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      02-12-2014, 03:03 PM   #111
tony20009
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rjd598 View Post
What do you guys recommend for a business attire watch that won't break the bank? I've seen a few recommend Hamilton
That sort of depends on the bank.

Mostly, for the typical, traditional business attire (suit and tie with leather soled dress shoes), any non-chunky clean looking watch that fits easily underneath your shirt cuff will be just fine. Simple watches are best, but you can certainly wear a chronograph watch also and it'll be just fine so long as it's still a dress watch overall. Black, white, cream, blue and brown dials are best for most folks, but there are folks who are snazzy enough dressers/characters to pull off more lively colors like red, green, yellow and so on.

The current trend in watches is for non-yellow metals. It's just a trend, however, and it's sure to change at some point. Strap or bracelet, it's up to you. Neither is more or less appropriate, but for business attire, you'll want a black, brown or navy strap if you go that way. Sometimes straps come in rubber. Few rubber straps are a good choice to wear with a suit, but some will work. Here is one that does work. It works because it has several factors collaborating to make it work:
  • The watch isn't large, thus making it more a dress watch than a sport watch.
  • The detail of the strap is small and refined rather than chunky and sporty.
  • The strap is dark in color.
  • The overall design of the watch and the strap is modern.
  • The dial of the watch has a elegant finish and a subtle pattern that make the watch face look dressier.
One word about rubber strapped watches. The rubber strap is nearly always cut to fit the wearer. If you are going to buy a used one, make sure there's enough strap left to still fit your wrist. If you buy a new one, just be aware of that in case you later want to sell it.




Some straps are cloth. The NATO or military style is a bit casual for most folks to wear with a suit, but again, if you have the savior faire for it, it's possible you could pull it off. The grosgrain straps that were quite popular in the '80s are still acceptable for business attire, but they must be accompanied by a very simple, very conservative watch. Here are a couple examples. Just be aware that it takes a good amount of style sense to make something like these looks work. It won't come off well with just any old watch stuck on any old grosgrain strap.



The other current watch trend is for large diameter watches. That trend has slightly begun to ebb. Whatever you've heard/read about watch sizes and wrist diameters, ignore it. You'll know the right size and whether it looks/feels good on your wrist when you try the thing on. Some watches are big and "wear" smaller than their numeric dimensions would suggest. The same is true for smaller watches. FWIW, 36mm to 40mm is about the standard size for a watch. To be sure, plenty come in 42mm+ size. Over 40mm is "officially" considered large.

In general, any watch style that's named fro some activity is not a dress watch. That would include dive watches, aviator watches, field watches, and so on. The one exception is a tank watch. I don't know why they have a military sounding general name, but "tank" watches are merely rectangular ones.

Some folks have said that if Bond can wear a dive watch to black tie event so they can too. Well if they are as swashbuckling as Bond, perhaps they can. Most folks aren't as sophisticated, or as devoid of character artifice, as Bond and therefore probably shouldn't affect all of his habits.

The thing is this, if one has a specific purpose for wearing a watch, regardless of what it looks like -- Bond's watch was a tricked out watch that did all sorts of things that he conceivably had an immediate or impending need for even though he was at a formal event -- any watch will be okay with whatever one is wearing. For example, if one has a business meeting and right after it, one is going to hop into a Cessna and fly off somewhere, it makes sense to wear one's aviator watch -- regardless of how dressy it is or isn't -- to the meeting than not to and then need it during the flight. If one, during a meeting, has a genuine need for the functionality -- beyond telling time -- of some tool watch, then by all means wear the watch rather than not have the functionality, even if the watch looks like something your ten year old child might prefer.

Here are some pics so you know what I mean by some of the terms above. Of all the watches pictured below, only the tanks, the all purpose watch, and in a pinch the IWC field watch, would be thought dressy. Yet they all are nice looking, nice watches.

Dive watch:
These watches generally are thick and pretty heavy duty. The most common feature they have is a rotating bezel or at least a bezel that looks like it rotates. Check out the Dive Watches thread (http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=907927) for pics. Most of the ones you'll find there are too sporty for a suit.

Field Watch:
These watches are very basic, all purpose casual watches. They are notable in that the are quite unnoticeable and by the general style of the dial/face and case. They don't call much attention to themselves. They may or may not have numerals on the dial. The dressiest of them could get by in a pinch as a dress watch, but the general feel of them isn't dressy at all.






Tank Watches:
These are just rectangular watches. Most, but not all, tend to be more dressy than casual. The Cartier Tank watch is probably the most iconic tank watch. Damn near any company that makes watches makes a tank watch.



Aviators Watches:
These watches are characterized by all the "stuff" that's on their face/dial. I can't tell you what all those digits are for, but I can tell you the look isn't very dressy. Breitling is probably the big name in these types of wathces.



Military watches:
Military watches are basically dive watches or field watches that have been tweaked to better suit the stealth needs of combat soldiers. The non-reflective coatings and cloth straps are their most commonly noticed features (although neither is necessarily required). There other features that are typically required by governments when they are specifying designs for the military.




All purpose watch:
These are watches that aren't particularly dressy, but they aren't particularly sporty either. Probably the quintessential all purpose watch is the Rolex Datejust. There are tons of brands that make a watch that more or less resembles this look. Some have numbers. Some have markers. Some have dates and others don't. Some have second hands and some don't. Technically, every watch that Rolex makes in their Oyster line -- the Datejust is one -- are sport watches. They are technically sport watches because they were designed to be just that. Times have changed and now this style is considered acceptable for pretty much any occasion by most folks.




Well, there you have it. If you come across any watch that isn't a field, aviator's or dive/military watch, it's going to do just fine as a dress watch.

Having shared the above with you, there is one other thing I think worth saying. Nobody is going to shun you regardless of what watch you wear with your suit, and if they do, they are the jerk for it. Folks like me that are "into watches" and "into fashion" have general guidelines about what goes with what and what's dress versus casual and so on. All the same, any of us "watchonistas" or "fashionistas" who recognize that people are far more important than things will plainly tell you that at the end of the day, you need to wear and choose things that are comfortable for you, work sensibly with your lifestyle and personality and that are easily affordable to you. Whereas folks like me will spend silly sums on stuff like cars, homes, watches, clothing, etc., those of us with the sense God gave a goose know better than to expect or demand that others do so too.

So, yes, the info I shared above is pretty much the "chapter and verse" on what's what re: watches and business attire from the viewpoint of someone who's very traditional in many things sartorial. Do you have to follow it? No. Should you follow it? Only if it's comfortable for you to do so. The fact is that if I had only one watch, regardless of what it looks like, if I needed to tell the time of day, I'd wear it everywhere I needed to have a watch handy.

If you are going to follow any of it, by far the most important bit to follow is that for business you choose something that's subtle. That can mean subtly elegant, subtly casual, etc. It doesn't mean boring; it doesn't mean devoid of flair; it just means subtle.

Note: The watches I pictured above were not meant as specific suggestions but rather just to illustrate different styles and looks.

All the best.
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Cheers,
Tony

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