Monochrome Watches
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Just Because

Salmon Dial Watches and Limited Editions by Hodinkee and Revolution

The intertwining of media and retail results in some very nice watches!

calendar | ic_dehaze_black_24px By Frank Geelen | ic_query_builder_black_24px 5 min read |

Last week Hodinkee introduced a limited edition Grönefeld 1941 Remontoire, and Revolution & The Rake announced a limited edition Chopard L.U.C 1860. Both superb dress watches, time-only, white metal case and… a salmon colour dial! Now, I’m a sucker for salmon dials, especially in a white metal case and I think both these limited editions are to die for. And both actually pack more than meets the eye, so all the more reason to have a closer look.

As said, I love watches with a salmon dial, preferably in a white metal case. This colour of dial is quite rare and maybe not for everyone. And may I add, getting the exact right colour salmon is very important. A tad too pink and it goes wrong, and a tad too brownish and again, it goes wrong. Some years ago I was lucky to be able to pick up this lovely Daniel Roth dress watch, with, in my opinion, a stunning salmon colour guilloché dial. To this day, this is my only watch with a salmon dial, but the hunt for another one continues.

Daniel Roth salmon dial

When I saw the recent announcements from Hodinkee and Revolution, my collector’s heart beat a little faster. Both watches look awesome. For both watches some rather interesting choices have been made and both come with the desirable combination of a white metal case and a salmon dial.

Grönefeld 1941 Remontoire Limited Edition For HODINKEE

The Hodinkee limited edition Grönefeld 1941 Remontoire is, in all honesty, the Remontoire that I always wanted to see from Grönefeld. Although I love the fact that the Horological Brothers (Grönefeld) added a governor to control the speed of the rewinding of the 8-seconds remontoire, I am just not a fan of holes in dials. Only in very exceptional occasions, like the Montres-KF Spirograph, I like a hole in the dial, but usually I prefer a closed dial and seeing the beauty of nicely finished movement parts exclusively on the reverse side of the watch. I guess Hodinkee’s Ben Clymer and team thought similarly and they even asked Grönefeld to rethink and re-engineer that part of the movement, in order to have a closed dial.

I’m sure not everyone concurs, but this version of the 1941 Remontoire, with a closed dial, no applied hour markers, but much more subtle printed Arabic numerals, looks absolutely fab. The shaped case that Grönefeld introduced with the 1941 Remontoire is very elegant and also size-wise it’s just perfect. For those interested, I’m afraid you’re already too late as this stunning limited edition of twelve pieces sold out within a day. My compliments to Hodinkee’s Ben Clymer and his team, and to Bart and Tim Grönefeld for a creating this version of the 1941 Remontoire.

Chopard L.U.C 1860 Limited Edition for Revolution & The Rake

Now here’s another stunning piece in white metal with a salmon dial and it has just been announced, so it might not be sold out yet! Chopard, or better, the brand’s owner and CEO Carl Friederich Scheufele, accepted the challenge from Revolution’s Wei Koh to recreate the first L.U.C with the legendary calibre 1.96 that Chopard introduced in 1997. Again, there are no technical changes, like in the Hodinkee version of the Grönefeld, but there is something else that’s also rather unusual. Wei Koh wanted to see the recreation of this watch in the exact same size, 36.5 mm in diameter, and with the exact same movement calibre 1.96.

Personally, I’ve been searching for just this watch, the white gold Anniversary Edition with a salmon dial and superbly finished micro-rotor calibre 1.96, but without success. So when I saw the announcement of the recreation of exactly this watch, in exactly the same size and with exactly the same movement (later versions of this movement, like calibre 3.96, are not finished to the same level) I jumped for joy. What a lovely piece and so good that Wei Koh and Mr. Scheufele agreed on the original dimensions and calibre. Kudos! But wait, only ten pieces will be made, so best to hurry up to reserve one before these will be sold out! Here at the Revolution website you can register your interest.

Concluding words

When I started this online magazine, already eleven years ago, there were various reasons to call it MONOCHROME. The number of steel watches with a black dial, in my collection, certainly contributed to my motivation to do so. I always preferred steel watches with a black or anthracite dial. It looked cleaner, maybe stronger and more masculine. Until this day, my collection is comprised of mainly steel watches with a black dial. Except the old Daniel Roth (see above) and a rose gold Lange 1815. I notice that I’m much more particular in liking a watch with more colours and it always seems easier to like a monochromatic design.

What do you think, should we?

As a collector I love what Hodinkee and Revolution & The Rake have done with their limited editions. Like many of you, we are always discussing new models and what could be improved or changed on a specific new watch. That’s just part of the fun. On the other hand, I’m still not sure whether we should be doing limited editions for MONOCHROME, similar to HDK and Revo, to be sold via e-commerce. What do you think, should we? Please share your ideas with us about this in the comments section below. Thanks!

https://mowa.dev/salmon-dial-watches-and-limited-editions-by-hodinkee-and-revolution/

11 responses

  1. Why not! Give it a go, but please be different and choose an affordable tool watch (a diver’s or a pilot’s.)

  2. I usually found these kind of “limited editions” are more attractive than the serial production versions(but not from this Gronefeld, because the price you already can get a bespoke guilloche/enamel dial version). So just go ahead if you have good ideas!

  3. I think you should give it a go, Frank. You already have the basic e-commerce structure set up for straps, so you wouldn’t be starting at the foot of the hill, and you seem to have good contacts with certain brands that would enable you to work with them. When you get it up and running, a mix of affordable and high-end would be great. Is there any particular brand at the moment that you would like to start the project with?

    Btw, your Daniel Roth is causing me some extreme envy.

  4. Both Watches are amazingly finished and perfectly assembled. True Swiss Haute Horlogerie !!! I love the L.U.C 1860 – such a milestsones in traditional watchmaking

  5. Dear Frank , i think it would be a great idea .
    You know i love Salmon dails to so if you do it and it will be a Special dail (in a independent brand) then i would love to get one 🙂 .

    Kind regards
    Watchonthewrist

  6. If I didn’t know better, this article was a subterfuge in order to show off that amazing and perfect Daniel Roth.

    Monochrome for me is a news magazine and its identity as a showcase for horology is the most valuable thing it sells. I love the classy feel of the website, the insider articles and the way it informs me of trends in the industry. I love the photography and the reverence it shows to what I love. Let Monochrome remain brand agnostic. The industry needs it now more than ever. Its not always good to copy others, the internet is rife with failed attempts to “keep up” and to prospect for gold. Monochrome is fine doing what it does, and should want to be more Patek than Swatch. If it becomes just another website hawking its own wares, I am much less interested in giving it my time. It would seem you have the idea that your ideas are just not being listened too and are better. I think Monochrome should realize how hard it is to get respect in the industry and position itself for long term presence, integrity and impartiality.

  7. Thanks for your kind words, Edju! I think we’re all well aware of how hard it is, but I can assure you, my/our focus is long-term, good in-depth stories, insider info and videos. However, next year we are celebrating our 12th anniversary… and I have something in mind for that!

  8. Thanks, Gil, trust me, I was super exited when I had the chance to buy that DR (and I still am). For now I do have some ideas for next year as we’re celebrating our 12th anniversary… think Indie, think sub 10k.

  9. @ Frank
    Intruiging! A few names floating around my head…

    Re: your stunning Daniel Roth – immediately after seeing it I searched to see if I could find one available, and Roth’s ‘Papillon’ popped up (in fact, I think Brice wrote about it on here a few years back) and it was love at first sight. If you have any idea where I could get a ‘Papillon’, please let me know. All I can seem to find are the Bvlgari versions which aren’t as appealing.

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