A limited-edition black-tie number from Girard-Perregaux that raises the stakes for elegant wrist-wear and serves as a timely reminder that it’s still OK to look sharp.

Spend any time in the watch world and pretty soon you’ll hear people talking about “dress watches”. Unlike a dive watch or a pilot’s watch, there is no definitive set of criteria that defines a dress watch – it’s all about a sense of restraint and elegance. You can arrive at a pretty good idea by thinking about men’s formalwear generally, however: monochrome designs are favoured, as are conservative shapes. Nothing too big, or too complicated; less is definitely more. Some swear by the formality of a square watch, but a simple round case is absolutely fine. Height is more important unless you want to constantly catch your watch on your double cuffs. Dress watches lean towards black dials in particular, and black leather straps, but not a black case; that’s just too avant-garde. If you’re a real stickler, match the colour of your watch metal to your cufflinks and shirt studs.  

Personally, I love the sense of occasion that owning a “best” watch entails. But just as every now and then you’ll read people hailing the decline of formalwear (if I had a pound for every time I’ve read “the suit is dead; long live the suit”), the death of the dress watch has been broadcast in some quarters for a fair while now. You can see why; we are all buying watches with bold, colourful schemes and being encouraged to try them out on funky, flexible fabric straps. Accessorise your watch; subvert the formality of fine watchmaking – that has been the rallying cry, and hey, we are all for it. Watches on Japanese denim straps? Yes, please. Watches with green dials, blue dials and even brown dials? Sign us up.

But, as the saying goes, rumours of the dress watch’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. Case in point: this new Girard-Perregaux 1966 Infinity Edition. Maybe it’s a side-effect of lockdown life, but just seeing this makes me want to polish my shoes, tie a half-Windsor and head out to some swanky function. It ticks all the basic boxes: sweetly sized at 40mm, with no additional functions beyond timekeeping, and its steel case has been keenly polished. Really though, all eyes will be on that dial, which has been crafted from black onyx for a lustrous, glossy shine. Being a brittle, glass-like mineral, prone to shattering, working onyx into a watch dial – including drilling the tiny holes to apply by hand each hour marker and logo – is a painstaking series of 15 different processes. All in the service of looking just that little bit smarter: that’s what I call getting dressed up.

Girard-Perregaux 1966 Infinity Edition Automatic ref. 49555-11-632-BB60

Materials: Stainless steel and leather

Diameter: 40mm

Height: 8.9mm

Water-resistance: 30m

Power reserve: 46 hours

Price: £7,200