Results for Swiss Lever Escapement

Business News: Swiss Watch Exports Drop Sharply In May After April Tariff Surge

Wholesale Exports to U.S. decline 25% as FHS warns exports outpace slower sales.

Tissot PRX Powermatic 80 Review: THE Near-Perfect Swiss Watch and it’s Relatively Affordable

Tissot was a brand that Raman Kalra knew about and he often saw their watches, but they never really sparked any interest. Then the PRX was released, and he started to take an interest and took the plunge. As an owner here are his impressions of the Tissot PRX Powermatic 80.

Business News: Swiss Watch Exports To U.S. Surge Almost 150% In April After Tariff Shock

Total exports climb 18%, but would have fallen 6% without record U.S. rush.

Gatherings: Celebrating the Art of Swiss Timekeeping with Leica

Hodinkee Editor TanTan Wang and Henrik Ekdahl, Managing Director of Ernst Leitz Werkstätten, host discussion on new watch collection

Just Because – Logan Kuan Rao Doubles Down on the Detent Escapement with a Stunning Unique Piece

A couple of years ago, we introduced you to the wonderful work of a self-taught Chinese watchmaker by the name of Logan Kuan Rao. While he wasn’t on our radar until just before that article, he’s actually been practising and perfecting his craft for almost a decade. Making virtually everything by hand and in the […]

Brew Introduces the Metric Manual Wind, with a Swiss Mechanical Movement

Brew’s recent history has been marked by two distinct types of watch releases. There are watches that incorporate bold design choices in established platforms, like Metric Star from last year, or our own Metric Chrono Regulator Lumint limited edition. These releases take a distinct point of view on something that is familiar to Brew fans and watch enthusiasts more generally, and keep moving the ball forward on the brand’s aesthetic. Then there are more substantial releases that feel like the brand is reaching for greater heights, toying with an incrementally higher end product. The titanium Metric Chronograph, for instance, seemed like clear upping of the ante in terms of what the Brew catalog might look like across price points, materials, and so on, as did the first mechanical Metric when it was released almost two years ago. If you’ve spent any time at all talking to Brew founder Jonathan Ferrer, you know that he has no shortage of ideas for the brand, so there’s a prevailing sense that a watch that completely changes how we think about Brew could come at any time. The new Metric Manual Wind might be the best example of that to date.  It makes sense, in a lot of ways, that a watch like this would come now. This year marks Brew’s tenth anniversary, and the last decade (especially the last five years or so) have seen the brand grow at a clip rarely seen in the microbrand space. The Metric has proven to be a particularly durable platform for design innovations a...

New Ownership For Corum Watches, Company Back To Swiss Hands

A Swiss Timepiece Geared For The Adventures Ahead

Victorinox honors its adventurous spirit with the Journey 1884

Business News: Swiss Watch CEOs Expect To Make Fewer Watches This Year As Economic Instability Roils Consumer Confidence

Brands from Parmigiani to Ulysse Nardin, Hermès, and Oris see few reasons to raise volumes.

How Will 31% US Tariffs Affect The Swiss Watch Industry?

A Closer Look: Rolex Land-Dweller and The Dynapulse Escapement

Swiss Watch Exports Dip In February As Key US Market Loses Steam

Monthly exports fall 8.2% as luxury watch sales face declining demand.

Rolex Files a Patent for a Natural Escapement

Hands-On with the 100% Swiss-Made Piccola & Jofrette PJ1

It’s not entirely uncommon for my first encounter with a brand to be when they inquire about attending Windup Watch Fairs. There are a lot of brands out there, more every year, so it’s hard to keep up with every new launch. Conveniently, Windup is a great way for new brands to meet enthusiasts and potential customers (sorry, this wasn’t meant to be a Windup pitch), resulting in a natural amount of outreach. When new brands come in, whether to me or a colleague, we give them a quick review to see if they are a conceptual fit for the fair, which they are more often than not. Occasionally, a new brand will stand out, for one reason or another, and they’ll get the seal of approval and an immediate request for a sample to review. Such was the case with Piccola & Joffrete. What stood out wasn’t the watch’s design, though it is altogether pleasant if conservative; rather, it was what appeared to be a high level of finish and a dedication to Swiss manufacturing. Many watches say Swiss-made on them, the definition of which I’ll elaborate on below, but few say 100% Swiss-made like the Piccola & Joffretes. Typically, those that are 100% Swiss (which is also hard to tell as transparency isn’t a strength of the watch world) cost significantly more, likely starting in the five figures. So, the final aspect that made Piccola & Joffrete (PJ) stand out was their relatively reasonable price point, Swissness considered, of 2500 CHF. There are several criteria a watch must mee...

The Detent Escapement In Wristwatches: Dream A (Big) Little Dream

Buying Guide – We Travel to France for Some More Exciting Non-Swiss Watches

A week ago, we covered some of the best watches coming from the Netherlands for the simple reason that both our founder Frank and myself are Dutch. However, part of the team comes from France, and as such, I thought it would be fun to have a look at French watches this time around! And when […]

Breaking News: Swiss Court Finds John Lennon's Patek Philippe 2499 Belongs To Yoko Ono

A bombshell decision on the hotly contested ownership of a seriously special Patek Philippe.

Introducing – The Engraved MB&F; LM Split Escapement x Eddy Jaquet

Inspiration at MB&F; comes from all sorts of places, including hypothetical musings like Max Büsser’s question: “What would have happened if I was born in 1867, one hundred years before my actual birth? What watch would I have conceived with the help of my friends?” The answer, as we know, was the motor behind the […]

First Look – The New Ikepod Horopod Titanium Is Back to Classic Designs and Swiss Movements

Ikepod has had its fair share of ups and downs since it was founded in 1994 by Oliver Ike and designer Marc Newson. Soaring to fame with Marc Newson’s fabulous designs, Ikepod’s skyrocketing prices eventually forced the brand into a nosedive. Following several attempts to restrain its prices with Japanese quartz and mechanical movements, the […]

Portrait – Gagà Laboratorio, When Italian Design Meets Swiss Precision in Luxury Watches

The current watch market is polarized and most often highlighted by the major and mainstream brands on one hand, and let’s say, all the rest on the other hand. Among the latter, on the fringes of the groups and a few independent and historical brands, a swarm of new brands has emerged in recent years […]

Introducing – The Studio Underd0g Salm0n, The First Model in the Swiss-Powered 03SERIES

Why so serious…? This was somehow the idea Richard Benc had in mind when he decided, in 2020, to create his watch brand, Studio Underd0g. From there, the brand managed to gather the attention of watch enthusiasts with its fun, colourful watches at accessible prices – think about an April Fool’s joke becoming a reality, […]

Dispatch: A View On The Swiss Watch Industry After Spending A Few Days In Switzerland

New releases from small brands including Berneron, Daniel Roth, and Rexhepi highlight the industry's back-to-school show.

Marine Lemonnier-Brennan: The Doyenne of Public Relations in the Swiss Watch Industry

Watch Week Aspen brings Swiss Watchmaking to the Colorado Rockies

Introducing – Slimmer and Swiss Powered, Meet the New M.A.D.Editions M.A.D.1S

The story behind M.A.D.Editions is pretty simple, yet very cool. It’s all about offering the taste and spirit of MB&F;, without the price tag of an MB&F;. Many have dreamt one day of owning such a watch, but most of our readers and us here at MONOCHROME won’t be able to. For this reason, M.A.D.Editions […]

Event – The GMT Watch Safari, A Week of Experiences to Discover Swiss Watchmaking

To celebrate their 24th anniversary, our colleagues at GMT Magazine are organising an exclusive watch experience for 24 lucky watch enthusiasts, from October 27 to November 1, 2024, in Switzerland. This meticulously curated tour will offer a behind-the-scenes look into the heart of Switzerland’s legendary watchmaking industry. From Geneva to the historic Jura Mountains, and […]

Swiss Watch Exports Continue Downward Trend, Confirming Yearly Decline Forecast

Video – A Closer Look at Laurent Ferrier’s Natural Escapement and the Micro-Rotor Movement

Today, for our latest in-depth video, we’re going technical. This is what MONOCHROME is all about, after all. Sharing the knowledge behind fine horology and understanding how our beloved mechanical watches actually work. Today’s topic is one dear to our hearts, as it combines everything we love in fine watchmaking: high-end finishing, mechanical ingenuity, profound […]

Business News: LVMH Acquires Swiss Clockmaker L’Épée 1839

Plus, Bloomberg reports the LVMH CEO holds a personal stake in a rival conglomerate.

Pierre Jacques: The Silent Force of the Swiss Watch Industry