Watch Dandy

Now that we’re more than halfway through, I think we can all admit that 2019 has been a bit of an odd one, as far as years go. If you had told past Felix that a slender steel quartz Cartier would be one of the best watches of the year, he would have scoffed.  But here we are, and here is the Cartier Santos-Dumont. It is, as you’ll have surmised, a slender steel quartz watch and it’s quite incredible. To my mind, what’s great about this watch is the fact that it showcases everything that’s great about Cartier — namely, design — and doesn’t confuse the offering with anything else.  Santos-Dumont is, in fact, a new line for the brand — with a name and a shape inspired by Alberto Santos-Dumont, and his specially commissioned watch. What’s more interesting, though, is the change of gears this watch represents for the brand’s stylistic and strategic direction. It’s pared back, simple and restrained. All good things for a luxury brand in 2019.  And while it would be easy to put all these attributes together and come up with an uninspired piece, the Cartier Santos-Dumont manages to avoid these pitfalls. Partially because the case…

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Editor’s note: The other day, Nick popped into the office with his latest pick-up, a fairly awesome Seiko with a custom ‘Gator Bowl’ dial, which got me to thinking about custom dials, particularly those with corporate logos. They seemed to have had quite a moment in the past, but that time has definitely passed. And while a lot of people aren’t too keen on these dials, I’m quite a sucker for them. Here’s a story from a while back, where I go into bat for custom dials …  There’s a piece of pop culture folklore that says that when you retire, your employers give you a party and a gold watch. Now, if you were born after 1980, this concept seems like a quaint anachronism from some halcyon economic boom time, where job security was real and employers rewarded long service. But, trust us, we’ve watched Mad Men, back in the day this was actually a thing. And often the watches were personalised with the company logo. In the business, these watches are known as ‘presentation dials’, because, you know, they were presented to someone. And this is where things get weird/awesome. Supermarkets and fast food chains are about as far away from…

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I can only imagine the joy that must have been felt in Omega’s design department when it was announced that Tokyo would be hosting the 2020 Olympic Games. Not only has Japan had an incredible influence on design, but their flag — a simple red sun in a white field — lends itself to some interesting watchmaking interpretations.  Case in point is one of the first limited editions offered up by the Official Timekeeper, a Planet Ocean clad in white — dial, bezel and strap (there’s a chic grey NATO in the mix too), with a varnished red dot at the end of the seconds hand (a Rising Lollipop, perhaps?), and a red ’20’ on the bezel, for the 2020 Games, obviously. Olympic association aside, it’s a clean and good-looking take on a modern dive classic.  All else is as you’d expect: 39.5mm case, steel case and Master Chronometer Calibre 8800 movement. And as for the limited edition quantity? Do you even have to ask – 2020. 

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