Men's Short Hairstyles
Men's Mid-length Hairstyles
Men's Long Hairstyles
Men's Curly Hairstyles
Men's Black & Afro Hairstyles
Celebrity Hairstyles
Introduction
Watches are one of man’s few quintessential accessories. Having gained esteemed status in our wardrobe, they join only a handful of elites. The reasons for wearing them have changed drastically, but we’ve failed to fall out of love with them.
It was once claimed that a man must own 2 watches. One leather strap for the office and the other a metal bracelet. The watch, previously a symbol of status and wealth, has become more playful and far less decorous in nature. In this guide to modern chronography, we look at the three key looks for time telling this season.
Key Watch Look #1: Colour
A bright colour palette is exactly what you should be aiming for this season. Not only reserved for your wardrobe, splashing out on colour for your wrist is a sure fire way to add some flair and exercise that individuality.
A great way to rock a coloured accessory is to pair the stand out colour(s) of your outfit with a watch in a complimentary tone.
In our colour look book, we show you how to utilise coloured watches in your everyday ensemble.
Colour Look Book 1:
Show the world you know what goes by pairing the complimentary combo of red and blue. For this look I’ve thrown red trousers with some subtle strips with the complimentary hue of the light blue watch. A navy blazer would be perfect to stick over the top and combat the colder evenings.
Colour Look Book 2:
Our second look is a little more unassuming than the first but still evokes the playful nature of the watch in the role of the statement piece. The watch, in this season’s must have orange colour way, outright contrasts the meek tones that make up the rest of the outfit – navy tailored shorts, a white short-sleeved Henley (Granddad) top and grey open cardigan.
Colour Watch Picks
The best thing about the colourful watches on the market right now is that they are relatively inexpensive. The Casio brand is seeing a major return to rise in popularity, due to their cheap, bold and easy to wear watches which are available in every colour imaginable. With prices sitting around the £20 mark (even less on eBay), it has never been more economical to get on trend. The designs are very vintage/retro and so very ‘in’ right now. Other brands to look out for would be the celebrity favourite G-Shock, which produce big, chunky masculine styles in bold colours (usually sitting around the £100 mark), as well as the big name commercial menswear brands like Diesel and Adidas Originals, who have started increasing the range of fun, fashion-led watches they produce each and every season.
However, the success story within the whole fashion watch market over the past few years has been Toy Watch, whose timepieces now have a place in every true fashion enthusiasts wardrobe. Again, they come in every colour imaginable; from gold to red, purple to green and your essential neutrals like white and black, whilst their lightweight design (usually ceramic or rubber strapped) and stripped back styling makes them comfortable to wear and easy to pair with anything you already have in your wardrobe. Slightly more of an investment with most averaging around the £130 mark but I haven’t come across anyone yet who has regretted purchasing one.
Key Watch Look #2: The Square/Rectangle
Watch trends are renowned for going round in circles. But at the moment, angular square and rectangle designs are the new circle. Any watch enthusiast will instantly associate the square face with TAG Heuer and the iconic Monaco worn by Steve McQueen in Le Mans.
That however, was back in the 1970s. TAG Heuer has re-released the Monaco with Lewis Hamilton as the poster boy for their new design. When it comes to deciding which of the two comes out on top TAG Heuer have done it in the only ostentatious way they know how:
Wearing a square watch right is certainly not in the higher levels of a sartorial education and there is very little risk of a style blunder. These are usually refined styles which would look great on any man’s wrist.
The square shape carries itself very well, so styling one badly is not an easy task. Remain wary of becoming too ‘modern’ with the rest of your outfit. The face of your watch often says a lot about your character and purpose; choosing a square over a round style is predominantly classic.
A square timepiece is a prime example of timelessness and juxtaposing it with some outlandish prints is hardly going to do your wrist-wear justice. Instead pair with crisp suits and shirts, soft blazers and pique polos – the smarter end of casual clothing.
Key Watch Look #3: Gold
Gold jewellery in general has a number of ill-conceived preconceptions. And not too many of those are ever positive. Large gold bracelet watches (although great statement pieces) are often synonymous with a narcissistic wearer. ‘Positive’ styling of a gold watch is a matter of going back to basics.
Going gold does not mean sacrificing youthfulness and going back to a time when everything was much simpler. Gold is expanding its roots into the more modern digital designs from Casio, Timex, Nixon and the like. The digital watch has become much more acceptable, as tags of immaturity are quickly evaporating and becoming replaced with ‘vintage’.
The digital watch is a quirky style and can be used as a way of expressing some of that not-so-serious, easygoing playfulness that can go missing when it comes to accessorising. A digital watch does come with the caveat of looking unprofessional in the wrong setting and wearing one with a suit is not recommended.
New Rose Gold Variations:
A more subtle take on this trend is a current favourite of mine – mixing brown leather straps with gold plated faces. Gold and brown contrast beautifully, and when paired with a summer tan, will just emphasise its deep and luxurious colour. Rose gold has seen a big rise in popularity this season within the watch collections, with the reddish tint giving a slightly different (and more subtle) glow compared to traditional gold. This new style works extremely well with black or brown leather straps, whilst not being so ostentatious or in your face.
Editor note: I actually own the Hugo Boss watch below [top row right] from Time2 (see my column for them here), and it has become my absolute favourite piece of jewellery I own. The colour is so elegant and deep, and when paired against the brown backdrop of the leather strap – honestly words and pictures cannot do it justice. This is a watch trend to jump on quickly, as it is still very much an underground one; something I am covering for Time2 next month.
No matter what your preference, gold has become a much less favourable choice for the modern male, so now is the time to integrate it back into your wardrobe correctly and make yourself stand out from the crowd.
Conclusion
Choosing a watch can be an arduous task and taking a brash approach could prove to be costly. A well-invested watch fails to lose its appeal as the years pass; in fact the opposite is often true.
Fashion-centric watches (i.e. the ToyWatches of this world) often come with a much more modest price tag as their charm is short lived and their style often one of a disposable trend when compared to that of the classic TAG Heuer Monaco. The Swatch brand was born from the phrase ‘second watch’ and fashion watches should remain just that. They become undoubtedly popular every few seasons and there is no shame in wearing one but timeless they are certainly not.
Buying a timeless watch is a practise every man should enjoy at least once in his life; it’s in the same ballpark as making a hole-in-one, skinny-dipping, buying a tailored suit and falling in love (often with your tailored suit).
Men’s SS13 Fashion Trend: Ethnic Inspired
Men’s SS13 Fashion Trend: Denim
Men’s SS13 Fashion Trend: Statement Tailoring
Men’s SS13 Key Colour: Pink
Back To Top
It’s nice that you also consider watches as a great accessory. But I feel the urge to reply to the writings here. First off, it’s always better to save and buy something worthwhile. Most watches are hugely overpriced, especially the mid-tier brands like Nixon, Boss, Guess and Fosill. All the watches use the same low-quality quartz movement that you can get at any fairground prize machine. If you want to spend a few hundred dollars on a design, be my guest, but you’re not buying anything that represents quality. For a few hundred dollars/ euro’s you can buy great vintage watches with excellent mechanical movements. With this kind of watch you make a much more sophisticated statement than when you buy an uninspired piece of metal for your wrist.
I agree with Laurens. Watches arn’t really a trend, you invest in a timeless time piece and tend to keep it until it breaks. And for those who do buy watches as part of a trend the ones shown in the images above are far too expensive to just keep for a season then disregard.
P.S. I don’t want to sound overly critical but what’s with all the writers trying to squeeze the word sartorial into every article. Is it some sort of FB writers inside joke…
This was more of a break down of watch styles that are currently popular or on their way to becoming popular again (in the case of gold). I don’t think anyone told readers they had to go and buy a coloured or gold watch to be on trend otherwise you are not ‘cool’. Neither did we say these particular types of watches will last you a lifetime – it is up to you as individuals to decide whether they are for you or not. That is the beauty of personal choice and freedom.
Young males can’t always go out and invest in high quality watches worth multiple thousands of pounds. Hell, I am 28 and I still couldn’t afford this. So does that mean I shouldn’t have one just because I can’t afford an expensive one?
I hope in the future I will be able to purchase a watch in a timeless style that will last generations and could be passed down through the family – but for now I will settle with my Hugo Boss (£250) and D&G (£125) watches as they look great, and finish off my personal outfits perfectly.
The colour watch trend has lasted over a year now, and if you purchased a Casio one at anywhere between £5-£20 then surely you would get enough use out of it for it to be considered successful? Adding pops of colour and flair to your outfits is something that will never go out of fashion, and I predict that colour will definitely be a major part of men’s fashion now for years to come.
Finally, there are definitely no insider jokes going on between the writers. We are a fashion site though so words like sartorial, refined, formal, fashion and style are expected to be used regularly right? ;)
Just to reiterate what Ben said I wasn’t trying to bill particular designs or brands as superior, just what was currently popular among certain sects of the industry.
On the topic of the word sartorial, I think this represents the direction the mens fashion industry has taken recently. The tailored and attention to detail approach has become more popular to the wider masses, hence increased use of words like sartorial in most fashion publications and blogs.
As usual your comments are really appreciated and it’s great to get the views of all the readers.
Lets be clear here, like most items of clothing, there are two distinct categories. You have fashion items which follow a trend and you have timeless, quality items which although will sometimes be in line with the current trend, ultimately they transcend them.
The article here deals with watches but the same can be said about shoes, leather goods, suits, etc. Where an item fits is determine by perception and budget. To most people a £2,000 Omega Seamaster would be seen as an investment piece, however to some it’s seen as an everyday watch which they don’t expect to be handing down through the generations.
However, I’m assuming that the majority of FASHIONBEANS readers see £2k as an investment. Therefore, some of the watches shown here are indeed disposable. I would expect that most readers of the site would happily pay £100 for a set of shoes to last the winter or maybe two, therefore I don’t see how a watch is any different.
The point here is that watches vary significantly in price and quality. For example, one comment states that Boss, Guess, etc are mid-tier brands. In reality, some people would deem Omega and TAG as mid tier brands if you are a true horologist and look to brands such as Patek Philippe or Audemars Piguet for true quality. I think the article pitched its product picks at the average FASHIONBEANS reader who understands the difference between a timeless classic and a throwaway trend, and therefore would buy accordingly.
I think it was a good article. A watch article is always nice but when I read “#1 – Colour” I instantly thought ‘uhoh!’ but it was nice to see the article rounded off on a good note. Like cheap watches, I see a lot of stuff in H&M and Topman and think the same thing, and the trend v timelessness point is key here I feel and which end of the scale you sway towards.
Boss make some lovely looking watches, but for £200 there are some nice Tissots and Automatic Seiko Divers (In the sale at least). Some guys probably don’t feel comfortable with jewellery so using a watch is a good idea. Personally i’d get a nice chunky diver watch and swap the strap, although colour choices are limited compared to some in the article. I think watches are a bit likes shoes, people definitely notice if you’ve got something nice on, although it’ll probably girls that notice the shoes, and your boss/friends dad that notices the watch.
It might be a bit cheeky, and a horologist would wince, but I have a £75 Black Dice watch, from Topman, with a very cool angular, um, trapezoidal face. If I had a penny for every time somebody said, “nice watch,” I’d probably buy another one!
So that’s a watch as a signature piece, if you like. I’m not averse to picking up a Casio or a Swatch and following that trend though!
I’d love an investment watch like a Tag, or indeed a Patek… but I can’t get past the horrendous status symbol factor. Makes one feel like a bit of a prick!
You don’t have to spend thousands of pounds on a watch to have something worthwhile. Like I said, there some excellent vintage watch stores out there! I think the fashion statement is much stronger if you wear something more unique than a Hugo Boss quartz movement you bought online. Isn’t that one of the defining aspects of fashion-sense; defining a unique look?
I recently bought this watch: http://www.awco.nl/footoos/kingsize/3825_snb1195.jpg and it was affordable for me as a PhD student. So, you don’t have to spend thousands of pounds on a quality, unique timepiece that in my opinion looks much better than all 200-pounds dress watches out there.