The Watch Appreciation Thread - Part two (Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Jaeger LeCoultre,

[Clouseau]

It depends somewhat on the people attending, etc. but this is generally how I treat it:

investors: apple watch is safest, sometimes speedy although if I know the investor is into Rolex I might wear my explorer.

peers or other potential business partners: Typically speedy, sometimes explorer or apple watch.

company event: 99% of the time apple watch. If It's a small group, explorer, speedy, calculator watch or g-shock.

school events with kids: Apple watch.

more formal parent events: depending on context, speedy or sometimes explorer.

Apple watch is the safest default. It says nothing and is appropriate in all circumstances for me. The speedy is perhaps one notch down. More likely to be noticed and communicate "something." Explorer is pretty safe but has the most potential to be misread. It also offers little upside. I have a few other nicer watches (BLNR and a Nomos) but I virtually never wear them any more.

This is all coming through the lens of my crrent role and stage in life. I wouldn't have given the same answer 5 or 10 years ago. And to be clear, I also mostly don't care and don't think it's a critical choice. In the back of my mind I do shudder at the thought of an investor being put off my a watch choice and I know there is no chance ,an Apple watch will hurt my chances so it's a safe default.

If we are talking to later-stage investors in a few years, I won't give wrist wear a second thought.

And, obviously, this is all just my personal calculus. Not advice by any stretch. It's what feels right to me right now.

This is an interesting topic, even if I know that many guys don’t really mind the event to wear any type of watch (there is this trend, apparently mostly american, to wear a dress watch with SW&D clothing), i do mind.
Like many, since the covid i am now mostly working from home, and i am dressing very casual most of the time.
And I don't have a big watch collection at the moment:
- Daily beater, SWD : Moonswatch, Titanium Hamilton x Engineered Garments.
- CM casual (or casual chic), CM: Piaget Tank.
- Super rare occasions with CM 3 piece suit : Vacheron Constantin pocket watch.

I want to buy a classy sports watch in 2025 that could be worn in many occasions (to replace my OP date i mentioned before). I am hesitating between a few classic models, but since i tried Titanium, if they released one of those in Ti, it would be a big plus : missionnary style Explorer 1, Speedy, Ranger, Aqua Terra, Heritage Seamaster 300, Sub...

Never been a big fan of Cartier watches (probably because i am French, they are wrongly considered very petit bourgeois) but i quite like the Santos.

 

[thuhoan]

Just reading into the latest Breguet Type 20 and XX. Improved movement and design closer to the originals.

Back to The Roots: Breguet Type 20 Chronographe 2057 and Type XX Chronographe 2067

After four years of development, Breguet introduces two new pilot watches: Type 20 Chronographe 2057 and Type XX Chronographe 2067.

swisswatches-magazine.com

I really like them, just not sure about the price ~20K EUR. Are there "better" alternatives?

 

[patrick_b]

It doesn't' mean less competition for sriracha or my favorite sports team, it's just someone expressing a preference.

We all know that a differing opinion (i.e., PGLB) should never be accepted. It is one's T.W.A.T. duty to change that person's opinion by any means necessary. Acceptable personal attacks should include criticism of one's station in life (upper middle class plebe), career (those pesky lawyers) and hobbies (@Texasmade and his local WaffleHouse™).

I'm typically a sriracha (rooster sauce) guy.

Emergency meeting of the F.A.R.T., T.W.A.T. Board of Trustees:

I move to have @UnFacconable caned and forced to wear Cartier watches for the remainder of time.

 

[Dino944]

I take probably an even lower-consequence view here. We're really just talking about jewelry in this context. I doubt anyone ever buys a watch because they care about what some other person thinks about the movement (because virtually no one IRL does). I suppose many do care what other people think about their jewelry and that it may or may not influence their decision-making. In expressing this opinion, I'm not trying to influence anyone's decision making. I've never told any Cartier-owning friend IRL I think all Cartiers look bad and I never would.

As for the impact of other people's views on my watches, I guess I would treat it the same way I do when someone comments on their preferred brand of hot sauce. I'm typically a sriracha (rooster sauce) guy. If someone came up to me and was like "I prefer tabasco" it would have no impact on me. In the same way that someone liking a different sports team wouldn't impact me. It doesn't' mean less competition for sriracha or my favorite sports team, it's just someone expressing a preference.

One small exception is that I do acknowledge that how you present yourself matters in many contexts and choosing to wear a mechanical watch can have an impact in some situations. For the type of boring stuff I like, it's very little impact and it's massively overshadowed by the rest of my presentation but it's not nothing. If I'm out pitching to investors, I make relatively restrained/careful choices. If I'm at a peer event, I am slightly less restrained. If I'm at a company event, less restrained than that. So on and so forth.

You may have taken my statement about if people don't like what I like, it's fine, it's less competition for some harder to get watches I want - a bit too seriously. I was joking. If one person doesn't like a Pepsi GMT, Nautilus 5712a/1, or RO, it doesn't actually move me up one slot to getting any of them. It simply doesn't matter.

As I've expressed here before, I wear whatever watch I want with the exception of when I'm handling a jury trial. It's the only time I won't wear a watch on a gold bracelet. Most jurors probably won't know what the watch is, but you want them to like you and your client, and have them be able to identify with you. I don't want them seeing a big gold watch and thinking, this guy and his lawyer have plenty of money, they probably always get what they want, and they don't need my help today.

 

[mak1277]

Just reading into the latest Breguet Type 20 and XX. Improved movement and design closer to the originals.

Back to The Roots: Breguet Type 20 Chronographe 2057 and Type XX Chronographe 2067

After four years of development, Breguet introduces two new pilot watches: Type 20 Chronographe 2057 and Type XX Chronographe 2067.

swisswatches-magazine.com

I really like them, just not sure about the price ~20K EUR. Are there "better" alternatives?

View attachment 2292231

This is the first thing that comes to mind if you’re looking for a similar style at an accessible price.

 

[Clouseau]

Just reading into the latest Breguet Type 20 and XX. Improved movement and design closer to the originals.

Back to The Roots: Breguet Type 20 Chronographe 2057 and Type XX Chronographe 2067

After four years of development, Breguet introduces two new pilot watches: Type 20 Chronographe 2057 and Type XX Chronographe 2067.

swisswatches-magazine.com

I really like them, just not sure about the price ~20K EUR. Are there "better" alternatives?

View attachment 2292231

Funnily i was Place Vendôme yesterday and they were in the Breguet boutique window. Looking pretty good, I was surprised as I am not a big fan of their watches usually.
Just nearby is the Patek boutique that is quite small, no Cubitus in sight in the window display.

 

[LeeR]

Having a sale at WOLF. I purchased one of their watch boxes. They look really nice.

 

[acconrad]

World Timer?

5990 has a travel time function. That kind of function not covered here?

 

[Southeasterly]

Just reading into the latest Breguet Type 20 and XX. Improved movement and design closer to the originals

I really like them, just not sure about the price ~20K EUR. Are there "better" alternatives?

The date window is unforgivable. I’d just get one of the older models that look much better and costs half as much.

There are a myriad of outstanding chronographs in that price range.

 

[Texasmade]

5990 has a travel time function. That kind of function not covered here?

World Timer is different than a travel time.

 

[acconrad]

World Timer is different than a travel time.

Is World Timer more of a PP invention?

 

[Texasmade]

Is World Timer more of a PP invention?

Invented by Louis Cottier but Patek is the watch company that really popularized it. They've had a WT watch for decades.

 

[NakedYoga]

It's spelled "Cartier".

 

[pmeis]

Mr. Armin Strom passed away today, so here I am.

 

[Dino944]

Mr. Armin Strom passed away today, so here I am. View attachment 2293069

Great watch, sorry to hear of the passing of one of the greats in the world of watches!