For men, there are only three things they are feasibly allowed to obsessed with: cars, football, and watches. While the first two lose their value the older they get, watches work the other way round. And, let's face it, we'd rather have an antique Rolex than a 65-year-old Peter Crouch. So, we present the 10 new watches of the season. Credit cards at the ready?
(All images: Matthew Shave)
10 Greatest New Watches
Clipper Chronograph Titanium £3,895 by HermEs; Hermes.com. Hermès ‘Clipper’ diving watches prove that there is still room for originality within the standard sub-aqua mantra of steel, water-resistant case with easy legibility. Every man should have an orange watch in his collection — make sure it’s this Clipper Chronograph in titanium with rubber strap.
10 Greatest new Watches
Clockwise FROM TOP: Pendulum £POA BY TAG Heuer; Tagheuer.com. The Pendulum, still a prototype, removes the hairspring around which the balance wheel usually oscillates and replaces it with two circumferential magnets that bat the wheel back and forth. This is ironic, given that magnetism is usually the downfall of the delicate hairspring. One of the most audacious watches out there.
Heritage 1954 £1,190 BY Longines; Longines.com. This ‘Heritage 1954’ chronograph ticks all the right old-school boxes — its austere monochrome and retro-futuristic brushed-steel angles make it perfect for the office and cocktail hour alike. Mad Men’s Don Draper would be proud to wear this.
Luminor 1950 Ceramica 10-Days GMT £12,000 by Panerai; Panerai.com. Totally on-trend in stylish carbon black with huge proportions, Panerai has been innovating at a rate of knots since establishing its own Swiss ‘manufacture’ in Neuchâtel in 2005, but the 10-Days GMT chosen here, packaged in a ceramic version, is the original and best.
U2 BlacK £2,995 by Bremont; Bremont.com. One of the coolest watches of 2010. Not only does it have a precision Swiss movement and an aerospace-grade case hardened in a secret factory near Cambridge, but it has also been tested at 70,000ft.
10 Greatest New Watches
FA Jones Tourbillon £35,900 by IWC Portuguese; Iwc.com. This year’s FA Jones Tourbillon, a special tribute to IWC’s ex-pat American founder, sports an enchanting merry-go-round of painstakingly assembled micro-mechanics. The Tourbillon should be in every man’s fantasy watch line-up — it’s the ultimate expression of hand-craftsmanship and technical prowess.
10 Greatest New Watches
Clockwise from top left: HistOriador Semanal £4,400 by Cuervo y Sobrinos; cuervoysobrinos.com Cuervo’s louche, Havana sophistication is unerringly executed. The long, flared lugs (which attach the face to the bracelet) and vintage typography come straight from the pages of a Graham Greene novel — the perfect holiday watch, made to be worn with linens and loafers.
Ref 5170J Manually Wound Chronograph £46,560 by Patek Philippe; Patek.com All Pateks share that watertight package of family values, tradition and painstaking levels of finish. This in itself makes it remarkable that it’s taken Patek this long to develop its own manual-wind chronograph movement. One look through the back of these perfect pieces and the polish on the cog teeth alone will leave you mesmerised.
Elite Captain CENTRAL SECOND £2,800 by Zenith; Zenith-watches.com At this year’s Baselworld show, Zenith released a collection of real men’s watches, clever, precise, understated and dapper. The Elite Captain encompasses everything a man should look for in a simple dress watch.
10 Greatest New Watches
Ananta Spring Drive Moonphase £3,600 by Seiko; Seiko.co.uk Seiko’s revolutionary Spring Drive mechanism finally finds the home it deserves in the Ananta. Twenty-eight years and 230 patents led to the Spring Drive’s launch in 2005: a mechano-electro-magnetic hybrid, which, by reducing the electronic component to the absolute minimum, leaves you with a watch that is still hand-made.
