Peer pressure

Our contributor Martin Green shares some interesting thoughts on peer pressure. We are curious if you ever experienced this and how you handled it! 

Does this sound familiar? Brand X just released a new model and you are blown away by it! You can already imagine how it looks on your wrist and can’t wait to hear what your watch-buddies think of it. When you actually ask them, you wish you never brought up the subject. Everything you loved about this watch, is exactly what they don’t like. They tell you that another model from brand Y is much better! Your buddy Barry bought one the other week and Tim is picking one up with a white dial tomorrow. You should get that one! Most humans are quite susceptible for this type of peer pressure and would end up with brand Y. But for those strong individuals who are willing to wander off the beaten track, here are some options…

Tired of the Royal Oak, the Nautilus and the Overseas and looking for a smart alternative? Get yourself a Piaget Upstream! Introduced in 2001, this was Piaget’s first stainless steel watch in almost 4 decades. The fact that Piaget discontinued it only adds to the mystique qualities of this model. It featured Piaget’s manufacture caliber 504P, a very urban styled dial and a bracelet design that gives all three watches mentioned earlier quite a run for their money. Why?

Although the Upstream shares the refined and smart design of the bracelet with the fore mentioned watches it’s true advantage lies in a unusual and smart design of the clasp. The clasp is cleverly incorporated in the case-design. This means that, when closed, the Upstream wears like a seamless bracelet. So when all your friends are fiddling at the inside of their wrists to open the clasp, a gentle but firm pull at the sides of the case will open your Piaget. A quick and rather impressive way to get it ready to pass around at a watch GTG.

Ever since Chronoswiss transferred the regulator dial from the clock to the wristwatch it has proven to be very popular. As a matter of fact it’s so popular that this complication by itself can hardly qualify anymore as an original choice. Lange & Söhne, Patek Philippe, Breguet, IWC, Oris; just a few brands that feature a watch with a regulator dial in their collection. Is the regulator’s faith destined to become a mainstream complication? This is where Carlo Ferrara comes to the rescue with his “Dancing regulator”. The hour and minute hand both have their own dial, and thanks to an ingenious mechanism they can not only move up and down but also “turn around the corner” at the top and bottom of the dial. Carlo Ferrara created this complication as a module on the ETA 2892-A2, which is a perfectly reliable engine to power this piece of avant-garde technique. The watch is offered with both a classical styled dial and case as well as in a sportier outfit to appeal to the bolder tastes.

Every man needs a tool watch or actually big and rugged dive watch. A great excuse to buy a Rolex, IWC or Panerai, but a real man knows that when it’s going to get rough only a Sinn will do. This German brand makes tough and highly practical watches like the U1000 S. This watch is, like the Sinn U1, made with steel from a German submariner (no kidding!) and has a hard black coating based on Sinn’s Tegiment technology. This treatment raises the scratch resistance of the steel case and bracelet from 220 Vickers up to 1200 Vickers. To keep moist outside, the watch case is filled with a special protective gas and Sinn even inserts a special capsule that actually gets a different color when moist does come inside the case anyway. This way it’s visible from the outside. To offer maximum flexibility to the wrist, Sinn positioned all crowns and pushers necessary to operate the Valjoux 7750 based movement, to the left side of the case. Operating the watch might take some getting used to because of this, but the added wearing comfort your get for this in return is most certainly worth it.

Black tie dinner to go to but tired of all those obvious gold watches? If you are going to break etiquette by wearing a watch with your tux, you better do it right! How? You strap on a Chaumet Dandy Arty Edition. This mechanical Jump hour watch (this is a special version for Only Watch 2009) has two small dials that are surrounded by a beautiful black metalized sapphire crystal. The case itself is made from 18k pink gold and sport bold lugs and a crown at 12 o’clock.   To really shock yourself as well as your friends; the strap is made from lacquered leather and satin, and shares the off center design strip that can also be found on the watch itself. Sounds kinky, but will proof to be a perfect match with your Black Tie attire.

Nice thing about the mentioned watches is that they will spice up any watch collection, and are destined to draw attention that most likely will go beyond your watch loving friends. Regarding those friends; don’t be surprised when, after some initial restraint, they all of a sudden also going to get the watch you just bought. They call that reversed peer pressure!