Most watches are considered a luxury investment – you’re buying a piece of finely crafted, travel-sized machinery after all. Some people can justify spending thousands on tiny Intel microchips. Others can justify spending the same on tiny gears and wheels (I am others, others is me). But buying a watch in this economy?
Most of us don’t have a bajillion-dollar watch budget. And that’s okay because I present to you in this article: **options**. This is a list of grail watch alternatives to satiate your wrist without starving your wallet. Guys, I’m practically an accountant.
- Instead of the Patek Phillipe Twenty-4, Get the Bvlgari Assioma D
The integrated, art-deco-inspired “manchette” bracelet is what I find to be the most appealing aspect of the Twenty-4. On the wrist, it sits like a cuff. More than a Cartier Panthere or teeny tiny Rolex, I find this to be the best watch to stack your bracelets with. Starting at $16,000, the Bvlgari Assioma D is nearly identical in looks. Like its bougier twin, it features a stainless steel bracelet, black dial, and diamond bezel. The inside – what truly accounts – is also similar enough, with a battery-powered quartz movement.
- Instead of the Cartier Tank Must, Get the Longines Dolce Vita
A Tank Must is certainly a must (sorry, as an English major, I just HAD to) and I recommend buying them vintage. They’re just better that way. But if you want something brand new with the same attitude, the reinvented Longines Dolce Vita is your girl. Seen on the ultimate Longines girlie, Jennifer Lawrence, the DV embodies the same elegance as a Must, with an added air of freshness. To me, a Must smells like a leather couch and half-finished cigarette. The Dolce Vita has some leather, some tonka, and some jasmine. Choose your fighter.
- Instead of a Cartier Tank Francaise, Get The Frederique Constant Carée
Frederique Constant is severely underrated. First of all, it’s a true husband-and-wife company that centered its mission around creating luxury timepieces at an affordable price. Aletta Stas, said wife has some high accolades as one of the hundred most successful and influential female entrepreneurs in The Netherlands, and the 20 most influential women in Switzerland. Hats off to you Madame. But the Carée deserves a spot at the gold-bracelet watch table. To be clear, it’s stainless steel, which explains the price. But does it shine. And for under $3000, you get 34 diamonds, each weighing .4 carats, with a color grade of G-H and a clarity grade of VS.
- Instead of a Cartier Hidden Bracelet Watch, Get the Ferragmo Secret Watch
Fashion houses are finally taking the watch game seriously and they’re putting up a fight. The Ferragamo Secret Watch speaks the same language as the Cartier hidden bracelet watch (or any hidden watch, really), with an update. Listen, you’re not buying this for its craftsmanship, legacy, or mechanics. You’re not even buying this for the name. You’re buying it because its modern take on an antique design is before its time. I call it the Tabi effect.
- Instead of an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, Get the Chopard St. Moritz
In the 80s, Scheufele introduced athleisure to Swiss watchmaking when he designed his very first watch, the St Moritz. An ode to the ski resort town where Chopard’s flagship boutique was originally based, this was his take on Gerald Genta’s Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak, Patek Philippe’s Nautilus, and IWC’s Ingenieur. As the demand for sport watches rose, the St. Moritz emblemized the now popular Sporty & Rich (as coined by Ms. Oberg herself) lifestyle. It’s evolved into the now-popular Chopard Alpine Eagle, but no watch amalgamates these two concepts as beautifully as the St. Moritz.
