HIP TO BE SQUARE
Some things in life are givens: the sky is blue, Brad Pitt is cool and watches are curved. However, a recent horological shift is bucking the trend. Not ready to circle the square? Let us bring you round
Square or rectangular watches tend to be associated with formal dressing – indeed, the ‘dress’ watch is such a staple concept that it’s almost as old as the wristwatch itself. Cartier’s Santos can reasonably claim to be the first purposebuilt wristwatch, and for reasons that have nothing to do with timekeeping, it’s about as square as they come. And yet for the nine decades following its introduction, this rectilinear watch remained an outlier. Clocks and watches run on circular springs, wheels and gears, and the idea of two rotating hands tracking 12 hours around a round watch face is so ingrained that it’s hard to ignore. A watch with a square case has been a round peg in a square hole.
That is, until a littleknown company called Apple decided to get in on the watch market. Back in 2015, horologists chuckled at the idea of talking into your watch – how quaintly 1980s – and the first version was certainly not without its faults. But five years later, Apple shipped more watches than the entire Swiss watch industry put together and holds an estimated 50% share of the smartwatch market. And guess what, folks: it’s not round. Rather, Apple took the form factor of a smartphone screen and simply translated it to the wrist. Mechanical watch fans still cast scornful glances at these ubiquitous black voids, and Apple’s wider impact on the watch industry has been well documented, but might there be another, more subliminal effect? Has it made us look twice at rectangular watches?
Certainly it seems as though there has been a resurgence of interest in quadrilateral designs. The most eye-catching new watch released this year is the broadshouldered Hermès H08, while icons like the Cartier Tank, JaegerLeCoultre Reverso and TAG Heuer Monaco are currently available in a wider range of colours, styles and limited editions than ever before. It’s time for reconsideration – here are five of our favourites. Chris Hall is Mr Porter’s senior watch editor
01 Bell & Ross BR05 Chronograph £5,400
Bell & Ross’s most streamlined model, the BR05 is intended to show a more urbane side to the military-inspired brand. Gone are the aviation motifs, replaced by a sophisticated, flowing stainless steel case and bracelet design which, if you ask us, is well suited to the slightly busier layout of a chronograph.
02 Hermès H08 £4,440
Launched this April, the H08 is an entirely new design from Hermès, and one that stunned seasoned collectors with its attention to detail, perfect proportions and sheer pizzazz. Best enjoyed on its orange rubber strap, this fast became the must-have watch of 2021, from a brand not exactly famed for its sports watch designs.
03 TAG Heuer Monaco £5,600
The Monaco has seen its share of futuristic reinventions in its 52-year history and many recent special editions – from the Gulf, featuring the iconic brand’s orange and blue livery, to a Green Dial version – have been snapped up. But we like this update on the original classic with a black brushed dial, steel bracelet and red seconds indicators.
04 Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute £7,250
Celebrating 90 years, the Reverso remains one of only a few truly unique designs in watchmaking, its flippable case and Art Deco detailing making it somehow an eccentric curio and an icon of formal style at the same time. New this year in a rich shade of green, this Tribute model is the Reverso in its purest, most popular form.
05 Cartier Tank Must Solarbeat £TBC
Looks the same as ever but is, in fact, the most groundbreaking Tank in decades – this new model has a solar cell underneath the dial to power it for at least 16 years. It also comes on a strap made from reclaimed food waste – including, among other things, apple peel.
It’s an apple watch you’ll actually want to wear with a suit.