| Watch Buying Advice |
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In a Q&A with Outside's Go Web editor Laurence Liss, Chris Wardle gives advice on finding the perfect watch 
Photo by Andrew Geiger
What advice would you give to someone looking for a high-quality timepiece? My theory is a little bit simpler than you might expect. I think people relate what they like to who they are. As much as there are technical facets of every watch, I find that it’s probably got more to do with how a person feels about it as a part of who they are, rather than how much they like the functionality of the watch. I myself am a little bit of an aficionado [laughs] and I could probably tell you how many times I’ve ever used any of my chronos or any of the complex functions. Unless you’re a diver or a pilot…you find yourself liking that you’ve got the function but there’s only so many functions a watch can perform. Electronic or mechanical? My company will probably never get into digital because I am an admirer of the artisan style of making a watch. I like the gears, the coils…I’m a big fan of the history behind the watch. If it’s just for telling time, a digital or a quartz watch is a great timepiece and they can be high-grade too. I think it’s the difference between something with a history and something that just functions well. We all know that if it was just about function, we could all own Toyota Corollas. What are the properties of a watch that will last? Not necessarily any technical function, because a watch is a bit like an automobile: The more moving parts, the more complexity and maintenance you have. So I think the greatest watches in the world are the simplest mechanical designs. The best watches are the ones you can simply wind up manually, and you know that it’s going to tick without complication or maintenance for 200 years. What kind of watch would you like to pass down to your son? I’d look for differentiation. If I want to pass it down to my son I don’t want him to say, “Well, my dad passed something down to me but pretty much everyone has one of those.” People like to have rare pieces. Personally, I don’t like too many complications but I like functional complications. A power reserve meter is always nice because it tells you how your main spring is working. I like a fly-back second hand. These are visible features, and the dial is where a lot of the art resides in a watch. My grandfather used to have a Wittnauer—day, date, sweep-second, nothing complicated, gold-plated of course. A simple man and a simple watch, but it was elegant. It was very readable and clean. That’s the kind of watch I’d like to pass down to my son, something beautiful and elegant but maybe it’s got a function or two that does set it aside. That’s one of the things about our company. We like our clients to know that their watches aren’t going to become mainstream items. What are the discontinued American watches that drew your love of timepieces? I’ve always loved American Waltham. The Waltham Watch Company had its own style and there was a lot of artisanship—porcelain dials and gilded numerals instead of printed numerals. Whenever you open the back of a Waltham you can see that it was a simple watch but that someone’s hands actually touched it. I also like the old railroad watches. If you want a great original, those were the best watches made in the world. They had to be because the railway relied on their accuracy. They were oversized, simple watches with their own distinguished look. Waltham made them. Bullova made them. There’s nothing like them in the world. They are something particular to our culture during the 19th and 20th century. If I were to go hunting for one I would search out a high-grade, solid-gold railroad watch. What’s your dream watch? I am a big fan of Jaeger LeCoultre. I love 24-time-zone watches. I’m a world traveler. I love the Master Compressor Geographic, which allows you to change the city and then it automatically changes the hands according to what city is in the display window. It’s not a crazy expensive watch, but I love the innovation and thought there. A real step beyond that, I would say I’d like nothing more than a split-second chronograph, minute repeater with perpetual calendar, but I’d be afraid it would end up sitting in a drawer never being worn. So would you recommend people only buy a watch they will feel comfortable wearing? Absolutely. But the watch depends on the person. Some people want to boast their technology, and some people just want to keep it under their sleeve. Even though I own a watch company, you don’t usually see my watch. It’s my own personal thing. When I look down at my wrist I say, “I like that. I like what we did with that.” |
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