The Great Watch Revolution (1980s) sent mechanical timepieces down initially but they returned soon cornering the cheap-and-nasty quartz market. This is also when older watches earned their vintage status and wristwatch acquired a new significance. The hi-end Swiss technologies leaked from the cognoscenti circles and created newer admirers and some of them created today’s in-your-face watches indicating serious wealth and status as much as owning a Ferrari Barchetta or Maserati 300S in Paris does.
Those with that kind of budget almost always nosedives for Rolex. Now, there’s no denying Rolex’s timeless appeal (the name is such), but what’s meant exclusively for pilots and professional divers in the 1950s and 1960s can be a valuable piece of functional history with little to no use in daily life. It’s also true by and large for the very-high to high-end luxury watch models built by Audemars Piguet, A. Lange & Sohne, Vacheron Constantin or maybe the ineffable Cartier; else, the proficient Swiss old-timers brings us A-grade mechanical complications that relate to modern life time tackling. There were Jazz Greats like Duke Ellington and Miles Davis who wore Patek Philippe; this brand is for them with a liking for life’s undertones.
If we follow the Italian advice, each of us must own three watches. These should suit your occupation, to go with your formal evening wear and one tech-laden watch for sports, outings and holidays. Choices are virtually countless, but here is one for them willing to be fairly generous.
A. Dior VIII: Starts from £3,050, but what makes a Fashion Icon (that could also be Chanel, Chaumet, Cartier or Pierre Cardin) put a price equal to Swiss labels? This family of heavily faceted watches set with diamonds in bracelets and bezels house either an automatic or a quartz movement. It’s new, yes, but a bit too-new.
B. The Vogard Timezoner: At £3,500, this has one-glance World Time detection (World-Timer) and to show time in two or more zones at once, but Vogard doesn’t agree to build anything else.
C. The Banker: Patek Philippe sells the Calatrava for £12,980 apiece and we may call it the decent forbearing of pre-1980s sobriety. Bankers and others in the finance sector power dress no more, they need to ensure and assure solidity and dependability. The Patek Philippe Calatrava conveyed the same back in 1932, during the Depression with its no-nonsense functionality combined with elegance.
D. Richard Mille Entrepreneur RM038: It’s a bit of steep-priced but £380,000 has reasons behind. The Entrepreneur is a rival to the Banker and a bold watch that speaks volumes. A shock-proof, high tech tourbillon mechanism suited to Bubba Watson’s needs, which, essentially, are some cruel and inhuman punishments Rafael Nadal also wears one for its endurance.
E. The Bohemian from Van Cleef & Arpels: Okay, here’s to something cheaper to cool you down. At £77,500, this triggers a lot more poetry than the above one.
F. Jaeger-LeCoultre 846 mechanical movement: A severely restricted production makes this the watch for an individualist. The white gold case sets the difference all the more.
