NYC Watch Shopping: The Importance of Trying On

iim7v7im7 shares invaluable insights from a watch-shopping trip in NYC, emphasizing that hands-on experience is crucial for evaluating luxury timepieces. His detailed observations on dial colors, rose gold hues, watch sizes, and dial details offer a practical guide for collectors navigating the complexities of selecting a dress watch.

Hi,

I am fortunate enough to live near enough to a metropolitan center (NYC) where one can try on many of the watches that we talk about here on the Purists. I visited many of the mid-town boutiques (AP, BP, Breguet, Chopard, GP, Journe, Piaget , PP in Tiffany and VC) and top ADs (Cellini and Tourneau, Wempe) to look for the lack of a better word “dress watch”. I use this term in that it’s not for black tie events but a watch that is at home when you are a bit dressed up in social and business situations.

Like many of us, I had researched a number of watches via the internet and watch discussion forums. This pointed me to a number of potential contenders based on my research and recommendations of forum contributors. Here are a number of things that I learned:

Color of Dials: Their where a number of black dialed rose gold watches (AP Jules Audemars, JLC Grand Master Ultra Thin) that I was considering.  In person, I really did not care for them aesthetically and from a legibility perspective.  I also thought that they might wear smaller (dark typically wears smaller than white in clothing for example) but the opposite is true.  The sharp value contrast with the gold bezels emphasizes the watches perimeter and amplifies the perception of size in my view. Light dials were both easier to read and integrated with the case metal better.

Color of Rose Gold:  There were large differences in the hue of the rose gold alloys used by the different companies.  Some were yellower and others redder.  I preferred the more red alloys.  I also found that it was important to take the watch away from the halogen lights typically used in many dealers.  They tend to emphasize a yellow tone within many of the cases.

Watch Size:  Not really a revelation but your perception of a watches size is visually influenced by the size ratio of the dial diameter vs. the case diameter.  Some 40 mm watches looked huge (JLC GMUT) and others wore nicely (GP 1966 Small Seconds).  The other aspect was the lug design and how the watch sat on your wrist. For example, I absolutely adored the ALS Richard Lange that I tried on, but at 40.5 mm in diameter and 10.7 mm in thickness, it was really more of a masculine, precision timekeeper and lost some of the dress elegance of the ALS Saxonias in my view.

Dial Details:  The subtleties of a dials finish, appliqués, numbers, and chapter ring can only really be fully perceived in person despite the plethora of images available out there.  For example the Grand Feu enamel dial on the GP 1966 Small Seconds was beautiful and is not captured by images. I also came to understand that I need minute/second indices either in a chapter ring or in a sub-dial to be happy.  Simpler more abstract designs like the Moser Mayu or Piaget Altiplano’s while elegant were not my cup of tea.

Movement Details: From a design perspective it was interesting to spend some time looking at pieces under a loop. All were nicely finished, but you could capture philosophical differences.  AP, Breguet and PP appeared more modern in their movement escapements and balances and Vacheron and ALS where much more traditional in each of their approaches.  In terms of finish the AP and PP had a similar look to them in the bridge plates and anglage. The Breguet had a more detailed/machined perfection aesthetic to it.  The VC was elegant and simple and kind of fell between the AP/PP and Breguet in a balance of precision and hand craftsmanship. The ALS is difficult to compare because of its Saxon approach (3/4 plate, German silver, screwed chantons etc.) but under the loop was more akin to the AP/PP school of hand finishing, but in its own paradigm of watchmaking. Some watches had very small movements with respect to their cases which actually looks a bit odd.  The GP 1966 case is quite large with respect to its GP Calibre 3300 within.

Design:  A watch needs to move you emotionally.  It is a personal accessory that is an extension of YOU. There were many fine watches that when I tried them on did nothing for me aesthetically despite their horological provenance.  They were either so classical in their design and some were so sterile and clean that the piece while well crafted felt “generic”, with no point of view.  There is no surprise here, but confirmed an expensive mistake driven by WIS desires.

These are the four watches that I liked the most out of the many that I tried on:

Saxonia Automatik

38.5 x 7.8 mm

Breguet(Swatch Group)

Classique 5197

35.5 mm x 7.5 mm

F.P. Journe

Chronometre Souverain

38.0mm x 8.6 mm

Girard-Perregaux(PPR)

1966 Small Seconds

38.5mm x 8.5 mm

I know need to give this some thought, but I thought that I would share my experience with the forum. Your thoughts and comments are both welcomed and as always are appreciated.

Best,

Bob