Monochrome Watches

The miniaturisation of clock towers to portable time wasn’t a Swiss innovation – it all started in Germany thanks to locksmith and clockmaker Peter Henlein in Nuremberg at the start of the 16th century.

What do you do when a car manufacturer doesn’t build the car you want?

De Bethune is, without a doubt, one of my favourite independent watchmakers.

When Baudouin van Es set out to establish Tad Kozh, the goal was not simply to produce another limited-edition luxury timepiece.

While O&HoraPictor might be a young brand we only discovered recently, our first experience with one of their watches left us very content with what they have to offer.

Geneva Watch Days is always a treat, but 2026 held two collaboration surprises for the MONOCHROME team, both involving maverick French watchmaker Vianney Halter.

With its Series 8 collection of mechanical watches, Citizen has been delivering rather impressive models over the years, with the GMT collection being possibly the most appealing of them.

Our friends at SJX, the Singapore-based watch magazine founded by journalist Su Jiaxian, are back at it with yet another collaboration watch with Habring², the Austrian independent watchmaker (and one of the best-kept secrets on the indie scene).

At just 45 grams in weight, strap included, the Wild ONE Skeleton X-Lite is Norqain’s most advanced sports watch to date.

Glashütte Original’s Senator collection is largely defined by classic German watchmaking conventions and the brand’s signature Panorama Date.

Since its introduction in 2020, the Bell & Ross BR-05 Chrono has appeared in quite a few different guises.

Girard-Perregaux released the Laureato collection in 1975 to meet the growing demand for integrated-style sports watches.

According to the Chinese zodiac, the Lunar New Year in February 2027 will usher in the Year of the Goat, the eighth animal of the twelve-year cycle.

While the more compact and more accessible Sport Auto and Sport Traveller are often seen as the cool kids on the block, we tend to forget that the whole integrated sports watch style at Laurent Ferrier started with a far more complex and larger watch, the…

While the Tangente hand-wound undoubtedly remains the most emblematic watch you can get from Nomos, and one of the most accessible models too, there’s another fairly priced option from the brand that has long been a fan’s favourite: the Club.

Despite reviving a defunct Dutch name, the young microbrand Elka Watch Co., Hakim El Kadiri’s project, is now firmly rooted in Swiss heritage.

Moritz Grossmann continues to celebrate the 200th anniversary of its founder, Carl Moritz Grossmann (1826-1885), a key figure in Glashütte’s rise as a powerhouse of German watchmaking.

If you’ve recently been following the buzzing micro-brand scene, you’ve probably heard about NYC-based brand Wren.

Since the Sphere’s introduction in 2023, Hautlence has offered its unconventional creation in different colours, materials, and case executions.

Although Rado is synonymous today with high-tech ceramic watches, it got a head start in innovative materials with the launch of its DiaStar model in 1962.

The concept of Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) isn’t new to the watch industry, but it has gained quite some momentum in recent years, in particular when Rolex launched its own service, now known to be a significant revenue generator for the Geneva-based brand…

The 417 ES Chronograph by Hanhart is one of the defining models in the German brand’s history, introduced in 1954 as a pilot’s chronograph for the German armed forces: robust, reliable and legible.

With the vast majority of watches being perfectly round, and a good chunk of them being square or even rectangular, there’s an in-between way to stand out from the masses.

Watchmakers have chased precision since the dawn of portable timekeeping in the 16th century, but it wasn’t until the late 17th century that watches became accurate enough to support minute hands.

Like a few other high-end watch brands (AP, VC, PP…), A.

Sometimes, a racing car that looks very promising on paper never gets the chance to shine and reach its full potential.

There is a tendency to see watch collecting as a solitary pursuit.

Certina’s DS Action Diver is an accessible, practical dive watch, available in several sizes, materials and colours.

Frederique Constant expands its Classics collection with fresh interpretations of the Heart Beat Moonphase Date.

Let’s have a quick overview of minute repeaters recently launched.

If you’ve been reading MONOCHROME regularly or have been following the evolution of indie watchmaking in recent years, the name Otsuka Lotec should be familiar to you.

Introduced in 2016, the Aikon collection has become a cornerstone of Maurice Lacroix’s catalogue, combining an integrated design with sporty details and accessible Swiss mechanics.

Doxa has long used colour to distinguish its dive watches, with bright orange, turquoise, yellow and deep blue among the signature shades of its SUB collection.

Most high-end perpetual calendars are fragile creatures composed of hundreds of components, delicate levers and springs.

The PRX is one of Tissot’s defining collections, offering an accessible take on the integrated design inspired by the 1970s watches, with contemporary proportions and mechanics.

The Minerva Exo Tourbillon Skeleton marks the manufacture’s transition to a standalone brand structure, dropping the previous dual Montblanc branding to focus entirely on its own heritage.

Chopard continues its tribute to Mexican culture with the thirteenth interpretation of its L.U.C Full Strike.

Yema’s Millésime series represents the most elaborate example of its watchmaking ambitions, offering French manufacturing and complications rarely encountered at this price level, in limited production series.

Oris supports environmental causes through its watches, like the Aquis Date Yangtze Jiangtun or the New York Harbour limited editions, participating in projects dedicated to protecting marine ecosystems and bringing attention to issues beyond watchmaking.

When thinking about the most emblematic watches produced by Jaeger-LeCoultre, some might, of course, mention the Reverso or the Memovox immediately.

Aldo Kane, an expedition leader, former Royal Marines sniper, and television adventurer, has spent the better part of a decade as a Bremont ambassador, putting the brand’s watches through volcanoes, jungles, oceans and mountains.

Founded in 1934 and revived by Dutch entrepreneur Tom van Wijlick in 2014 (who is also behind the return of Airain and its Type 20/21 pilot’s chronographs), Lebois & Co has gradually built its contemporary collection with watches inspired by the brand’s h…

Renaud Tixier is an independent brand born from a partnership between Dominique Renaud, the veteran inventor and co-founder of movement developer Renaud & Papi, and Julien Tixier, a talented young master watchmaker.

The Mirrored Force Resonance by independent watchmaking brand Armin Strom is, without a doubt, one of the most fascinating watches of recent years.

H.

Version Watches is a young independent brand founded in 2024 founded by a feminine duo, Cybèle Vigneron and Carla Lafranchini.

Founded in 1893 by Johannes Dürrstein in the Saxon town of Glashütte, Union Glashütte set out to make high-quality German watchmaking accessible to a wider audience.

Working in the watch industry for well over a decade by now, I hardly get nervous about watch prices.

China was very late to watchmaking, with its first wristwatch debuting in 1955, while Japan had a domestic pocket watch in 1895 and its first wristwatch in 1913 (respectively Seiko’s Timekeeper and Seiko’s Laurel).

With the 918 Spyder already more than a decade behind us, it’s about time Porsche developed a new super- or even hypercar, don’t you think?