A little history of watches and several tips for buying the perfect watch. 5212A-001 Calatrava Weekly Calendar , 40mm stainless steel case, light brown calfskin strap. Time, day, date, month — the basic temporal measurements and functionality upon which watchmaking has been based since, well, time immemorial. Patek’s new high-end 5212A, however, goes one better by adding an additional refinement to its information display by keeping track of the weeks in a year. Beyond the three standard hands for seconds, minutes and hours, two red-tipped hammer pointers register the day and the week number (the latter also cleverly indicates the relevant month on a concentric outer scale). Design afficionados should note the technical lettering on the face is based on the actual handwriting of a Patek designer; a handsome and human detail on such an exquisite and captivating complication.
Let’s move on to the under 1000 USD category. If you just wanted to spend $70 or so on a good-looking quartz watch, you could do a lot worse than the Nokia Steel (formerly the Withings Activité). But this being a “hybrid” smartwatch, you get more than just the time of day. The watch connects to your phone via Bluetooth to give you simple sleep and fitness tracking info that, while not super-comprehensive, is helpful in tracking and motivating healthy behavior. Braun’s minimalist aesthetic is perfect for someone looking for a wardrobe accoutrement rather than a showpiece. What’s more, graphic elements like the yellow seconds hand and austere font are sure to call to mind the brand’s legacy of Bauhaus-inspired product design.
Chunky, luxury watches don’t suit everyone’s style, but this sleek-looking beauty carries the elegance and swagger needed to stand out from the crowd. The steel blue-like dial with its mix of distinctive leaf hands and Roman numerals exudes an air of class appropriate to a watch brand founded in Geneva in 1830. At 40mm it’s on the upper end of the medium size scale. Strap it on your wrist and see why celebs like David Duchovny and Kiefer Sutherland are huge fans. Chotovelli, a brand founded in the 1920s in Turin, derived and inspired by Italian aviators, is a name you probably haven’t heard before. Which just means it qualifies as a ‘find’. For the price, this handsome oversized chrono is by far the biggest bargain on the list, and the opportunity it affords to give each admirer a mini history lesson is just icing on the cake. The saddle leather strap will only get better with age, but caveat emptor: at 47mm, this is one big watch.
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