I think it is a common experience when you start out in watch collecting that you begin with a somewhat scattergun approach.
You buy just what you like and hopefully can afford, perhaps being bumped from one brand to another by every cool new discovery you make down the rabbit hole of Horology. Perhaps you goto a Redbar event and see watch brands and types you did not know existed and this further pushes you into exploration and wide range collecting.
But if you are like me you soon discover a trend in your collection, an invisible hand if you like guiding you one way or another.
Once you know a bit more about just how broad a church horology can be you find yourself starting to be drawn to certain features and very quickly you look at your own watch collection so far and wonder what on earth made you buy *that*
So things change, your focus sharpens maybe it is mainstream pieces, the ones everyone agrees are the classics, that Rolex Sub becomes your focus and you sell off those early purchases to chase it, or you may decide that your style is to be more the “road less traveled” and so you go for a Fifty Fathoms to scratch your dive watch itch.
Maybe it is colours and shades that floats your boat and so you seek out everything with a white dial, panda dial, or anything that has blue in it.
Or maybe it is a function that attracts, a GMT, Chronograph or slide rule bezel.
I think for me I am starting to see a trend in the watches that I care to read about and those that I look to buy, that trend is unusual time displays, those ways that some watches display the time beyond the normal 2 or 3 hand watch.
This week I have taken delivery of two watches that both display the time in rather interesting ways, however, a review of those two pieces is for another day.
We are still in the shadow of Baselworld, and so what I wanted to review was four watches freshly released into the world that all display the time in non-traditional ways and so, as a result, have caught my particular eye even amongst the massive number of other releases this week.
The Gucci Grip.
A Gucci, seriously? yup, just have a look at this thing. What is not to love. Ok so it is a quartz watch and yes it does have the Gucci logo or name emblazoned on the case but come on, you want a non-traditional time teller this is not a bad place to start.
In 35 or 38mm and with the rotating disk display and date complication this is a cracker of an alternative to a dull old three-hander.
Bulova Computron LED
If C3PO needed a wristwatch this would be it. Continuing a recent trend in Gold watches, with G-Shock, Omega and even Doxa getting in on the action we have this little time teller from Bulova.
This, as you can almost certainly tell is a 1980’s re-release from Bulova. The original Computron was a 1980s star, that to be fair was cool back then, but now this is absolutely sub-zero. For what should be well south of £400 this will provide a big kick of watch box joy and alternative time-telling.
Also featuring a second-time-zone button as well as day date complication upon the push of a button, what is effectively the perfect drivers watch will certainly be being sought out for a try on as soon as they land on these Scottish shores.
Itay Noy Reorder Watch
Israel, not normally thought of as the home of fine watchmaking, however, geography is no barrier to creativity and Itay Noy known for a more whimsical approach to time telling brought this beauty to Baselworld 2019.
This 44mm number is less bulky than it might sound thanks to manual wind and the location of the crown at 4 o’clock. The two hands are the small running seconds and a large minutes hand, and as is plainly obvious the unusual part of this watch is the apparently random spread of the hour numerals the time relevant one displaying in red as the day goes on.
Not a cheap watch at around $6800 but as there are only 24 of each of the three colorways in production with this in mind a great route into something unusual and highly limited.
Hautlence HL Sphere Watch
Now as they say time for something completely different.
This is as spectacular as it is costly and rare at $150,000 and 28 pieces and really only a video of the watch in motion does it justice. This is one from Monochrome Watches.
Spinning orbs to produce a jump hour complication as well as retrograde minutes, combined with an unusual case shape.
Who wouldn’t appreciate a watch with a marble in it?
I for one love it.
Watch the video and love it also.
So there we are, four watches from Baselworld 2019 that are a mix of obtainium and unobtainium but all with an unusual take on the display of time.
My seeking and saving for watches with unusual displays will continue and with time probably become my thing, I hope you find your own niche, please feel free to tell us what it is in the comments below and even send us an article all about it.
