THE JOURNAL
From Cartier to Vacheron Constantin – the investment timepieces to make a good year go a lot further.
If you’re into watches – and if you’re not, now might be the time to get involved – you probably have a little mental list of “one-day watches”. You know, the ones you’d buy if the stars aligned. In other words, if the year has gone well, targets have been met, all the graphs are pointing in the right direction and you’re in line to have a little chunk of “well done me” money to spend. A healthy bonus is the perfect excuse to add to your watch collection, and in that spirit, some of our recommendations are watches you might not consider if it’s your first luxury timepiece – they’re something special that’ll suit the occasion instead. One thing they do all have in common is a certain star quality. They may be rare, a design classic, highly complicated or all three (one of them certainly is, and it’s not even a watch – more on that later), but they all send out one clear message to the world: here’s a guy who just had a good year.
Ressence Type 1 MRP Limited Edition
If you want something that is both rare and guaranteed to appeal to the horological cognoscenti, but does also have that little bit more glamour going on, it has got to be the Ressence Type 1 in rose gold and titanium. Five years on from its introduction, the basic mechanics of the Type 1 are still unmatched for their ingenuity: the whole dial rotates to show the minutes, with three subdials rotating within it to display the hours, seconds and days of the week. This version was produced exclusively for MR PORTER, the rose gold bringing a luxurious warmth to the modern dial and case design.
Piaget Altiplano Flyback Chronograph
Why would you spend your bonus on this, a pretty minimalist piece from Piaget, instead of something with a bit more pizzazz to it? Because it’s fantastic, that’s why. The thinnest chronograph ever made, it’s an absolute feat of engineering that wears its cleverness lightly thanks to that simple dial with its stick-thin hands and hour markers. Even the white gold case reeks of stealth, as most will take it for stainless steel – but you’ll know different. It’s not a limited edition, but trust us, relatively few of these will ever exist, so while it’s a big chunk of change now, you might just be investing in a future classic, as well.
Officine Panerai Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days Chrono Flyback
Many would say – and, of course, we count ourselves among them – that no watch collection is complete without an item by Officine Panerai. If you’re in a position to treat yourself, why not lean towards the most hardcore and capable end of its range. The Luminor Sub chronograph is water-resistant to 300m, packs an in-house flyback chronograph movement with screw-down pushers and a rotating dive bezel (also useful for timing any kind of countdown up to an hour). Although its size may make it more of a weekend watch, despite its 47mm width it is no weighty manacle thanks to its use of titanium throughout.
Cartier Santos
As a touchpoint to that Wall Street vibe, the Cartier Santos is a very appropriate “bonus watch” in more ways than one. Cartier’s 2018 revamp of the model has brought it up to date, however, while retaining the key design traits – screw-head rivets, integrated bracelet and flowing case lines – that made it an icon in the first place. It can be had in solid yellow gold or stainless steel, with leather straps or bracelet, but for us the purest expression of the Santos requires that 1980s combination of both metals.
IWC Schaffhausen Portugieser Chronograph
Not everyone who picks up a bonus wants to be declaring it to the world via their wrist. You might just see it as the chance to grab a watch that was previously out of reach – something to last you for life. Enter the Portugieser Chronograph: a true design classic from a brand with a fine pedigree. At 41mm, it’s the perfect size for most wrists, and the wide dial with barely any bezel surrounding it gives maximum legibility to the chronograph, recognisable at a glance for its signature 6/12 layout.
Vacheron Constantin Fiftysix Automatic Complete Calendar
It’s the easiest thing in the world to think “bonus paycheck” equals “gold watch” but nine times out of 10, if you’ve not gone there before, you’ll feel like the watch is wearing you, not the other way round. It may be a 18-karat pink gold watch with a triple calendar (day, date and month but no leap year trickery) and moon phase complications, but something about the Fiftysix remains low-key – even with gold hands and hour markers. It lives in the narrow segment of the Venn diagram between “successful” and “tasteful”, and just couldn’t be brash if it tried.
Jaeger-LeCoultre X Marc Newson Atmos Clock
The Atmos clock is ingenious bordering on witchcraft. It relies on the expansion and contraction of a gas-filled, concertina-shaped metal chamber for its energy. The gas is highly sensitive to changes in temperature and pressure, so as long as you don’t live in some sort of cryo-chamber, it is effectively a perpetual motion machine. This particular take on the clock comes courtesy of famed Australian designer Mr Marc Newson, and is cased entirely in Baccarat crystal glass, with typically modern typography on the crystal dial, a moon-phase complication at six o’clock and a calendar indicator at the centre. Pride of place guaranteed on any mantelpiece.