A small history of watches and a few advices for buying the perfect watch. Sixties Annual Edition 2019, 39mm polished stainless steel case, brown Louisiana alligator leather strap. Watch write-ups get nerdy quickly. With all the talk of tourbillons and power reserves, its easy to forget one of the most emotive reasons for any watch’s appeal is colour. Last year, German watchmaker Glashütte Original had a hit with its Sixties Annual Edition in retro green, where the dial graduated from a lighter centre to a darker, domed periphery — a successful experiment with colour. Duly encouraged, it’s launched the watch in orange sunburst, radiating from vibrant yellow in the centre to black at the edges. Each lacquered dial is unique, using tools and methods from the Sixties. Available with or without a date window, in a 42mm stainless steel case for the former and 39mm for the latter (and an appropriate price bump for the date version), the two new models have a one-year limited availability, making them as desirable as they are distinctive.
Let’s move on to the under 1000 USD category. When Swatch launched the Sistem51 — an autonomously assembled automatic movement boasting a 90-hour power reserve — it was a revelation, but its plastic case limited its appeal. Now you can get the same movement cased up in stainless steel, making it a more versatile option for everyday wear. No list of dirt-cheap watches is complete without the Seiko 5. Originally launched in 1963, the 5 has cultivated a feverish following amongst watch fans for its utilitarian mechanical movement and the value it provides. The Seiko 5 comes in many iterations, and the “Sea Urchin” dive watch is one of our favorites. In addition to using Seiko’s workhorse 7S36 automatic movement, it comes adorned with a unidirectional countdown bezel and steel bracelet.
Chunky, luxury watches don’t suit everyone’s style, but this sleek-looking beauty carries the elegance and swagger needed to stand out from the crowd. The steel blue-like dial with its mix of distinctive leaf hands and Roman numerals exudes an air of class appropriate to a watch brand founded in Geneva in 1830. At 40mm it’s on the upper end of the medium size scale. Strap it on your wrist and see why celebs like David Duchovny and Kiefer Sutherland are huge fans. Chotovelli, a brand founded in the 1920s in Turin, derived and inspired by Italian aviators, is a name you probably haven’t heard before. Which just means it qualifies as a ‘find’. For the price, this handsome oversized chrono is by far the biggest bargain on the list, and the opportunity it affords to give each admirer a mini history lesson is just icing on the cake. The saddle leather strap will only get better with age, but caveat emptor: at 47mm, this is one big watch.
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