Feature: 5 watches for the thinking enthusiast
It doesn’t half get boring scrolling past yet another Submariner or another Royal Oak. I’ll wager that you’re here because you’re looking for the kind of watches that make you sit up and say, “Oh hello?”, like the first time you heard Paranoid Android or started watching German TV show, Dark. Hot tip, if you enjoyed Dark, check out Severance on Apple TV. You’re welcome. Anyway, these watches are for you. Stay until the end for the most mind-blowing.
Habring2 Doppel-Felix
I reckon the chronograph is probably my favourite style of watch, which is kind of odd, because currently, I don’t have one. That’s because the best are all massively out of reach. Think A. Lange & Söhne Chronograph or Vacheron Constantin Cornes de Vache. I want something with a bit of zhuzh. In case you’re wondering, the official spelling for the word zhuzh is Z-H-U-Z-H. You’re learning in so many ways!
Anywho, if you’re willing to consider the wares of husband and wife duo Richard and Maria Habring, then you’re in for a treat. The Habring2—because there are two of them, geddit?—is a watch built by thinkers for thinkers, packing in all that lovely watch genius our wallet fingers are itching to pull the trigger on.
The pair of Archi Luxury-esque horns on either side of the case tell you there’s something more going on here, and indeed there is. This is the Doppel-Felix split-second chronograph, a complication that, if you humbly asked Patek Philippe to sell to you, they’d laugh and slap your face to the tune of $200,000. This cheeky fella costs less than $10,000.
That’s because Richard Habring isn’t just a genius watchmaker, he’s also the genius watchmaker behind the invention of a specific type of split-second chronograph. He originally invented it under the employ of IWC, but the patent’s expired now, so he can make it for himself. You’ll see it built into the back of the mechanism, a pair of pincers grabbing hold of a sprung wheel in the centre. It’s an example of clever thinking bringing simplicity and efficiency to an old idea. As a bonus, the watch also looks fantastic.
Nomos Tangente Reference 139
Pairing quality with good price is practically an oxymoron when it comes to Swiss watchmaking. It goes against the very ethos of an industry perpetuating the idea that very old, very expensive Swiss watchmakers build every single movement from the lost treasure of Atlantis and lubricate it with the tears of a dodo.
Really, watchmaking hasn’t been like that for somewhere close to 200 years, and where manufacturers continue to push forwards with the most traditional of approaches, they take the cost right up there with them. Unless you’re willing to sacrifice your house for your watch, it’s best just to put that notion to the back of your mind.
The reality today is that man and machine work in close harmony together to build watches to high tolerance, quality and volume, and Germany’s Nomos is no different. What is different about Nomos is that they’ve embraced the modernity of watchmaking to a degree that affords them the luxury of selling great watches for very little.
In 1999, a little film called Star Wars pioneered a new method of digital capture, which paved the way for filmmaking to become more accessible to more people. It allows artists to spend more time considering their art. In the watchmaking scene, modernity has had the same effect, and so Nomos can focus on the details that make a luxury watch so special.
A silver dial, heat-blued hands and a custom, manually wound movement with an eye-catching finish were not the realms of the sub-$2,000 before watchmakers like Nomos started operating. In fact, 95% of this Tangente are made in Germany by local trades, which makes it all even more impressive.
Zenith Chronomaster Revival El Primero A385
My favourite thing about putting a little thought into getting stuff isn’t that I can get more value or enjoy a better product: it’s the smug factor. For instance, the owner of this Zenith Chronomaster Revival won’t just pay less than his Rolex Daytona-owning friend and won’t just get a better watch, they’ll also be able to look at the Daytona, chuckle to themselves and say, “That’s cute.”
That’s because this Zenith is part of the El Primero collection. That doesn’t mean it was confiscated as part of a raid on a former South American dictator, it’s because it contains the El Primero movement, the first integrated automatic chronograph in the world—unless the Japanese beat them to it, which they may well have done. Yeah, I’m not sure I get the Swiss sense of humour either.
Anyway, whilst we all know the version of the El Primero that’s been best popularised—aka the round one—it was actually this boxier style that came first. El primero advert for the El Primero—geddit?—featured the A384 with a white dial set with black sub-dials, ushering in that 70s look the Royal Oak made so famous before the 70s even began.
This smoky version, the A385, came next, continuing a line of watches most people forgot. The round chap with the multicoloured, overlapping sub-dials claimed all the glory and this sat by the wayside. But you and I, we’re a fan of the underdog, especially when so much is owed to it.
It’s quite the powerhouse. It was thinner than the competition, had a smoother, faster beat and still packed in more power reserve. If NASA had made its own chronograph instead of choosing the Speedmaster, it probably would’ve ended up with something as massively overengineered as this.
And the best part? Your mate with his Daytona, he wouldn’t even have one if it wasn’t for this. The El Primero was the movement that powered the 1988 reimagining of the Daytona, without which it’s proportions and price would not have been possible. You’re welcome, Rolex.
Grand Seiko SBGP001
When you really think about it, a good watch is all about performance. Quality, accuracy and price. Doesn’t matter if the company that made it started out straightening sundials for Tutankhamun or has its headquarters on top of the tallest Swiss mountain. If it can nail those three things, it’s on to a winner.
The great irony is that many of the watches that truly achieve this are often overlooked. Take Grand Seiko’s SBGP001. It’s built to the highest standards of one of the best regarded watch brands outside of Switzerland. It’s accurate to within ten seconds per year. And it costs $3,500.
The quality of this thing really can’t be overstated. Don’t let the simple looks fool you. Those long, continuous curves each side of the case are a complete pain in the butt to manufacture. The hands and markers are finished like the mirror of a space telescope. The print is so crisp it makes laserjet look like inkjet.
And that accuracy! Ten seconds per year. That’s unheard of in mechanical watchmaking, because this is indeed a quartz. All of a sudden the price sounds dear, but let’s keep those thinking caps from blowing off right now, because the calibre 9F85 is no market stall movement.
We think of quartz as little lumps of plastic that get thrown away when they wear out rather than being repaired, but that’s less down to the mechanics and more down to the effort put into making them. F.P. Journe and Patek Philippe have both shown quartz can be high end, and Grand Seiko is right there alongside them. This is a movement designed to be regulated and serviced for a lifetime and more. Shame you can’t see it, because it’s a looker, too.
Ochs Und Junior Annual Calendar
I’ve saved the ultimate thinking enthusiast’s watch until last, because this one’s a doozy. Designed by the ultimate brain boffin watchmaker, Ludwig Oechslin, this seemingly rubbish watch packs an incredible USP: it’s an annual calendar. For $5,500.
Let’s chuck in our Patek Philippe context once again. Those guys managed to use more parts than their perpetual calendar and want $50,000 for the privilege. Oechslin bashed his head against the wall until he was able to figure out adding an annual calendar complication to a basic time and date movement with just three extra parts.
The unusual array of bullet holes is the display required to achieve this feat of keeping the date in check on all but the end of February. The date’s the larger display around the outer edge, and of the two sub-dials, if you can even call them that, the top is your months and the bottom your days. It takes a bit of getting used to, but it’s all there, and not only that, but it’s all set from just two positions of the crown. No hunting for a cocktail stick to press any silly hidden pushers.
Imagine being able to think like that, to turn the extra 250 parts Patek Philippe used into just three. That’s some rain man stuff right there, an ability to think in numbers and three-dimensional space better than any algorithm. And after all, aren’t the best thinking enthusiast’s watches the ones that hurt most to think about?
What’s you favourite thinking enthusiast’s watch?
