Horological Meandering

Well for me their exist some icon watches that will forever be connected to some person or event.

Lets start out of this world. The Omega Speedmaster - aka the "Moon Watch" will forever be "The Moon Watch".
What will the watch be when we sometime in the future land again on the moon and on mars. Well time will show.

Next in the line of Icon watches I put the Rolex Submarine - It is the essential man watch - and for me the real James Bond watch.

 

Then comes the next icon in respect to watches and names - the Rolex Daytona.
This watch will forever be a icon watch - maybe less the newest models - but for sure the classic "Paul Newman" versions.

Another brand is Audemars Piguet- there Royal Oak Offshore - and especially the "End Of The Days (EOD)" - is also in the same league of icon watches. The EOD was one of the first high end watches PVD models on a high end watch. And that has NOT effected its price in a negative way.

Then we have some less know brands that in their own way is or will become icons in time. I personal feel that the classic Pre-A panerai is one one these - And i the IWC brand I feel that the original Ingenieur and Mark 12 is icon watches as well.

Their is many more out their in the big world. How about the Cartie Santos, Bretling navitimer, etc..

But what is a icon watch for some might not be a icon watch for others.

So I leave it up to all you to name the 5 most iconic watches from your point of view.





So lets have you list of YOUR 5 icon watches /Jan J

1. rolex date-just steel - as this was my first top watch and it is still the essencial watch within the rolex range in my eyes - you cannot beat it over the long run ...

2. patek calatrava clous-de-paris - the most elegant watch design ever - unmatched gents-watch for the eve

... that´s it actually - as all other are to complex and not clean enough to please the eye ...

I´d love to name a nice repeater as it is sooo poetic but this is not my entry level today ...

I love the day-dates from Rolex for their boddy and richer appearence - so you can upgrade from the date-just depending on your mood. The yellow-gold is beautifull on a brown leather strap and the white-gold is just perfect anyway as it is ...

GP 3 bridges tourbillon

UN Freak

Rolex day-date

JLC duometre (an icon in the making)

Lange 1

Rolex Submariner

Panerai Luminor

AP Offshore

Cartier Santos

JLC Reverso

 

This question also raises another question, "Which recent watches of today will reach iconic status in the future?"

Cheers,
Anthony

 

Rolex Submariner

Omega Speedmaster

AP Royal Oak

Lange 1

Swatch Quartz

Just my $0.02

Mitch

That would need a definition, but if I remember well, we had an excellent thread on this topic ( Andrew D initiated it, if I'm correct ).

An Iconic watch is a watch which perfectly represents the brand, os, to me, it is related to the brand.

In this case, I'd say:

AP Royal Oak jumbo, much over the Off Shore.

Blancpain Fifty Fathoms.

JLC Memovox ( Polaris or not ) or Reverso.

UN Freak ( or Sonata )

Rolex Submariner ( or GMT ).

It absolutely unfair to limit to 5...

There are so many brands which had iconic watches, like Panerai with the Luminor, PP with the World Time or the Calatrava, VC with the Chronometre Royal, Breguet with the 3337, GO with the Senator Navigator, Lange with the Anniverary or the Dato, and so on...

Best,

Nicolas

AP: Royal Oak

Bretling: Chronmat

Cartier: Tank Basculante

Eterna: KonTiki

IWC: Aquatimer / Portuguese

Minerva: 140th

Longines: Lingbergh

Jaeger Le Coultre: Futurematic

Zenith: chronomaster

5 Iconic Watches:

1.) PP Calatrava

2.)  Rolex Datejust

3.)  Lange 1

4.)  AP Royal Oak Offshore

5.)  Vacheron Constantin Malte Skeleton


5 Watch-Changing (revolutionary) Iconic Watches:

1.) UN Freak

2.) F.P. Journe Resonance

3.) Hublot (first fine timepiece to use rubber strap)

4.)  Breguet Tourbillon

5.) Richard Mille

I'm going to reach back to the original icons of the WW world, the ones that, in my mind, set the stage for all of this fun:

1. Rolex Oyster -- Do I need to explain
2. Gruen Curvex/Movado Polyplan -- you can't have a Freak or a Concord C1 or any of the many non-standard tourbillons without being able to put the movement on more than one plane...
3. IWC Portugeser -- Where would we be today without the original Mr. Big?!
4. Hamilton Ventura -- The birth of the electric watch and the death of the American watch, all in one!
5. Patek Beta 21 -- Who knew a bombshell would look so funky!

And 'cause I seem to be unable to post without pictures somewhere, 2 of the Beta



A

there are a lot of similarities here as i think we all understand the meaning of Iconic. it is really a watch that is instantly recognisable to anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of watches, recognisable as being of historic significance.

here are a couple from me in no particular order.

1. Omega Speedmaster obviously,

 

2. Bulova Accutron, the first watch not to use a balance wheel and the first truly accurate watch. so accurate that the Apollo command modules AND Concorde flight deck had them installed. here's a pic of the first of the first. a 1960 Alpha from the first production run identified by the dial which was only used twice. the first run and in 1969 for one of the last 214 calibre runs.  one of the few battery operated pieces i kept.

3. Rolex Submariner obviously, but really any Oyster would do as its the first truly waterproof watch.

4. UN Freak. first to use silicium escapement and to use the case as part of the movement.

i'm sure there are more, but cant think at the moment.

Graham

The trench watch is not a specific model but rather a type of timekeeper. 

The use of trench watches during the First Global Unpleasantness really moved the wrist-watch from the realm of ladies' fashion and laid the foundation of the wristwatch as the universal form of personal timekeeper.

 

I'd also wish to add the IWC Portugieser re-issue from 1993 for consideration: while using pocket watch movements in large(ish) cases was not an altogether novel concept, the immediate success and enormous appeal of this watch really kickstarted the almost universal move towards ever-larger wristwatches in the past 16 years (and counting).

 

Alex