Three fashion watches from big brands to distract from Swiss watchmakers’ dismal Hong Kong sales
- Emporio Armani pulls a rare winner out of its bag, Gucci picks a slithery snake for a big style statement and Louis Vuitton gets colourful with oh-so-fancy rotating cubes
While we won’t dwell on politics, it is suffice to say it’s been a dismal summer for Swiss watchmakers, with Hong Kong sales falling off a cliff. Here’s hoping things get better, but it won’t be this week as I’m going to ignore the Swiss entirely and look at some watches from the big fashion brands. Entschuldigung, Schweiz.
We’re going to start with Emporio Armani, which has just added a whole load of watches to its current collection. Now some Emporio Armani watches are absolutely awful and I often wonder who the target market is, but then there are two or three among the dross that you just have to admit are rather tasty. Of the new batch, the tastiest is the ARS3501, which isn’t the tastiest name, admittedly.
I love the design of this watch, from the shapely lugs, the gem-topped crown to the navy sunburst dial and the contrasting gold hands. It all just works and you forget that the logo reads Emporio Armani. The 42mm case is steel and inside is a “Swiss Made” automatic movement, which is completely fine if unspectacular, but the Swiss Made nature of it adds a few dollars to the price. Features include a date window at the six o’clock position and a much welcome day window at 12 o’clock.
Now the price; Emporio Armani has three price tiers, with a limited collection at the top and more entry level (the bad stuff) at the bottom. This watch sits in the middle and is tagged at HK$9,350. That might put off many, and the brand many others, but if you’re feeling flush and not hung up on logos, this is a pretty nice dress watch.
Next up we have a perennial favourite of this column – the Gucci G-Timeless collection, and its summer additions, primarily the slithery snake-print watch with the decidedly unsexy model name of YA1264123. Oooh luxury. Why do I like this timepiece? Well, I wouldn’t wear it myself, and perhaps if you start a sentence like that it’s a red flag, but I am a big fan of the creativity of the brand and the invention and playfulness it brings to watches. It might not be for everyone but it’s not boring.
The eye, of course, is drawn to the kingsnake motif, an iconic design and something that features often in the main fashion line and other accessories. The snake artfully goes beyond the dial and wraps around the strap. The steel case is sized at 38mm and the strap is mesh steel. There are no extra features, although there is water resistance to 50 metres, but this is all about design and, like the watch above, it is stamped Swiss Made.
The Hong Kong price for this unisex watch has yet to be confirmed but judging by the rest of the G-Timeless collection, expect something around HK$9,000 and above.
Unlike Gucci, Louis Vuitton’s watches don’t necessarily take their design cues from the main fashion collections, instead they build upon the heritage the company has earned after throwing millions at its watch division for more than two decades. LV has recently put more emphasis on its smartwatch the Tambour Horizon, but its High Watchmaking range is still churning out beautiful and technically wonderful timepieces.
The Escale Spin Time 41 is every bit as fancy as it looks and it fits with the travel heritage of the brand. There’s visual drama among the pops of colour as the hour is indicated by rotating cubes and the minute by the white marker. The cubes show am and pm and are driven by the clever LV 77 movement, which has 42 hours of power reserve.
The 41mm case is brushed titanium and the strap is top-quality grey alligator leather. All this goodness does not come cheap, however, and the Escale Spin Time 41 will set you back HK$355,000.
