With the cancellation of all major watch events, it was already a pretty weird start of the year (Watches & Wonders cancelled and Baselworld postponed.) Countries like Italy have been in full lockdown mode for weeks, Spain too, and now other European countries follow suit. Schools are closed, sports clubs, gyms, bars, restaurants, museums, zoos, […]
Following the decision of the Fédération de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH) and the Richemont Group to cancel the 2020 Edition of the Geneva-based watch fair Watches & Wonders, all eyes were on Baselworld and the watch world was waiting for the final decision to come… This is it, the other major watch fair of the […]
The FHS (Federation Horlogère Suisse or the Swiss Watch Federation) just released the export statistics for 2019. Swiss watch exports showed growth in December (+5.8% at CHF 1.7 billion). For the whole year 2019, exports rose by 2.4% in value at CHF 21.681 billion, however, the units shipped dropped by 13.1% at 20.634 million and […]
Today we have a very special story… A story that I’m both sad and happy to write. Sad, for the main reason that it is all due to one of the world’s worse ecological events, the current Australian bushfire crisis. Yet, I’m also happy to write these words as multiple actors within the watch community […]
New year, new decade and… new expectations too. We, at MONOCHROME, love watches and the watchmaking industry as a whole. No debate. And well, you know the drill, “spare the rod, spoil the child”. Since we enjoy watches and horology that much, we can’t help being critical, expecting more, wanting the industry to improve, to […]
For the past 10+ years MONOCHROME has been about new watches and although the focus has pretty much always been on “new” – we always blended in a lot of history, technicalities and finishing – there was sometimes the odd story about a vintage watch. But that’s gonna change. Today we’re starting “The Vintage Corner”, […]
There’s no denying that, in the past couple of years, major watch fairs Baselworld and SIHH have been in the spotlight – but not in a pleasant way. Criticism came from all sides, brands, collectors, journalists… It was time for these professionally oriented trade fairs to evolve. This started with a change of format when […]
While the watch industry ticks in time to two massive watch fairs, Baselworld and SIHH, these two events are mostly meant for brands to present their novelties to a public of professionals – retailers and journalists. However, some local events around the globe allow watch collectors and enthusiasts to discover the collections – think SIAR, […]
One of the oldest and most respected watch magazines, our colleagues at Europa Star have embarked on the digitization of their archives to create a vast online library. A treasure trove of memories and information on the watch industry, which is now available online for watch aficionados and professionals. Archives are witnesses to the past. […]
Great news for our Polish readers (and those close enough to travel there)! Yes, Poland, we know you’re there. And we’re here for you with an announcement you might want to know about. Through the watch-grapevine, we heard the news of the third edition of a watch festival in Poland. And it’s definitely not just another get together of salesmen; it’ll be a nice get-together with some of the finest independent brands and watch lovers.