Review – Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Black Ceramic, One of the Hottest Watches of 2017

Somehow the information leaked out just before SIHH 2017 – Audemars Piguet would be presenting its first all-ceramic watch (bracelet included) during the Geneva fair, an all-black version of the iconic Perpetual Calendar Royal Oak. Not surprisingly this news immediately created a buzz of excitement amongst collectors, because clearly, this Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Black Ceramic is hot.

8 years ago

Hands-On – Glashütte Original Senator Excellence Perpetual Calendar (and my unexpected love for the sporty steel version)

While some brands came with over 100 novelties at Baselworld 2017, the Saxonian brand Glashütte Original only introduced 2 new masculine watches during the show. And to be honest, why doing more when you offer new products of such quality. Together with the surprisingly sporty Steel Senator Chronograph Panorama Date, Glashütte Original also introduced an elegant, refined and complex Perpetual Calendar version of the precise Senator Excellence. Elegant and refined? Not only, as I surprised myself to have a crush on an unexpected sporty steel version of this QP watch, not the kind of combination that you imagined from GO…

8 years ago

Haute Complication: MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual

In the world of Haute Horlogerie Maximilian Büsser, Max for friends, is a force of his own. For the Legacy Machine Perpetual, he joined forces with independent watchmaker Stephen McDonnell, and the result is a perpetual calender unlike any other!

8 years ago

Fumbling with February: Why Not All Calendar Watches Are Created Equal

The end of February is always a minor event in the world of watch connoisseurs. The shortest month of the year prompts additional work for those with a watch collection, dates have to be forwarded to be ready for March, but not everybody will have the same amount of work on its hands.

8 years ago

Haute Complication: Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Gyrotourbillon 1

While the initial version of the Master Gyrotourbillon 1 was introduced in 2004, this complication is still part of Jaeger-LeCoultre current collection. Why this is, became clear at the SIHH, where the brand introduced us to a new edition of this iconic watch.

8 years ago

More Curves, More Purity, 100% Swiss – Introducing the H. Moser & Cie Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Purity

Undoubtedly the most emblematic watch of the H. Moser & Cie collection, the Endeavour Perpetual Calendar is a piece that we covered (and praised, and reviewed) several times here, on Monochrome-Watches (here or here for instance). it has even been the play field for a concept, in what is to date the cleanest QP you can imagine (too clean? Maybe, but the point is not here). With their now usual “no logo” minimalistic dial approach and the new #MakeSwissMadeGreatAgain approach, H. Moser & Cie revamp their QP, with the Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Purity. New case, new dial, same super-clever movement… and now 100% Swiss Made.

8 years ago

Watch of the Week: IWC Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month Spitfire

Some watches are as impressive as their name is long. This is for sure the case with the Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month Spitfire by IWC. Powered by manufacture caliber 89801, this watch elevates the technical complexity of perpetual calendars to an even higher level by making the date and the month digital instead of the usual hand.

8 years ago

Review: A. Lange & Söhne Tourbograph Perpetual “Pour le Mérite”

Each year for SIHH, it is Lange tradition to debut a timepiece of monumental complexity as the star novelty. Last year it was the Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon – a perpetual calendar chronograph with a tourbillon regulator – and the year before that, the Zeitwerk Minute Repeater, a decimal minute repeater that also…

8 years ago

Are Non-Purist Brands Beginning to Express Purist Watchmaking Approaches? Pt 1.

In a recent 2016 BBC news story, it was reported that Chimpanzees had entered the stone age for some 700 years now: Excavated ancient stone tools used by monkeys had given scientists a glimpse into the evolutionary process of simian technology. Analogously, there has been some grumblings amongst industry insiders that Swiss watchmaking has…

8 years ago