Steel Sports Watches

Stop Everything - The Snob Has Found The Holy Grail Of Steel Sports Watches

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Steel Sports Watches

Dear Watch Snob®,

I admit I’m a steel sports watch addict. Perpetual calendars, moon phase, tourbillons? Can’t say I’m thrilled. But throw a beautiful steel-on-steel my way and I’m jumping off a cliff to grab it. Ok, ok, I realize that my taste in watches has a certain tunnel vision, but through the years I have collected and refined what I feel is an excellent collection: starting with a Tissot 1853, adding the scratched up Rolex Black Dial Daytona from my father, adding a Vacheron Constantin Overseas when I finally finished Medical School, an AP Royal Oak blue dial when I payed off my student loans, and finally a Rolex GMT-Master II BLNR after I paid off my house. So now, momentarily satiated, I’m casually dreaming of the Holy Grail Watch on which I can focus my remaining days before the kids leave the nest. I currently am enamoured with the RO Leo Messi Steel or the PP Aquanaut, which I love for the Genta design, though I feel a little testy about the rubber strap. Your opinion? Am I missing an obvious choice?

Cheers,

Steel Trap

Well, Mr. Trap, that is quite a good start, although I’m not entirely sure why you would want the Royal Oak Leo Messi, which is not a bad watch as Royal Oak Offshore limited editions go, but it is just another Royal Oak Offshore limited edition, which I find exceptionally tedious — they seem to reproduce like Catholic rabbits, to steal a witticism from someone whom I can’t remember. I’m not sure from your selections exactly where your tastes lie — the Aquanaut and the Messi seem very different watches but I suppose some of us have broader tastes than others.

A steel watch I would recommend without hesitation is of course the exceptionally wonderful Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 39mm Extra Thin, which is everything the Messi is not (sorry to seem negative about that choice, but really, I’m baffled as to why anyone would want it unless they happen to be a Barcelona fan, but stranger things have happened). The Extra Thin has a much more interesting movement — possibly the finest self-winding full rotor ultra thin movement ever made — and it is also a far better design, having all the elements of the original Royal Oaks from the early 1970s. It is clean, uncluttered, and quite magnificently shows off the harmony between the case and the integrated steel bracelet — again, probably one of the best examples of this sort of approach ever done, and all the more exciting because Audemars Piguet was the first to try it. If you can steel yourself (haha) for something that might seem a bit austere at first, I think you will find it a far more satisfying watch in the long term.

Incidentally, you have an Overseas, but another watch you should at least look at is the not-well-remembered but really lovely Vacheron Constantin 222, and you owe yourself at least a passing glance at the IWC Ingenieur SL as well. Both vintage, of course, but then, so is the Snob.



Generous Girlfriend

Dear Snob,

My wonderful girlfriend has expressed the desire to get me the watch of my dreams as a wedding gift when the time comes. Neither of us are extremely wealthy, so this is the watch of my dreams, not pipe dreams. The watch I have been coveting for several years is the 38mm Jaeger LeCoultre Ultra Thin small seconds in rose gold. I currently own a Speedmaster Professional, and a modern Datejust with a smooth bezel and the Oyster bracelet. I personally feel the Ultra Thin would round out my collection quite well. I consider Jaeger to have, dollar for dollar, the best movements on the market.

Also, I can sometimes be a bit of a contrarian when it comes to popular brands (I know…I have a Rolex and Omega) so a Patek Philippe or a Lange are not quite as exciting to me. I feel confident that I could walk into a room full of Patek die-hards with my head held high wearing this watch. That said, my girlfriend has made it quite clear that if she gets it for me, it better be exactly what I want. I know that you preach personal preference when making choices about watches that are known to be highly regarded, but since this will remain the highlight of my collection forever, extra assurance and input will make me feel more at ease with my decision.