Category: Dress Watches

Review – Glashütte Original PanoGraph – Redefining the Flyback Chronograph, the Saxon Way

With its asymmetric dials and large date windows, the Pano Collection has become a beacon of Glashütte Original’s solid Saxon identity – the PanoMaticLunar and the PanoReserve are the best-known examples of this utterly Saxon sense of design and mechanics. First released in 2002, the PanoGraph stood out from the crowd with its novel chronograph totaliser that dispensed with the traditional layout of sub-counters and proved that not all chronographs have to be hard-core sports athletes. A triumph of aesthetics and mechanics, we revisit the PanoGraph today and discover how an iconic Pano can take a complication on board without sacrificing an iota of style.

7 years ago

Introducing – Vacheron Constantin Métiers d’Art The Legend Of The Chinese Zodiac – Year Of The Pig

In Chinese astrology, each year is related to a Chinese zodiac animal according to the 12-year cycle. February 5th, 2019 marks the beginning of the year of the pig and in preparation, Vacheron Constantin is unveiling its latest addition to its Métiers d’Art The Legend Of The Chinese Zodiac series – Year Of The Pig. Available in either a Platinum or 18K 5N pink gold case, each version will be offered in a limited series of just 12 pieces. Read on for more details.

7 years ago

Introducing – Seiko Presage Cocktail ”Fuyugeshiki” Limited Editions

In 2017, Seiko created a new series of watches in the Presage collection, inspired by the world of the cocktail bar. While usually quite conservative, here Seiko played on textures and colours to bring fresh and original watches, still with mechanical movements but with affordable prices. Elegant, refined and quite unique, the collection was enlarged […]

7 years ago

Value Proposition – Atelier Wen, Inspired by China, With Porcelain Dials

No doubt anymore, the face of the watchmaking industry has changed with the arrival of dozens of Kickstarter projects… Some more inspired than others, some worthy of being covered on MONOCHROME, many failing to catch our interest. With such a large amount of new “brands”, differentiation is key. Atelier Wen, the project of two young Frenchmen, is all about that. Slightly vintage-inspired watches but with a rather unique focus on China – both for the design, the manufacturing and the targeted audience. Overview of their inaugural collection, the Porcelain Odyssey.

7 years ago

First Look – The new Grönefeld 1941 Principia – Simpler, Automatic, Still Superbly Finished

It took Tim and Bart Grönefeld, the charismatic “Horological Brothers”, almost three years to reveal a new watch. Certainly, they are not the most prolific watchmakers when it comes to novelties – meaning that when something new is coming to the market, we’re quite enthusiastic. While all of their previous creations feature a complication (a tourbillon, an oversized dead-beat second or a remontoire), their new watch is a simple automatic 3-hander. But we prefer to avoid the word “entry-level” here as, clearly, the new Grönefeld 1941 Principia is all about (very) fine watchmaking.

7 years ago

Hands-on – Jaquet Droz Grande Heure Minute – Minimalism to the Max

When it comes to Jaquet Droz, most of us might have the Grande Seconde collection in mind – a collection designed around the emblematic 8-figure display, with off-centred hours-minutes and an oversized second counter. This specific display is somehow iconic and has been the brand’s signature for close to 300 years (JD celebrates its 280th anniversary this year). So how to depart from this 8-shaped dial without losing the brand’s DNA? That’s what the Astrale collection tends to do – and here’s the latest creation, the Jaquet Droz Grande Heure Minute, a case-study of minimalism.

7 years ago

Value Proposition – The anOrdain Model 1 – With Enamel Dial Hand-Made in Glasgow, Scotland

There are a lot of new watch brands coming to market these days. And I mean A LOT. Some go down the popular Kickstarter route, whilst others – like the brand we’re looking at today – prefer to do things the old-fashioned way. The one thing they all share in common is a desire to differentiate themselves from each other and from other established players. It’s a tall order in what is a very crowded market, and many never quite get there. Newcomer, AnOrdain, from Glasgow, has adopted a decidedly simple approach to standing out from the crowd and so far, it seems to be working. Today, we’re getting hands-on with their first watch, the Model 1, which features a stunning enamel dial made in-house.

7 years ago

Just Because – Salmon Dial Watches and Limited Editions by Hodinkee and Revolution

Last week Hodinkee introduced a limited edition Grönefeld 1941 Remontoire, and, Revolution & The Rake announced a limited edition Chopard L.U.C 1860. Both superb dress watches, time-only, white metal case and… a salmon colour dial! Now, I’m a sucker for salmon dials, especially in a white metal case and I think both these limited editions are to die for. And both actually pack more than meets the eye, so all the more reasons to have a closer look.

7 years ago

Hands-on – Moritz Grossmann Atum Hamatic and its Impressive Pendulum Winding System

The vast majority of mechanical watches available nowadays rely on a central oscillating weight to provide power to their movements. Of course, we see lots of variations on this theme – for instance the winching system of the Jacob & Co. Twin Turbo Furious, off-centred micro-rotors, peripheral rotors or even linear rotors. However, the principle […]

7 years ago