A proper watch is something he’ll never forget. Here are a few to choose from this Christmas.

Here’s a little game you can play when deciding what to give your loved one this Christmas. Instead of trying to imagine their face as they unwrap the gift – anyone can feign delight – picture them in a year’s time. Now ask yourself: will they remember what I gave them? Hampers, socks and copies of the latest Booker Prize-winning novel are all well and good. But they’re little more than gestures, apt to be forgotten before the panettone’s gone stale. The best gifts are the ones that stay with us.

Last week, in our quest to help you find a truly memorable gift, we presented you with a selection of wares that are only available here on MR PORTER. This week, we’re upping the budget slightly and addressing something that, if chosen well, makes for a gift that they’ll never forget. We’re talking, of course, about a watch. There are a few crucial factors to consider before committing to purchasing one as a gift. Size is one of them. If your intended has slender wrists, a 46mm Big Pilot’s Watch from IWC Schaffhausen might not be the wisest choice. Conversely, if he has arms like a longshoreman’s, then he probably won’t suit the more delicate dimensions of a Cartier Tank.

Take into account his personal taste, too. You should be able to decipher this by examining the things that he already owns. Is he a fan of mid-century furniture, Helmut Lang and Mr Raf Simons-era Jil Sander? Perhaps he might like a watch from the minimal, Deutscher Werkbund-inspired NOMOS Glashütte, or the Zurich-based Maurice de Mauriac. Does he prefer tried-and-tested classics? Look to watchmakers such as Vacheron Constantin or Jaeger-LeCoultre.

The biggest factor of all, of course, has nothing to do with the recipient, and that’s budget. The watch you choose to buy will ultimately be decided by how much you’re willing to spend, which is why we’ve arranged this buyer’s guide according to price, starting with the most affordable and ending on a few smash-the-piggybank dream watches. Hammers at the ready? Let’s begin.

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A budget of £3,000 affords you access to well-regarded Swiss watch brands such as TAG Heuer, Oris and Baume & Mercier, as well as a range of smaller boutique brands such as Maurice de Mauriac and Weiss. Don’t miss NOMOS Glashütte, an incredible value proposition based in Gläshutte, the ticking heart of the German watch industry and home to high-end manufacturers such as A. Lange & Söhne. While most brands retailing for under £3,000 design their watches around third-party movements from companies such as ETA and Sellita, NOMOS builds its own, making it one of the few truly “in-house” watch brands available at this price point.

**GMT Rega Limited-Edition Automatic **

Designed by Oris in collaboration with Rega, the Swiss Air-Ambulance service, this features a GMT hand that tracks the time in 24 hours. It is a lot of watch for your money. (And at 45mm in diameter, we mean that literally.)

Carrera Automatic Chronograph

A faithful update of the stylish Heuer Carrera from 1963, you can tell that this watch is an archival design by the absence of any visible TAG branding. The company only became TAG Heuer after a buyout in 1985 and makes a point of reflecting that in all its vintage-inspired models.

Tangente

The Tangente Datum has been a part of the NOMOS lineup for so long that the company refers to it as its “logo”. This is a great place to start for newcomers to the brand, then, and at 38mm it’s a nicely sized watch to boot.

Automatic Issue

At just five years old, Mr Cameron Weiss’ Los Angeles-based namesake brand is a mere upstart compared to the centuries-old titans of the Swiss watch industry. Don’t be put off, though. His no-frills, vintage-inspired watches are some of the coolest we’ve seen and are built to last.

Some of the most famous watchmakers in the world start offering their entry-level watches at this price – good news if your intended recipient is a fan of brands such as IWC Schaffhausen, Jaeger-LeCoultre or Cartier. You’ll also find watches with highly accurate, chronometer-certified movements and additional complications such as chronographs. This price range is the sweet spot for brands such as Bremont, an English watchmaker based in Henley-on-Thames, and Bell & Ross, which assembles its aviation-themed timepieces in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.

+ Revolution Bellytanker Dusty Limited Edition Chronograph

Bell & Ross’ vintage racing chronograph takes its “Bellytanker” nickname from the stripped-back hotrods used for land speed record attempts in the years after WWII. This limited-edition Dusty colourway is one of two designed in collaboration with Revolution to resemble tropical dial watches – ones whose colours have faded after years of exposure to the sun.

42mm Bronze And Leather Watch

Traditional Swiss watchmaking meets modern industrial design in Maurice de Mauriac’s line of watches, which includes the delightfully minimal L2 diving watch, rendered here in bronze. In a novel touch, the unidirectional rotating bezel – a common feature on diving watches – is marked for just 15 minutes. Not one for deep dives, then.

ALT1-ZT Limited Edition Automatic Chronograph

Named ZT for “Zulu Time”, the military term for Greenwich Mean Time, Bremont’s ALT1-ZT is a highly functional, unapologetically masculine pilot’s watch. Along with all of the other bells and whistles, this example features a limited-edition deep blue dial.

Clifton Automatic Chronograph

A fine chronograph from one of Switzerland’s oldest watchmakers, this watch – part of Baume & Mercier’s classically inspired Clifton lineup – comes with a moon phase indicator sub dial at six o’ clock, just one of the features that elevate it above the ordinary.

With a budget of £10,000, most of the watch market is yours to explore. Granted, a few ultra-exclusive brands remain tantalisingly out of reach, as do watches made with precious materials such as gold and platinum. High-end complications are also out of the question, so don’t expect to see any perpetual calendars or tourbillons within this price bracket. But this is serious “investment watch” territory, with plenty of options for the savvy buyer. Here are just a few.

Limited-Edition Navitimer 8 B01 Chronograph

The Navitimer series is where you’ll find Breitling’s classic pilot’s watches. This edition, the Navitimer 8, does away with the flight computer or “whiz wheel” bezel of the Navitimer 1, resulting in a cleaner appearance. It’s still everything you’d expect of a Breitling, though: hefty, masculine and powered by a highly accurate in-house movement, the B01.

Defy El Primero 21 Chronograph

A chronograph with a difference, Zenith’s Defy El Primero 21 is capable of measuring time to the nearest 100th of a second thanks to a secondary, high-frequency balance wheel. The chronograph hand is a sight to behold as it sweeps round the dial at dizzying speed.

Portugieser Chronograph

The Portugieser, one of IWC Schaffhausen’s most famous watches, was designed in the late 1930s at the request of a retailer in Lisbon who wanted a wristwatch as accurate as a chronometer. IWC used the movement from a pocket watch to create an unusually large, but still incredibly elegant wristwatch. This modern take on the Portugieser stays true to its roots.

Above £10,000 we ascend into the rarefied world of haute horlogerie (that’s French for nice watches). Expect highly complicated timepieces from some of the watch world’s biggest watchmakers with plenty of precious metals thrown in for good measure. More than ever, it pays to consider the factors mentioned earlier, such as wrist size and personal style. Just because a watch is expensive doesn’t mean he’s going to like it or that it’s going to fit his wrist. Choose carefully, though, and you’ve got yourself a gift that he’ll treasure for a long time.

Reverso Classic Large Duoface

The word “icon” gets thrown around a lot in the world of watches, but Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Reverso is one that truly deserves the title. Designed in the 1930s for polo players who had grown tired of smashing their watches while on horseback, it has a rotating mechanism that allows the watch face to be turned around for protection during play. It’s outgrown its original purpose, of course, and is now considered one of the classic dress watches.

Altiplano Flyback Chronograph

Piaget’s ultra-thin Altiplano watches manage the trick of being hugely complex on the inside and beautifully simple on the outside. The example in question here is the world’s thinnest rattrapante, or flyback, chronograph, a complication that allows you to time two separate intervals. Functionality aside, it’s a gorgeous watch to look at – and unlike most chronographs it’ll slip comfortably under the cuff of a dress shirt.

Santos Automatic

We didn’t give this pink gold Santos from Cartier front-and-centre positioning in our holiday campaign for nothing; there’s something about it that just catches the eye. It isn’t at all bling or vulgar. It’s still not one for the shy and retiring type, but if your intended has the big personality to pull this one off, then you’ll be forever in his good books.

Overseas Automatic Chronograph

Each of the so-called Holy Trinity of Swiss watchmaking has its own take on the luxury steel sports watch. Audemars Piguet has the Royal Oak, Patek Phillipe has the Nautilus and Vacheron Constantin has the Overseas. This particular example is about as refined a sports chronograph as you’re likely to find. As you’d expect of a brand with the status of Vacheron Constantin, the level of finishing is second to none.

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