The number of watch brands introducing very long warranties is as long as the history of modern (post-quartz crisis) watchmaking. Until recently, two years of warranty was the norm. However, more and more watchmakers tend to offer five years and even more for some special editions. And that raises the question: does it actually make […]
In the world of watches, opinions about modified or customized or ‘tuned’ watches is usually not very positive. That’s why the official collaboration between LVMH brands Zenith and TAG Heuer with one of these customizers, Bamford, was remarkable, to say the least. For a few years now, another customizer is making a name for itself and does it in a rather qualitative and original way. I’m talking about Artisans de Genève, and today they launch a fully skeletonized Rolex Daytona, which they designed together with ex-Formula 1 driver, Juan Pablo Montoya. And it looks pretty cool!
The other day we published a lengthy interview with Peter Speake-Marin, so you could get to know a bit more about Peter, and today we’re going to have a closer look at what exactly he’s doing these days. Besides being an easy-going, down-to-earth and always pleasant person, a happy and proud dad, and an extremely …
I can clearly remember my very first Baselworld and meeting Peter Speake-Marin. I didn’t know the “industry” as well as I know it today and I had no real conception of the entire industry and where Peter fit in. Today, some ten years later, I’m still in touch with Peter and I feel honoured to call him a friend. Over this past decade, I’ve followed Peter’s wanderings through the industry, and since Peter recently started a new venture (the Naked Watchmaker) I wanted to give you an overview of who Mr Peter Speake-Marin actually is. Soon, we’ll focus on him deconstructing movements, but first, an interview with the man himself.
We knew already that Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, when presenting Top Gear, were watch-enthusiasts. Sure, the level of the watches on their wrists was of a different league as the cars they drove, as we told you some time ago when we compared their watches to cars… (see our “Watching Celeb Watches” article focussed on these three guys). Now they’re not on Top Gear anymore, and season two of their new show The Grand Tour has just started, we still get to see some fairly nice watches on their wrists. Episode 2 of the second season went a step (or two) further, as not only Jeremy Clarkson can be seen wearing an Omega Railmaster XXL but he even makes quite a statement about it… the Clarkson-way, of course. See below…
Summer’s over and it’s back to business as usual. Over the past weeks, we have published a bit less, and that was not only due to the diminished number of news and press releases that we received from watch brands. Our team has enjoyed their summer holidays, and as usual, after the summer, travel season …
There are many ways to tell the time: digital watches show us the time using numbers, whereas the first mechanical clocks did not even have faces, and indicated time by chiming it. Hourglasses, candle clocks or clepsydras are other examples. And there’s a segment that we here at Monochrome, refer to as ‘Other Display‘, which include the URWERK’s MB&F’s and Ressence’s of this world. Still, most watches use hands on a dial to show us the hours and minutes, and as is their wont, watchmakers have displayed great creativity in the way they shape hands (for practical or more fancy purposes). These come in a variety of styles and are an integral part of a watch design. It would be tough to come up with an exhaustive list, but we’ll take a look at the most used hand designs from watches we have photographed over the past few months.
Some collectors might have experienced it: sending back your beloved mechanical timepiece to a service center, waiting for 3 or 4 months for it to come back, and learning that in fact, service was not really needed or that the watch was simply magnetized. However, there might be a solution, for home-testing. ONEOF Accuracy measures the accuracy of your watch with real-time analytics. And there is more – the “boutique” edition will even allow you to demagnetize your watch!
Well, this is a big one, and I feel humbled to announce that non-other than esteemed watch journalist Roberta Naas is joining Monochrome-Watches. Having such an experienced journalist, who has been covering the world of watches since the early 1980s, is a real coup. She’s got more than thirty years in the industry and has written a half a dozen books on the subject. With that comes an incredible amount of knowledge about the industry, about watch models, styles and, of course, about those lovely mechanisms with a beating heart. She joins us to cover the topic many of you told us that you would like to read more about: women’s watches.