If we turn back for a moment and contemplate our past, even just 20 years, we discover how much everything has changed. We live in a contemporary world where 30-something billionaires in flip-flops and t-shirts run global companies, and most meetings take place online from the quiet ambient of our homes. So, what good is a dress watch today in a place where all codes – dress and social – have been revolutionized?
This is a legitimate question – and we will soon find out why, despite everything, wearing a dress watch today continues to be necessary, and not just for others, especially for ourselves and our overall style.
A bit of history
Today’s dress watch is an evolution of the watch of yesteryear, the pocket watch. And back when this type of timepiece was popular, this was often many people’s only watch when they were wealthy enough to have one. And it was basically the elegant watch.
The case was made of precious metal or materials that could look precious, and it was secured to our dress by a chain. Around 1870, the first cheap watches began to be produced thanks to Roskopf’s invention, and watchmaking also became available to other population strata. Since then, this process has continued: today, everyone can afford a watch, but its primary function has remained unchanged, even though everything around it has changed. Today, those who wear a watch do so primarily for themselves; think of people who wear Rolex watches. And that is why having a dress watch is essential.
Should a man have a dress watch?
Precisely as we have in our wardrobe different clothes for different occasions, the elegant person wears a specific watch for each event. And this is said by etiquette, which would provide strict rules about which watch is most appropriate for each occasion.
Although these rules have softened over the years, nevertheless, our conscious choice to follow or disregard them defines us as individuals. So, just as one should not wear a three-piece suit at the beach, one should not wear a diver watch on a formal occasion, even though the usage has become widespread. And so, let it be proper to look through our large or small collection of watches to wear the right piece for the circumstance at hand.
While at work, a smart casual dress watch, perhaps with a steel case, is an excellent choice that can accompany us even in more formal gatherings. But for a really important occasion, better replace it with a specimen with a light-colored dial and precious metal case.
What is a proper dress watch?
There is no typical classification of a dress watch; however, we can assert that a dress watch of a traditional type not designed to solve a specific need is a dress watch. Thus, we can have an undemanding dress watch for everyday wear, what is known as a daily beater, or watches of extraordinary class and sophistication, which are generally worn for more important occasions.
There are a couple of small rules you can apply in choosing a dress watch according to the occasion: the first is that its dial should be connected to the color of your shirt. This means that with a white shirt, traditionally more dressy, go with a watch with a white or very light dial, while a darker dial will tend to be more smart casual.
The second is that the fewer hands, the more elegant the watch. Traditionally, the most elegant watches have only two hands, whereas the second hand is missing. But like all rules, there are exceptions, especially in today’s world.
The Best Dress Watches For Men
Pointing out The Best Dress Watches is indeed challenging, as it seems that everything in the watch industry has already been invented, with some models now part of myth rather than history. However, we are sure that our suggestions, directed mainly at those who have just approached the subject, will also be helpful to the more experienced.
By Movement
Basically, nowadays, we have three types of movements: mechanical, quartz, and hybrid. The first is the type of caliber that comes from the evolution of traditional watchmaking: the second comes to us from the developments of the 1970s when Seiko invented such a revolutionary movement, while the third combines the characteristics of both.
1 – Best mechanical movement dress watch – Patek Philippe Calatrava
The traditional caliber, made of a barrel with spring, wheels, and balance wheel, distinguishes these watches, which can be manual or automatic winding. However, we chose one model, particularly the prototype of the dress watch: the Patek Philippe Calatrava. With its unmistakable design inspired by the principles of Bauhaus, still the same as the original proposed in the 1930s, the Patek Philippe Calatrava, in its various references, represents the dress watch in its purest form.
2 – Best dress watch with quartz movement – Tissot PRX
Although the quartz movement has become inexpensive, early quartz watches cost much more than their mechanical competitors. And the qualities of this type of caliber are excellent in sturdiness, precision, and low cost, allowing everyone to buy a beautiful and well-made dress watch. Our suggestion in this category goes to the Tissot PRX quartz, a modern watch with a design strongly inspired by the 1970s, excellent build quality guaranteed by the Tissot brand, and a price starting at about $200. Hard to do better.
3 – Best hybrid movement dress watch – Grand Seiko Snowflake
Japanese technology has been cutting edge in this field, with a house like Seiko being the first to create unique movements, such as the Seiko Kinetic and the Seiko Spring Drive, the latter used within the house’s top range, namely Grand Seiko. We can mention the Grand Seiko Spring Drive Snowflake among the more classic ones. The reference SBGA211 combines the perfection of the Japanese house’s details with the Spring Drive movement with a power reserve indicator, ensuring chronometric performance.
By Price
An important variable to consider! The price of watches varies, and often, by several orders of magnitude with no real apparent justification-although those who are more familiar with specific details of watch productions easily understand where quality is seen and felt and where it is not.
However, there are dress watches for all budgets, ranging from a few tens of dollars to hundreds of thousands, so whatever your budget, we are sure you will find the perfect dress watch for you!
4 – Best dress watches under $3,000 – Baume & Mercier Clifton Baumatic
The affordable luxury niche is one of the most embattled in the entire watchmaking landscape. This means that the struggle is genuinely titanic to emerge in this niche. Yet some manage to stand out because of a combination of different factors. For example, when it came out a couple of years ago, the Baume & Mercier Clifton with Baumatic movement impressed us with its elegance, features, and performance. Available in several versions, including one that is COSC-certified as a chronometer, it is a perfect synthesis of the qualities that make a dress watch a watch you won’t be able to live without.
5 – Best dress watches under $1,000 – Davosa Classic Automatic
The amount of offerings in this area means that the level of watches is very high, and there is a great battle over prices. However, this makes it possible for enthusiasts to buy a dress watch of excellent value. Among the many proposals, we would like to point out an unusual one: the Davosa Classic Automatic. It is not new and not particularly well-known, but this little wrist jewel manages to make an excellent synthesis between the elegance of form and vintage suggestions, like its shape which seems to come right out of the Golden Age of horology. Among the different versions, mounting quartz or automatic movements we really like the latter, mounting a DAV3021 movement in a gold-coated case and a beautiful textured dial with matching gold indices.
6 – Best affordable dress watches – Orient Bambino V2
Usually, the more you drop in price, the less you get. But there are cases where this axiom loses its value. Indeed, this niche is dominated by the Japanese giants, with their beautiful, well-made, and affordable watches. In this area, Orient manages to deliver values that are hard to match. Its Orient Bambino V2 has populated the wrists of legions of watch enthusiasts, who have come to appreciate its excellent quality, especially relative to a price tag of around $190. The model we choose is this AC00009N, which repurposes a vintage style, from the cream of the dial to the applied Roman numerals delineating the fine second’s scale.
7 – Best luxury dress watches – Bulgari Octo Finissimo S Steel Silvered Dial
A modern classic produced by an all too underrated Maison, the Bulgari Octo Finissimo represents a modern evolution of the traditional dress watch. The case has an angular shape that makes it unique, and the dial is pure and clean, no-frills, with its slightly offset subdial. With its distinctive integrated bracelet, this tone-on-tone version of metal and silver does not look like the traditional dress watch, but perhaps, it represents the perfect dress watch of the new century.
By Style
Even within the dress watch category, there are small subcategories, and rightly so. However, the watches and their design are not easily pigeonholed within an elementary structure – and this is one of their most fascinating sides, as it makes them unique and unrepeatable.
8 – Best sporty dress watch – Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso
The concept of sports is relatively recent, and sports watches are also a new invention. Yet, some have become great classics and have remained so over the years. And such is the case of Jaeger-LeCoultre with its Reverso. Created to be worn during polo competitions, the Reverso has evolved into one of the most coveted and prized dress watches among enthusiasts, which, thanks to its mechanism that allows it to be rotated, reveals an often surprising case back with elaborate decoration even another dial with different functions.
9 – Most classic dress watch – Vacheron Constantin Patrimony
We have already talked about the prototype of the luxury watch, the Patek Philippe Calatrava. But there is another watch that has made history and represents the concept of the discreet luxury of the most elegant dress watch. We are talking about the Vacheron Constantin Patrimony, specifically, the 4300U model in white gold. A little less formal than the two-hand model, this three-hand with date display represents the essentiality of the watch: a clean dial with only applied markers and a black crocodile strap that make it iconic and simply perfect in its simple richness and elegance.
By color
Even though most traditional dress watches have white, or at least clear, dials, there are notable exceptions to this unwritten but often-used rule. So we find dress watches of every color, going as far as the full range of the color spectrum.
10 – Best white dial dress watch – NOMOS Orion 38 White
We have a weakness for refined watches, and although there are more well-known and prestigious Maisons, this model produced by NOMOS never ceases to amaze us. Its practically perfect proportions, the beauty of its pure Bauhaus-style dial, adorned with a few black notches marking the hours, minutes, and seconds, and the small seconds subdial at 6 o’clock make this watch, animated by the hand-wound Alpha manufacture caliber, an excellent dress watch for use in all circumstances.
11 – Best black dial dress watch – H. Moser & Cie. Vantablack Black Hands
Black as black can be: we are talking about the H. Moser & Cie. Vantablack Black Hands is an incredible watch, with a dial colored with the blackest pigment existing in the world. On this black dial, the two hands, also black, look, by contrast, framed in the essential white gold case. The Maison has always offered striking watch statement pieces, and if you know how to appreciate its understated appeal, you cannot help but be captivated by this mesmerizing timepiece. Everyone agrees on one thing: it’s beautiful, but it can’t be called remarkably readable.
12 – Best colored dial dress watch – FP Journe Chronomètre Bleu
It is known that watch enthusiasts are passionate about specific colors, which follow fashion and become very popular at certain times. But there is one color that never goes out of style in watchmaking, and that is blue, which takes center stage in this timepiece created by the French master-watchmaker. The Chronomètre Bleu has a dial covered in several layers of transparent enamel worked in grand feu. The hour markers and scales float on a sea of iridescent azure that turns blue, supported by a tantalum case. Beautiful and extremely rare, a genuine grail watch.
13 – Best dress watch with hardstone dial – Hermès Arceau L’heure de la Lune meteorite Limited Edition
Dress watches, especially in the 1950s and 1960s, encroached on jewelry for men and women. That is why some Maisons began to employ thin slabs of semi-precious hard stones such as agate, onyx, malachite, lapis lazuli, or other materials, such as mother-of-pearl, to enrich the dials of their timepieces further. There are endless examples of similar watches, but we want to offer you an exception; this incredible timepiece features a moon-phase complication that is breathtaking in its elegance, shown on a unique meteorite dial.
14 – Best ultra-flat dress watch – Piaget Altiplano Ultimate Automatic
Piaget has always meant ultra-flat dress watches, and the Ultimate Automatic is a prime example. A fascinating timepiece, this ultra-flat watch (only 4.6 mm thick) presented in 2017 shows us its movement exhibited from the dial side, which contours the small offset dial, almost crowning it: an incredible work of horological technique and excellence on the workmanship of materials. Two versions, in rose gold and white gold, for a more formal or more high-tech look.
By shape
If you think that all watches are round, you are sadly mistaken; over time, the Maisons tried endless shapes for cases and dials. Some of which succedeed with the non-conformist public and became true style icons.
15 – Best rectangular dress watch – Cartier Tank Must SolarBeat
The Cartier Tank is the world’s best-known rectangular dress watch and one of the most enduring, as its original model dates back to 1917. Inspired by the tracks of WWI tanks, the Cartier Tank, now available in a wide variety of styles, sizes, and movements, continues to be an elegant and unusual timepiece with its truly timeless Art Deco charm. We really like the Tank Must Solar version, which offers a very modern heart in its timeless line: a SolarBeat quartz movement with a solar accumulator. Completing its “green” vocation is its synthetic leather strap.
16 – Best square dress watch – Cartier Santos-Dumont XL
The square case model, called chocolate by some, is another classic of modern watchmaking. And even here, we can only talk about Cartier with its even more historical model, the Santos. With its square case with rounded corners, the Santos was the first wristwatch in history, dating back to 1904. Also released in endless versions, it represents a perfect example of how a design can indeed be eternal. Among the wide variety of models, we like the exclusive Cartier Santos-Dumont XL version in rose gold and brown crocodile strap, animated by an ultra-flat caliber that comes from Piaget.
17 – Best cushion case dress watch – TAG Heuer Monza
This case model, slightly rounded on all sides, has had great success for its use by Panerai, but it still belongs to the classics of watchmaking, as many other prestigious Maisons have used it. TAG Heuer, best known for its sports models, offers this Monza time-only model with two hands and second hand at six o’clock that, despite the solid look its massive bezel gives it, manages to be surprisingly elegant, especially on more important wrists, and is the true luxury “daily beater” that you can wear in any situation.
18 – Best tonneau dress watch – Omega Petrograd reissue
The tonneau case has had mixed fortunes since its debut in the 1920s, at the height of the Art Deco period, but it has given watchmaking some of the most beautiful watches ever. The Omega Petrograd, little known even among aficionados, is one of them; the original model dated back to 1915 and was reissued in 2014 as a Limited Edition for the Sochi Winter Olympics. The dial offers the vintage suggestions of the time, enhanced by an external scale of numbers in dark red; the dark red color also returns in the strap, together with the yellow gold case.
19 – Best oval dress watch – Patek Philippe Golden Ellipse 50th Anniversary
The oval watch category has never found much luck, especially in the men’s versions, with one exception: a true masterpiece designed by the immense Gerald Genta. The Patek Philippe Golden Ellipse, dating from 1969, represents the quintessential watch. A slender precious metal rim without lugs, built around the golden rule, frames a very simple dial on which the two slender hands and applied metal markers stand out. The 5738R version, edited by the Maison for its 50th birthday in a rose gold case, and onyx black dial, is undoubtedly a timeless classic.
The best Microbrand alternatives
But beyond the most beautiful of all time, let us remember that a wide variety of watch companies want to have their say on this exciting subject. We have selected a few of the ones impressing us with their features.
20 – AnOrdain Model 1
AnOrdain is a Scottish microbrand that creates dress watches with dials produced in-house by the Maison in vitreous enamel that are striking in their sophistication. They are presented with a smoky effect and display bolder colors such as green, plum, and pink alongside traditional white, blue, and gray. The Maison offers two choices of movements: Sellita or La Joux Perret; the prices of the watches are around $1250. Be prepared, though: the waiting list to order these little masterpieces is quite long.
21 – Kurono Toki
Recently, metallic colors on the dial have proved very fashionable, and this watch is proof of that. This small Japanese house produces dress watches of rare beauty and balance, and this model, inspired by the plumage of the crested ibis, fully represents the suggestions of this ancient country. The Toki is an exquisite watch with a minimal dial and metal index scale that contrasts with the antique pink degradé of the dial.
22 – Zelos Nova 38mm Aventurine
Those who know the house know that Zelos specializes in diver watches, but it has a vocation for making distinctive dials. And it is precisely the aventurine dial that characterizes this Zelos Nova. The Singapore-based house has stepped out of its comfort zone and done it in the best way possible with this beautiful timepiece. Very elegant, distinctive, and not to be missed, with a water resistance of 100 meters. Really hard to want more.
23 – Pelton Sector
A dress watch that borders on the quasi-military, this Pelton Sector has a beautiful sector dial indicated in white over a ruthenium blue base, which is highly legible and aesthetically striking. The house makes its own cases, crowns, and bezels, and the accuracy of the workmanship is definitely top-notch. Swiss ETA 2824 movement and water resistance of 100 meters complete this highly versatile timepiece.
24 – MING 17.06 Copper
You will only find this watch on the second-hand market at a price well above the launch price – MING production is always minimal – and it has a unique feature: it won the category prize for best newcomer at the 2019 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Geneve. The Maison’s style is unmistakable, with its graphic design of hour markers and scales animating the iridescent copper-colored dial decorated with guilloche work. A watch of great beauty that launched the Malaysian company into the Olympus of world watchmaking.
25 – Farer Lethbridge
In Farer’s production, this model with a cushion case, three-dimensional silvered dial, contrasting hands and hour markers in electric blue is really captivating; it seems to want to reinterpret the suggestions of the 1970s stylishly. It’s not the traditional dress watch, but a well-designed timepiece that can easily play many roles thanks to the wristband change, including accompanying you to an important occasion.
In summary
With such a variety of model choices and price points, we have no trouble understanding why dress watches are becoming popular again. What strikes us is that, alongside the offerings of the best-known houses, we find a large number of watches from microbrands spread all over the planet – and this testifies to how much passion there is in the world for these obsolete but beautiful contraptions that enthusiasts insist on wearing on their wrists.
