A brief history of time

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A brief history of time

Posted On : Apr-03-2010 | seen (483) times | Article Word Count : 941 |

Why are men spending so much money on watches? Nick Sullivan explains how they have become the ultimate male status symbol

The old way of getting your hands on a good watch was to wait for someone in your family to croak and — hopefully — leave it to you in their will. If you could get it going, you would leave it in turn to your son when your own built-in ticker conked out.
Now, however, men can’t and won’t wait. Along with a Kilgour suit, Berluti shoes and a firm handshake, a well-chosen watch is an essential weapon in the professional arsenal. As every successful male knows, the primary function of any watch is not to tell the time; it’s to tell other people, right down to the nearest penny, exactly how rich or powerful you are. And if your watch says something about you, a bigger watch will say it louder.
Buying a mechanical watch for its timekeeping is like commuting to Edinburgh on the Flying Scotsman. It will get you there, and beautifully, but when? Even the finest mechanical watch will lose or gain several seconds in a day. Quartz, by comparison, is hyperefficient, cheap and accurate to 0.5 seconds a day — which is why, when mechanical watches staggered back from the brink of quartz-induced oblivion in the 1980s, it was only because men realised they didn’t need watches to tell the time any more.
As with cars, it’s not that we don’t care what’s going on under the bonnet. After all, that manly obsession with watches stimulates the same murky corner of the brain that turns grown men into trainspotters or makes them drool over a 6.3-litre AMG engine.
But watches are jewellery, too. Jewellery, as a rule, is not manly. Despite recent trends, there’s always been something oikish about men in precious metal. Even Prince Charles looks shady with his gold pinky ring. Watches are different, though. In fact, the wristwatch — the finer the better — is the only piece of jewellery in which men can invest without fear. So, how much should you spend? Dropping four figures on a watch may seem like profligacy. But hold on a moment, do this exercise: get a paper and pencil and tot up everything you have or are ever likely to spend on jewellery for girlfriends, wives, mistresses, mothers, sisters. Soon racks up, doesn’t it? Chances are, in comparison you’ve earned yourself enough for a Rolex.
Now the big question — when it comes to watches, are you wristy or fisty? Although the hundreds of watch brands each have a different look and aura, almost all are either slim, classic and elegant or huge, macho and sporty.
It wasn’t always this way. Fifteen years ago, men’s watches rarely made it above 36mm in diameter. Then, in 1993, the Italian watch company Panerai unleashed its hulking Luminor Marina — with a diameter of 44mm. A replica update of a watch it once made before the Second World War for the Italian navy’s frogmen, the Panerai was brash, sexy and bold. It proved an instant hit, particularly after the equally hulking Arnold Schwarzenegger wore a titanium version in Eraser (1996).
The Luminor Marina and successive Panerai models had an effect like a steroid mountain on watch design. For the past 10 years, watchmakers have all succumbed to the demand for bigger watches. At times, it has reached ridiculous levels. But big watches are here to stay, and it’s because men want to show them off. Robbie Williams has a Panerai. And it’s still on my list.
The ultimate show-off watch — reasonably affordable, as expensive watches go — is the Rolex. Since the early 1980s, when they became synonymous with yuppie success, the Rolex GMT and Explorer II have been the benchmark watches for any male scaling the slippery corporate pole. If you’re more informed, the Sea Dweller or Submariner is cooler alternatives with the same psychology — that is, “dangerous young thruster”. It may be far and away the market leader, but Rolex doesn’t have it all its own way. The fisty end of the market is increasingly crowded with classic sports watch brands such as TAG Heuer, whose car nut-inspired Carrera and Monaco replicas, the latter worn by Steve McQueen in the seminal 1971 petrolhead movie Le Mans, are ever-popular alternatives to the Explorer.
But Rolex remains the young professionals’ benchmark. Ironically, it’s only when you have one — and I defy you not to have a Rolex on your wish list — that you start to glimpse ever more rarefied and expensive names beyond. Then you’re really in trouble. Serious watches such as the IWC Portuguese or Audemars Piguet Royal Oak are plutocratic models that cost as much as good cars, but solicit hushed reverence from those who know their timepieces.
Even on the wristy, more gentlemanly side, things are getting fisty. Jaeger LeCoultre has just enlarged its classically stunning Reverso to more masculine proportions, as has Hermès, whose rectangular Cape Cod has a similar art deco flavour. Cartier, meanwhile, has unveiled the Rotonde — to my mind the watch of the season — which is as round as it sounds and classically dressy, with roman numerals.
Even Patek Philippe, the pinnacle of complicated movements — its perpetual calendar watches will display time and date correctly until 2100 if kept wound — has swayed gently to the trend for super-sized watches. Patek does nothing without good reason. Last month, it announced with some fanfare that it had enlarged the classic Worldtimer from 36 to 37.2mm in diameter, an increase of precisely 1.2mm. Well, this is a Swiss industry.

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<h1>A brief history of time</h1> Author: <a href='http://www.articleseen.com/profile_zinsser.aspx'>zinsser</a> The old way of getting your hands on a good watch was to wait for someone in your family to croak and — hopefully — leave it to you in their will. If you could get it going, you would leave it in turn to your son when your own built-in ticker conked out. 
Now, however, men can’t and won’t wait. Along with a Kilgour suit, Berluti shoes and a firm handshake, a well-chosen watch is an essential weapon in the professional arsenal. As every successful male knows, the primary function of any watch is not to tell the time; it’s to tell other people, right down to the nearest penny, exactly how rich or powerful you are. And if your watch says something about you, a bigger watch will say it louder. 
Buying a mechanical watch for its timekeeping is like commuting to Edinburgh on the Flying Scotsman. It will get you there, and beautifully, but when? Even the finest mechanical watch will lose or gain several seconds in a day. Quartz, by comparison, is hyperefficient, cheap and accurate to 0.5 seconds a day — which is why, when mechanical watches staggered back from the brink of quartz-induced oblivion in the 1980s, it was only because men realised they didn’t need watches to tell the time any more. 
As with cars, it’s not that we don’t care what’s going on under the bonnet. After all, that manly obsession with watches stimulates the same murky corner of the brain that turns grown men into trainspotters or makes them drool over a 6.3-litre AMG engine. 
But watches are jewellery, too. Jewellery, as a rule, is not manly. Despite recent trends, there’s always been something oikish about men in precious metal. Even Prince Charles looks shady with his gold pinky ring. Watches are different, though. In fact, the wristwatch — the finer the better — is the only piece of jewellery in which men can invest without fear. So, how much should you spend? Dropping four figures on a watch may seem like profligacy. But hold on a moment, do this exercise: get a paper and pencil and tot up everything you have or are ever likely to spend on jewellery for girlfriends, wives, mistresses, mothers, sisters. Soon racks up, doesn’t it? Chances are, in comparison you’ve earned yourself enough for a Rolex.
Now the big question — when it comes to watches, are you wristy or fisty? Although the hundreds of watch brands each have a different look and aura, almost all are either slim, classic and elegant or huge, macho and sporty. 
It wasn’t always this way. Fifteen years ago, men’s watches rarely made it above 36mm in diameter. Then, in 1993, the Italian watch company Panerai unleashed its hulking Luminor Marina — with a diameter of 44mm. A replica update of a watch it once made before the Second World War for the Italian navy’s frogmen, the Panerai was brash, sexy and bold. It proved an instant hit, particularly after the equally hulking Arnold Schwarzenegger wore a titanium version in Eraser (1996). 
The Luminor Marina and successive Panerai models had an effect like a steroid mountain on watch design. For the past 10 years, watchmakers have all succumbed to the demand for bigger watches. At times, it has reached ridiculous levels. But big watches are here to stay, and it’s because men want to show them off. Robbie Williams has a Panerai. And it’s still on my list. 
The ultimate show-off watch — reasonably affordable, as expensive watches go — is the Rolex. Since the early 1980s, when they became synonymous with yuppie success, the Rolex GMT and Explorer II have been the benchmark watches for any male scaling the slippery corporate pole. If you’re more informed, the Sea Dweller or Submariner is cooler alternatives with the same psychology — that is, “dangerous young thruster”. It may be far and away the market leader, but Rolex doesn’t have it all its own way. The fisty end of the market is increasingly crowded with classic sports watch brands such as TAG Heuer, whose car nut-inspired Carrera and Monaco replicas, the latter worn by Steve McQueen in the seminal 1971 petrolhead movie Le Mans, are ever-popular alternatives to the Explorer. 
But Rolex remains the young professionals’ benchmark. Ironically, it’s only when you have one — and I defy you not to have a Rolex on your wish list — that you start to glimpse ever more rarefied and expensive names beyond. Then you’re really in trouble. Serious watches such as the IWC Portuguese or Audemars Piguet Royal Oak are plutocratic models that cost as much as good cars, but solicit hushed reverence from those who know their timepieces. 
Even on the wristy, more gentlemanly side, things are getting fisty. Jaeger LeCoultre has just enlarged its classically stunning Reverso to more masculine proportions, as has Hermès, whose rectangular Cape Cod has a similar art deco flavour. Cartier, meanwhile, has unveiled the Rotonde — to my mind the watch of the season — which is as round as it sounds and classically dressy, with roman numerals. 
Even Patek Philippe, the pinnacle of complicated movements — its perpetual calendar watches will display time and date correctly until 2100 if kept wound — has swayed gently to the trend for super-sized watches. Patek does nothing without good reason. Last month, it announced with some fanfare that it had enlarged the classic Worldtimer from 36 to 37.2mm in diameter, an increase of precisely 1.2mm. Well, this is a Swiss industry.

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Keywords : Replica watches, Fake watches, Replica Rolex watches, Wholesale watches,

Category : Fashion : Fashion

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