Hermès needs no introduction. The name is synonymous with luxury, especially in handbags, leather goods and accessories. However, they are not a name that tends to come up when discussing luxury watches. Despite this, Hermès has a long horological, but only in recent years have they taken a leap forward in what they offer.
It will surprise nobody that over the last 5 years certain steel sports watches have taken off in terms of popularity and become practically impossible to buy at an authorized retailer. However, fear not as there is still a unicorn out there that has not captured broader attention (yet): the Girard-Perregaux Laureato.
The Swatch Sistem51 has been around since Baselworld 2013, and since then has received a lot of positive and negative coverage. However, removing the noise, the Sistem51 remains a great technical achievement and will go down as a defining historical model. It’s not perfect, but for any watch lover, it is still worth considering.
The Pelagos 39, is now more compact, moving from 42mm to 39 mm. Even more impressive and where the most notable change will be felt, the thickness has been reduced from 15mm for the Pelagos 42 down to 11.8 for the Palagos 39.
Panerai watches are unique. There is no denying that they are beautiful and have that Italian design flair. But Raman Kalra thinks that Panerai needs to move with the timer and he has an idea of how Panerai could do that.
The first association for many on hearing the word “Seiko” is likely to be affordable quartz watches or automatic divers. However, Seiko offers much more, particularly in terms of luxury timepieces. Grand Seiko, which became its own brand under the Seiko Group in 2017, produces some of the most competitive luxury watches on the market, rivaling the best Swiss brands at prices that are still (somewhat) attainable.
When starting out on a watch journey, one of the first questions to consider is the choice between quartz and automatic watches, with the perception that mechanical watches are “better” and more expensive, while quartz watches are entry-level and lower quality. While this may hold some truth, luxury brands also produce high-end quartz pieces that are equally impressive from a technological standpoint.
If Raman Kalra was to hypothetically start building his watch collection all over again, this is what it would look like if he had £5,000/$6,000 to spend. He hasn’t selected a watch from each category (diver, chronograph etc.), but rather watches he likes, and believes would cover different scenarios such as the office, casual weekend wear, and the beach.
A few brands and watches stand high above the rest. They are known to almost everyone and have become icons. Watches of this stature are not cheap, however, there are alternatives out there that are as compelling in their own right for a fraction of the price.
Throughout 2022, there has been an economic shift globally. Thankfully, we have moved forward from the pandemic, however, we are now entering a period of higher interest rates in response to inflation. With this, consumer patterns will change and the watch industry will be affected. So Raman Kalra thought it might be interesting to look at historical watch trends and give his predictions on what shifts we will see on our wrists over the next 5-10 years.