I don’t know for sure if dress watches are having a comeback. Maybe they’re already back. Maybe they never left. What I do know is that for its first 10 to 15 years, the microbrand segment was dominated by dive watches. Simply put, if you were a new brand during those years, you more likely than not entered the market with a diver. However, that seems to have started changing over the past couple of years. Jack Mason is among the brands that have pivoted or broadened the focus from tool watches to slimmer, dressier pieces. This year, the brand introduced a watch that by every definition is a dress watch: the Jack Mason Ellum.
As late as the 1960s, dress watches were the go-to for anyone looking for a timepiece. That slowly changed as chronographs and divers took a chunk of the market. Fast forward 40 years, and when microbrands became a thing in the late aughts and continued to explode in the 2010s, it was with a glut of divers. At the luxury level, though, dress watches never really disappeared, although the models may not receive all the glory, Patek, Lange, and Vacheron have simple dress watches in their catalogs. F.P. Journe’s catalog is underpinned by an elegant aesthetic. Even entry- and mid-level luxury brands have kept dress watches as mainstays, from Hamilton to Zenith to Omega to Raymond Weil. The dress watch was never dead, it was just hard to find from affordable microbrands.
The Jack Mason Ellum is a classic dress watch, through and through. Its slim 38mm case with a 9mm thickness is offered in either steel or gold-tone, both of which are fully polished. The round edges of the sapphire crystal give way to a convex bezel which in turn flows into the midcase with its curved lugs. It’s a simple but effective design, and with a 45mm lug-to-lug, it makes the watch easy to wear and doesn’t give it a more pronounced presence on the wrist than is needed.
Dress watches should never be an encumbrance. In their native formal settings, the less conspicuous the better for a dress watch, as you’re meant to be focused on the occasion, not what time it is. With that in mind, the Ellum will slip easily under a cuff, but I was just as happy wearing it with a more casual button-down or even a few t-shirts. While the watch is positioned as a dressy supplement to today’s more tool-centric collections, it can easily provide more versatility than waiting for your next nice dinner. That said, the Ellum has a water resistance of 50m, and that always makes me more cautious with a watch.
The Ellum is paired with a 20mm pebbled leather strap that’s plenty supple, but the seemingly unfinished sides make them a bit more casual than I think they should be. I’d like to see them smoothed out, but it’s certainly not a dealbreaker. Overall, they match the cases well, are comfortable, and the quick-release pins make changing them out for your preferred slim strap a breeze.
Much of the attention that the Ellum gets is thanks to its dial. The applied markers have beveled ends and sides, and a mix of polished and brushed surfaces for nice light play. The leaf-style handset oozes sophistication and is fully polished, while the seconds hand has the red, white, and blue America/Texas tricolor of which the brand is quite fond. However, I’m of two minds as to whether it fits here: on the one hand, it’s subtle and a fun brand-specific accent, but on the other, it may pull away from the refined look of the watch. Your call.
There are three things about the dial that I’m ready to celebrate from on high. The first is the applied Lone Star logo, which features on all of the brand’s watches, but here in gold works perfectly. The second is the very intentional, very vintage feeling date window, which offers a bold frame to the display. If you’re gonna do a date window, do it right. The last, of course, is the linen dial, which adds wonderful texture and amps up the midcentury vibes. I think this texture will attract most, but there will always be people who think it’s perhaps too pronounced. It’s not, but there are people who seem to get upset by these types of things.
Like many modern dress watches that seek to be slim and wearable, the Ellum uses the Swiss Made Sellita SW210. The SW210 delivers a perfectly adequate 42-hour power reserve at 28,800 vph, and Jack Mason regulates it to -/+5 seconds per day. I enjoy the engagement and tactility that a hand-wound movement offers, and it allows for a thinner case, which is always a plus. The sapphire crystal caseback allows for a view of the nice finishing that comes with Sellita’s top-grade execution.
While the Jack Mason Ellum doesn’t represent a full market shift, it does represent the rising popularity of elegance and the perhaps decreasing appeal of aspirational tool watches. A far cry from its diver and GMT watches, and a good bit sleeker than its new upmarket Canton, the Jack Mason Ellum offers fans of the brand and newcomers alike an option for those more formal occasions — or just work, depending on your occupation. Priced well under $1,000 with a Swiss hand-wound movement, the Ellum goes toe-to-toe with many of its competitors. The slim cases, high polish, and unobtrusive textured dials come together for a timepiece that I found to be easy on the wrist and the eyes, with the green dial being my preferred option. The Jack Mason Ellum is priced at $799 USD. For more information, please visit the Jack Mason website.
