Anyone who was imprisoned in went to a boys’ boarding school before 1980 will be familiar with the term “six of the best”, which referred to the number of strokes applied to one’s backside by a cane-wielding head- or housemaster.
This series isn’t about any of that sadomasochistic nonsense. It’s about fine things, things I like right at the moment, things I would like to possess (given the means, of course): just… great stuff.
So today: Watches.
As Longtime Readers know well, I have some fairly strict rules when it comes to watches:
- no metal bracelets (because arm hair); leather straps only, no rubber or plastic straps need apply
- manual wind action (no automatic or battery a.k.a “quartz” movements)
- simplicity over complications
- uncluttered watch faces
- dress watches over “functional” (stopwatches, diving watches, etc.).
While these are very much ironclad rules, I have reserved the right to break them in a couple of cases simply because the watches are gorgeous. So here we go (in alphabetical order), and prices are as currently listed in the red links:
Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso – $9,000
I want a dark-faced watch for discreet evening wear, and I love the “JLC” brand.
Longines Master Collection – $1,200
Art deco numbers, and it oozes class that belies its price. If something bad were to happen to my brilliant Tissot Heritage, this would be its replacement (assuming I couldn’t find another Heritage, which seems to have been discontinued booooo).
H.Moser & Cie Endeavor – $18,500
The minute I saw this watch, I fell in love despite its nosebleed price. Want.
Omega Speedmaster Professional Moon Watch – $6,500
Yeah, I broke my own rules with this one: it’s clunky (not a dress watch) and it’s multifunctional (not simple time-telling). But it survived a trip to the Moon, which has to count for something, and I’d take one over any Rolex*, any day of the week. Oh, and that no-class canvas strap would go bye-bye.
Piaget Altiplano – $11,000
The ultimate in minimalist style, the ultra-thin Altiplano has always attracted me.
Vacheron Constantin 1942 Triple Calandrier – $20,000
Okay, I broke almost all my rules with this one: when a watch tells you the date and month (in addition to hours, minutes and seconds), that’s what you might call “multifunctional”. Don’t care: it’s old-fashioned (1942 first production) and I love it. At least it’s still a manual wind…
Honorable mention (because it isn’t a wristwatch):
Vacheron Constantin 1900 Pocket Watch – $6,000
Art Deco, gold case (not ostentatious because you keep it in your pocket), and a VC into the bargain. Yeah, it’s secondhand. Anyone know what a 1961 Ferrari 250 SWB sells for, these days?
And speaking of which: sometime next week will be cars.
*The Rolex Discussion can be found here.
Final thought: you will never find any Breitling, Hublot or Tag Heuer watches on any list of mine. Here are the reasons (just ignore the horrible A.I. voiceover, if you can).
The problem with an expensive watch is that you have to develop a special two-handed way of looking at the time to advertise that you are wearing a good watch.
I bought a Patek Philippe from the pawn shop in Hout Bay for next to nothing. When yuppies urgently needed cash, the pawn guy paid for the value of the gold in them. It wasn’t a bad watch but I don’t think it ever got me laid, which is the sole and entire point of having such a watch.