Do I need a dress watch? How to choose one? Watches that can be worn for formal occasions

How do you choose a dress watch? Click here to see watches that can be used for formal occasions.

In today's video, we'll introduce some recommended dress watches that older men should own.

I will talk about the following topics.

This is just my personal experience, but until recently, many people were looking for sports models, but recently, I get the impression that a lot more people are choosing dress watches.

I believe this is all because diversity has become the norm and people around the world are "choosing the watch they really want."

However, dress watches are still considered inferior to sports watches, and because they are difficult to handle, it is true that people are turning to easier-to-use sports models.

So, in today's video I'm going to talk about the history of dress watches, their definition, and the models I recommend for older men.

By the time you finish watching the video, you'll probably be thinking, maybe I should be more proactive in choosing a dress watch.

We recommend that you listen to today's video as if it were a radio until you get to the recommended model.

The recommended dress watches start from the middle of the video.

So please stay with us until the end.

Portable watches first began as pocket watches, which gave birth to women's wristwatches, and in 1906 Cartier produced the Santos-Dumont, the first official men's wristwatch.

It goes without saying that at the time, only aristocrats and the wealthy were able to afford watches; ordinary people could not afford them.

Because of this nature of wristwatches, the rules were set only among the wealthy, and it was decided that "small and thin watches are good."

This is because British and French aristocrats generally wore tuxedos as their everyday attire, so the ideal watch to go with it was small and thin.

So, the general public either didn't own them, or they were just large pocket watches.

The pocket watches of the time were big, so the idea was that if you were to reduce them to the size of a wristwatch, it would end up looking awkward.

This began to change around 1940, when power, which had been concentrated solely in the hands of the aristocracy, began to shift with the emergence of the bourgeoisie (people who started successful businesses) and the quality of the wealthy gradually changed.

As a result, smaller watches were made a little larger because they were less visible, and the 32-33mm size was born, and from there wristwatches gradually began to be equipped with more and more functions.

When the world wars began, the need for accurate timekeeping led to further development of chronographs, luminous materials that could be seen in the dark, and antimagnetic watches that could be used even in cockpits filled with precision machinery.

In the 1950s, waterproof watches such as the Submariner and Fifty Fathoms were developed, and after the war, civilian products equipped with these functions were produced, which led to a wider range of wristwatches.

To sum up, dress watches were the start of wristwatches, and over time models equipped with various functions were developed, allowing us to choose from among them as we live today.

This means that.

In short, dress watches are worn by the aristocrats mentioned earlier, and have no other purpose than to "match perfectly with a tuxedo!"

So these people never open their microwaves or even their computers, so there's no need for them to be waterproof or antimagnetic, and they simply make their watches thin and small so that they don't get in the way of the cuffs of their suit.

As a result, in modern times where we are increasingly exposed to magnetic fields from computers, smartphones, etc., dress watches may seem difficult to wear.

It is generally said that two stitches are preferable, but I don't think there's any problem with three stitches.

Simplicity is considered desirable, so it is said that a watch without a date display and with a subdued dial is ideal.

Belts are often made thinner than bracelets, as leather belts are often made to be less likely to get in the way when wearing cuffs around the sleeves.

To sum up these definitions, if a watch is simple, classic, and gives a calm and elegant impression, it can be called a dress watch without worrying about the small details.

As for the occasions in which you can wear it, wearing a dress watch will make you look more stylish than others at formal occasions such as weddings and parties, as well as at wedding ceremonies and funerals.

So, if that's the case, does that mean it can only be worn in that particular occasion?

It may seem like a dress watch, but that's not the case at all. Dress watches are suitable for formal styles, of course, but they are also easy to wear for people who tend to dress casually (in simpler terms, jacket styles).

Compared to sports watches, dress watches have low magnetic resistance and are not waterproof, so it has to be said that they are difficult to use.

In that respect, I think sports watches have an advantage.

However, that doesn't mean that they are inferior dress watches.

That's because the roles they are given are different.

Dress watches have their own merits, and sports watches have their own merits.

This leads us to the essence of dress watches; after all, dress watches are made with either manual winding or automatic winding and have a simple design, which gives them an image of elegance and intelligence.

I think older men will understand this better, but I think they seek a more calm and refined attitude rather than the energy of youth.

A dress watch is what makes this possible.

If that's the case, then I prefer sports models and there's no need to go out of my way to choose an inconvenient dress watch.

So, now I'd like to explain why older men need dress watches.

I will explain what this means.

Increase the proportion of dresses as you age

I am currently 34 years old, which makes me an old man by society's standards, but there is something I have realized since becoming an old man.

I want to stay as young as possible and look as young as possible, so I'm looking into things like lotions and teeth whitening, which I'd never been interested in before.

In the past, no matter what clothes I wore, I could look good to a certain extent, but nowadays, if I don't dress appropriately for my age, it just looks unfashionable.

What I mean is that, after all, older men lack youth.

Fashion stylist Shun Oyama says that it's okay to go for a trendy, casual style until you're in your 20s.

However, once you reach your mid-30s, wearing casual clothes too much can make you look awkward because you're trying too hard to look young.

Therefore, once you reach your mid-30s, it's a good idea to incorporate simple and elegant elements.

He said something like that.

I'll put that video here.

When I was younger, even if I wore jeans and a loose-fitting hoodie, I was able to cover it up because of my youth.

However, if I dress like that at my age, I'll just look like an uncool old man.

This time I used a loose fitting hoodie as inspiration, so it looked really unfashionable, but if you wear a long T-shirt underneath and a jacket over that the look will be completely different.

And when I wear a dress watch, I feel like I look my age and am able to be myself.

The idea is that a dress watch covers up your age.

At this age, nice things no longer work, so I understand that appearance is 99% important.

This isn't just the effect of the watch, but just having a watch helps me to convince myself that I am different from the rest of the older guys out there.

Of course, this isn't to say that sports watches are bad; I think just wearing jeans, a short-sleeved white T-shirt and a big watch like a Submariner looks really cool, so I think being able to use a variety of watches makes you look like an attractive old man.

In this way, I would like you to add one to three dress watches that you are satisfied with to your collection.

Recommended Dress Watches

Now, from here on, I'd like to introduce five dress watches that I would recommend or that I would like to own.

Cartier Tank Solo 18K Model

The first one is the 18k model of Cartier's Tank Solo.

The Tank is the classic dress watch, but the key feature of this model is that it is 18k and comes in an SM size.

It is now out of production and has been succeeded by the current Tank Mast, but the Tank Solo has a larger base size, so even the SM size has a case diameter of 22mm.

The LM version is 27mm, so even the LM version still fits into the dress watch category.

My current thinking is that even if the watch is 18K, if it is small, it will be easy to wear without looking gaudy.

This tank was born in 1917, and its style has remained almost unchanged for about 100 years since then.

It's a shape that everyone finds beautiful, and I think it's only Cartier that has been able to achieve it.

Looking at the dial, we see Roman indexes, which were created for aristocrats and the wealthy, and the simple two-hand design gives it an elegant impression.

Although painter Andy Warhol and fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent did not wear a Tank Solo, they both wore the Tank, which shows how fashionable the watch was.

The Solo's SM and LM sizes are equipped with quartz movements, so they cannot be called completely dress watches, but they will still look beautiful in any situation.

Patek Philippe REF. 3579/1A

This is the first time a Patek has appeared on this channel, but I also love dress watches other than Cartier.

First of all, this Ref. 3579 is a model made in the 1970s, and as you can see from the shape of the case, it is made on the C line.

In the 1970s, Omega released the second-generation Constellation, designed by Genta, and its coolness led to explosive sales.

From then on, other companies began incorporating the C line into their watch designs, and this model from Patek Philippe is one of them.

The case diameter is 32.5mm, which is small compared to current sizes.

This is an attractive point, but I think Patek is generally considered the king of dress watches.

That's why, while the cases are often made of 18K or platinum, this model is made of stainless steel.

Unusual for Patek...

That is one of its attractive points.

And the simple bar indexes on the C-line case I mentioned earlier give it an enthralling beauty.

It comes in a silver and a blue dial, but for now I want the silver dial.

If you are interested in the history of Patek Philippe, please watch this video:

Jaeger-LeCoultre Round Watch

When someone says "Jaeger-LeCoultre is great!" I think people are divided into two camps.

One is that the appearance of the Reverso is cool! The other is that the movement is good!

In my case, it's the second pattern; I like this company's movement, or rather, I like this company because it's amazing.

Nowadays, Rolex is the pinnacle of wristwatches, but when we look back at the history of watches, Jaeger-LeCoultre is the only company (manufacture) that can handle everything from design to production.

In particular, a company that can make movements needs to have a great deal of technical skill, and Jaeger-LeCoultre has been able to achieve this for a long time.

For this reason, most older models from long-established brands were equipped with Jaeger-LeCoultre movements for a period of time.

The same goes for Patek, Audemars and Vacheron.

Other brands that are also included are Cartier and IWC.

What this means is that the quality of Jaeger-LeCoultre's movements was that good.

That's why so many companies use LeCoultre movements.

Because this background is not well understood, Jaeger-LeCoultre is in a somewhat delicate position, but if you understand the background, you can see the brand from a different angle.

The round watch in question is a model made in the 1940s that features teardrop lugs and a 36mm case diameter.

It is said that two hands are ideal for a dress watch. It uses dauphine hands and a center second hand, so I think the second hand blends in well with the dial.

The current model does not have teardrop lugs, and the presence of this lug makes it look even more dressy.

The 1940s was a time when small watches were still the norm, but this watch has a case diameter of 36mm, and we believe it is excellent in that it is still relevant today.

If you want to know more about the history of Jaeger-LeCoultre, please watch this video:

Audemars Piguet Round Watch

When you think of Audemars Piguet, the first thing that comes to mind is the Royal Oak, but here we will introduce you to the round model with a black dial.

It is a white gold hand-wound Audemars Piguet watch made in the 1970s, and has a case diameter of 33.5mm, a size unique to vintage watches.

The white gold case has a different shine and luster than stainless steel.

The reason we are introducing this model today is because of the color of the dial.

I mentioned earlier that the dial is black, but it's actually a deep navy with a sunburst finish, so it shines beautifully from black to navy depending on how the light hits it.

The dial features thin bar hands and bar indexes, giving it a simple yet classic dress watch impression.

The movement is It is Cal. K2001, a manual-wound movement, so it meets all the requirements for a dress watch.

This movement is a unique tuned version of the ultra-thin Cal. 803 movement made by Jaeger-LeCoultre, as explained earlier, by Audemars Piguet.

 

Rolex Cellini King Midas

Unless you're a Rolex fan, this model probably isn't well known, but it was produced from the 1950s to the 1970s.

Currently, Rolex has a dress watch called the Cellini, which is also a model called the "King Midas (Ref. 4017-5)" that was classified under the Cellini series.

When we talked about Patek Philippe, we mentioned Gerald Genta, and this was also designed by Genta, and it is the only one of its kind in the ROLEX lineup.

This model is also known as the "Lefty" model because the crown is placed on the left side, and the name comes from King Midas in Greek mythology, who had the power to turn everything he touched into gold.

It was once a favorite of Elvis Presley, and more recently it has been the talk of the town after being worn by Rihanna and The Weeknd.

The dial has a glossy mirror finish and its appearance changes depending on the angle.

The dials come in wine red, blue, and gray, and all of them are beautifully colored.

The reason I would highly recommend this model is that it has an unusual shape for a Rolex and is the first Rolex to have produced a model that does not pursue functionality.

summary

In today's video, I explained the overall picture of dress watches and some recommended models, and I hope that those who love dress watches have been able to deepen their knowledge.

If you like sports watches, you may find dress watches to be small if you are used to them.

So there's no need to force yourself to buy a dress watch; when the time comes (for example, your daughter or son's wedding), you can just try buying one.

I think that's enough.

Just as our clothing style changes with age, if we choose the right watch for each age, we can live a happy life.