As the SIHH 2019 opened its doors, it is time for MONOCHROME to bring you the novelties of this year live, and not only with articles and photos, but also with videos. To start with a series of videos focusing on the main exposing brands, we have Christoph Grainger-Herr, CEO of IWC Watches, explaining all you need to know about the 2019 collection – which, you might have guessed, is focused on pilot’s watches.
Here it is, the big (and clearly unexpected) one for the SIHH 2019. Audemars Piguet won’t only be presenting Royal Oaks and Royal Oak Offshores because there’s an entirely new collection launching at the SIHH 2019. Classic but contemporary, clean but full of superb details, modern but still infused with traditional watchmaking… Here is the CODE 11.59 by Audemars Piguet – and our exclusive video with CEO François-Henry Bennahmias to give you all the details, including the long-awaited in-house, integrated automatic chronograph!
Rado isn’t a brand that you typically think of when you think about ‘heritage’. On the one hand this makes perfect sense, as the brand is best known for their decidedly modern materials and avant-garde designs. But on the other, Rado has been around for a while (since 1917), and has a host of great old styles to draw on. And, in recent years, Rado has been more active in doing just that, and we’ve picked our favourites. Naturally, the Captain Cook looms large, in both its faithful — near facsimile grade — models, as well as the larger, more modern interpretations. And then there’s the super chunky, super funky HyperChrome 1616, a really cool take on a cushion case. If these watches prove anything it’s that Rado has what it takes to make a heritage release that holds up with the best of them, and we can’t wait to see what 2019 brings.
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We all know Audemars Piguet for the legendary Royal Oak that was introduced in 1972. This iconic watch was followed by two other important launches. In 1992, the brand reinvented its luxury sports watch in a robust, more masculine version, the Royal Oak Offshore. Thirty years after the introduction of the inaugural Royal Oak, in 2002, […]
Really, at the heart of the appeal of a mechanical watch is the ticking, whirring escapement that sets the pace. That and the assemblage of wheel and bridges that powers and supports it. So it’s apt then that this Rado cuts to the core quickly: the True Open Heart lives up to its name, exposing its metal innards enough to satisfy the curiosity of the wearer, while still living up to Rado’s strong, and distinct sense of design, with its slick plasma toned ceramic, and a black dial that maintains legibility despite its pared-back nature. Rado True Open Heart Australian Pricing Rado True Open Heart, $2900
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Rado had a great year of releases in 2018, with a diverse mix of watches that played to their traditional high-tech material strengths, as well as to some of their traditional designs. And while ceramic naturally played an important part, it was used in some surprising ways — like when it was mixed with bronze to create a very cool HyperChrome, and mixed with other metals to create the new alloy Ceramos. And then there were the brand’s tributes to their historic Captain Cook models, two similar but different takes on a great old internal bezel diver. And while the small version is cool, my heart really sings for the 45mm version.
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One of the more intriguing releases from Tudor this year — and one that didn’t get quite the attention it otherwise would have, thanks to the show-stealing GMT — was the classically styled 1926. Taking its name from the year the Tudor name was registered, it also owes some design cues to this golden era of style. Take, for example, the finely textured waffle dial, with the blued Arabic numerals interspersed with arrow-head markers. Lovely, but also wearable, and entirely wearable nearly 100 years later. The case is well-sized, the movement rock solid, and the solidly made bracelet adds a nice dash of slash. It all means you’ve got a watch that looks the business, no matter what the business is. Tudor 1926 Australian pricing Tudor 1926, white dial with blue numerals, $2210
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Today MONOCHROME is visiting Schwarz Etienne, an independent watchmaker with an impressive level of vertical integration. We will first explore the brand and its nicely manufactured watches. Also, we’ll discover one of the best-kept secrets of the watch industry, the manufacturing of one of the most crucial parts of a watch: the hairspring. The hairspring, […]
A little while ago I made my way down to Cartier’s Collins Street boutique in Melbourne, spent a little time amidst the glittering plinths and picked out some watches that, for me at least, really epitomise what makes the Maison’s watchmaking so great. Of course there are numerous shapes in attendance, from the circle of the Ballon Bleu through to the bold rectangles of the Tank. Really, though, the common thread through these eight watches is the overall strength of design, and the timelessness of it. All eight of these watches — regardless of shape, case metal and even complications — are classics, in the truest sense of the word. And that’s what makes them great.
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A little while ago I posited that the Tissot Seastar 1000 Powermatic 80 was the best-value diver of 2018, a bold claim I still back. Today, it’s time to meet the Seastar’s dressy cousin, the Chemin des Tourelles. This watch is powered by the same, quite impressive Powermatic 80 as the Seastar, but on the surface it’s a completely different looking beast. A 42mm case, with a flashy blue starburst dial with an outer level of quite fancy Clous de Paris style finishing, which goes well with the applied numerals. This Tissot hits a lot of familiar, friendly notes, and is a perfect contender for daily wear in a semi-formal context. And with a RRP of just on $1000 it offers a heck of a lot of value. Tissot Chemin des Tourelles Australian pricing Tissot Chemin des Tourelles, steel on leather, $1000
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