MANY HANDS

Last year ended with light at the end of the tunnel, and this year promises the same. In the hopes that we all stick the landing this time, all the editors pulled together to put forward their favourite timepieces to celebrate the end of 2021 with. A couple even broke the bank on the way to writing their parts

It requires bravery aplenty to suggest that watches do not make good gifts, and we are not that bold. There are many centuries of history demonstrating the value of timepieces as gifts. The issue is this: if you key in “watches as gifts,” into your Internet search engine of choice, you will get mealy-mouthed results. It may be that the impersonal world of data science, where user information is compressed and processed into anonymised data tranches is not suited to making gift suggestions. Or perhaps the algorithms do not have the right amount of data to deliver very personal results. We think that being personal is the key, and this section leans heavily into this idea.

While we have dutifully laid out the gifting case over the years, we started to move away from seasonal gift guides a few years ago, leaving that to our annual jewellery issue. There are certainly logical audience-based reasons for this but, for everyone who has ever considered or received watches as gifts, it is worth going back to first principles. Watches are often quite expensive, especially those that might be considered worthy as gifts, so it would not do if the very impulse behind the act is suspect. For example, buying a watch as a gift exclusively via Internet-powered suggestions is weak tea. Being brave enough to embrace your own idiosyncrasies is essential, which is what we have done this issue. Let us explain…

You may wonder why a story about celebrating time, welcoming a return to relative normality, and rewarding yourself should have a space reserved for a Rolex. These are amongst the most unobtainable of all big brand wristwatches these days, and reportedly out of reach for collectors without standing. Well, we will justify this shortly but for the moment, simply consider the beauty of the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Milgauss with the Z-Blue dial (pictured elsewhere).