Luke's 2019 $20K fantasy watch collection
Sometimes you’ve got to face the bitter truth. Between small children, a house needing urgent renovation and a woeful inability to pick the winning lottery numbers, I can’t spend big on a new watch for the foreseeable future. Luckily, right now the “premium economy” end of the market is stronger than ever. Here are five watches that collectively add up to $18,740 from my $20K fantasy budget. The remaining $1260? That’s getting lumped on Powerball tickets to hopefully swell next year’s coffers. DOXA SUB 200 $1590 I’ve got a hankering for a no-nonsense diving watch that I can wear to the beach and this is top of my hit-list. A finalist at the GPHG awards in the “Challenge” category for watches under 4000 Swiss Francs, this sturdy diver boasts DOXA’s iconic beads-of-rice bracelet and highly contrasting lume-filled hands and hour markers. But the real deal-clincher for me is the cheerful yellow dial that’s guaranteed to nudge serotonin levels into a happy-clappy wonderland. Longines Heritage Classic $2775 You know those guys who end up dating a succession of alarmingly similar looking women? Well, personally, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that – they just know exactly what they like. So,…
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Editor’s note: In 2019 we saw the popularity of existing steel sports watches with blue dials hit fever pitch on the secondary market, as well as a number of brands release their own examples of the watch that everyone wants on their wrist. But what about when a brand produces a watch that doesn’t just tell the time in the same way the other sports watches do? Enter the Vacheron Constantin Overseas Tourbillon, a sports watch that is in line with the vogue, but with a difference that will get the heart racing of even the most seasoned horological connoisseur. Let’s take another look at one of the most refined sports watches on the market. A tourbillon inside a steel sports watch? On a rubber strap? It’s enough to bring a watch-purist out in a cold sweat. And when such a watch is launched by one of the most venerable companies in the business? Ohhh … But that’s exactly what makes the Vacheron Constantin Overseas Tourbillon so cool. Yes, cool. Here’s Vacheron Constantin, showing off its haute horlogerie chops in casual, sports-luxe mode. The tourbillon follows a chronograph, a perpetual calendar and a world timer into the Overseas line but…
Louis Cartier has an important place in the history of the Cartier company, not only because he ran the first-ever Paris boutique but because he was responsible for one of the most enigmatic creations the brand released, the Cartier Mystery Clock. The origins of the Mystery Clock are found in 1912, when Louis Cartier began developing the playfully puzzling clocks with his watchmaker Maurice Coüet who, in turn, had studied the designs of the French magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin (who inspired Ehrich Weiss to adopt the stage name Houdini). The result was one of Cartier’s most enduring designs, inspiring a sense of awe and curiosity in all those who laid eyes on the curious clocks, and demonstrating the blend of expertise in both watchmaking and decorative arts that Cartier is so well known for today. The tradition of the Cartier Mystery Clock is alive and well a century later, with modern examples still produced, though in very low numbers. Not long ago, the retailer The Hour Glass published a well-researched and written piece on the topic which you can read here.
One of the key pieces in Bulgari’s recent resurgence, alongside the record-breaking 50+ award-winning Octo Finissimo, the Serpenti Tubogas represents the height of feminine elegance. Note the serpentine Tubogas bracelet that snakes sensuously around the wearer’s wrist. It is offered here in 18k yellow gold with a silver opaline dial. This watch has been generously donated by Bulgari. Merging two of the most iconic symbols of Bulgari design, the Serpenti Tubogas evokes both the shape of a woman and the fluid coils of the serpent. This watch marks a distinctive chapter in the constant evolution of Serpenti. It features a 35mm 18k yellow gold curved case housing a quartz movement, set with brilliant-cut diamonds. Note the 18k yellow gold crown set with a cabochon cut pink rubellite, silver opaline dial with guilloché soleil treatment and hand-applied indexes. It is attached to the wrist with a single spiral 18k yellow gold bracelet. What we like about it Andrew – The Bulgari Serpenti Tubogas is point-blank one of the most elegant feminine statements in watchmaking, and having spent so much time around the model’s designer Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, I feel even more appreciative of the design genius at work. The standout for…