Hands-On – Ulysse Nardin Classico Paul David Nardin

This year, Ulysse Nardin is on the rush… After the impressive collection launched at the SIHH 2017, which showed more modern and more refined designs, yet “very Ulysse” in the style, we now have a succession of several rather surprising watches, with a vintage-inspired theme. After the Diver Le Locle, a dive watch inspired by a 1960s timepiece, here is now the Ulysse Nardin Classico Paul David Nardin, this time referring to a 1945 watch. And once again, the look is just superb.

9 years ago

The Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Control Collection Sector Dials (Celebrating 25 years of Precision)

25 years ago, the highly-respectable manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre innovated not with a new complication or a new material, but by implementing the “1000 Hours Control” procedure, an in-house certification comprising a series of radical tests to ensure that the watches are reliable and precise. As a tribute to this anniversary, Jaeger-LeCoultre had no best idea than to create a entire new collection of Master Control, with just stunning sector dials. Today on Monochrome, we take a look at these 3 watches: the Master Chronograph, the Master Geographic and the Master Control Date (and wait to see the prices…)

9 years ago

The Comeback of The Oris Regulateur ‘Der Meistertaucher’ – With Probably The Best Possible Display For A Dive Watch

Think about it for a second… What is the most important feature of a dive watch? Its water resistance? Its second hand? Its bezel? Of course, it is a combination of these elements however, pro-divers won’t contradict me, THE ultimate feature of a dive watch is the minute hand. For safety reasons, the minute hand is key to calculate remain diving time and decompression stages. Oris knows about it for already some years and comes back with a new version of the Regulateur ‘Der Meistertaucher’, a watch intensively thought, built for pro-divers and with the appeal of its original display.

9 years ago

Hands-On – Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Double Retrograde

Maurice Lacroix unveiled a new version of its Masterpiece Double Retrograde at Baselworld this year – and the watch has never looked so good. Here is a hands-on look at this tastefully executed facelift with a new clous de Paris dial that is definitely more modern and chic – and still with this great display, complex and legible at the same time.

9 years ago

RGM Introduces the “Chess in Enamel” For Its 25th Anniversary (And It Is American-Made!)

American-Made watches… Certainly a dream for many of our readers on the West side of the Atlantic. Watches that are really made (meaning with parts manufactured and assembled in the US) are rare, too rare honestly – and the Shinola-gate is not going to help this issue. However, such a dream is possible, with a brand named RGM Watch Co. – for Roland G. Murphy. The manufacture, which will turn 25 this year, celebrates this jubilee with a first watch, inspired by an also American-Made pocket watch, the RGM “Chess in Enamel”.

9 years ago

Meerson Introduces the Mutiny Chronograph – A Limited Production Bespoke Watch Collection

Creating a watch brand from scratch, especially when you don’t rely on new funding processes such as Kickstarter, is sort of a daring gamble in times of “crisis” and “slow demand”. However, that’s exactly what Alexandre Meerson did 3 years ago, and not with an affordable piece, but with a complete collection of luxury watches, with a quite unique tailor-made idea. After the Altitude and the D-15 GMT collections, Meerson comes back with a third piece, this time entirely focused on the Limited Production / Bespoke concept, the Meerson Mutiny Chronograph.

9 years ago

Ulysse Nardin Goes Vintage, with the Super-Cool Diver Le Locle

As of this year, you’ll see several extremely nice watches from Ulysse Nardin, all paying homage to the great past of the brand (and believe us, since its inception in 1846, the brand has done A LOT). Recently, UN launched a watch as a tribute to the great Ludwig Oeschlin (a watch that will soon be under our loupe) and now, it is something drastically different, quite unexpected from the brand; a vintage dive watch… Surprising at first, but the result, in the name of the Ulysse Nardin Diver Le Locle, is properly cool.

9 years ago

When The Crown Goes Classic… The Rolex Cellini Moonphase Ref. 50535

Usually, when you imagine a watch bearing the name Rolex, you have something purpose-built, casual-sport (not always, but usually the dressier you can think about is a Day-Date) and quite simple in terms of complications (to the exception of the Sky-Dweller… but it is one watch in the middle of mainly time-and-date pieces). Yet, in 2014, Rolex revived a name synonymous of elegance and dressed watches: Cellini. Built around a classical and subtle case, this watch already introduced several complications, with all of them being rather practical. But what if The Crown goes where you don’t expect them… into poetical complications. Not very Rolex you’ll admit. Though, this is what you’ll get with the new Rolex Cellini Moonphase Ref. 50535 and it feels very satisfying.

9 years ago

Hands-On – H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Centre Seconds Automatic – When Simplicity Becomes Essential

As we already showed several times here, on Monochrome, the Schaffhausen-based manufacture H. Moser & Cie. (also known as the Robin Hood of watchmaking… Those who know will understand, otherwise read this) is all about simplicity and purity of their watches, by removing even the logo on the dial and any kind of markers. But simplicity can also come from a display and functionality, and in this case, this word is nothing pejorative and I would even refer to essential… Something that the new H. Moser Cie. Endeavour Centre Seconds Automatic, presented at Baselworld 2017, defines quite well.

9 years ago

Hands-On – Glashütte Original Senator Excellence Perpetual Calendar (and my unexpected love for the sporty steel version)

While some brands came with over 100 novelties at Baselworld 2017, the Saxonian brand Glashütte Original only introduced 2 new masculine watches during the show. And to be honest, why doing more when you offer new products of such quality. Together with the surprisingly sporty Steel Senator Chronograph Panorama Date, Glashütte Original also introduced an elegant, refined and complex Perpetual Calendar version of the precise Senator Excellence. Elegant and refined? Not only, as I surprised myself to have a crush on an unexpected sporty steel version of this QP watch, not the kind of combination that you imagined from GO…

9 years ago