One of France’s oldest family-owned and run luxury companies, Hermès started life in 1837 as a producer of harnesses and saddles in Paris. Renowned for its impeccable artisanal craftsmanship and intrepid artistic flair, Hermès has always welcomed creative talent from outside to keep its products fresh. The latest Arceau models feature comic book artist Ugo […]
Chronoswiss, guided first by Gerd Rüdiger Lang, a courageous visionary who founded the company in the 1980s amid a hurricane blowing away much of the mechanical watchmaking business, has managed to keep the brand’s offer interesting all through the not-so-long history of Chronoswiss. The new owner, who took over in 2012 when Lang decided to […]
Watches that can indicate the time in the 24 time zones of the world are usually accompanied by first-class price tags. In 2012, Frederique Constant, the brand that has flown the flag of “accessible luxury”, proved that tourist-class travellers could enjoy a watch with a world time complication. Turning 35 this year, Frederique Constant celebrates […]
The German watch brand Laco from Pforzheim was established in 1925, and in the 1940s, it was one of the five companies licensed to produce the B-Uhren, observation watches used by the pilots. The legendary designs, the Type A and the Type B from that era, different only in the dial configuration, continue to inspire […]
The German watch brand Laco from Pforzheim was established in 1925, and in the 1940s, it was one of the five companies licensed to produce the B-Uhren, observation watches used by the pilots. The legendary designs, the Type A and the Type B from that era, different only in the dial configuration, continue to inspire […]
Delma is a family-owned brand based in Lengnau, Switzerland, with a solid track record of rugged sports watches adapted to racing, airborne and diving pursuits. The Continental Chronograph is a throwback to the brand’s rugged 1960s racing chronographs and has recently welcomed the Continental Pulsometer, a second, more elegant iteration with three scales and a […]
If you’re a recurring reader of MONOCHROME, you should know by now that we have a soft spot for salmon-coloured dials. So much so that it was the main theme of our very first Montre de Souscription. Salmon is original, warm, and luxurious, and despite the outpouring of love from the watch-collecting community, these dials […]
Scenes of nature and texture have long been a tradition for Grand Seiko. The Snowflake watch, also known as the Spring Drive SBGA211, is surely the most famous example of this design language. Since then, we’ve seen countless models built around nature, architecture or seasonal changes. One of the brand’s recurring themes is winter scenes […]
Sports events and timing instruments have always been closely linked, for obvious reasons. No longer satisfied with visually determining who came first, the pursuit of precision timing instruments consumed leading horologists of the day. The history in this field of clock and watchmaking is filled with names like Louis Moinet, Nicolas Rieussec and J.T. Winnerl, […]
Since its launch during the mid-1980s (with the stunning, oversized reference 5251 and its moon-phase display), the Portofino has been the most classic offering of IWC. Even more than the Portugieser, it has to be seen as the brand’s dress watch and evokes pocket watches of the past. Recently revamped, with the 39mm Chronograph model […]