Initial reactions to Chopard’s Zagato Lab One Concept were anything but neutral. Far removed from Chopard’s more conventional Mille Miglia racing-themed watches, this avant-garde concept car on the wrist – with its radical “bird cage” car-chassis aesthetics – was embraced by some as a daring pole-position contender, while others needed more time to digest its […]
Beaubleu is a young, independent French brand founded in 2017 by automotive and luxury product designer Nicolas Ducoudert. Gaining attention for the circular, orbiting hands featured in the brand’s collections, Beaubleu returns with new models born from an unexpected collaboration with the Monnaie de Paris, the official French national mint. Founded in 864, the mint […]
While I might be the number-two GMT fan here at Hodinkee, I do try to keep up with my favorite type of watch. But there are so many releases, and it's hard to track every brand. With some upcoming travel, however, it was good timing to take a look at some new offerings from Citizen.Shoutout to the community at The Grey Nato—more specifically Neall Brick, Director of Merchandising at Citizen Watch America, who will be on a panel with me next week at Citizen's NYC Flagship, who pointed out that
Happy Friday the 13th, Ballers. It is time to exhale. Close your meditation app and find some peace in some watches that, whatever else they'll offer, will allow for a little daydreaming for ten minutes on a Friday.First things first: whoever snagged the Patek 2508, congrats. Had I been a bit more on the ball, I would have included it, but last week was the first of what will likely be a few instances of catching a watch, writing it up, and then an early Friday check revealing the thing had al
Swatch is rolling out its AI Dada design tool worldwide, allowing users to create their own unique quartz timepiece by feeding prompts to the brand's artificial intelligence software.The program, now available in the U.S. for the first time, asks users to give prompts of up to 300 words and then uses an artificial intelligence large language model to generate a Swatch 'New Gent' 41 millimeter diameter watch design based on the cues. Users must log in to the Swatch website to try the tool and a
First introduced in 2021 alongside its smaller, less pro-oriented M-40 version, the Fortis Marinemaster M-44 was part of the new collections to mark the renewal of the brand, and yet it carried a name with historical importance. For once, not a watch linked to pilots, the Marinemaster (specifically the rugged, high-performance M-44 versions) is more […]
The independent watchmaking scene is as wide as it is deep, and we regularly stumble upon new and exciting projects and brands. And since indie watchmaking is also at the core of MONOCHROME Watches, we try to serve you as many of these as we can. For the next new indie discovery, named Juha Eskola, […]
Following the sudden and surprising departure of Antoine Pin in January, after being at the head of TAG Heuer for just over a year, the Swiss watchmaker owned by French luxury powerhouse LVMH has just announced the appointment of a new CEO – after several shakups, following the departure from this role in 2013 of […]
This is an endless debate in the small circle of watch enthusiasts… Should a dive watch be equipped with a date or not? Purists, sometimes slightly biased in their judgments, will tell you in a very strict manner that no, a date has no place on the dial of a dive or tool watch! “Who […]
TAG Heuer, the storied Swiss watch brand known for its Monaco and Carrera chronographs, has named Béatrice Goasglas as its new Chief Executive Officer, a move aimed at bringing stability to the executive suite of the official timekeeper of Formula One. Goasglas, currently the President Americas for TAG Heuer and based in Miami, will take over the top job at the Swiss watchmaker beginning May 1, the company says in a statement.The appointment follows a series of executive shifts, departures, a
A few weeks ago, I found myself at the Jaeger-LeCoultre boutique on Madison Avenue, standing over a tray of enamel Reversos. I was handed one of them and turned it over. On the caseback was a painted scene—several figures rendered in miniature, each no larger than a grain of rice. I was told the eyes, nose, and mouth of the figures on the back had been painted with a single-bristle paintbrush.A single bristle, the size of a human hair. I was blown away.A quick Google search revealed that a typ
Across its three-handers, GMTs, and even moonphase watches, the indie British brand has built a catalogue full of lively dials while keeping its Swiss-made watches at an accessible price point. That said, it is perhaps safe to say Farer has hardly been shy about colour. Most models stick to the round case, though the brand […]
If I had to make a short list of brands whose releases I've been tracking the past few years, Daniel Roth would be near the top. An "Extra Plat" in white metal (which doesn't currently exist) would fill a conspicuous void in my collection where a dress watch would sit, and a man can dream. My interest in Roth stems partly from the fact that the company, run by La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton, has turned a potential limitation into a strength. Maybe I'm too much of a traditionalist or conser
Few timepieces showcase the technical sophistication of traditional watchmaking as clearly as minute repeaters. The new Girard-Perregaux Minute Repeater Flying Bridges introduces this complication with its demanding mechanism, combined with a tourbillon and an automatic micro-rotor winding system. The watch is built around the brand’s recognisable Three Bridges architecture, presented in a modern openworked interpretation […]
Grand Seiko announced today that Japanese baseball star Shohei Ohtani will join the brand as a global ambassador starting April 1. The announcement arrives as Ohtani—who is at the height of his career and widely considered the best baseball player in the world—leads the Japan national baseball team in the World Baseball Classic, and ahead of the upcoming Major League Baseball season with the Los Angeles Dodgers.Photo via Getty Images.Since making his MLB debut in 2018, Ohtani has become one of
As you might know, Tudor, the sister company of Rolex, was created in 1926 by Hans Wilsdorf (founder of Rolex) and is thus celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. And for that reason, we can expect big things coming from the Rose. At least, it’s what we think the brand should do. We don’t often […]
“Kollokium is not a brand. As pretentious and cliché as that sounds, it’s true.” So, how could we define Kollokium? It’s a collaborative project between three friends, all fairly established names within the watch industry: Manuel Emch, Barth Nussbaumer, and Amr Sindi (The Horophile). Rethinking the way to approach watchmaking, and especially branding, Kollokium frees itself […]
This week on The Business of Watches, we're in La Chaux-de-Fonds to talk to the man heading Greubel Forsey, one of the most revered and respected brands in independent watchmaking. The company had been on a recent roll, with Meta CEO and chairman Mark Zuckerberg seen wearing its pricey timepieces and a 'Mechanical Exception' win for its Nano Foudroyante at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie Genève (a watch also in Zuckerberg's collection). Then news broke that Stephen Forsey, one of the brand's found
In January, Louis Vuitton released its new Escale Minute Repeater, and it's taken me a bit of time to appreciate the watch for what it is. In all honesty, it was probably because the brand's collaboration with De Bethune quickly overshadowed the news, but after finally spending some time with the Escale Minute Repeater, I think it's a watch worth a closer look.Since the line's overhaul in 2024, the Escale has seen its fair share of dial variations in its time-only dress-watch format. But this
In a market overcrowded with vintage-inspired dive watches, ranging from truly affordable models to high-end watches produced by esteemed brands, Eska, a name with over 100 years of history (with a stop from 1987 to 2024), has managed to find a place for its cool-looking, well-built and fairly priced Amphibian 250 collection. Modelled after a […]