Orologi Calamai isn’t a household name in the industry, but this small Italian brand has been producing intriguing, aeronautical-inspired watches since its founding in 2012. Unfortunately, MONOCHROME can’t cover the entire array of small, independent brands out there (we try, believe me), but Orologi Calamai definitely caught our eye, and we’ve covered them in the […]
RGM is an independent high-end American watch brand founded in 1992 by Roland G. Murphy in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania. Trained in Switzerland (Wostep), Roland worked in product development at Hamilton before going solo. RGM is something of an anomaly on the American panorama with its in-house movements and dials decorated with traditional métiers d’art like […]
Long reserved for the Japan Domestic Market (the famous JDM watches), the Citizen Series 8 is the brand’s take on the sporty, characterful watches made for daily use. Sharply designed with a mix of boldness, resistance and a certain contemporary elegance, the collection was given some fresh air in 2021 and became available worldwide. Since […]
Stowa is, without a doubt, one of the most legitimate brands when it comes to Flieger watches. Founded by Walter Storz in 1927 and currently headquartered in Pforzheim, Germany, it is now part of the Tempus Arte group, which also owns Lang & Heyne. But importantly, Stowa was one of only five manufacturers allowed to […]
Havid Nagan (from the Armenian word havidenagan, meaning eternal) is a relatively new name in the independent watchmaking scene and the brainchild of California-based entrepreneur Aren Bazerkanian. The brand started with the inaugural HN00 series, a cushion-shaped titanium watch with guilloché-like dials powered by Schwartz-Etienne micro-rotor movements. Then came the HN01 Lucine Moon Phase. Things […]
Bianchet is an independent watchmaking brand founded by Rodolfo and Emmanuelle Festa-Bianchet, whose atelier is located in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. Since 2021, the brand has been offering modern tonneau-shaped watches powered by architectural openworked tourbillon movements. As Watches and Wonders and its side events are fast approaching, Bianchet unveils a new model named the B […]
In 2023, four years after the debut of the Code 11.59 collection in precious metals, Audemars Piguet introduced stainless steel models. The expansion included six Code 11.59 references – three Selfwinding and three Selfwinding Chronographs – featuring a fresh dial pattern, new colourways, and striking gradient dials with ceramic elements. The brand continues the collection’s […]
Marking a first for the recently introduced 38mm iteration of Code 11.59, Audemars Piguet equips its most compact reference with an automatic flying tourbillon. Not just any tourbillon, mind you, but AP’s ultra-thin calibre 2968, aka RD#3. Representing the best of both worlds, the new Code 11.59 Tourbillon fuses a state-of-the-art movement with a graceful […]
Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak Offshore debuted in 1993 as the Royal Oak’s bolder, more virile brother with a muscular case and bold juxtaposition of materials. In 2021, the “Beast” was given a facelift, resulting in a more ergonomic 43mm case with redesigned pushers housing the brand’s integrated automatic flyback chronograph movement. No stranger to ceramic […]
About two years ago, Audemars Piguet released an absolutely stunning watch, the black ceramic Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph, a.k.a the Black Beast. A monochromatic and high-tech take on one of the most important watches of the brand – at least in modern days – this watch merged the classic look of the 1993 ROO with […]