Watchlist
Watchlist
By Tony Whitney
One of the most intriguing jewellery trends in recent years has been the popularity of “sports watches” of every imaginable kind. At the forefront have been chronographs (stop watches) and wristwatches for use in or around water, usually with a rotating bezel to time submerged spells. Running a close third are the various pilots’ watches, often with complex dials and specialized functions for aviation use.
Of course, you don’t have to be an auto race team manager, a diver or an aviator to own a watch like this. They can be great fun to wear and very prestigious when it comes to some makes and models. They can also be highly practical accessories for all kinds of reasons—nobody will mind if you use your chrono or dive watch to time parking metres! And since many style-conscious women are wearing larger watches than they used to, sports watches have universal appeal.
One of the standouts this season is Omega’s Speedmaster ’57 chronograph, which seems to look best on a classic leather strap and with a white dial. Although the Speedmaster has been around for many years (since ’57, of course!) and earned fame for being NASA’s watch of choice (against strong competition) for its Apollo lunar exploration missions, this new variation on the theme somehow has an entirely new look. Unlike most Speedmasters, which usually have black faces and bezels, this new creation is all stainless steel, unless you want something really special and opt for one in 18 carat gold. It’s a stunning timepiece, made even more appealing thanks to the superb Omega movement featuring the company’s co-axial technology for accuracy and reliability.
Like the new Speedmaster, Omega’s Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M Good Planet was launched earlier this year at Baselworld—the world’s largest trade show for the watch and jewellery industry. A tribute to the Good Planet Foundation and exceptionally capable at considerable depths, this watch is large, chunky and super-durable, and reflects Omega’s various partnerships with environmental organizations associated with the oceans. In fact, some of the proceeds from the sales of this Seamaster will go to the Foundation. The watch’s blue dial and bezel are a reminder of our oceans and if you flip it over, a crystal caseback reveals one of today’s finest movements. A close relative of this watch is worn by actor Daniel Craig in the popular James Bond movies—another tie-in that Omega has been involved in for many years.
Longines is celebrating its 180th anniversary this year with several new timepieces, including the wonderfully vintage Avigation Watch Type A-7. It’s inspired by aviators of the 1930s and features an offset dial (imagine where the flyer’s hands are when grasping the control column of his aircraft). It’s a single button chronograph with—another classic touch—a large and well-knurled setting crown. Inside, there’s nothing vintage about this watch at all as it uses advanced horological technology for a self-winding movement.
Also from Longines is a chronograph with more conventional, though still classic, styling. Part of Longines’ Saint-Imier Collection (the company was founded in Saint-Imier, Switzerland, and is still based there), this elegant wristwatch uses a superlative-loaded column wheel movement and can be ordered in steel, steel and rose gold, or rose gold. A variety of dial colours and strap designs are available.
Fine watches come in a bewildering variety of styles and sizes, and perhaps that’s where some of the fasciation lies. Prices also vary dramatically and buyers can spend anything from $1,200 to several hundred thousand for a finely-crafted Swiss timepiece. For increasing numbers of people, and despite a market flooded with inexpensive quartz watches, money used for purchasing a fine wristwatch is considered money well spent.
