A watch is a must-have accessory for men. You may be out of touch with men’s fashion, but you’ll never be out of style with a good statement watch.
Do you prefer streetwear? Crush it with light-wash denim trousers from Yves Saint Laurent, a plain white Les Benjamins T-shirt, a sheepskin suede bomber jacket from Supreme, and a pair of Gucci Ace sneakers. Slap on – with care, please – a manual winding tourbillon Pharrell Williams watch from Richard Mille (RM 52-05), and you’ll knock it out of the park.
How about a formal business look? A custom-fit Giorgio Armani Privé or Scabal Diamond Chip suit paired with full-grain Oxfords from Berluti – swoon! Add a white gold Complications from Patek Philippe – exquisite!
It’s true what they say: Accessories elevate. Watches are particularly impressive, adding a touch of sophistication to any and all ensembles, from the most casual to the most formal. While style is and has always been subjective, individual and personal, it’s constant and consistent with a good watch.
Which watch brands have broken through time-bound fashion to become icons of style?
Look through the list of watches below for some style inspiration.
1. GreubelForsey
GreubelForsey was established in 1999 by entrepreneurial watchmakers Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey. In 2004, they created a watch that would put GreubelForsey on the map of luxury designer watches: the Double Tourbillon 30°.
The tourbillon is a timekeeping technology or mechanism invented by Abraham Louis Breguet, a Swiss watchmaker-slash-inventor who lived in France and made watches for the French aristocracy. Trivia: Did you know Breguet created a tourbillon watch for Marie Antoinette – yes, that French monarch who lost her head in more ways than one?
A tourbillon is a mechanical cage that rotates at a set rate (x rotations per unit of time). If you put the balance, balance spring and escapement inside it, the rotating cage will help your watch maintain an average rate and, thus, be more accurate.
The Double Tourbillon 30° has – you guessed it – two such rotating mechanical cages. The inner tourbillon is inclined at 30° (thus, the 30° in the name) and makes one complete rotation in 60 seconds. It is enclosed in another tourbillon. The outer cage rotates four times slower (one full rotation every four minutes), which levels out the adverse effect of gravity on the watch oscillations and timing accuracy.
What has made the watch a hit, however, was that GreubelForsey laid the tourbillon mechanism bare for everyone to see. Every time you glance at a GreubelForsey Double Tourbillon 30°, you can appreciate the ingenuity of dual tourbillon technology anew.
After the Double Tourbillon 30°, GreubelForsey created the Tourbillon 24 Secondes Architecture. A single tourbillon inclined at 25° made one full rotation every 24 seconds, countering gravity’s effect on the oscillator.
2. Patek Philippe
From Patek Philippe comes that timeless message: ‘You never actually own a Patek Philippe. You merely look after it for the next generation’. It’s that ingenious generations ad campaign that has propelled Patek Philippe watches beyond the level of a functional but strikingly impressive fashion accessory into an actual heirloom fathers can pass on to their sons from one generation to another.
There’s more than just bluff to Patek Philippe’s messaging, however. Truth be told, it’s one of the longest-running Swiss watch companies.
In fact, Patek Philippe is registered on the Guinness World Records as the maker of the first wristwatch (i.e., a watch worn on the wrist for ornamental and functional purposes), crafted for Countess Koscowicz of Hungary in 1868. Trivia: There’s controversy around this claim, as there are records of Abraham Louis Breguet being commissioned to make a wristwatch for the Queen of Naples in 1810.
Whether it was Patek Philippe, Breguet or someone else who invented the wristwatch, it’s true that Patek Philippe is the last independent, family-owned Geneva watch company. The generations-focused advertising message, thus, rings true, not only for the watches it makes but also for the company itself, which has remained in the Stern family since 1932.
3. Richard Mille
The eponymous brand was the brainchild of Richard Mille, who had spent decades working with luxury brands and always dreamed of starting his own. At fifty, Mille stopped watching the world go by.
He decided to enter the luxury watch market with the watch of his dreams – something that combined innovation with aesthetics, ergonomics, and the artistry of horology. The result was the RM 001 Tourbillon, the watch that launched the Richard Mille brand in 2001.
Since then, Richard Mille has well and truly captured the hearts (and wallets) of those who recognise and – above all – value uncompromising quality. Today, it is one of the most renowned luxury watch brands, with over eighty watch models.
4. AudemarsPiguet
AudemarsPiguet started in 1875 in Le Brassus, part of Switzerland’sVallée de Joux region, which had an abundance of iron ore.
Watchmaking was an organic part of the region, where farmers would dedicate their winter months to making watch parts (e.g., springs, pinions, and bearings made of semi-precious stones). They continuously mastered and improved their craft and passed their knowledge down to their descendants, creating and building a solid foundation for the AudemarsPiguet brand. Today, it is one of the best brands of watches, an epitome of Swiss watchmaking craftsmanship and artistry.
5. Rolex
A Rolex watch immediately gives its wearer style points because who hasn’t heard of the brand? When people think of stylish prestige watches, Rolex always comes to mind. In fact, it has the top market share among luxury Swiss watch brands. This, in turn, feeds its continued brand dominance.
What drives the brand’s commercial success is its unrelenting, effective marketing. Rolex watches are everywhere – on the wrists of celebrities, business luminaries, and successful professionals, in extravagant events and in association with other elite brands.
Beyond all that, however, Rolex watches have quality, craftsmanship and aesthetic beauty, making them the valuable fashion accessories they are.
‘Watch’ Your Style
The five brands above are a good starting point for a stylish watch collection. However, you don’t need to stop with the timeless classics.
You can go for edgy, contemporary, or trendy with a little guidance from the watches and jewellery pages of ICON magazine.
