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).
