Three watches from Dior, Gucci and Ralph Lauren that prove not all fashion watches are bad
Watches by designer brands often get a bad rap but these timepieces show that there are exceptions
The English football season is in full swing! Huzzah! That crippling emptiness I felt at the end of the World Cup is no more. Instead of hating each other online we can go back to, well, hating each other’s teams online. Anyway, I’m prepping a footie-related watch column so I won’t dive right in studs showing this week, instead, counter-intuitively, I’m going to go over some watches from big fashion houses.
There is a trigger to this column. I almost bought myself a Gucci ring recently; you know, one of those ostentatious lion-head jobs. I figured it would make me look and feel hip and in the know, but thinking back, it was a mid-30s crisis for someone with a limited budget and no driving licence. Plus, I’m too short, podgy and lacking in hair to pull it off. Oh well. Football!
Right, where were we? Fashion watches. I guess we’ll start with Gucci as while I was looking at the rings, I did have a snoop around its men’s watch collection. Full disclosure: I absolutely hated its watches before the brand reset under Alessandro Michele; they were cheap looking, poorly made and horrifically designed. Now, Gucci’s watches are rather nifty.
Essentially, the watches seem like an extension of what the brand does on the catwalk, rather than being just generic timepieces with a Gucci logo. The G-Timeless and Dive are great, but I’ve got a lot of time for the Le Marché des Merveilles watches, which put the animals and bugs of the “Gucci Garden” front and centre. There are various options to choose from, and colour and strap choices, too, but all the watches have the same theme and construction, with a beautifully embroidered bee/snake/tiger taking all the focus.
The case measures 38mm and is made of steel coated in PVD yellow gold (there is also a plain steel version). Inside is a reliable ETA quartz movement, which keeps the price down, and the watch is water resistant to 50 metres. There are no features beyond time telling but you don’t really buy a watch like this for features. There are two strap choices – the nylon one in the Gucci colours and a brown leather option. The watch is priced at HK$7,000.
