5 Stylish, Minimalist Watches for Guys (2016 edition)
One of my ex-girlfriends once told me, "All a man needs is a nice watch and nice shoes - it doesn't matter what else he's wearing."
Since then I realized that even I (a straight guy) judge other guys based on their accessories. So dudes, listen up. You need to pay attention to at least how you're dressing your wrist. You don't need to wear the most expensive Rolex - it just needs to be well-built and nicely designed. Taste over flash, any day.
Here are 5 watches that caught my eye.
1. LINJER ($149 on pre-order)
~~~ EDIT: Linjer is opening pre-orders very soon, and the first 250 people to pre-order will get a limited edition version of their watch. And it will also be discounted off of retail (which is estimated to be ~$300). You can reserve one at www.linjer.co/pages/watch-launch
Left: Linjer Minimalist watch 38mm gunmetal case / tan strap. Right: Linjer Classic Watch 38mm silver case / black strap
Top spot on my list goes to LINJER, which is a Norwegian brand that makes high quality leather bags at surprisingly affordable price points. My brother has one of their wallets and, knowing that I'm a watch nerd, told me about their new watch collection, which they're launching in July.
Brittany and I reached out to the couple behind Linjer and they were kind enough to meet up with us for coffee. Roman and Jen are based in Florence, Italy, but we happened to catch them in San Francisco. They gave us a sneak preview of the collection.
What's to love? Elegant, minimalist watches in two designs (The Classic and The Minimalist). Both watches come with amazing specs, like a Swiss Ronda movement and a sapphire crystal glass. I am a sucker for second hands and calendar windows, so was really glad to see that they didn't skimp on this, as it adds a lot to the cost of a movement.
They all come in 3 sizes, 34mm, 38mm and 41mm. The 38mm really hits a sweet spot for me. Often I find I am choosing between 35mm cases and 40mm cases. My frame is very average, and the 35mm looks too dainty on me and 40mm to big. Points to Linjer for realizing that people have different sized wrists.
The watches come in a lot of colour variations, all with brushed metal cases which give the watches a really refined look.
Now the leather straps are really something else. They are made of full grain vegetable-tanned leather from Italy, and have that amazing leather look that luxury brands' leather bags used to have. Over the years "luxury leather" has become more and more plastic. It's a lot of top-grain chrome-tanned leather with such a thick finish that honestly isn't that far from polyurethane (which is "synthetic leather").
They also have quick release springbars which let you take them off without those annoying tools. Linjer is planning on selling extra straps so you can change the look of your watch easily.
All in all, the Linjer Classic watch is my dream watch come to life. Simple, unique, well-crafted - and they got the leather strap right. The Linjer team hinted that the watch might sell at $300 at full retail. That's a steal for those specs; usually watches like this sell for $800+. At pre-order they're selling them at $149. Will definitely jump on this when I get the chance.
Picture from Linjer's lookbook
EDIT: Linjer is opening pre-orders very soon, and the first 250 people to pre-order will get a limited edition version of their watch. And it will also be discounted off of retail (which is estimated to be ~$320). You can reserve one at www.linjer.co/pages/watch-launch
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2. SEKFORD TYPE 1A ($975)
I'm putting this watch in here because of the really singular typeface that Sekford uses for the number markings. The serif lends the dial a very classic English look. Like you're going to get on your horse and go for a ride through the English countryside.
As much as I love the dial, I don't like the mineral glass (for a $975 watch, I would expect sapphire!), nor the leather strap, which looks very plasticy. Call me old-fashioned, but I like leather to look like leather. If I ever pulled the trigger on this watch, I would probably switch out the straps to something that looks more real. (Which you really shouldn't have to do.)
The Sekford Type 1A is currently retailing for $975.
3. JUNGHANS MEISTER KALENDER ($2,485)
I've had the Junghans Meister Kalender bookmarked on my laptop for two years. This one is a real beauty, and the only automatic to make it on my list!
The Junghans Meister Kalendar has a start/stop function and a moon phase calendar, which is cool, although I'm honestly not sure how I'd use it. I really like the clean white dial and white hands, and the flash of blue from the moon phase thing stands out nicely. One might expect that it could be hard to read the time but in real life it's really not an issue.
One thing to nice is that they've used a convex hard Plexiglass lens, which is much more easy to scratch than a sapphire crystal lens. Plexi is more shatter resistant, but I would choose scratch resistance over shatter resistance any day. It's not like you're riding monster trucks over your watch regularly.
The Junghans Meister Kalender is on Mr Porter and going for $2,485.
4. MONDAINE HELVETICA N01 ($435)
The Mondaine Helvetica N01 pays tribute to the Helvetica typeface, which was designed by a Swiss guy. (Fun fact of the day: did you know that the Latin name for Switzerland is Confoederatio Helvetica? That's why Swiss francs are written as CHF.)
This is a designer's watch, and although it pushes the boundaries on minimalism with so many words on the dial, I think it's artfully done. The case is 40mm across, and with the relatively thick casing it could look a bit chunky on a guy with a medium-sized wrist.
Specs wise, it's got a sapphire lens, calf leather strap and stainless steel case. The leather on this strap looks much nicer than the Sekford, but still not like the full-grain veg-tanned strap that Linjer has.
Get the Mondaine Helvetica N01 for $435.
5. UNIFORMWARES C35 ($600)
The Uniformwares C35 gets major points on aesthetics, although I wouldn't call it a good value buy. The C35 has a Swiss Ronda movement and sports a sleek vintage look. I love the simplicity of the dial. This model has a 35mm case diameter and is available in a couple other sizes but I think it's best in 35mm, as that suits the vintage vibe they're going for.
The components are pretty good - Swiss Ronda movement, sapphire crystal - but beyond that I think it falls short of the two Linjer models, specially given that at $600, it's 2x the price (and 4x Linjer's pre-order price)! For instance, there is no second hand or calendar window, which the Linjer watches have (and make for a much more expensive movement), And the nappa strap is nothing to write home about.
At $600 the Uniformwares C35 is pretty expensive for what it is. But it's quite beautiful and maybe can be forgiven for that. You can find the Uniformwares C35 on Mr Porter for $600.
