CONTEMPO RETRO

We look at the foundation of certain designs and their modern-day reinterpretations

- ASHOK SOMAN AND RUCKDEE CHOTJINDA

Watches do not evolve at a furious pace. That is helpful because your favourite piece today will remain contemporary for years to come, while also having a shot at becoming a classic. Price and brand positioning do not enter into it, with Swatch, G-Shock, and Seiko all having very striking looks. While this is great for our collections, watch specialist writers and editors might wish for more ephemeral pleasures. Seeing something like the Audemars Piguet Survivor is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, for both better and worse. It has a certain character that makes it unforgettable - an uncompromising take-it-or-leave-it attitude. This is the opposite of the sort of watch we are looking at here, which will have a wide appeal.

In many ways, the watch trade and collectors love it when something like a new dive watch collection drops. That is the sort of collection that should have the broadest possible appeal (we make the case for the dive watch as the most popular and important style of watch elsewhere this issue - Ed), but pilot’s watches or racing watches will also do just as well. So not the Rolex Sky-Dweller or the Patek Philippe Nautilus, but certainly the Breitling Navitmer or the TAG Heuer Carrera.