BADGE OF HONOUR
Who’d have thought it? Badge snobbery isn’t just restricted to your choice of car...
Badge snobbery exists with watches as it does with cars. It might even be worse with watches. Because even if you buy a car because of the badge, it ends up having a significant physical effect on your life as it propels you down the road, or cossets you from the rain, and it becomes so much more than a name. A watch is more about what it is than what it does, and with a relatively small and unassuming object, a name that shouts loud is extra important.
There nothing wrong with buying a cherished name, of course. A Rolex is a great watch in the way that a Ferrari is a great car, and it doesn’t matter that sales of both are boosted by people also enjoying a little bit of flash. With watches, however, you do have the option of going under the radar. You can’t do this with cars, because there are only so many different makes to choose from. OK, you can try to find some obscure classic, or a weird kit car, but in practical terms, any car you buy will be known to anyone.
But there are so many watch brands that nobody can remember them all. So finding one that not many have heard of is easy. Does that mean it will be rubbish, boring or cost a vast amount of money? Absolutely not.
A great example is Mido. It is not unknown by any means, particularly overseas, but in the UK it’s still pretty stealth. The company has been around more than a hundred years, and did some important in-depth watchmaking stuff up in the Swiss mountains back when clockwork was at the pinnacle of science. And in the Twenties Mido got creative, making nice radiator grille-shaped watches with companies like Buick and Bugatti.
As for quality, Mido is now owned by the giant Swatch Group, meaning it gets access to high-quality engineering from the parent company. So you get a lot of what some people might call “bang for your buck”. That might make even less sense for a watch than it does for a car, but what you do get is a decent watch for a price that puts some other makers to shame. And a watch that will hopefully leave the badge snob with very little to say.
MIDO COMMANDER
This Commander has been around since the Fifties, when the line was created as a tribute to the Eiffel Tower. While it is difficult to see any lasting resemblance to anything you see on the Parisian skyline, the watch is a handsome little landmark in its own right. It comes in a number of different styles, all with a 40mm stainless steel case that is waterresistant to 50 metres. Inside beats a high-quality automatic movement with an 80-hour power reserve. We would have said good luck finding one, but of course now there’s the internet, so all is easy. £640; midowatches.com
BELL & ROSS BR 03-92
Bell & Ross is making the transition from offbeat newcomer to well-known brand – well deserved for making watches that look like they have been torn from a fighter jet. New versions have a 42mm matte black ceramic case, waterresistant to 300 metres. £3,500; bellross.com
MEIS T ERS INGER PANGAEA D AY D AT E
This watch takes the MeisterSinger philosophy and shakes it up a bit. A one-handed watch, but with day and date wheels in the centre to give you more to admire. With 40mm steel case and automatic movement; water-resistant to 50 metres. meistersinger.com; £1,990
B AMFORD MAYFAIR
George Bamford made a name customising posh watches, which upset some, but made many more happy. Now he’s customising out in the open for big brands. He even makes his own, and you can get this jolly quartz one for a steal. £350; bamfordwatchdepartment.com