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Watches: make mine a small one
The return of proportionality to wrist watch size speaks volumes about the confidence of the savvy businessman
By Tom Stubbs
April 16, 2014 09:27
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/luxury/wa...small-one.html
Big men wearing small watches can be a truly manly style statement in business – and a quiet status symbol. This was underlined for me recently when meeting some formidable businessmen who have made a serious impact on their industries. Apart from savvy, taste and calm confidence, there’s something distinguished about their style: small, understated wristwatches.
Watch size got completely out of proportion to business attire in line with the economic boom. Post-recession, however, massive watches suddenly looked as incongruous and as brash as 4x4s trekking across the slow traffic plains of the Brompton Cross/ Sloane Square delta. I’m not suggesting we all eBay our Panerais – it’s just a question of a time and a place. And business is where it’s perhaps best to exhibit a certain mutedness.
Interviewing cashmere doge Pier Luigi Loro Piana at his Biella HQ in Italy, I was struck by his easy manner and easy fine-grey pinstripe suit. Talking on matters from revitalising micro-economies in Burma to his vintage PiGi tie,he was passionate, worldly and didn’t need to assert his power. Signor LP exhibited relaxed vecchio mondo gravitas in all areas, including his gold Patek Calatrava Officer’s Moonphase. Compact, sophisticated and distinct (35.4mm), it said much about the man.
The same aplomb was applied when he and his late brother Sergio stoically negotiated a €2billion sale of 80 per cent of the family-owned business, Loro Piana, last year to the LVMH empire. Wielding his “modestly†sized gem of a watch from 1999, one catches something of Gandalf the Grey about him, only better turned out and in vicuña.
A current Patek Calatrava (5054) is simple, clean and 35mm. The Grand Complication 5959P, ultra-thin (8.45mm) with splitseconds chronograph in platinum at only 33.2mm, is diminutive and divinely chic. Such watches are stealthy symbols of the small watch ethos. The new Piaget Altiplano (34mm) 450P in pink gold, for example, is refined and modest, yet takes some balls to wear.
“The more a man is secure about his masculinity and his taste, the more he can play with the traditional codes of masculinity,†says Pierre Rainero, director of image, style and heritage at Cartier. “That’s how, for instance, we see the most macho man in Italy in the 1980s – and now – deciding to wear women’s sizes just because they are elegant and also to show confidence.â€
When I comment about his own modestly-sized and suave watch – Rainero is sporting the maison’s new medium 34mm Cartier Tortue – further observations are forthcoming. “Men who are certain and strong are not seen as weak wearing that kind of object,†says Rainero. “Note the common point that big watches are normally worn by people who don’t want to create doubt about themselves.â€
Cartier are masters of this genre; the smaller Tank models being the finest examples. Here we see proportionality returning to the equation. A slim band of strap on the wrist makes a neat line in sync with the shirt cuff and suit, even achieving balance with other jewellery and button size.
Over dinner, these nuances of scale become more evident. Restaurateur Jeremy King is discussing the opening of another restaurant in Marylebone, Fischer’s, in May. He’s also been working on the eagerly anticipated Beaumont Hotel in Mayfair – 73 rooms with one of the 22 suites a habitable sculpture by Antony Gormley. That’s applied space/aesthetic in action. Values shared by commandingly framed King. Aside from King’s Turnbull tie and Volpe shirt combo, I become transfixed by his retro black chronograph. “I have always felt that great design doesn’t shout for attention but withstands scrutiny,†says King. “With watches being my only jewellery and my uniform mostly suits, I feel that they should work together well.â€
He tells me this as I examine his vintage Breitling 1969 Top Time (36mm). It is double cool. “While I have an eclectic collection, they are all quite classic and in keeping with what I am wearing,†explains King. “My favourites being two Breitlings – particularly this one with a black fascia given to me by my wife, Lauren.â€
Interestingly, Signor LP’s Patek was also a gift from his wife.
The return of proportionality to wrist watch size speaks volumes about the confidence of the savvy businessman
By Tom Stubbs
April 16, 2014 09:27
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/luxury/wa...small-one.html
Big men wearing small watches can be a truly manly style statement in business – and a quiet status symbol. This was underlined for me recently when meeting some formidable businessmen who have made a serious impact on their industries. Apart from savvy, taste and calm confidence, there’s something distinguished about their style: small, understated wristwatches.
Watch size got completely out of proportion to business attire in line with the economic boom. Post-recession, however, massive watches suddenly looked as incongruous and as brash as 4x4s trekking across the slow traffic plains of the Brompton Cross/ Sloane Square delta. I’m not suggesting we all eBay our Panerais – it’s just a question of a time and a place. And business is where it’s perhaps best to exhibit a certain mutedness.
Interviewing cashmere doge Pier Luigi Loro Piana at his Biella HQ in Italy, I was struck by his easy manner and easy fine-grey pinstripe suit. Talking on matters from revitalising micro-economies in Burma to his vintage PiGi tie,he was passionate, worldly and didn’t need to assert his power. Signor LP exhibited relaxed vecchio mondo gravitas in all areas, including his gold Patek Calatrava Officer’s Moonphase. Compact, sophisticated and distinct (35.4mm), it said much about the man.
The same aplomb was applied when he and his late brother Sergio stoically negotiated a €2billion sale of 80 per cent of the family-owned business, Loro Piana, last year to the LVMH empire. Wielding his “modestly†sized gem of a watch from 1999, one catches something of Gandalf the Grey about him, only better turned out and in vicuña.
A current Patek Calatrava (5054) is simple, clean and 35mm. The Grand Complication 5959P, ultra-thin (8.45mm) with splitseconds chronograph in platinum at only 33.2mm, is diminutive and divinely chic. Such watches are stealthy symbols of the small watch ethos. The new Piaget Altiplano (34mm) 450P in pink gold, for example, is refined and modest, yet takes some balls to wear.
“The more a man is secure about his masculinity and his taste, the more he can play with the traditional codes of masculinity,†says Pierre Rainero, director of image, style and heritage at Cartier. “That’s how, for instance, we see the most macho man in Italy in the 1980s – and now – deciding to wear women’s sizes just because they are elegant and also to show confidence.â€
When I comment about his own modestly-sized and suave watch – Rainero is sporting the maison’s new medium 34mm Cartier Tortue – further observations are forthcoming. “Men who are certain and strong are not seen as weak wearing that kind of object,†says Rainero. “Note the common point that big watches are normally worn by people who don’t want to create doubt about themselves.â€
Cartier are masters of this genre; the smaller Tank models being the finest examples. Here we see proportionality returning to the equation. A slim band of strap on the wrist makes a neat line in sync with the shirt cuff and suit, even achieving balance with other jewellery and button size.
Over dinner, these nuances of scale become more evident. Restaurateur Jeremy King is discussing the opening of another restaurant in Marylebone, Fischer’s, in May. He’s also been working on the eagerly anticipated Beaumont Hotel in Mayfair – 73 rooms with one of the 22 suites a habitable sculpture by Antony Gormley. That’s applied space/aesthetic in action. Values shared by commandingly framed King. Aside from King’s Turnbull tie and Volpe shirt combo, I become transfixed by his retro black chronograph. “I have always felt that great design doesn’t shout for attention but withstands scrutiny,†says King. “With watches being my only jewellery and my uniform mostly suits, I feel that they should work together well.â€
He tells me this as I examine his vintage Breitling 1969 Top Time (36mm). It is double cool. “While I have an eclectic collection, they are all quite classic and in keeping with what I am wearing,†explains King. “My favourites being two Breitlings – particularly this one with a black fascia given to me by my wife, Lauren.â€
Interestingly, Signor LP’s Patek was also a gift from his wife.
, a valid point that i concur with.
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