It’s SIHH this week, one of the two major watch conferences in the year that takes place in Geneva. Most of the higher end brands release their novelties this week, whereas the rest are released during BaselWorld in March.

From what I’ve heard and observed, watches are much more important in big cities. I think there are two major reasons for this. First is that watches are a form of jewelery for men that is socially acceptable in business and formal settings. Second, the difficulty of driving cars in big and dense cities is much greater, so the ability to show off taste, status, and wealth through prestigious cars is diminished. Perhaps that’s why watches have been increasing in size and distinctiveness in the past decade. It’s difficult to show off a svelte white gold dress watch, whereas massive luxury sports watches almost jump out of shirt cuffs.

Personally I’m not a big fan of this trend and love the stylistically conservative pieces from the past. I think that the slimmer and cleaner aesthetic is more enduring, and that a couple of years down the road people will be see the chunky Hublot, Richard Mille, and Panerai watches as dated and ostentatious. I find that a lot of the stuff released recently by the big brands have been incredibly boring: more-of-the-same limited edition Royal Oak Offshore from AP, variations of the Nautilus from Patek Philippe, and absolutely nothing even remotely interesting from Rolex. However, some of the most interesting watches are coming from unexpected places: Lange & Söhne, Vacheron Constantin, Cartier, and Mont Blanc - brands that are ascending, resurrecting, or ambitiously moving into the watch world with innovative designs and movements.

I finally found the watch that I was looking for on eBay. For probably the same amount of money as a quartz watch from clothing brand, I found a vintage Glashütte 69.1 in a gold-filled case. I swapped the black leather strap it came with for a brown alligator strap that I think makes it look more unique. These were made in East Germany between 1960-1971 - so they’re not “fine” like Swiss watches - but I love the slim and clean look and heavily domed acrylic crystal.

Other posts on watches

photos:ernesthon