Will our current big watches look dated 20 years from now?

[By-Tor]

I was just browsing some old models of the luxury brands, and found stuff like this.

Old Breitling Chronomat.

Old Omega Seamaster.

Rolex Precision.

Old Ebel Discovery.

Old TAG Professional.

You know, watches from the 80's. Not very desirable by today's standards. All of these look very, very dated to me.

Except for this TAG which is an exception... probably because it looks a lot like Submariner (which has maintained its attraction over the decades).

Sure there are nice watches from the eighties too... but no one wants these ca. 38mm models right now... if you like smaller watches you can find very fine watches for very cheap.

I was wondering how the watches are going to be in the next 10-20 years... will our oversized watches look silly again when the trends turn back to smaller watches... or maybe the XXL watches are here to stay?

What are the 80's models, besides sports Rolexes, that have stood against the test of time?

And what current models will be future classics? What models are trendy now, but despised by the collectors in the future?

Thoughts?

[ubiquitous]

Great question, BT!

I can't speak from a general perspective, but I can say that for my personal tastes 40mm +/- 4mm is what wears comfortably for me and is what looks most balanced on my wrist (maybe more important is the height of the case, and how the lugs are shaped). So, despite what the trends are 10 or 20 years from now, I'll likely just stick to what works for me

[deltatahoe]

i think there has been a steady, gradual trend towards bigger watches over the past 80+ years. it hasn't been cyclical at all, swinging back and forth between large and small watch trends. look at watches from back in the 20's and 30's -- they were tiny. things gradually got a little bigger until the late 50's, when the submariner hit the stage. and over the past 10+ years, things have taken a step up to a little bigger size.

cynics have been saying for years that the end of the big watch trend will come to an end any minute. i may be in the minority here, but i just don't see it. even stodgy rolex is now upping the size of some of its most classic watches (deep sea = case in point). so i don't think we'll see a huge step backwards from 44mm watches, but certainly at some point the ridiculously large watches (u boat comes to mind) will fall out of fashion. the reality is that those watches dwarf most ordinary sized-person's wrist.

personally, i think what will look "dated" in 10+ years are the more trendy, sporty watches. the brand extensions that just about every major brand has beyond their core "classic offerings" to capitalize on current fashion trends. i'm thinking of the breitling blacksteel, iwc costeau diver / aquatimer with yellow lume, all of the crazy AP ROO and hublot big bang variants, etc. it's a tough standard to hold a watch to, to look "relevant" 10-20 years later. tastes change.

i think the watches that will continue to look good in 10-20 years will include each respective brands' "classic watches": rolex submariner, omega moon watch, breitling navitimer, iwc big pilot (most likely), etc. all pretty basic, simple designs.

i think one very interesting (tough to make) prediction would be the value of a pam 127 ten years from now. it's anybody's guess.

deltatahoe

[PeteM]

I reckon in 10-20 years if I am still here then the only way I will be able to tell the time will be if I have a big watch!!! Though I will probably need someone to carry it round for me!!

I honestly think watches as we know them will be completely different in that what we wear on our wrist will be more than just a time piece more of something we see in scifi movies. The next big trend is forecast to be the phone watch I think things will progress from that in terms of what the wrist piece we wear will do....

[By-Tor]

The next big trend is forecast to be the phone watch I think things will progress from that in terms of what the wrist piece we wear will do....

That might very well be possible in the future, but I doubt that kind of watch phone would be in the same market competing against the luxury brands like Rolex and Breitling.

The thing is, mechanical automatic movements are yesterday. I mean, they don't make any sense technically even now, as they're less accurate than quartz and require expensive servicing. That's why practical and "cheapish" solutions like digital watch phones don't possess a threat (imho).

I'd place that kind of invention to the same basket with this one.

[Member X]

I think deltahoe is right - the classic designs are probably the ones that will still look good, and the 'fashion' watches will be the ones that look dated.

It's interestng though - by 'classic' do we mean 'looks traditional/old already'?

For example, I think the B&R 01-92 models may become collectable and look better with age as they are clean and simple, but they are based on an 'old' design originally developed for clarity and ease of use in aeroplane cockpits.

I'm not sure many others would be watches I'd put money on as being classics, though - predicting the future isn't easy and we'd all be rich if we could!

[cornerstone]

If we're being honest a lot of the bigger watches look fairly stupid now let alone in 20 years.

On the bright side, we'll have 20 years of new watch acquisitions to soften the blow

[fakemaster]

They will look both silly and dated. I look at some of the old models now regardless of size and say WTF were they thinking? But at that time it was considered cool looking. Rolex doesn't count of course. They are not timeless as much as they are changeless for the most part.

[jmb]

I hope so. Some of these things look like a "Baby Ben" alarm clock with a strap!

[thewatchmanpr]

Omega SpeeD

[By-Tor]

It's interesting that ANYTHING below 40mm is not desirable by the collectors today. At all. But those big vintage watches like PloProf are a hot topic now... those very large and clumsy looking old Seamaster chronos demand pretty high prices too. Any 40mm vintage sports Rolex costs a ton, but good luck on landing any decent cash from your vintage DateJust or Precision.

When I was a kid I remember thinking how thick and clumsy DateJust looked. Those slim and feminine models like Rado used to be trendy and cool. What would you say if I posted a watch like this to the next wrist check?

[jmb]

I dunno - it's sorta cool looking in a retro sort of way!

[jtiis]

I think everything goes in cycles. I don't know how much small will come back in, but my guess is, thin will be the next dimension to become popular again. As for that Rado, I think it's quite nice.

[By-Tor]

As for that Rado, I think it's quite nice.

Yeah but not on a '8 wrist.

It'd be a good looking LADIES watch, imho.

[freddy333]

if you like smaller watches you can find very fine watches for very cheap.

Mark those words. At least, when it comes to classically sized PP & Rolex. Think Apple stock about 10 years ago when the company was thought to be old news. Had you bought it then.........

Like it or not, there is a reason why a vintage DJ figured so prominently in the new Sex and the City movie - fashion trends come & go, but classic Rolexes will always make a statement that never goes out of style.

[mt666tm]

I think the trend is already slowly going back to the smaller end of the spectrum. You can't get much bigger than a 44 without looking a bit joker.

[importr]

Agree with FM...

Though I think the large size won't be the unfashionable factor, it'll be the design.

BT, all of the initial pics you posted are horrible by todays standards, but 10-15 yrs ago they would've been what every yuppie wanted.

PAMs and Rolex's will probably remain safe, but I think the Omega's, TAGs and Breitlings etc (which quite frankly, appeal to the younger buyer) will be as ugly as those in the pics posted.

I'll probably sell my watches as & when they become outdated or superseded by a certain length of time.

I wouldn't keep a watch (that I bought) just for sentiment and never intend to wear it again.

Currently, I'm bored of my big chrono's and have reverted back to my smaller 40mm (give or take 2mm) watches with less complications.

If the truth were to be told, I am already bored with a lot of my watches!! ...but that is nothing to do with the styling....

Edited June 3, 2010 by Importr

[gran]

We live now...besides the question will rather be "how many of our replicas will be running 20 years from now"

However...my guess is that 78% of our replicas will seem ridicolous 20 years from now ...we will wonder what the hell we were thinking about

rememeber the 80s?

[Watchmeister]

Of course. Everything does at some point (except for true investment pieces. But wait long enough for normal fare and it comes back. If no one re-invents fashion every few years than fashion providers (or watchmakers) make no money. Trust the free enterprise system. They will die in popularity, come back and then die again.

[ubiquitous]

Everything in cycles... I agree

[jeff g]

I bought Apple at 14.00 per share.

My first watch was a Cartier Tank American. (36mm)

My last favorite rep purchase was BSOH - 45mm.

Things change.

Classics just get older.

By-Tors shot of the older SS SeaMaster, reminds me so much of the PP Nautilus.

Classics just get older. They, we, are all good.

Things (we) change.

Nice thread.

[By-Tor]

Currently, I'm bored of my big chrono's and have reverted back to my smaller 40mm (give or take 2mm) watches with less complications.

It's weird how people say that they can never go back to smaller watches after wearing the bulky 45mm ones. I haven't noticed that at all. My Rolexes feel just as nice as always, even after the thick brick Skyland.

If the truth were to be told, I am already bored with a lot of my watches!! ...but that is nothing to do with the styling....

Interesting. Most of your watches were Breitlings... are you bored with Breitlings or watches in general?

[PeteM]

The point I was trying to make on the mobile phone watch was more to do with how what we wear on our wrist will change in terms of what we expect from it. I think its hard to express the technology I am talking about because I cant really guess what it might be but the comparable analogy would be someone watching a BW TFT TV without a remote at its peak imagining a 60 inch LED 3D TV. I think its more how the way we use or what we put on our wrist will change in the next fifty years.

I think the watch calculator comparison is pretty narrow to what I am trying to say, that was a gadget like the mobile watch will be right now I was talking more about the tech that will allow to completely revisit what sits on our wrist and why we will use it so more the direction tech will take us...

I mean wristwatches were only for women at first, men considered them effeminate, changes in warfare created the need for mens wrist watches and set aside those opinions on wrist watches in the same way I believe changes in lifestyles and the tech which will lead those changes and will create over time a completely different and unimagineable, (at this time) view of watches and their uses or replacement,

[By-Tor]

Yes Pete, I totally got what you meant. And didn't try to say you're wrong... we never know what the technology will bring us.

My point was that our automatic wristwatches are already representing something that we "shouldn't" have anymore. They're from the old world and they use ancient, unpractical technology which doesn't make any sense financially (or technically).

We don't have electronic typewriters anymore, we don't have those dial-up phones, or those car phones that weighed a ton, etc. but mechanical wrist watches are still here, doing very well. Because they represent something that can't be explained with common sense. That's why predicting what happens to luxury wristwatches is difficult... they might as well survive who knows...

[PeteM]

Mate I am not trying to be right just taking a guess mate thats all

And though I agree with what your saying on the Mechs now and for the forseeable future I really think that will change and the whole ethos will change in respect of the way we use our wrists and what we put on them...

If we are just talking watch fashion then I think that will always be governed by fashion clothing.... which in turn is led by music or rather the look musicians bring to break through to popularity

For instance I think if tomorrow the big look was the Cary Grant look then watches would be slim and elegant, if it were Snoop Dog then big and bling (as now I guess) or say Kraftwerk then Scifi like etc etc