A big discussion in my house right now is the idea of the ideal weekend or summer watch. So what makes an ideal weekend watch? Well it should be colorful and lightweight first of all, but it should also be relatively affordable at least as far as watches go. The movement isn’t that important, quartz is ideal for the set and forget, but y’know, mechanical watches have some charm. For me, they might even herr on the side of a bit larger like a dive watch or a pilots watch, and finally scratches and wear shouldn’t be a big deal, after all you are supposed to wear the watch. As usual this is not a review of any watches mentioned, and unless it’s an in hand image its provided from the companies website.
Swatch is a fairly divisive brand among watch enthusiast’s, but I don’t care, I like these plastic watches in the right context, and the right context is weekend watches plain and simple. Lightweight, fairly affordable, and some incredible colors. I want to bring attention to the new “What If…” series, which answers the question, what if Swatch chose to do a square in the begining? I think this is a perfect Swatch, made out of their new bioceramic, using an integrated rubber strap and as basic and boring the dial and color are in these first versions, the square is so loud by itself that it could be even more basic and it would still be a perfect weekend watch. There are more things to talk about on this watch but all you really need to know, is that the cheap plastic quartz vibe is not something to be written off so quickly.
Timex designs have been getting better and better, not their quality control, but I find myself more and more tempted to buy a Timex everyday. My favorite is the Q Timex Malibu, let’s get this out of the way, this watch is a fashion watch first and foremost. It has an unspecified quartz movemnt inside, and a fairly inspired design to say the least. Where the originality comes in is the fantastic colors. My personal favorite is this cotton candy version but I do think all of the colors are great. Especially because of it’s execution, the dial is pink with blue lume and a yellow second hand the bezel is dual color, pink on top blue on bottom, and the expanding link bracelet has blue bubbles on top of every other link, all set atop a rose gold dive style watch with a diameter of 36 mm. Even if we forget the name, this feels like a perfect road trip to the beach watch.
I don’t love most G-Shocks, despite the huge variety in skus the colors are usually boring and they tend to be way too big for me, but I do love this G-Shock. The “GMAS2100GA3A” is in the style of the beloved “Casioak” but technically a womens watch, so it is sized down a bit and fits super well on my wrist. Bla Bla Bla set and forget sure, the real reason I call this a perfect weekend watch is the light weight plastic mixed with the durability inherent to any G-Shock, and the bulky overdesigned style. There really isn’t much to say here besides, well, besides it being a G-Shock.
Finally as we get down to my last two there is some microbrand representation. The Brew Metric is an espresso themed chronograph that takes advantage of the 70s integrated watch boom in popularity. I think from an industrial design point of view this watch is perfect, the colors on this retro dial are funky but work so well especially with the matte balck dial, the weird positioning of the subdials, and the overall case shape that doesn’t really look like anything specific. If I’m honest I wish it wouldn’t be a chronograph, keep it simple but I can’t deny the work of art this watch is considering the price. It uses a seiko mechaquartz so you’ll at least get the smooth sweep of the chromnograph hand and the mechanical pushers, my only gripe with it is how many times I’ve seen the second hand misaligned, for the price of this watch I expect better allignment.
After writing the above paragraph Brew anounced a limited edition of the Metric with an automatic movement. I am excited about this watch and I hope it eventually becomes a permanent part of the collection, but for now I don’t love the dial and colors chosen.
Before I get to my favorite weekend watch I want to share a few honorable mentions, and why they weren’t chosen. I love the Seiko x Rowing Blazers collections that have been released, they always have vibrant colors and come on a bracelet and a nato fabric strap, but they’re always limited edition and for that I can’t really recomend them. The Ray Orange watch from Project Watches looks incredible, but it os also very fashion watchy and I don’t trust the quality of this brand, but for all I know they could be better than Timex, a low bar but a bar nonetheless. Finally, A perfectly Useless Afternoon from Mr Jones Watches, as much as I love these dials, I don’t love the the case and lugs that this brand uses, it’s all very basic and while I get that the dials are the emphasis of the watch, I prefer a well rounded experience.
Alright people, my favorite weekend watch, predictably from a microbrand is… The Boldr Venture, I think any of the styles in this line would make a great choice, but I love this Sandstorm version, msotly because the wiht dial would go super well with a bright orange parachute strap or something, but also because white is a good color to wear in general when the sun is beating down on a hot summer day. It uses a Seiko automatic movement in an almost perfectly sized 38 mm tonneau case made out of titanium, and of course it is a field watch, so it has durability, is lightweight, and isn’t just another Hamilton Khaki clone. I love the outdoors first design language here and because of this simple design it can be equipped with so many straps depending on what vibe you want from the watch.
There are many other watches from other price ranges that would be described best as weekend watches, but I think its important to keep price low, and as we see more and more microbrands on the scene, this little unspoken genre will get better and better.
Watching Watchmaking is written of Ribbon Eichler. © 2024. All Rights Reserved.
