochrome. It indeed pays tribute to the military roots of the Villeret manufacture and the 1930s pilot watches produced at that time by Minerva (now part of Montblanc). Large diameters, highly contrasted dials, cathedral hands… all sounds perfectly vintage and faithful to the Minerva heritage. To even reinforce that vintage feel, the brand is about to introduce some new models in the collection, which for the first time will use bronze elements for the case, and this includes the stunning Montblanc 1858 Chronograph Tachymeter, that we already showed you several times.

9 years ago

Rolex Day-Date Exhibition

This year, 2016, marks the 60th anniversary of the Rolex Day-Date, the watch that is often referred to as ‘President’s watch’. In March of this year Rolex showed us the Day-Date 60th Anniversary Edition Green Dial, and we took that opportunity to A) show you that great-looking timepiece and B) to tell you everything about the Day-Date’s history. Originally introduced in 1956 the Day-Date has only been made in precious metals (besides a few one-off exceptions, like this one), and it quickly became the epitome of the luxury watch for successful people. For this entire year the Rolex Day-Date exhibition has traveled the world and now arrives in my home town, The Hague, Netherlands. Time for us to have a look at a rather extraordinary traveling exhibition, that is now on display at Schaap & Citroen in Den Haag, our local Rolex dealer.

9 years ago

TAG Heuer Appoints Alec Monopoly As Art Provocateur – and J.C. Biver Tells Us Why It’s Good For TAG

A few days ago, right from the Miami Contemporary Art week, TAG Heuer and its CEO, Jean-Claude Biver (also President of the LVMH Watch Division), announced the appointment of American street-artist Alec Monopoly as Art Provocateur for the Avant-Garde brand. Well, as you may have seen already (it was all over social medial feeds), some reacted quite fiercely to this announcement, judging the collaboration rather irrelevant. However, we were there and we took the time to sit down with Mister Biver and Alec Monopoly, to understand what was behind this appointment. And we can tell you that first, it’s far from being a stupid idea, then it’s a real first in the industry and finally, it’s a great idea for an industry that faces a lack of creativity.

9 years ago

Pre-SIHH 2017 – Baume & Mercier adds a GMT Function and a Blue Dial to its Clifton

The Baume & Mercier Clifton is not just a watch but an entire collection, which looks at the almost entire scope of traditional (yet accessible) complications. You’ll be able to find a Small-Second watch, a Complete Calendar watch, a Chronograph, a Chronograph Complete Calendar, a Dual Time, a Retrograde Date or a Large Date Power Reserve. Clearly, the choice is wide (and add to that some dials options). For the SIHH 2017, Baume adds a version for travelers, the Clifton GMT Power Reserve, which aligns itself among the range of small complications offered by the Clifton collection and adds a striking blue dial to the usual white / black options.

9 years ago

IWC Reintroduces the Portugieser Chronograph Rattrapante – And It Rocks, And It’s Steel…

When it has been first launched in 1995, the IWC Portugieser Chrono­graph Rattrapante (Ref. 3712) quickly obtained the status of icon, first for being a Portugieser (which alone makes this watch totally emblematic of the Schaffhausen-based manufacture) but also for being a quite special split-second. Yes, it is a rattrapante but that’s not the point. It’s special because it is a simple and accessible rattrapante, and that was very cool. Unfortunately, this watch was discontinued in 2006… Until earlier this year, when it came back in a gold limited edition for Milano, today joined by two stainless versions – and that is really cool. Here is the “new” Portugieser Chronograph Rattrapante with two Boutique Editions, for Munich and Rue de la Paix / Paris.

9 years ago

Introducing the SNSM Watch Project – Young Watchmakers Design a Limited Edition for a Good Cause

The Atelier Parisien d’Horlogerie (APH) is launching a limited edition watch to celebrate the 50th anniversary of SNSM (Société Nationale de Sauvetage en Mer) a French voluntary association tasked with saving the lives of those lost at sea around the French coasts. Nearly 8’000 people were rescued last year by the NGO, which has 1,300 lifeguards on staff and a further 4,400 active volunteers. The proceeds from the watch sales will benefit SNSM which relies largely on the generosity of the public for funding.

9 years ago