Jaquet Droz’s most complicated wristwatch is the Charming Bird that has a tiny automaton under the sapphire bubble on the front. Essentially a small mechanical robot, the automaton takes the form of a bird that flaps its wings and sings. Inspired by singing bird boxes of the 18th century, the Charming Bird made its debut […]
We want you to join us for an upcoming HODINKEE event. Seriously. Whether it’s celebrating leap day with some readers in New York City or hosting a pop-up at Harrods in London, we love bringing our passion for watches offline and into the real world. That’s where you come in: We’re going to be expanding the number of cities in which we host events over the coming months and we’ll be making decisions about where to go, what to bring, and who to invite based on your feedback.
Mr. Kikuo Ibe never expected to be world famous, but famous he is: he’s the man who invented the Casio G-Shock. At first, he hardly seems like the sort of person who could develop the world’s toughest watch. He’s slightly built, slim, soft-spoken, and bespectacled, which seems a little incongruous until you remember that G-Shock is as much an engineering achievement as a horological one, and Mr. Ibe is very much an engineer.
Founded in 1865 by Auguste Lebeau in Liège, Belgium, Lebeau-Courally was then first and foremost a high-end hunting rifle manufacturer. So how did it get to the watch sector? Read on to find out.
By Roberta Naas Last week, we brought you the news about the incredible precision timing of the Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games by Omega, which has been the Official Timekeeper of the Olympics for years. Now, we talk with Omega CEO and President Raynald Aeschlimann about what it takes to stay on top of timing the world’s largest sports gathering.
Ball has recently been toying with an interesting retail strategy offering preorder discounts, and they are now back with the limited-edition Ball for BMW TMT Chronometer watch that includes a mechanical thermometer for almost 50% of its eventual retail price.
As promised from last Friday, we have a movie themed Spot the Watch for you today. It comes from the 1990 comedy film Quick Change starring Bill Murray. Now usually when you see a watch in a film its either a product placement or the prop department have requested timepieces which they have given some screen…
I’m not a tourbillon guy. I’m just not. Sure, I can appreciate their beauty, mechanical complexity, and historical importance, but that doesn’t mean I want one spinning away on my wrist all day. This watch is the exception that proves the rule. The A. Lange & Söhne 1815 Tourbillon is a superlative modern watch that combine high-end finishing, a respect for tradition, and a healthy dose of technological bravado. And I really, really want it.
Surprise, surprise, we here at Monochrome are not into smart watches, connected watches or any of those wrist-buzzers and step counters. The number of times we cover smart watches are brought back to the bare minimum. That’s for various reasons, but most importantly A) it doesn’t do anything (for us) in terms of emotion, and …
Reader’s Story We received a letter from Indonesian watch collector Ruby about his Omega Speedmaster Mark 4.5. There are more of those around of course, but Ruby found one in NOS (New Old Stock) condition. Complete with box and papers. Ruby started his watch collection in November 2013, when he purchased a Seiko World Time 50th Anniversary […]