Some brands excel at collaborations, elevating everyday watches to grail status, no matter how primary their starting point is. Casio sets a great example with its G-Shock range and the inherently cool canvas of the OG “Square.” Its shape is packed with potential, and the new Casio G-Shock G-5600SRF-1 shows a real sense of eco-purpose. We’ve all seen the results of oceanic waste and its increasing threat to marine life. Together with the Surfrider Foundation, the G-5600SRF-1 exhibits a tangible monochrome solution to recycling. Despite its colorless first impression, this solar-powered Casio G-Shock Square has a unique sense of depth,…

The Tellurium was among the best things I saw during Watches & Wonders week, and it has occupied a corner of my mind ever since. It’s a rare complication, featuring a calendar, as well as an accurate representation of the earth’s orbit around the sun, and the moon’s orbit around the earth. All, of course, in a package that kind of looks like a spaceship, but is more wearable than SpeceOne’s first release which really looked like a spaceship. Why should De Bethune have all the fun, right?  At under 3,000 EUR, the Tellurium throws down the gauntlet for value…

Ultra-thin watchmaking is a fascinating topic, one of our favourite areas of expertise here, at MONOCHROME. Ultra-thin watchmaking is horology at its purest, a no-compromise search for the slenderest movement that has to be considered a true complication. While high-watchmaking often seeks to bring as many complications as possible in a single movement, ultra-thinness is all about miniaturisation. We’ve recently published a video retracing the battle for the world’s thinnest mechanical watch, a race that implied Bulgari, Piaget and Richard Mille, ending up with a record thin watch of 1.70mm, the Octo Finissimo Ultra COSC. But let’s dive deeper into…

Certain watches are just nearly perfect. These watches are perfect enough that when a friend inevitably asks for my recommendation for a “first good watch,” I can size my friends up based on their use case, budget, and personal vibe and land on one of a handful of great options. For my more rugged, outdoorsy, “rough-on-their-stuff” friends, that option is almost always the Hamilton Khaki Field watch in 38mm. Even more importantly, Hamilton has consistently rolled out more and more options of dial colors and case treatments over the last few years that make it easier for folks to find…

As watches go, it’s tough to beat a G-Shock in the dead of summer, and the brand seems to understand that draw. The new Energy Pack collection features a trio of vibrant colors that will look great with a pair of shorts and t-shirt, while the classic 5600 case is a formula that works year ‘round. Minus the shorts. The 5600 is the classic G-Shock form and it has proven endlessly versatile since it was first released in 1987. It does so again here in bright red, blue, and green. It may not be the straightforward approach that Speed enthusiasts…

Buffy Acacia The story of the Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece collection is a curious one. While the company was born out the most turbulent period watchmaking has ever seen, the transformation of this one line has reflected the way the brand itself has evolved over time and found its true identity today. To fully understand the Masterpiece collection is to know Maurice Lacroix at its very best, so we thought it time to take a closer look at the highly evocative line and chart its course through the life of this relatively young company. There is no doubt that the quartz…