What is considered as a dress watch?

[ratpatrolteam01]

Hey guys,

So I am relatively young (21) and I would like to know from anyone who wants to pitch in, what makes a watch a dress watch?

I've tried on a Panerai 000 a couple times, not for me... since it's too big and feels awkward to me. I don't think that's a dress watch and if it was, well I can't wear it because the dress sleeve won't go over it!

My everyday beater is a $30 Invicta chronograph (White dial speedyway aka a Daytona) that I got from a member with a black leather strap. Maybe that could be considered as a dress watch... but I don't know.

Since I am relatively young, do you think I have a more "loose" restriction on what is considered as a dress watch? Like a Tag Link, SMP 300 (which I have a gen of), and watches alike? Or does it always have to be (I am thinking stereotypically) a watch without a bezel and with a leather strap/band?

Thank you!

 

[GFlansburg]

In my opinion this was more of an issue some years ago. The submariner started to blur the lines between dress and sport watches. It really all depends on what you want people to see. However the watch should obviously be a slim enough profile as to fit under your cuffs, french cuffs will allow a little more play. You can also tailor the cuffs for a watch if you are so inclined, that being said, if you wear slim shirts, cuffs can start to look overly large very quickly from my experiance.

A dress watch can be on leather or ss, and as I said above, can have a bezel. I would try to keep the watch size below 44mm, but thats my opinion. 40mm and 42mm watches look best on me in a suit I think. You may be different as wrist sizes vary. Mine is around 6.6".

Here is a quote from Glenn O'Brien that i recall seeing a while ago in an issue of GQ that ive located again on the american website. And while his statment is obviously a little extreme it sums up what ive said pretty nicely:


"This is perhaps one of the most ignored distinctions out there: the dress watch versus the sports watch. A dress watch is supposed to be small and discreet, whereas a sports watch is supposed to be visible at 300 meters and glow in the dark. But today most people choose their watches not on discretion or appropriate utility but just the opposite. Why wear a little gold thing easily hidden by one’s shirt cuff when you can wear a diamond-studded watch bigger than an Oreo cookie, calling everyone’s attention to your apparently limitless disposable income? So the question is, fundamentally, are you a gentleman or a playa or some attempted hybrid of the two? I think the sports-watch trend started with extended wear of the Rolex Submariner. Men aiming for a dashing image wore their diver’s watches to the office, sending out the message “I may lease industrial washing machines Monday through Friday, but on weekends I stalk the Great Barrier Reef.” In their dreams, of course–but isn’t that what most sartorial imagery is about?"

G

 

[AXC]

To me, a dress watch is anything simple and elegant on a black or dark brown strap. A. Lange & Sohne, Cartier, and Montblanc always come to mind when I think dress. That's more for like a black tie event, though.

For our age group (I'm 22), anything that isn't too loud with colors or completely black and isn't obnoxiously large is dressy enough for everyday office work.

My two cents..

 

[WatchnScotch]

Both my dress watches are IWC's! And the one I wear the most is the F. A. Jones series on a black leather strap.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[ratpatrolteam01]

Ahh ok. It looks like the conservative tradition (or stereotype rather) that I know is much flexible than I thought!

 

[honeybear]

To amplify what AXC1989 states above, a dress watch should be in gold or platinum, thin, simple, elegant, and always on a black or dark brown strap. In particular, it should not have a chronograph complication, lume, extra pushers, and if one was being extremely strict, it should not have a date window, or even a second hand.

Examples include:

1. Patek Philippe Calatrava 5120 (worn by Jack Welch, former CEO of GE)

2. Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Contemporaine

3. Breguet Classique 5157

 

[wat44]

here's a few nice ones: http://www.coutureinthecity.com/2008/04/15/top-mens-dress-watches/

also the watch below WAS a sports/dress watch decades ago - but I think sports watches have moved on - could this NOW be a dress watch in its own right?

 

[honeybear]

For a bit of shameless self-promotion, look at my posting on low-cost dress watch replicas.

http://forum.replica-watch.info/vb/showthread.php/decent-low-cost-82538?t=82538

and along the lines of what wat was talking about, these are some dressy sports watches,

http://forum.replica-watch.info/vb/showthread.php/high-end-dressy-sports-watches-83648?t=83648

and dressy chronographs,

http://forum.replica-watch.info/vb/showthread.php/dressy-chronographsi-79360?t=79360

 

[dmacnz]

IWC Portuguese would be my pick.....Stunning watch

 

[honeybear]

In what is perhaps the height of ironies, one of the most iconic dress watches today, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso, started its life as a sports watch, with the reversible case protecting the watch face when the owner was playing an extreme gentleman's sport like polo.

I guess by today's standards, my Vacheron Constantin Overseas would be a dress watch, although I tend to think of it as a dressy sports watch, primarily because of the metal band and lume.

 

[ratpatrolteam01]

Thank you so much guys.
I have quite a meeting with politicians in the coming up week for a big protest for my school (they're trying to eradicate my campus basically and merge it with another)..

they'd probably laugh at my if I had a Patek, although I have a gen patek passed down. Also an omega smp 300.

 

[Q5?]

Panerai on leather looks pretty good to me.

 

[honeybear]

Vintage gen Omega De Ville mechanical manual wind watch, less than $200 on eBay.

View attachment 3587

 

[kendog870]

Honeybear i love the overseas! :wub:

 

[d4m.test]

For me, a "dress watch" should seamlessly blend in with your shirt cuffs and not shout out to people that you're wearing a watch, thus anything 40mm or smaller would be idea. In addition, some gold touches would be elegant as well (simply shiney). I wear either my rolex DJ TT on jubilee or my PP Natilus stainless steel. Hope this helps.

dave

 

[ratpatrolteam01]

ahh ok! thanks! gotta sell my pam-000 or trade it with a dress watch

 

[honeybear]

Honeybear i love the overseas! :wub:

Thanks, that's my one high end gen. Although I'm planning on getting a gen JLC Grande Reverso Duo soon.

ahh ok! thanks! gotta sell my pam-000 or trade it with a dress watch

Well, if you like your Pam 000, then keep it. But, don't wear it as a dress watch, please.

 

[Flyboybob]

When I worked in a retail Jewelry store, in 1972, a dress watch had to be small and very thin. Many were square or rectangular and usually came with a leather strap, they didn't have numbers on the dial and rarely had a second hand. My boss had the ultimate dress watch. It was a Patek movement installed in a genuine US twenty dollar gold piece. It had two hands and no other markings on the face of the coin and a brown alligator strap. Sport watches were always water proof and had sweep second hands. The date or automatic movements were common.

Rolex broke that rule with the 18 kt. gold President. It blurred the lines between the two types.

 

[DeeKa]

Rolex introduced the model Day-Date in 1956 with the reference 6511.
This model ever since has been a dress watch and ever will be...

Dee