Bell & Ross BR V2-94 Aeronavale
Paris-based Bell & Ross has, in my opinion, always been an excellent curator of sports watch looks. Taking the best of 20th century instrument and watch design, Bell & Ross is great about making well-made, good looking products that men like to wear (including myself). The 41mm wide steel BR V2-94 Aeronavale has a blue and gold-toned dial paired with a sensible vintage-style case and bracelet (and a Swiss automatic chronograph movement). It also comes on a blue strap for those who want a more colorful look. As pictured, the Bell & Ross BR V2-94 Aeronavale has a retail price of $4,700 USD. bellross.com
Tiffany & Co. CT60 Chronograph 42mm
American luxury brand Tiffany & Co. was an early adopter of e-commerce given its sophisticated market position. A couple years ago Tiffany & Co. relaunched their watch collection with the CT60, which is a modern take on timepiece design from the 1940s. The Tiffany CT60 Chronograph 42mm in black DLC-coated steel is easily the brand’s sportiest current model, and it comes paired to a hip NATO-style strap. It also comes in a smaller 40mm wide three-hand version. Price as pictured is $7,450 USD. tiffany.com
Cartier Ronde Louis Cartier
Few brands do “classic” and “luxury” equally as well as Cartier. The Paris-based brand is a champion of wristwatches and jewelry equally, with a specific focus on designs meant to recall the birth of the wristwatch from the early 20th century. A less common, albeit excellent model, is the 42mm wide 18k pink gold Ronde Louis Cartier watch. Rather thin on the wrist, the manually wound in-house movement offers just the time, though in a very satisfying and legible manner. It’s a masculine dress watch just like Cartier does best. Price as pictured is $17,800 USD. cartier.com
TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre Heuer 02T Tourbillon
Compared to many colleague luxury watch brands, TAG Heuer is an e-commerce veteran, but with a fancy new digital store that allows you to shop through their many available models. Among the higher-end and more exclusive pieces are TAG Heuer’s in-house tourbillon-based watches with their Heuer 02T automatic chronograph COSC Chronometer certified movements (aBlogtoWatch review here). TAG Heuer made a big splash when these came out given the relatively accessible pricing. Seen here, it’s in a 45mm wide black ceramic case with matching bracelet. Price as pictured is $18,050 USD. tagheuer.com
Bulgari Octo Roma
Bulgari is one of our favorite brands when it comes to combining a contemporary fashion aesthetic with traditional watchmaking. The Octo is the brand’s most popular men’s watch collection and the newest member of the family is the Bulgari Octo Roma (aBlogtoWatch hands-on here) – that rounds out the Octo case a bit, while maintaining the same angular presentation. Case is 41mm wide in steel, and it looks pretty good on the matching bracelet or strap. Price as seen for this Bulgari Octo Roma watch is $6,500 USD. bulgari.com
Louis Vuitton Escale Time Zone 41
With everything else the major luxury brand Louis Vuitton has going on, it is understandable that they don’t always have much bandwidth to market their timepieces. If you are a traveler and also a fan of the LV brand, check out the 41mm wide (they also make a 39mm wide size) version of the Louis Vuitton Escale Time Zone with the blue dial. The in-house developed movement offers the time with a world timer complication similar to what we’ve seen in other high-end world timer watches. The hour and minute hands are flanked by a 24 hour ring, along with a time zone selection ring. This allows you to know the time where you are locally, as well as an immediate reference for the time in other places. The 41mm wide case is in steel, and has a rich amount of brand personality on the artistic dial. As pictured, the Louis Vuitton Escale Time Zone Blue 41 has a retail price of $7,450 USD. us.louisvuitton.com
Porsche Design 1919 Datetimer Eternity Blue
In 1972 Porsche Design began life (as an extension of the Porsche car world) with the release of a chronograph timepiece, and today Porsche Design still heavily focuses on watches – in addition to a slew of other pretty nice stuff. Porsche Design claims to employ as many engineers as they do designers, which is a good thing for anyone who appreciates both form and function. The 1919 Eternity collection is a newer timepiece range looking to celebrate the design ethos of the brand, titanium, and masculine, everyday design. The 1919 Datetimer Eternity Blue has the elegant, easy to read dial in a trendy color, and the sandblasted titanium case and bracelet are some of the best in the business at this price. As pictured, retail price is $3,500 USD. porsche-design.us