Why Are Rolex Watches So Hard to Buy Right Now?

It’s an odd sight. Around the globe, retail displays for one of the most influential and prestigious brands in the world sit mostly empty. There should be Rolex watches in them.

We live in weird times but the state of the luxury watch industry is especially surreal: there aren’t enough Rolex watches to go around. The result? Waitlists, unscrupulous dealers, empty display cases, ballooning prices and record-breaking auctions.

What on earth is going on?

The roots of this scenario are fervently debated and theorized in watch-collecting circles. Yes, it’s a matter of supply, demand and simply wanting what you can’t have. But there’s more to the story. Some call it a “perfect storm” of interrelated factors that’s driven the watch world into hyperdrive.

Here’s what we know about why Rolex watches are so hard to buy right now:

Rolex

Only some Rolex watches are scarce

What watches are we talking about, exactly? It’s not as if there’s a general watch shortage: rather, this phenomenon applies to the most hyped and coveted models, mostly from a handful of brands. Rolex steel sport (or “Professional”) watches are the most visible examples — think Submariners, GMT Master IIs, Explorers and, of course, Daytonas.

But even some Rolex Oyster Perpetuals are hard to get and selling for way above retail. As one popular model became hard to get, people looked to alternatives which themselves got snapped up.

Outside of Rolex, exclusive steel watches like the Patek Philippe Nautilus are similarly unobtanium. (MoonSwatch madness is another, but not entirely unrelated, story.) You surely get how the psychology works, and it this isn’t exclusive to watches, but what’s different about the current situation?

Rolex scarcity isn’t new, but it’s increasingly extreme

Rolex waiting lists aren’t an entirely new phenomenon, and general interest in watches has been building for years — many horological pundits see real scarcity beginning in 2016 with the release of the current generation of Rolex Daytona. But the origins of this mania go back even further.

“Watch collecting used to be something of a closed community made up of highly passionate people having small private meetups and events,” says Joshua Ganjei, CEO of the watch retailer European Watch Company in Boston. “But with the rise of internet blogs, forums dedicated solely to watches, and Instagram, the hobby has really been democratized.”

This democratization applies not just to sharing information and enthusiasm, but it also affords more ways to buy and sell watches. Learning about as well as acquiring watches has become easier than ever — and so has speculative buying of hot-ticket items for the express purpose of turning a profit.

Christies

Rolex isn’t artificially restricting supply

Many frustrated netizens espouse the theory that it’s all a diabolical corporate conspiracy. A common belief is that Rolex is purposely restricting supply. Perhaps, they posit, it began as intentional and worked so well that Rolex now actually can’t keep up with the demand they created. Such speculation is rampant but we can’t confirm one way or another.

In a rare statement from Rolex, the brand categorically rejects the idea: “The scarcity of our products is not a strategy on our part,” Rolex said to Yahoo Finance. “Our current production cannot meet the existing demand in an exhaustive way, at least not without reducing the quality of our watches — something we refuse to do.”

The pandemic affected supply, but that’s not the whole story

Rolex is unusual in that it makes nearly every part of its watches, but if even one sourced component or material is delayed or unavailable, everything can stop. And even simple, time-only mechanical watches contain over a hundred tiny parts.

Like everything else in 2020, the Rolex factory shut down for a number of months due to COVID-19, so there was at least some impact on supply. Rolex doesn’t disclose its production numbers publicly but in a normal year it’s estimated to produce around 1 million watches (though not all of them belong to its list of coveted models).

Rolex

The conditions of the pandemic also drove demand for luxury watches

While many businesses have struggled since the onset of COVID-19, the luxury industry has had some of its best years.

Mr. Ganjei emphasizes the pandemic’s effect on Rolex availability: “The supercharged Rolex market of the past few years was the result of something of a perfect storm of factors. Covid forced manufacturers to halt production for a time which led to supply issues and a general shortage of new watches.”

“At the same time,” he says, “people were stuck at home, not able to spend money on travel, restaurants, etc., which meant there were more people looking to buy luxury goods online, including watches. Rolex sport watches were already highly desirable, but the pandemic really pushed them into red-hot, almost unobtainable territory.” There’s presently no telling when the market might cool.

You can still buy a Rolex, you just have to pay more for it

It’s not as if Rolex watches are “rare.” They’re everywhere. Of course, there’s a catch: collector mentality, combined with the brand’s cult following and the above described circumstances all conspire and ping off one another to inflate prices.

Even pre-owned models are often selling for above retail prices of new ones. You can go to any number of pre-owned and vintage dealers and often find hundreds of models for sale — sometimes even hundreds of the same reference number.

If you do go the route of shopping pre-owned Rolex, make sure you trust the seller or go to reputable dealers like Watch Box, Bob’s Watches or even eBay with their Authenticity Guarantee. And although vintage Rolex is a whole other story, you can check outfits like the Hodinkee Shop, Wind Vintage, Analog/Shift and others.

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Why Are Tourbillon Watches So Expensive?

In the late 1700s, famed watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet came to the realization that gravity was having ill effects on the accuracy of his timepieces. Horology at the time was confined to clocks and pocket watches, the latter of which were constantly stored vertically in the user’s pocket or horizontally on a table. Spending the majority of its time stuck in these orientations put strain on the hairspring inside the escapement, causing it to oscillate at an irregular rate, decreasing the accuracy of the watch.

Breguet’s solution was to create an escapement (the structure that regulates timekeeping and which you can often see oscillating through display casebacks even on basic mechanical watches) that was itself constantly in a state of motion. Called the tourbillon (French for “whirlwind”), the escapement is housed in a rotating cage that, because of the constant motion, averages out the effect of gravity when the watch is stuck in different positions.

Breguet’s invention worked for the pocket watch. But wristwatches, with the wrist’s constant movement, naturally offer the same gravity-fighting effect as the tourbillon mechanism. In fact, it’s been proven that tourbillons offer no more accuracy than a traditional escapement on a wristwatch, and are in some cases even less so.

In spite of the tourbillon’s evident uselessness, it’s become common among the upper echelon of the watch market. Most Swiss-made examples start at around $40,000 and price tags often break the six-figure barrier. You’ll find that many of the most expensive modern watches that cost well into six figures (and sometimes even more) at least include a tourbillon.

This is because tourbillons are arguably one the most difficult features for watchmakers and require expert hand-assembly. The tourbillon mechanism is tiny, weighing in at under a gram, and is usually crafted with more than 40 parts, typically finished by hand and made from lightweight metals like aluminum and titanium. They require a special set of tools and a lot of time to make — by only the most highly trained craftspeople. At least, that’s the way toubillons are traditionally made and understood.

Courtesy

Due to the cost of these features and their eye-catching complexity, they’ve become a prestige symbol that many watchmakers choose to display twitching away right on the dial. It’s a little ironic that the tourbillon has become part of almost every high-end watchmaker’s repertoire. Just about any watch brand operating in the “haute horlogerie” space will make this feature part of their halo product offerings — to the point that the tourbillon might not seem that exotic anymore.

Unsurprisingly, the tourbillon’s status has also created the drive for brands to offer more affordable versions. Some Swiss brands are even in this game, and manufacturers in China have managed to create respectable tourbillon movements that retail for under $5,000. Meanwhile, you’ll find brands you never heard of selling tourbillon watches for hundreds rather than thousands.

“Today we have production methods which allow us to produce spare parts in extremely high precision and acceptable quality,” independent haute watchmaker Thomas Prescher said in an interview with Europa Star. “So it is already possible to have extremely cheap tourbillons from the Far East for about $250.”

So, if the value of a tourbillon stems from the fact that it is essentially art — painstakingly crafted expressions of the pinnacle of watchmaking, even if they don’t have any real useful function — affordability comes at the cost of creating a less complex and less beautiful timepiece. It renders a mostly pointless movement entirely pointless.

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These Are 10 of the Best Tactical Watches

What makes a watch “tactical?” Does it have to look stealthy? Does it need to be digital, or analog? Does it have to give the user readings in temperature and barometric pressure, or feature a compass?

Truthfully, there’s no true single definition of what constitutes a “tactical” watch. True, many of the timepieces used by men and women in the military or in police departments have a certain rugged look to them, but any watch that can fulfill the needs of a professional working in the aforementioned fields could conceivably considered appropriate for “tactical” use.

So what are some common traits that many of these watches tend to exhibit? Here are a few that come to mind:

-Ruggedness. A watch that can’t stand up to the rigors of the field is useless to a professional soldier, police officer, outdoorsman or woman, etc. Shock resistance, water resistance and scratch resistance are key.

-Reliability. Whether quartz-powered or automatic, a tactical watch needs to work. If you look down and your battery is dead, or that sweep seconds hand is no longer sweeping, the watch is useless.

-Stealth. While a tactical watch doesn’t need to be PVD-coated or feature a matte finish, any minimization of reflection is a good thing, at least in a military environment. This is why some militaries require their soldiers to cover their watches.

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-Legibility. A watch that can’t be easily read, whether analog or digital, provides little utility to the user.

-Extra Features. While not strictly necessary, modern digital tactical watches often provide stopwatch functionality, timers, temperature readings, etc, which can be extremely useful in the field.

Below, we’ve outlined some of the best options for tactical watches currently available, some of which were chosen from personal experience in the military. Whether you’re active military or police yourself, or you simply want something to wear while angling, hiking or hunting that’ll stand up to the rigors of the field, we’ve got you covered.

G-Shock

Casio G-Shock DW9052-1V

Casio amazon.com

$69.95

$46.93 (33% off)

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. A longtime favorite of military personnel, this fairly basic G-Shock has everything you need, and nothing you don’t: 200m of water resistance, an ultra-durable resin body, a multi-function alarm, 1/100-second stopwatch, hourly time signal, auto calendar, and 12/24 hour time formats.
Movement: Quartz
Diameter: 48.5mm
Water Resistance: 200m

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Timex

Timex Command Shock

Timex amazon.com

$80.58

Crafted in a mold similar to that of the G-Shock, the Timex Command Collection of watches is built to take a beating. Water-resistant to 100m as well as heavily shock-resistant, they feature Indiglo light-up dials, durable metal and resin cases and stopwatch and countdown timers.
Movement: Quartz
Diameter: 54mm
Water Resistance: 100m

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Casio G-Shock Gulfman Tough Solar

Casio amazon.com

$220.00

$198.00 (10% off)

If you’re looking for a bit more out of your G-Shock but still want the brand’s signature toughness, look no further than this radio-controlled tank of a watch with Tough Solar charging. With world time, tide tabled and more, it’s the perfect tactical companion.

Movement: Quartz
Diameter: 46.3 mm
Water Resistance: 200m

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Suunto

Suunto Traverse Alpha

SUUNTO amazon.com

$549.90

One of the ultimate outdoorsman’s watches, the Traverse Alpha offers GPS navigation, shot detection and recording, weather alerts, a red backlight for nighttime use and a small light to illuminate one’s surroundings (just don’t activate it accidentally). A rugged, stainless steel knurled bezel ensures that you can knock it around.
Movement: N/A
Diameter: 50mm
Water Resistance: 100m

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Marathon

Marathon Navigator without Date

marathonwatch.com

$360.00

Originally produced for pilots and parachutists, the Marathon Navigator was recently upgraded with sapphire crystal. We field-tested one of these bad boys and we can assure you, its fibershell case, quartz movement (with date or no-date) and 12-hour bezel held up perfectly well.
Movement: ETA FØ6 high-torque 3-jewel quartz movement
Diameter: 41mm
Water Resistance: 60m

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MWC

MWC 45th Anniversary Titanium Military Watch

mwcwatches.com

£345.00

A little tank on your wrist. If all you need is the time and date, this thing will survive quite literally anything you can throw at it (trust us — we know from experience). The tritium tubes provide illumination so bright you’ll be forced to cover the watch on night exercises, should you go on any. Also: we have SCUBA dived with thing.
Movement: Ronda 715li quartz
Diameter: 40mm
Water Resistance: 300m

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Luminox Land Recon NAV SPC

opticsplanet.com

$495.00

The Recon Nav PC is an analog-display watch that’s nearly as feature-rich as many of its digital counterparts. Featuring a GMT hand, rotating dive bezel, tachymeter scale, removable compass, tritium tube illumination, date window and a 46mm carbon reinforced polycarbonate case, this watch is perfectly suited for overland navigation.
Movement: Ronda 515 quartz
Diameter: 46mm
Water Resistance: 200m

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Garmin

Garmin Tactix

Packed to the gills with tactical features, the Charlie is geared toward military and law enforcement professionals, though anyone can of course take advantage of all that it has to offer. With navigation, health tracking and even Jumpmaster features, this may be the ultimate tactical watch.
Movement: N/A
Diameter: 51mm
Water Resistance: 100m

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G-Shock

Casio G-Shock GSWH1000

Casio gshock.com

$1,000.00

The first G-Shock to take full advantage of Google’s Wear OS, the new GSWH1000 features an LCD touch screen display, customized dashboards, myriad sensors, and more. While it lacks solar charging, its wide feature set could make it perfect for tactical applications.
Movement: Quartz
Diameter: N/A
Water Resistance: 200m

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Marathon

Marathon Anthracite Large Diver’s Automatic (GSAR)

Marathon marathonwatch.com

$1,600.00

An all-black, automatic, tritium-lumed dive watch with an extra-grippable bezel and crown that ships on a rubber dive strap? It doesn’t get much more tactical than that. Marathon’s long history of designing and building specialized military watches should put you at ease.

Movement: ETA 2824-2
Diameter: 41mm
Water Resistance: 300m

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The Clone Wars: A Vintage Chronograph Returns

Some vintage watches are so rare — and so expensive — that even the most committed collectors will never own them. Such is the case with a particular chronograph from Universal Genève called the Uni-Compax “Big Eye.” Produced for just two years in the mid-1960s, it was so named for its oversized 45-minute chronograph counter positioned at three o’clock. Available with either a black or white dial, this striking timepiece has become one of the most elusive watches in the world, in no small part because only 20 or so have ever surfaced. These days, they can fetch for somewhere in the ballpark of $40,000.

William Massena, a watch industry veteran, sought one for some time, but he couldn’t justify the price. That’s when he hit upon an idea: Why not craft a modern version that someone could buy? Massena was already set up to make this happen. His company, Massena LAB, produces special-edition timepieces. But the “Big Eye” was different. It’s an established design from another brand with a long history, and remaking it would raise lots of questions. For starters, is it even legal to do so?

Analog/Shift

The short answer is yes: there is no design patent on the original “Big Eye,” which itself took inspiration from the dial of the Type 20 chronograph for the French military. But is it right to do so? What would watch collectors think? Would it live up to the original … or garner as much respect on the street as a Testarossa replica kit car? These are tougher questions to answer.

Direct rip-offs of watches currently in production — if they are complete with fake logos — are illegal and frowned upon, while watches that pay subtle homage to an era, like the Baltic Aquascaphe or the Brew Metric, are often very well received. Watches that copy designs long since defunct, however, reside in sort of a gray area.

Nevertheless, Massena got to work with a multi-pronged approach. Three years later, in 2020, he released two versions of his “Big Eye” that mirrored the original black and white models almost note for note — with the exceptions of a larger, 39mm case size (the original was 36.5mm); Massena LAB’s branding; and a new name, Uni-Racer. He outfitted the watches with hand-wound Swiss movements and offered them for sale at a price of $3,495.

Massena LAB

Some folks loved Massena’s recreations — including the judges at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (the Oscars of the watch world). Others … did not. “Plagiarism at its finest,” commented one reader of HODINKEE, the prominent watch website.

Why the vitriol? Ultimately, some purists believe that producing something remotely recalling another model — let alone largely copying it — is horological sacrilege, and it shouldn’t be done. Others take a more pragmatic stance: If the original watch is out of production, why shouldn’t it be remastered for the modern consumer?

Jack Forster

“In my view, this is a far more honest approach to making a homage than buying the rights to a dead name and printing it on a watch with no pedigree,” reasoned another Hodinkee reader.

But Massena didn’t stop there. Next, he released the “Holiday” collection, a trio of Uni-Racer watches with bright, colorful dials, ones that never existed within the original model line. It’s much tougher to pin down what these watches are — slightly modified copies? Artful tributes?

Consumers must ultimately decide for themselves, but Massena is certainly right about one thing: “It’s really similar to making remakes in the film industry — some are good and others are terrible. Some help you get interested in the original movie…It opens a door to the past that may not be explored otherwise.”

We tend to think it’s a door worth opening.

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The Skydweller Is the Most Bonkers Watch Rolex Makes

Welcome to Watches You Should Know, a biweekly column highlighting important or little-known watches with interesting backstories and unexpected influence. This week: the Rolex Sky Dweller.

Underpinning almost every swanky or blinged-out Rolex is a tool-watch ethos. That means traits like practical design, legibility, robust build, automatic winding and, for the most part, simple functionality. It’s a formula that works exceedingly well and results in conservative watches that rarely require substantial updates. This is exactly why the the Sky Dweller stands out: it’s the brand’s most complicated watch and, frankly, it’s pretty funky for a Rolex.

Aside from the time and date, most complicated Rolex watches might feature a single additional complication such as a GMT or chronograph. You’ll even find a moon phase in the Cellini collection. Introduced in 2012, the Sky Dweller, on the other hand, features not only two complications, including a GMT and the rather involved annual calendar, but also unique ways of displaying information and controlling its functions.

Rolex

The annual calendar tracks the month and date, differentiating between months with 30 and 31 days and only needing adjustment once a year, on March 1st. Rolex’s 9001 movement inside accomplishes this with only four additional gears on top of the existing architecture that displays the date — a solution that, by its very simplicity, helps keep the movement nice and robust. The display is equally unique, with an unobtrusive window next to each hour that symbolizes one of the twelve months of the year. For example, the window next to three o’clock will appear black or red (depending on the model) to indicate the month of March.

This is pretty complicated and unconventional for Rolex, but in addition to that is an off-center 24-hour ring to indicate a second time zone. This is a healthy amount of displayed information, and it’s all controlled by a traditional crown — but with a twist, so to speak. The crown is used in concert with the bezel in a system the brand calls Ring Command. In this system, the bezel is used to select a mode (e.g., one of the functions), and the information is then set via the crown.

In the second position (the first is neutral) you can move the main hour hand back and forth in hour intervals independently from the minute hand. The next position moves the minute hand, main hour hand and the 24-hour disc. It might sound a bit confusing, but it becomes intuitive as soon as you use it once or twice, and is in fact a pretty elegant and innovative solution — not to mention handy for traveling. Finally the last position controlled by the bezel lets you set the calendar information (in both directions, it should be noted, unlike many common and lesser watch movements).

Rolex

Echoing its dive-watch cousin, Rolex’s Sea Dweller, the Sky Dweller’s name tells you right away that it’s a watch for pilots or travelers. While Rolex also serves those general demographics with its GMT Master II and Air King, the Sky Dweller is meant for another level of globetrotter: the one flying first-class. Like certain other Rolex collections, the Sky Dweller isn’t available in an all-steel model. The closest you’ll get is the most affordable configuration with a 42mm steel case and bracelet but a bezel in white gold.

That’s where the collection starts, at $14,800, reaching cruising altitude in full precious metals at almost $50,000. This is unambiguously a prestige statement watch that stands out even among Rolex’s collections, and it almost feels out of character for the careful and calculated brand. But like any Rolex watch, it’s got decent water resistance (100m), a solid base movement — and is made to be worn.

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All the Crazy Watches Celebrities Wore at Super Bowl LVI

The Los Angeles Rams took the title, but there was a lot more to see at Super Bowl LVI than football. Aside from the touchdowns, musical performances and epic commercials, there’s always serious celebrity spotting. And where there’s celebrity spotting, there’s bound to be some impressive wristwear. 2022 didn’t disappoint, either, and below are some of craziest and most interesting watches stars were stunting. There were multiple Patek Philippe Nautiluses, but that’s not all.

LeBron James: Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711 Tiffany Blue

Andy LyonsGetty Images

The Tiffany Blue-dialed Nautilus 5711 watch blew up the watch world when it was announced in late 2021, and has since been seen on several celebrity wrists. It’s easy to spot, after all, and this time LeBron James joined the likes of Jay-Z and Leonardo DiCaprio to sport that eye-catching teal dial.

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Jay-Z: Patek Philippe Nautilus

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Jay-Z left his Tiffany Blue Nautilus at home for the Super Bowl and went with another version of the famous sport watch that remains a flex in any form. Known for his outrageous watch collection, this simple (apparently gold) Nautilus is possibly one of his more understated pieces.

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Dwayne Johnson: Panerai Submersible

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A favorite of muscle-bound action stars, it was fitting to see “The Rock” rocking a Panerai as he introduced the teams. Not just any Panerai, it was about the most badass version of the look the brand is known for: its Submersible dive watch. The big-0l’ 47mm version would be just about right for tree-trunk like arms like Johnson’s.

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Kevin Hart: Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph

Andy LyonsGetty Images

A known watch collector, funnyman Kevin Hart sported an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak peeking out from under his jacket sleeve. Look a bit closer, and you can see that it’s on a leather band in place of its famous bracelet (much like this one in pink gold).

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Antonio Brown: Richard Mille RM 11-03

Steph ChambersGetty Images

In the stands with Kanye West, NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown wore a watch that tells you it’s a Richard Mille from across the stadium. This version of the RM 11-03 is in “NTPT Red Quartz” material and features a flyback chronograph and $1 million+ price tag.

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Ellen DeGeneres & Portia de Rossi: Patek Philippe Nautilus, Rolex GMT Master

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Ellen DeGeneres was on trend with a Nautilus while watching the game with her wife Portia de Rossi. DeGeneres is an avid vintage collector, and De Rossi is seen here wearing a vintage Rolex GMT Master.

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In Praise of the One-Watch Collection

Not long ago I realized I am surrounded by collectors. They are everywhere and nothing is off-limits: sneakers, cast-iron skillets, small-batch soju, comic books, vintage bikes, vintage Prada, cameras, wine, motorcycles, vinyl, Linotype fonts, classic arcade games. There is no way to duck these conversations, which are as interesting as a slideshow of someone else’s vacation, even though I’ve learned to spot them coming. Collectors, at least the ones itching to talk about themselves, all have the same tell, a delighted little nod of feigned modesty, which immediately precedes long monologues about their cars or watches or bourbons or once, bafflingly, Crocs.

“Well, you see” — and here comes the nod and a conspiratorial tone like they’re finally revealing the dark secret of just how interesting they are — “I’m a bit of a collector.” Ah, yes, well. You don’t say. Tell me more.

To be fair, collecting can be a fine pursuit. Noble, even. The best collections arrange history into still life, the specific details and composition revealing odd little tidbits about ourselves as a species. The proper selection of objects arranged just so can tell a story — how Cubism evolved to express the anxiety of a rapidly modernizing world, for example, or how much ’70s car designers loved cocaine.

But collecting mostly seems exhausting. I know a man who keeps his tweed collection across state lines, piles of the stuff in a rented storage container in New Jersey, which he never sees because he’s too busy buying more tweed. A photographer friend once insisted I get myself “some real glass” — by which he meant vintage and blindingly expensive — if I planned to keep posting to Instagram; only a collector could figure out how to make a free app require several thousand dollars and the regular use of a darkroom.

Not long ago collecting was the purview of the leisure class and nerds. So where do they come from, these teeming hordes with all their stuff?

I say social media is driving the surge — platforms that let users feed themselves content of their choosing. As Hannibal Lecter explained to Clarice, we begin by coveting what we see every day. Now consider the average watch enthusiast and the boundless array of Instagram accounts, Facebook groups, forums and enthusiast sites available in his pocket at every moment — the staggering volume of horological pornography consumed in a given day, each example caressing the prefrontal cortex, stimulating arousal. The mind boggles. Then it yearns. Then it starts making demands.

There’s a better, not to say easier, way. First, find one thing you like more than everything else; something that fits you perfectly. If we’re talking watches, pick something you can wear every day, that works with a suit or jeans. Something that can take a licking and makes you happy every time you look at it. Take your time, don’t rush, do research. Buy it in person even if you have to travel. Spend money on it, even a lot of money if necessary, because the last part is the toughest and it might sting: unfollow all the Instagram accounts, bail on the forums, stop reading the magazines and don’t buy another damn example, for years or possibly ever.

Let your brain settle on the new thing. Contemplate it until the newness wears off, then just wear it. I keep on my wrist a weighty steel chunk of Swiss engineering, understated and unkillable and stamped with a logo that passes for alternate currency in every country on earth. It took me a long time to scratch up enough to buy it and just as long to get used to wearing something worth the cost of a decent motorcycle. Now I almost never think about it, but when I do it makes me happy; in that way, and because it will last forever, it’s an excellent value. As soon as I buy another watch, that value diminishes.

I’m not immune to the yearning. A new Patek Phillippe Aquanaut Chrono or a perfect old Cartier Tortue still occasionally pops into my feed, giving my brain an unwelcome tickle and riling up the imagination. Does that watch better represent who I am as a person? Or maybe a “weekend watch” really is a necessity like the magazines tell me. Certainly, in any case, a gentleman is not expected to wear the same watch in summer heat and winter chill?

But this is a capitulation to marketers insisting wristwatches are somehow more relevant the less necessary they become — despite having become, basically, jewelry: functionally unnecessary but good for an accepted form of adult dress-up. (Now I’m a pilot! Now I’m a diver! Now I’m James Bond!) In endlessly obsessing over the various movements, manufactures, fonts and complications, or deliberating which timepiece goes just so with your blazer, you’re ignoring the only pure function a wristwatch still provides: it’s a memento mori, a reminder that the time, not the watch, is what matters. Because that time can be spent only once, no matter how many watches you collect.

A version of this article originally appeared in Issue Nine of Gear Patrol Magazine with the headline “In Praise of the One-Watch Collection” Subscribe today.

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This Is the Premium Timex Watch We’ve Been Waiting For

Your typical Timex watch is inexpensive and pretty basic, but fun and nicely made for its price point. That’s why we love them, but how do you make a watch that’s even more quintessentially Timex? Designer Giorgio Galli’s answer was the S1 automatic watch which the brand released back in 2019: It featured a relatively involved design, higher-end materials and movement, and a bit higher price tag than most Timex watches. Now, with even more wearable, everyday sizing at 38mm, it’s arguably upped the Timex factor.

The most significant change for the new Giorgio Galli S1 38mm watch is that its case dimensions have shrunk from 41mm to 38mm. You can still buy the 41mm versions (currently available in two dial colors) if that sizing fits you better, but 3mm will make a big difference for a lot of wearers. The basic look and feel of the watch are maintained, with a clear, legible design, a host of interesting details and nicely finished architectural case that helps keep it firmly in the contemporary camp despite its classic cues. Sapphire crystal, common among higher-end watches but rarely seen at Timex, is another notable upgrade (without raising the price).

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Timex Giorgio Galli S1 Automatic 38mm Watch

timex.com

$450.00

Available in three dial colors of blue, green and gray, another notable difference (we’d definitely call it an improvement) is that the hands are filled with Super-LumiNova rather than skeletonized as seen on the 41mm version. The watches are powered by the same Miyota 9039 automatic movement, which is a more premium option than is found in other automatic Timex watches. All in all, this is the S1 we wanted to see, but what makes it “the most Timex Timex” Timex ever made (if you follow)?

Mr. Galli understands the essence of Timex better than anyone: as Creative Director, he’s been behind some of the company’s most successful watches over the last several years. What does he want you to notice in the S1 38mm, and what can we expect from the line and the brand in the future? I put those questions and others to Mr. Galli himself.

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The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q. Timex says that the S1 38mm is even more Timex than any watch it’s made before. How so?

A. From day one, the Timex CEO asked me to create “the most Timex Timex ever made.” So I created the first GGS1 in 2019, a watch that combines our shared love of quality, accessibility, and great design. The new S1 38 is faithful to these important core values, but also has evolved by adding new features: a smaller 38mm case, with a double-dome anti-reflective sapphire crystal that provides the best performance in every lighting condition. I also added some new great colors, all based on love of travel and nature. These new details help elevate the overall quality, expanding the offering while keeping the line true to its spirit and being the most Timex watch we could make.

We were very happy with the first launch of the GGS1, and listened to our customers and to the market in order to provide a new version that would maintain the quintessence of the line.

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Q. How would you say that the S1 38mm is different from other Timex watches?

A. The GGS1 pushed the Timex boundaries but it did not stray from its core values. It is a product that enters in a higher price point compared to a regular Timex watch, but it’s filled with design and features that speak to its beauty. It allowed me to push the quality to a very high standard and to use refined materials, yet still deliver an amazing product at a reasonable price.

Q. The watches are full of little details and touches. Are there any you particularly like but which you feel might be easily overlooked?

A. The feature that I like the most, and that might be a little overlooked, is how the light reflects on the small polished radius of the side cut-out profile, and how it’s emphasized by the fine brushing for contrast. This is a detail that I am particularly enthusiastic about, the kind of detail that I was really looking to incorporate and which was not easy to achieve.

So it is not a detail that could be easily noticed in itself, but in the way it appears differently according to how the light reflects on some parts it speaks to my approach to the watch. It is, to me, the most representative and distinctive element of the S1, and I hope that people will notice it while wearing it under different lighting conditions.

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Q. What influences were most important to you in designing the S1 collection?

A. The GGS1 is a result of the many experiences I have encountered over the past 35 years of watch design. From creating small details that tell a story to inventing new features, all of these experiences had influence over the GGS1, but for me, as a designer, the characteristics that define me the most are: simplicity, clear and thoughtful design and great details. So the S1 is a combination of small elements that are coming from past and recent work, blending into a design that represents my personality.

Q. Can we expect that the higher-end materials, movements and level of design detail found in the GGS1 will trickle down to other Timex collections in the future?

A. The GGS1 collection was developed to deliver the best design at an affordable price that represents me as a designer but that also respects the DNA of Timex. It is also a celebration of a long-standing relationship between me, as creative director, and Timex.

The S1 is the first generation of Timex products that will live independently from the original brand positioning. As for higher-end materials and level of design trickling down to other Timex collections in the future…anything is possible.

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