Buying Guide – The 10 Best Watches of 2018 from EUR 25,000 to… No Limit

Our 2018 buying guides have to come to an end. After the top 10 watches below EUR 2,000, followed by 10 watches between EUR 2,000 and 5,000, our 10 prefered watches between EUR 5,000 to EUR 10,000, and finally out top picks between EUR 10,000 and EUR 25,000, it is now time to look at the best of the best, when money doesn’t matter anymore: the best watches of 2018 in the high-end category, all priced above EUR 25,000. Complications, Haute-Horlogerie movements, hand-made decorations… what dreams are made of!

7 years ago

A Technical Perspective – The Peripheral Rotor, a Smart and Stylish Solution

Since 2009 and the introduction of the Carl F Bucherer Calibre A1000, peripheral rotors are getting more and more in vogue. With this smart and stylish solution, the winding mass is an annular segment mounted and swinging around the movement, instead of a centrally mounted oscillating weight rotating over it. This offers an unobstructed view of the movement along with providing the convenience of automatic winding. In addition, peripheral rotors allow watchmakers to design thinner self-winding watches, without adding to their thickness with an oscillating weight rotating over the movement.

7 years ago

A Technical Perspective – Understanding Bezels and all the Different Scales

A bezel is a simple but extremely effective tool letting you perform all sorts of tasks: from timing a dive to calculating the average speed of a motorbike, from gauging your fuel supply or the distance of incoming fire to consulting the time in Japan, a bezel gets the job done and jacks up the functionality of your watch. The trick is deciphering what all the markings on the bezel or on the dial (in that case, we talk scales) represent and how to use them.

7 years ago

Buying Guide – 5 High-End Watches with World-Time or Multiple Time-Zones

A watch is an essential item while travelling. Something that must be part of your “things to pack” list. We’ve said it already several times here on MONOCHROME, but multiple time-zone watches are certainly amongst the most practical you can find. Not only when travelling (obviously) but also for those working in an international environment – and there are more and more of them. For those who want to combine functionality and their love for fine watchmaking, here are 5 sophisticate watches with world-time complication or multiple time-zone indications.

7 years ago

Buying Guide – 5 High-End Watches with World Time or Multiple Time Zones

A watch is an essential item while travelling. Something that must be part of your “things to pack” list. We’ve said it already several times here on MONOCHROME, but multiple time-zone watches are certainly amongst the most practical you can find. Not only when travelling (obviously) but also for those working in an international environment – and there are more and more of them. For those who want to combine functionality and their love for fine watchmaking, here are 5 sophisticate watches with world-time complication or multiple time-zone indications.

7 years ago

Introducing – The New Patek Philippe Twenty-4 Automatic Ref. 7300

Since its release in 1999, the Twenty-4 has been Patek Philippe’s entry-level watch (all genders) and certainly its female’s best-selling collection. Shaped like a bracelet, with a rectangular case seamlessly integrated into a metallic bracelet, it was unfortunately powered by a quartz movement (an in-house quartz movement for sure, but still battery-powered). So-to-say, a watch that never really made it as a true Patek in our books. Yet, there’s a new version of the Patek Philippe Twenty-4. It is round, it is more casual and sportier and it is powered by an automatic movement.

7 years ago

Buying Guide – 5 of the Most Iconic Luxury Sports Watches You Can Buy in 2018 (and one accessible alternative)

In the same vein as we already did with chronographs and dive watches, it’s time now to look at what probably is the current hottest watch category: the luxury sports watch. Born in the 1970s as a true disruptive concept, deliberately provocative back then – remember those ads claiming “a steel watch more expensive than gold” – and a category that today creates the buzz on the second-hand market… As those buying guides only take the best from the best, here are the 5 most iconic luxury sports watches you can buy in 2018 – or at least, dream to buy, as some are close to being unreachable.

7 years ago

Buying Guide – Our Top 10 Moon Phase Watches for Women

The Moon phase function is the simplest and most prevalent astronomical complication. It is also one of the most attractive and bewitching of complications, a reminder of the beauty and mystery of our neighbouring satellite. Considered more of an aesthetic choice than a complication of intrinsic utility, moon phase watches have become a perennial favourite with their miniature recreations of the different phases of the Moon displayed in an aperture on the dial. So, take a look at our A-V Top Ten moon phase models and get ready to be moonstruck by their beauty – both superficial and mechanical – and in some cases, by their astronomical prices!

7 years ago

Buying Guide – The 10 Most Iconic Chronographs You Can Buy in 2018

The chronograph is one of the most popular complications today. It is even more than a complication and has become a watch category in itself. It is stylish, practical and boasts a serious amount of technical complexity. For watch connoisseurs, there aren’t many experiences that are as rewarding as pressing the pushers of a stopwatch […]

7 years ago