Watches with power-reserve complications are the latest must-have trend; here are some of the best
Sometimes, complicating things just a tad can be a good thing. A watch can give you the time with beautiful simplicity; but just as a well-judged pocket square brings a bit of flourish to your look, a little extra on the face of a watch adds interest and horological spice. A power reserve display – telling you how much juice is left in the tank – is one of the most straightforward complications, but also one of the most elegant.
Oris Artelier Calibre 112
£4,200, oris.ch
Most fully-wound watches carry around 40 hours of power – not quite enough, were you to take your work watch off of a Friday night, for it still to be running on Monday morning. Oris’s latest packs in a whopping 10 days of power, however, thanks to the brand’s own ingenious hand-wound movement, while also finding room for a second time zone. And the dashboard-inspired dials look rather lovely, too.
Christopher Ward C1 Grand Malvern Power Reserve
£1,550, christopherward.co.uk
Sophistication through understatement is the name of the game here, with an ultra-clean, modern look enhanced by a horseshoe-shaped counter for the five-day power reserve. The design reflects the newly-streamlined, modernist styling being adopted by the British firm. With a high-grade automatic movement produced exclusively in Christopher Ward’s own Swiss factory, it’s a watch offering typically impressive value for the online brand.
Panerai Radiomir 1940 3 Days GMT Power Reserve
£9,600, panerai.com
Italy’s finest opts for a kind of pin-stripe dial finish as a background for some smart goings on, with the power reserve depicted via a semi-circular display at four
o’clock on the dial. At 72 hours, it gets you comfortably through a long weekend with the watch still running, while also offering a second time zone via a 24-hour hand, and day/night display overlapping the running seconds. As ever with Panerai, though, it’s the overall sense of pure, charismatic style that really impresses.
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WATCH THIS SPACE
The fashion website Mr Porter has quietly been turning into a fine place to find watches for your finest threads. But it’s really stepped up to the next level with the arrival on its pages of the Swiss behemoth IWC. Among its collection of more than 30 pieces, are the exquisite Portugieser Tourbillon Mystère Rétrograde, which will set you back almost £100,000. Expect to see IWC watches on the wrists of well-dressed gents far more often from now on.