Forget all the babble in this article...

[AndyD]

Possibly, but there are others...

John Harrison,
George Daniels.

[Daniel]

Maybe but none had the the esthetic.

I always enjoy these threads with you.

[AndyD]

True.

My taste in watches is restrained, liking Blancpain and IWC brands which I ogle through the windows of Watches of Switzerland.

However given a lottery win I could become a collector of some real bling as you have guessed.
Not chunky gold rolex types that flaunt modern money, but rather art deco or antique pieces.

One of my best friends likes sporty looking watches and often wears an Omega-divers, despite ironically never having been deeper than the 6' end of a Shangri-La hotel pool.

What would be your brand choice to wear given a hundred thousand to spend?
(Please don't say chunky gold rolex 🤭)

[Daniel]

Me? No. Lol!

Vacheron Constantin made two different ultra-thins in both round and rectangular case shapes sometimes around 1955. They recreated these watches precisely for sale around ten years ago. Rose gold and platinum were the metal choices, iirc. The originals and recreations were manual wound.

I would have taken a recreation, round, either metal choice.

Sublime.

There is a lot you can do wrong with an ultra-thin. Their catalog demonstrats my point.

An ultra-thin should be the traditional size (most were 34mm, some 33mm, not 40mm), should not have a complication, and should have no superfluous decoration.

Having said this, I'm sure I could find something from their catalog.

[Daniel]

Here you go, Andy. My error-- yellow not rose gold.

There have been decades of great ultra-thins from several companies.

I owned an original Jaeger-LeCoultre ultra-thin with solid case back, stainless steel with silver dial. Selling it is one of my few regrets.

But this ultra-thin is the most perfect one in my humble opinion.

I'd buy one in a heartbeat if I could find 25k of loose change under my couch cushions.

Link to video

[AndyD]

I love this dress watch, all I'd ever need.
Some of the rectangular designs, squaring the circle, are very appealing.

[Daniel]

[Axtremus]

I recall my parents bought me a wrist watch like it was a right of passage, then later shopping for a wrist watch as a young man as a matter of practical need. But I have never developed any affinity to wrist watches. I stopped wearing one not long after I started carrying a cell phone with me. I cannot even remember whether I went through a "digital" phase with wrist watches. In my recollection, I remember shopping for analog wrist watches (always battery powered, never spring wound), but not digital wrist watches. Though I do have multiple digital clocks around my house. :man-shrugging:

[AndyD]

Here's another I like and most certainly can't afford.

Guessing a mechanical watch may be regarded as an anachronism, more than ever simply jewellery for men.
Yet it is an investment for your life and is passed on.

The quartz digital and its lithium battery will sooner or later end on the rubbish tip, not good in this age of sustainability.

[Daniel]

This was my JLC MUT. It had a solid back (thinner, looks better, more discreet). You could put a brown strap on it and wear it every day.

So dumb to sell it. Live and learn.

Link to video

[Daniel]

Link to video

You can see the solid back. Perfect.

Yeah, miss it.