KBH 7 Posted April 24, 2009 From Forbes Magazine: Pendulums have a way of swinging. It wasn't long ago that watches were going for baroque, in style and size, and brand prestige was a mirror for personal prestige. Watches were bonus babies and salary semaphores: To paraphrase the Duchess of Windsor, they couldn't be too rich and they shouldn't be too thin. Time has changed. Big watches, whether time-only or complicated, are starting to look like Elizabethan ruff collars in terms of contemporary taste. Now the watchword is, "If you've still got it, don't flaunt it." In watches, this means consumers and companies are tacking away from the oversized and the overstated. It's ironic, given who got us into the current economic morass, but this heralds the return of the "banker's watch." The term denotes a dressy, extra-flat, round wristwatch with a minimalist dial--sometimes even lacking a sweep seconds hand. The artistry of the extra-flat dress watch is like that of the sonnet--expressive within (and because of) the constraints of a narrowly defined form--and its Gary Cooper visage is shorthand for stability, security, and reliability. Classic examples are the Patek Philippe Calatrava and Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Contemporaine. For all its seeming simplicity, the extra-flat dress watch is a complex being, starting with the watchmaking itself. Getting a thick, heavily built mechanism to run accurately is relatively easy; getting comparable performance out of a mechanism that's no thicker than a couple of business cards is not. That's why new watch brands generally don't offer extra-flat watches. In fact, it's venerability that marks the two names that are most synonymous with extra-flat construction, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Piaget. Their flattest movements are whisker thin. Jaeger's Master Ultra Thin, the thinnest watch it currently makes, has a case 4.2 millimeters thick and a movement 1.85 millimeters thick, yet the watch contains 123 components and can run for 35 hours, accurately, on a single mainspring winding. Piaget's manual-wind Altiplano contains its caliber 430P movement, which comes in at 2.1 millimeters. Both watches slide under a French cuff like a cat slipping noiselessly past a barely open door. Which is important at a time when looking like a banker is also in comeback mode. According to Alan Flusser, author of Dressing the Man: Mastering the Art of Permanent Fashion, "a classically fitted shirt cuff is tailored to fit the wrist, and should not change its position when the arm changes position." By gripping your wrist, the cuff maintains the line of the arm and is thus best suited for a flat dress watch. (Unless you have the sprezzatura of former Fiat ( FIA - news - people ) chairman Gianni Agnelli, who wore a heavy braceleted sports watch on the outside of his cuff.) "The dressier you get, the thinner the watch," says Flusser, who adds that with French cuffs you have a bit more room for a watch if you wear chain links rather than whaleback closures or ball returns. (He also has a bone to pick with thick watches: They will quickly fray a shirt cuff.) Ralph Lauren ( RL - news - people )'s new Slim Classique collection is as lovely a gathering of extra-flat dress watches as ever peeked out from under a French cuff. Although a newcomer to the haute horlogerie game, Lauren knew where to go for movements: Piaget and Jaeger-LeCoultre (via his friend Johann Rupert, chairman of Richemont). He matched them with cases and dials engraved using one of the few surviving rose engines, a machine that dates to the late 1890s. The swirling guilloche--the minute repetitive patterns on the dial created by craftsmen using the engine--strikes a lovely note of nostalgia. Being complicated doesn't mean looking complicated. One of the first wristwatch perpetual calendars ever made, the Patek Philippe 1526, which ceased production in the early 1950s with only 210 made, showed the day, month, date, and moonphase, and kept track internally of the differing lengths of the months and the passage of leap years. In the spirit of making complicated look clean is the Patek 3939H minute repeater tourbillon--if it weren't for the repeater slide in the case band and the almost invisible "tourbillon" on the dial, you probably wouldn't take it for a complicated watch at all. It's the ultimate stealth complication timepiece. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oscarmadfish 0 Posted April 24, 2009 glad to say i do not give a fook for whats in or out so big watches are still in with oscar lol Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jameo210369 0 Posted April 24, 2009 I like my watches to come in man size, over 40mm dial size. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
swissaddict 0 Posted April 24, 2009 Thank God the stupid trend is reversing Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
swissaddict 0 Posted April 24, 2009 to anyone who says they like big watches and don't care about trends... you would not like big watches if you did not see them everywhere. you see them in magazines, television, movies, billboards... so they have become the norm. but 10 years ago you didn't want a 48mm watch did you? and 10 years from now you will not either! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AllergyDoc 40 Posted April 24, 2009 Says the man with a PAM for his avitar... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Luthier 1 Posted April 24, 2009 Says the man with a PAM for his avitar... I don't give damn about fashion trends. Even without knowing, what is and what is not in fashion, I'd never wear Bentley with black smoking, and wouldn't wear my Omega Globemaster (4,8mm thin) if I'm going on the beach or in House of Blues. Just common sense. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AllergyDoc 40 Posted April 24, 2009 You live in Hollywood, Luthier. You're not allowed to be indifferent to fashion. The city passed a code. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oscarmadfish 0 Posted April 24, 2009 10 yrs ago i could see the small dials lol Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
onzenuub 307 Posted April 24, 2009 10 yrs ago i could see the small dials lol Now you see noooooooooooooooothing? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnG 41 Posted April 24, 2009 You live in Hollywood, Luthier. You're not allowed to be indifferent to fashion. The city passed a code. Does that mean he has to be bisexual too? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AllergyDoc 40 Posted April 24, 2009 You live in Hollywood, Luthier. You're not allowed to be indifferent to fashion. The city passed a code. Does that mean he has to be bisexual too? No, but he does have to use hookers on occasion. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
onzenuub 307 Posted April 24, 2009 You live in Hollywood, Luthier. You're not allowed to be indifferent to fashion. The city passed a code. Does that mean he has to be bisexual too? No, but he does have to use hookers on occasion. Occasion like a second hand car? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Luthier 1 Posted April 24, 2009 You live in Hollywood, Luthier. You're not allowed to be indifferent to fashion. The city passed a code. :o Fuck the code. I have my own. They're liberal freaks. Big Bang, that's what they need. Not Hublot, but real one. @John - I can't be bisexual, I'm already a gay - a lesbian. I love girls... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AllergyDoc 40 Posted April 24, 2009 Ya, I think Hollywood is stranger than S.F. (From what I hear.) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iabounty 8 Posted April 25, 2009 10 yrs ago i could see the small dials lol I hear ya loud and clear madfish........ I have to wear one of my Rolex with date mag. if I need to SEE what the date is....... Even my Breitling SOSF, a large dial, the date is too small for my old eyes...... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JoeyB 0 Posted April 25, 2009 10 yrs ago i could see the small dials lol I hear ya loud and clear madfish........ I have to wear one of my Rolex with date mag. if I need to SEE what the date is....... Even my Breitling SOSF, a large dial, the date is too small for my old eyes...... Yep, same here. I love my Retro GMT, but I can see the wider hands and bigger markers on the ceramic and DSSD much easier. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iabounty 8 Posted April 25, 2009 10 yrs ago i could see the small dials lol I hear ya loud and clear madfish........ I have to wear one of my Rolex with date mag. if I need to SEE what the date is....... Even my Breitling SOSF, a large dial, the date is too small for my old eyes...... Yep, same here. I love my Retro GMT, but I can see the wider hands and bigger markers on the ceramic and DSSD much easier. Perhaps we could get a group discount on our wheelchairs and seeing eye dogs....... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JoeyB 0 Posted April 25, 2009 10 yrs ago i could see the small dials lol I hear ya loud and clear madfish........ I have to wear one of my Rolex with date mag. if I need to SEE what the date is....... Even my Breitling SOSF, a large dial, the date is too small for my old eyes...... Yep, same here. I love my Retro GMT, but I can see the wider hands and bigger markers on the ceramic and DSSD much easier. Perhaps we could get a group discount on our wheelchairs and seeing eye dogs....... I really hate this. It was like hitting a wall right about 50. The eye Doc says I have 20-10 in my right eye, 20-15 in the left, so I asked him why I can't read a newspaper. He said "You're old!!" The bastard. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iabounty 8 Posted April 25, 2009 10 yrs ago i could see the small dials lol I hear ya loud and clear madfish........ I have to wear one of my Rolex with date mag. if I need to SEE what the date is....... Even my Breitling SOSF, a large dial, the date is too small for my old eyes...... Yep, same here. I love my Retro GMT, but I can see the wider hands and bigger markers on the ceramic and DSSD much easier. Perhaps we could get a group discount on our wheelchairs and seeing eye dogs....... I really hate this. It was like hitting a wall right about 50. The eye Doc says I have 20-10 in my right eye, 20-15 in the left, so I asked him why I can't read a newspaper. He said "You're old!!" The bastard. Welcome to the club my friend........ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JoeyB 0 Posted April 25, 2009 10 yrs ago i could see the small dials lol I hear ya loud and clear madfish........ I have to wear one of my Rolex with date mag. if I need to SEE what the date is....... Even my Breitling SOSF, a large dial, the date is too small for my old eyes...... Yep, same here. I love my Retro GMT, but I can see the wider hands and bigger markers on the ceramic and DSSD much easier. Perhaps we could get a group discount on our wheelchairs and seeing eye dogs....... I really hate this. It was like hitting a wall right about 50. The eye Doc says I have 20-10 in my right eye, 20-15 in the left, so I asked him why I can't read a newspaper. He said "You're old!!" The bastard. Welcome to the club my friend........ Thanks. But it does beat the alternative... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Luthier 1 Posted April 25, 2009 I've heard old age has it's own sweets - more time to chase girls, for example... :( Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KBH 7 Posted April 25, 2009 I've heard old age has it's own sweets - more time to chase girls, for example...:( We just don't know what to do with them if we catch them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jameo210369 0 Posted April 25, 2009 Give them an apron, mop bucket and a duster and they are happy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JoeyB 0 Posted April 25, 2009 Give them an apron, mop bucket and a duster and they are happy. :( Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
