Epigenetic states defined by chromatin can be maintained through mitotic cell division. However, it remains unknown how histone-based information is transmitted. Here we combine nascent chromatin capture (NCC) and triple-SILAC labelling to track histone modifications and histone variants during DNA replication and across the cell cycle. We show that post-translational modifications (PTMs) are transmitted with parental histones to newly replicated DNA. Di- and tri-methylation marks are diluted two-fold upon DNA replication, as a consequence of new histone deposition. Importantly, within one cell cycle all PTMs are restored. In general, new histones are modified to mirror the parental histones. However, H3K9me3 and H3K27me3 are propagated by continuous modification of parental and new histones, because the establishment of these marks extends over several cell generations. Together, our results reveal how histone marks propagate and demonstrate that chromatin states oscillate within the cell cycle.