I still get lost in the details of the Rolex Submariner that was my first serious watch. The proportions of its features seem divinely inspired, everything ideally sized and placed. Its glossy black dial is startling to look at, somehow bottled essence of the pure void. When I put it on, the oyster bracelet, in that tantalising 904L steel, seems simultaneously both lush jewellery and hardy tool watch. It has been in the ocean, on the ski slopes and in the boardroom. It’s also an obvious watch. You’ve seen it on the wrist of hundreds of people. Some might appreciate its place in watch history. Some may not. It’s at watch meet-ups, private airport lounges, and fakes are at every other holiday market stall. Most laypeople would recognise it before almost any other high-end timepiece. But my message to watch lovers everywhere is simple: don’t be afraid to love obvious watches. Seamasters, Datejusts, Monacos – these, and many others, are classics for a reason. They are aesthetically elevated above lesser watches, many of which fail as mere copies. They have progressed the history of horology, created new categories of watches and remade the landscape of expectation in high-end watchmaking. Obvious…
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