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

[Viral]

I think you may get over that red dial sooner than later...........unless your heart is really set on red?

 

[taxgenius]

I think you may get over that red dial sooner than later...........unless your heart is really set on red?

Either burgundy or green. I saw the blue in real life and it's not as vibrant as seen in pictures.

 

[dieworkwear]

Who says I’m not content!

I mostly come here for the Foo content.

 

[Dino944]

Interesting that the demand for gold watches is dropping because people are dressing more casually. Too bad. I have a (rose) gold dress watch (with black dial) that I have no problems wearing with casual clothing. It doesn’t feel awkward at all. Maybe it’s because of its relatively small size, or because I’ve had it for so long that I don’t feel self-conscious about it.

A solid gold Day Date would be awesome. Love that watch when I’ve seen it. It would take me quite a while to get used to wearing it though.

I have a rose gold Cartier Tank XL that I wear with casual clothing frequently. I find the design is simple enough that it works with everything without looking too fussy or dressy. Some dress watches can seem too forced when worn with casual clothing. Society has simply gotten more causal with each decade since the 90's, when phrases in the work place like casual Friday, or business casual started being used. Obviously, Covid and people working from home, or social distancing has continued to push people toward being more casual and has hurt many markets. I was in Burberry with my wife last week, and my wife's sales person said their store will no longer be carrying men's suits, just sports wear. When I was in college in the 90's they had an entire floor dedicated to men's suits. Lower demand for suits and fewer occasions to wear them, could mean the demand for dress watches will continue to decline.

However, that could lead to nice dress watches being a bargain in years to come as most people flock towards sports watches.

 

[TheFoo]

I am seriously considering the IWC IW500714 and I am able to get it from an AD at a discount. Are there similar watches I should be considering?

View attachment 1542072

I’ve had this watch with a black dial for 15 years. Only suggestion is to consider a white dial. Makes it far more versatile. These colored dials are very flash-in-the-pan to me.

 

[taxgenius]

I’ve had this watch with a black dial for 15 years. Only suggestion is to consider a white dial. Makes it far more versatile. These colored dials are very flash-in-the-pan to me.

I think the white dial looks more dressy, which also means less versatile. Though it is a beauty as well.

 

[Texasmade]

Regarding what AP could or couldn't sell in the early to mid 2000s, had nothing to do with people thinking the original ROs were cheesy ugly step children. It had to do with size. The trend was moving toward much bigger watches. The "Jumbo" 5402 and its successors were always 39mm (which isn't overly large, but it's a reasonable size). However, in the 80's RO variations (except for Jumbos) and even Nautilus's went on a diet (ref 3800) and dropped to 36mm. In the late 90's into the early 2000s, the only RO's one could buy that were larger than 36mm were the Jumbo and the RO chronograph (both 39mm), and the PP offered the 3710 Comet or a 3711WG Nautilus. Size hurt their sales and limited interest. It wasn't until AP modernized the RO dual time and the RO Day Date (Owl), and gave us ref 15300 that most RO's were available in a more contemporary 39mm case. With Patek there were the 3710 and 3711 (in larger cases), but it really took the 3712A1 and the 5711/5712 to ignite tremendous interest in the Nautilus (which was also helped by speculators going crazy that the 3712A1 was cancelled after 1 year and there were rumors of no more steel Pateks, which of course wasn't true). So the main issue back at that time was the large watch trend...and companies like AP, PP and even VC (its 1st gen time only Overseas was only 37 mm, the chrono was 40mm) still making smaller more classic sized sports watches. So yes watches like the Offshores, IWC 3713, IWC BP, and other 42mm and larger watches were really in demand. Even mighty Rolex was getting a lot of flack for not offering watches that were larger than 40mm...it took a few more years before we would see Rolex offer the DSSD or the 216570 Ex2 with larger cases.

AP launched dress watches that just didn't interest people - the Millenary, the Jules Audemars, the Edward Piguet. They moved too far from their more classic looking dress watches of the past and it hurt them.

Patek has launched some clunkers that went nowhere, the 1996 Nautilus 5060 with smooth black dial and Roman numerals and its sibling on a strap with which had the addition of lugs and no ear on the left side of the case (the 5060, it transitioned into the original Aquanaut). There were other forgettable sports watches like their Neptune, and Sculpture watch. Personally, while I liked the Nautilus, I always thought Patek did a better job of designing dress watches than sports watches, but again, many of their dress watches during that same early to mid 2000s suffered from remaining too small...they just started bumping up Calatrava sizes to 37mm in around 2004/05
View attachment 1542043


View attachment 1542039
The first Nautilus on a strap around 1996....which was saved and transformed into the first Aquanaut (which back in the day wasn't revered as it is today).

As @chocomallo mentioned, the only reason Patek SS watch sales haven't taken over the bulk of Patek sales is that Patek intentionally limited the number sold. If they made more, they would sells more. We also have dealers that were pulling the now classic BS... "Well if you want a Nautilus, you need to buy a Calatrava, or other watch or jewelry you may not really want, so that you can have the so called privilege of buying a Nautilus from us." So on some level that may help sell a few extra Calatravas or other Pateks.

As I mentioned previously, a who knows and works in the watch industry said, over the last few years fewer and fewer people have been interested in gold dress watches. Most want steel sports watches that fit a more casual work environment and lifestyle. Sure there will always be people that want a gold Calatrava or complicated Patek, but how many people can afford them, and eventually, one has to wonder can Patek and their dealers survive offering Calatravas and dress watches when that isn't what most consumers want today. Maybe they can ride it out, maybe they can't...we will just have to see.

Patek can keep holding out and forcing dress watches down their AD's throat but eventually the market is going to win out. AD's are going to say "**** this" and give Patek the finger if they have to keep ordering more and more slow moving dress watches to get one Aquanaut or Nautilus. If Henri Stern doesn't want to do SS sports watches he'll at least need to produce them in PM. He may not like it but eventually Patek will need to pivot into sports watches with dress watches as a side piece like AP has done if they want to remain independent.

 

[cchen]

I have a rose gold Cartier Tank XL that I wear with casual clothing frequently. I find the design is simple enough that it works with everything without looking too fussy or dressy. Some dress watches can seem too forced when worn with casual clothing. Society has simply gotten more causal with each decade since the 90's, when phrases in the work place like casual Friday, or business casual started being used. Obviously, Covid and people working from home, or social distancing has continued to push people toward being more casual and has hurt many markets. I was in Burberry with my wife last week, and my wife's sales person said their store will no longer be carrying men's suits, just sports wear. When I was in college in the 90's they had an entire floor dedicated to men's suits. Lower demand for suits and fewer occasions to wear them, could mean the demand for dress watches will continue to decline.

However, that could lead to nice dress watches being a bargain in years to come as most people flock towards sports watches.

That's what I'm hoping for and you still find a few hidden gems here and there. But by and large it seems that the general increase in interest in watches overall has negated that. I've been looking for a 96 or 3796 for a while and prices just keep increasing. And now I question if I really need another gold watch.

 

[Ambulance Chaser]

@taxgenius: Do you mean similar in style or similar in color? If you're looking for a burgundy dial, I'm in love with the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Small Seconds.

 

[ValidusLA]

@taxgenius: Do you mean similar in style or similar in color? If you're looking for a burgundy dial, I'm in love with the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Small Seconds.

Meeeee too

 

[taxgenius]

@taxgenius: Do you mean similar in style or similar in color? If you're looking for a burgundy dial, I'm in love with the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Small Seconds.

I actually mean both design and color. Looking for something that can be worn with a suit but also won’t look off if worn with casual wear.

 

[NakedYoga]

I am seriously considering the IWC IW500714 and I am able to get it from an AD at a discount. Are there similar watches I should be considering?

View attachment 1542072

It's a beaut, Clark. That family of IWCs is close to a platonic ideal or versatile watch in my eyes, like @TheFoo was saying about that Patek. Although I prefer the white dial. The ones with the gold face (either yellow or rose) are not only pretty much the only gold watches I think I would actually wear on a regular basis, but just perfect in most every way.

 

[Ambulance Chaser]

I actually mean both design and color. Looking for something that can be worn with a suit but also won’t look off if worn with casual wear.

I like the Glashutte Original Sixties Annual Edition. The 2020 Edition is in glacier blue. Previous editions have been in green and bright orange. (See links in article.)

 

[Dino944]

Patek can keep holding out and forcing dress watches down their AD's throat but eventually the market is going to win out. AD's are going to say "**** this" and give Patek the finger if they have to keep ordering more and more slow moving dress watches to get one Aquanaut or Nautilus. If Henri Stern doesn't want to do SS sports watches he'll at least need to produce them in PM. He may not like it but eventually Patek will need to pivot into sports watches with dress watches as a side piece like AP has done if they want to remain independent.

That's basically what is happening with this Patek AD that is closing it's Boston branch. They said there just isn't a market for new gold Pateks, even in the very wealthy suburban areas where they have other stores in other states. The only requests they are getting for Patek, and it's multiple times a day, are for the steel Nautilus and Aquanaut, which Patek isn't supplying to them. So rather than continuing to take in inventory of gold watches and represent and sell Patek from their other stores they are giving up the brand.

 

[tim_horton]

Looking for something that can be worn with a suit but also won’t look off if worn with casual wear.

Obviously, the best answer is a 5711 Nautilus.