| Big Watches Are Officialy Out Of Style... | |
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+7pacifichrono Anomaly Northwestguy ericf4 TAZMAN64 AtomicTom sixtysix 11 posters |
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Guest Guest
| Subject: Big Watches Are Officialy Out Of Style... Tue Mar 22, 2011 4:34 am | |
| From Forbes Magazine:
Pendulums have a way of swinging. It wasn't long ago that watches were going for baroque, in style and size, and brand prestige was a mirror for personal prestige. Watches were bonus babies and salary semaphores: To paraphrase the Duchess of Windsor, they couldn't be too rich and they shouldn't be too thin.
Time has changed. Big watches, whether time-only or complicated, are starting to look like Elizabethan ruff collars in terms of contemporary taste. Now the watchword is, "If you've still got it, don't flaunt it."
In watches, this means consumers and companies are tacking away from the oversized and the overstated. It's ironic, given who got us into the current economic morass, but this heralds the return of the "banker's watch." The term denotes a dressy, extra-flat, round wristwatch with a minimalist dial--sometimes even lacking a sweep seconds hand. The artistry of the extra-flat dress watch is like that of the sonnet--expressive within (and because of) the constraints of a narrowly defined form--and its Gary Cooper visage is shorthand for stability, security, and reliability. Classic examples are the Patek Philippe Calatrava and Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Contemporaine.
For all its seeming simplicity, the extra-flat dress watch is a complex being, starting with the watchmaking itself. Getting a thick, heavily built mechanism to run accurately is relatively easy; getting comparable performance out of a mechanism that's no thicker than a couple of business cards is not. That's why new watch brands generally don't offer extra-flat watches. In fact, it's venerability that marks the two names that are most synonymous with extra-flat construction, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Piaget.
Their flattest movements are whisker thin. Jaeger's Master Ultra Thin, the thinnest watch it currently makes, has a case 4.2 millimeters thick and a movement 1.85 millimeters thick, yet the watch contains 123 components and can run for 35 hours, accurately, on a single mainspring winding. Piaget's manual-wind Altiplano contains its caliber 430P movement, which comes in at 2.1 millimeters. Both watches slide under a French cuff like a cat slipping noiselessly past a barely open door.
Which is important at a time when looking like a banker is also in comeback mode. According to Alan Flusser, author of Dressing the Man: Mastering the Art of Permanent Fashion, "a classically fitted shirt cuff is tailored to fit the wrist, and should not change its position when the arm changes position." By gripping your wrist, the cuff maintains the line of the arm and is thus best suited for a flat dress watch. (Unless you have the sprezzatura of former Fiat ( FIA - news - people ) chairman Gianni Agnelli, who wore a heavy braceleted sports watch on the outside of his cuff.) "The dressier you get, the thinner the watch," says Flusser, who adds that with French cuffs you have a bit more room for a watch if you wear chain links rather than whaleback closures or ball returns. (He also has a bone to pick with thick watches: They will quickly fray a shirt cuff.)
Ralph Lauren ( RL - news - people )'s new Slim Classique collection is as lovely a gathering of extra-flat dress watches as ever peeked out from under a French cuff. Although a newcomer to the haute horlogerie game, Lauren knew where to go for movements: Piaget and Jaeger-LeCoultre (via his friend Johann Rupert, chairman of Richemont). He matched them with cases and dials engraved using one of the few surviving rose engines, a machine that dates to the late 1890s. The swirling guilloche--the minute repetitive patterns on the dial created by craftsmen using the engine--strikes a lovely note of nostalgia.
Being complicated doesn't mean looking complicated. One of the first wristwatch perpetual calendars ever made, the Patek Philippe 1526, which ceased production in the early 1950s with only 210 made, showed the day, month, date, and moonphase, and kept track internally of the differing lengths of the months and the passage of leap years. In the spirit of making complicated look clean is the Patek 3939H minute repeater tourbillon--if it weren't for the repeater slide in the case band and the almost invisible "tourbillon" on the dial, you probably wouldn't take it for a complicated watch at all. It's the ultimate stealth complication timepiece. |
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sixtysix Consigliere
Posts : 7303 Join date : 2009-12-06 Age : 57 Location : North of Syracuse NY
| Subject: Re: Big Watches Are Officialy Out Of Style... Tue Mar 22, 2011 6:21 am | |
| Not sure I understand, Patek Philippe Calatrava and Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Contemporaine are popular with people who wear suits everyday and read Forbes magazine? Ok should not be a surprise, Were these guys wearing 55mm Russian divers? The Calatarva I had from the 50's was only 32mm. Did PP and VC make 50mm watches? This article only mention thickness, so thin is in? but diameter does not matter? What exactly are they saying.... . ____________________________________ Later, GaryRemember we are the caretakers of mechanical art..... Member NAWCC, National Association of Watch & Clock Collectors | |
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AtomicTom Senior Consigliere
Posts : 19322 Join date : 2009-08-25 Age : 52 Location : New Jersey
| Subject: Re: Big Watches Are Officialy Out Of Style... Tue Mar 22, 2011 2:36 pm | |
| It's really something seeing certain trends change within a hobby like this Guy. Actually think it keeps things interesting, and new when shifts start to happen like this. You see that there is more to the hobby than any one thing, theme, size, or style. ..It's pretty great in my opinion, and genuinely makes things more exciting. One thing is for sure, even if we get to see alot of cool new BIG watches every day, we know that the traditional will always be popular no matter what trend is in at the time. What a great topic sir. Thanks ! ____________________________________ | |
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TAZMAN64 Senior Associate
Posts : 1610 Join date : 2009-06-20 Age : 60 Location : ELK GROVE, CALIFORNIA
| Subject: Re: Big Watches Are Officialy Out Of Style... Tue Mar 22, 2011 2:57 pm | |
| I like my watches in the 42-45 mm range, when it comes to thickness i like them around 15mm. i cant stand a thin watch!!! i see how they work well when wearing a long sleeve shirt, but i dont wear them and have no need for a thin watch. i dont ever see watches going back to how they use to be (tiny) Steve | |
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ericf4 Senior Associate
Posts : 1157 Join date : 2009-06-18 Location : CHicago Burbs
| Subject: Re: Big Watches Are Officialy Out Of Style... Tue Mar 22, 2011 3:20 pm | |
| i would be happy to see the silly clown size watches go away......Always knew it was a fad.....IMO 42-45 is perfect all the time. Cant wait to see all the Invicta fans trying to sell their 50mm and above pieces when they realize it "isnt cool" anymore.......Especially the guys with hundreds of them and the value pay debt to match..... | |
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Northwestguy Senior Associate
Posts : 2612 Join date : 2009-07-12 Location : OREGON
| Subject: Re: Big Watches Are Officialy Out Of Style... Tue Mar 22, 2011 6:05 pm | |
| - sixtysix wrote:
- Not sure I understand, Patek Philippe Calatrava and Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Contemporaine are popular with people who wear suits everyday and read Forbes magazine? Ok should not be a surprise, Were these guys wearing 55mm Russian divers? The Calatarva I had from the 50's was only 32mm. Did PP and VC make 50mm watches?
This article only mention thickness, so thin is in? but diameter does not matter? What exactly are they saying.... . +1 Gary.........my take is that there is a fashion shift in watches (thinner.....which I like) but maybe there is more of a fashion shift in men's attire (going more formal) ie: suits, cuffs, etc. (which I also like). I do get the fact that there are talking about thickness of watches but I would assume diameter as well......... | |
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Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Big Watches Are Officialy Out Of Style... Wed Mar 23, 2011 4:15 pm | |
| So just a follow up... this is a re-post from a forbes article that dates back to 2009 I noticed the article wasn't dated after i posted it. Funny because it just goes to show that Forbes knows nothing, the trend with watches is still on the up & up, even two years later. Having said that, i personally am not a fan of small watches but anything larger than 50mm in diameter IMO is just becoming silly. Also, even though the article was slightly off base with their prediction, they make a valid point in the fact that slimmer movts are much more difficult to produce. |
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Anomaly Senior Associate
Posts : 7125 Join date : 2009-11-13 Age : 59 Location : Tampa, Florida
| Subject: Re: Big Watches Are Officialy Out Of Style... Wed Mar 23, 2011 4:36 pm | |
| 45-48mm is still good for me... ____________________________________ | |
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Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Big Watches Are Officialy Out Of Style... Wed Mar 23, 2011 7:09 pm | |
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pacifichrono Senior Associate
Posts : 1543 Join date : 2009-06-17 Age : 76 Location : Sunny San Diego
| Subject: Re: Big Watches Are Officialy Out Of Style... Wed Mar 23, 2011 7:15 pm | |
| It's WAY too early to shout the demise of the Big Watch. Any trend away from it is too infinitesimal to perceive, especially among 'common folk.' | |
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Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Big Watches Are Officialy Out Of Style... Wed Mar 23, 2011 8:04 pm | |
| Some folks like 'em big, some folks like 'em small.
I've nothing against folks who wear little weenie-sized watches on their little weenie-sized wrists....some folks can wear Disney-size watches and they look just fine. Others outgrew 'em in junior high school... |
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ericf4 Senior Associate
Posts : 1157 Join date : 2009-06-18 Location : CHicago Burbs
| Subject: Re: Big Watches Are Officialy Out Of Style... Wed Mar 23, 2011 11:32 pm | |
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Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Big Watches Are Officialy Out Of Style... Thu Mar 24, 2011 9:35 am | |
| I've got to agree with what most have already stated. Some don't like the larger size watches and may feel that they look silly. Then there's the other side, that feels that the smaller size watches, look child-like. Me? My collection consists of case size timepieces that range from 44m-52mm, and I love them all. Though I will admit, most of that collection does range between 47mm-50mm (my sweet spot), I feel based upon your lifestyle, you should have watches that will be appropriate for whatever the occasion/purpose. Do I think that a Russian Diver, Subaqua Noma or any watch that's larger than a 48mm should be worn with a suit and/or business/board meeting... Heck No! Then again, I don't feel a sport watch should be any smaller than a 45mm, either... Whether your decision is to go with small or larger timepieces... It's YOUR decision! And I'm pretty confident that, we all can agree to respect that. There are PLENTY of smaller timepieces that I think are AWESOME, however I just do not prefer to wear them.. Look at it, like this.... Just because, they make it in your size.... Doesn't neccessarily mean that YOU should put it on! |
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Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Big Watches Are Officialy Out Of Style... Fri Mar 25, 2011 12:47 am | |
| I have to admit, my 36mm Hamilton Khaki is definitely one of my favorites. Of course, whatever I'm wearing tends to be my favorite when I'm wearing it. 44mm is my limit; I don't need to wear a dinner plate on my wrist. |
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chuckf1 Junior Associate
Posts : 22 Join date : 2010-10-30 Age : 67 Location : Charlotte, N.C.
| Subject: Re: Big Watches Are Officialy Out Of Style... Sat Mar 26, 2011 4:30 pm | |
| style! Wear whatever makes you happy. | |
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andrema Senior Associate
Posts : 4263 Join date : 2009-07-08 Age : 112 Location : CT
| Subject: Re: Big Watches Are Officialy Out Of Style... Sat Mar 26, 2011 9:03 pm | |
| I would be happy to see the huge watches go away. IMO, they are the skidmark in the shorts of the hobby. All we need is a little Oxyclean and the mess will wash down into the sewer...IMHO, of course. ____________________________________ M A R K
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ericf4 Senior Associate
Posts : 1157 Join date : 2009-06-18 Location : CHicago Burbs
| Subject: Re: Big Watches Are Officialy Out Of Style... Sat Mar 26, 2011 9:26 pm | |
| AMEN....No accounting for taste | |
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jaw Senior Associate
Posts : 1936 Join date : 2010-01-06
| Subject: Re: Big Watches Are Officialy Out Of Style... Sun Mar 27, 2011 2:53 pm | |
| Completely relative, dynamic, and subjective to the individual. Analogous to Auto v. Quartz, Mac v. PC, and Firebird v. Camaro. | |
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Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Big Watches Are Officialy Out Of Style... Sun Mar 27, 2011 3:39 pm | |
| Some of the larger styles are pretty nice, just too damn big IMHO Even Panerai jumped on the bandwagon with the 60mm Egiziano. Officially out? Not as long as people are buying. But to each his or her own. If ya like it go for it. |
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rasbrito Associate
Posts : 148 Join date : 2010-10-15 Age : 49 Location : Rio de Janeiro/ Brazil
| Subject: Re: Big Watches Are Officialy Out Of Style... Sun Mar 27, 2011 7:59 pm | |
| Glad I never follow fashion trends, just my taste and mood. I am tall and i have a thick wrist, so always give preference to watches with 43 and 47 mm. I leave fashion to the other ... | |
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