The first weekend of November 2016 was a big one for me: in addition to attending the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, I collected not one, not two, but three spectacular watches. The watch I left home certain to bring back was one that I had been waiting patiently for since January 2016: the split-seconds chronograph Reference 5370P from Patek Philippe. Here’s why I bought it.
On the left bank of the Rhone, a scant 10km away from Geneva’s city center ,sits Patek Philippe’s Home at Plan-Les-Ouates. “Ouates” is pronounced “whu-at” phonetically, lends the municipality an easy nickname derived from a phonetic pun symbolic of what the region has come to represent – Plan-Les-Watch; for Patek…
Invented in the 1930s, long before the proliferation of commercially available jet travel, world time watches captured the imagination of its onlookers with its dial; displaying real time in key cities across the planet’s 24 time zones. From exotic locales like Rio de Janeiro and Tahiti, the genius of Geneva watchmaker Louis Cottier…
The term “God of Gamblers” was derived from the eponymous Hong Kong made movie, all thanks to the lead character Ko Chun’s (portrayed by Chow Yun-fat) incredible gambling skills. The movie had subsequently generated many sequels and spin-offs, and it has somehow became a staple every Lunar New Year. …
Today is officially the second day of the Lunar New Year, but the season of festive celebrations have just barely started. Traditionally, the celebrations last over 15 days, which means that there is effectively almost two weeks’ worth of festivities to go.…
Anyone who visits online watch forums with any frequency very likely comes across at least a few heated discussions of “finishing,” a topic that seems to fascinate, and divide, enthusiasts. What is it and why are opinions divided?
We have been hoping this valuation of a very rare vintage Patek Philippe complicated pocket watch from the US Antiques Roadshow would be re-uploaded to their website. This is one of those finds where the timepiece has literally been sitting locked away in perfect condition. Yes, we know the clip is from 2004 but…
This is the second year in a row that I’ve had the opportunity to attend the November watch auctions in Geneva. On last year’s trip, a good friend and I had the pleasure of participating in several events organized by Patek Philippe as well as the biennial OnlyWatch auction. This year, we returned for the previews and salesroom action at major houses including Phillips, Christie’s, and Sotheby’s.
Like we always say, Reviews are crucial for us, at Monochrome-Watches – and for two main reasons. First of all, in order to bring you the best possible stories and the most objective opinions, we need to have some proper wrist-time with the watches. It’s no debate here: wearing the watch and experiencing it for a while, as if we were owning it, is mandatory. It is our editorial philosophy. Second, as watch journalist, we believe that our reviews will influence your choices and for that reason, we think that you also need these reviews to make the most informed purchases. This is why, to close 2016, instead of showing you our most read stories, we’d like to show you the nine reviews you loved most this year on Monochrome-Watches (based on page-views and reactions).
With only a day to go, 2016 has come to its end. It was a very interesting year for the watch industry and for watch collectors. The watch industry is currently going through a rough time, but still managed to come up with some very interesting watches this past year. State of the watch industry […]