Today’s young watch collector is not terribly different from his older colleagues; his needs just seem to be a little more specific. He wants a watch with good looks and maybe a strong name behind it. Today’s stylish guy also wants a story: he wants to understand the brand’s position, and know that the brand is totally transparent. Simple, clean designs and vintage looks trump ultra-complicated watches that Baby Boomers and Gen Xers may love. Additionally, the modern watch collector may be interested in a watch that can be personalized by adding a NATO strap, an engraving, or some other feature. While today’s active young men love functions like chronographs, calendars, dual timers, and more, they still want simplicity in design and ultra ease of use. Here we take a look at 10 luxury watches that are perfect for the modern man.

Drive De Cartier 


The Drive de Cartier collection, inspired by the world of automobiles, is a great choice for someone looking for the sporty yet elegant watch. The cushion-shaped case has a true vintage appeal, especially when paired with either a white or black dial with Roman numerals. Clean, bold, and alluring, a Drive De Cartier watch is the watch of choice for basketball player Chris Paul, chef Dominique Ansel, and Taiwanese actor Chang Chen.

Rolex Sky-Dweller

You just can’t shy away from the Rolex marquee, but you can be a bit more selective than a Datejust. The Sky-Dweller offers top-tier sophistication thanks to the 42mm watch’s distinctive technological advancements. Outfitted with approximately a dozen patented parts (depending on the model), the watch offers time around the world at a glance thanks to an inner 24-hour ring on the dial. It is also versatile and offered in a choice of Oystersteel, Oystersteel-and-gold, yellow gold, and the brand’s sumptuous Everose gold.

Monsieur De Chanel

Yes, that’s right. I said Chanel for men. That’s because the luxury brand has made great strides in creating a classic and elegant men’s collection. The Monsieur watch features a retrograde minute hand in arc formation on the dial, a jump hour indicator at 6:00, and a small seconds sub-dial above the jump hour. It has an intriguing look and a different way of indicating time, which is likely going to be a great conversation starter.

TAG Heuer Aquaracer

For those who love the water and a good-looking sports watch at a nice price, look no further than the TAG Heuer Aquaracer. The brand has updated the automatic timepiece and offers the ability to personalize it with different fabric, rubber, and leather straps. It also is created in sandblasted titanium, stainless steel, black PVD, or even ceramic for an edgier look.

Omega Speedmaster

One of the largest and most storied collections in watch history, Omega’s Speedmaster series is chock full of both sporty and urban-chic watches that are bound to make you drool a little. The Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon, and subsequent versions, has stolen hearts with its reference to Omega’s role in NASA’s Apollo space missions. Similarly, the Skywalker, Racing, and Speedmaster 57 watches all turn heads. Our favorite though, is the original Speedmaster Moonwatch Co-Axial Chronograph.

Patek Philippe Nautilus

The ultimate sporty elegant vintage look comes in the form of the Patek Philippe Nautilus watch with porthole-shaped case and octagonal bezel. First unveiled to the world nearly half a century ago, in 1976, the Nautilus is also distinguished by its embossed dial with either wave pattern or horizontal lines. If you can’t find the right Nautilus, you can also opt for its sibling (design inspired by Nautilus), the Aquanaut. Let’s face it; Patek Philippe is a must-have luxury watch for those looking for a subdued yet sporty statement.

Bulgari Octo

Toss out the idea that Bulgari is a women’s watch and jewelry brand. This Italian-born brand makes some of the finest Swiss watches in the world. However, the most appealing to today’s generation is most likely a watch from the Octo collection. Featuring a round bezel against a square case with angular cushioned corners, the Octo is a study in geometry. The Octo line is comprised of the Octo Finissimo, thinner watches, and the Octo Roma and Solotempo lines. You can’t go wrong with any Bulgari Octo watch.

Zenith El Primero

With Swiss watch brand Zenith making great strides in innovation with its Defy and other collections, it is definitely worth taking a closer look at – especially the legendary Zenith El Primero collection. This brand is known for the incredible precision of its El Primero mechanical movement, which first made its debut in 1969, and has held iconic status ever since. Still one of the most precise chronograph movements in the world, the El Primero caliber is housed in the brand’s El Primero collection of watches, as well as in others, and is regularly updated and improved with new materials and features. If you only want to own one chronograph, this is the one to have.

Tudor Heritage

Whether you opt for the Tudor Heritage Advisor, Chrono, or Ranger, the Heritage watches by Tudor, Rolex’s sibling, offer a deft blend of contemporary cool, vintage appeal, clean design, and useful functionality. The Heritage Advisor, for instance, offers a day and date indicator and applied markers. The best thing about this mechanical watch, inspired by the brand’s 1957 original, is its alarm feature (with power reserve indication of the alarm also on the dial).

Nomos Glashütte Metro

Did this one catch you by surprise? This German-made brand is garnering great popularity among today’s young collectors thanks to its minimalist look with colorful accents. While the Tangente collection with vintage dials is kicking up a stir, and the square Tetra watches are making a splash, it is the Metro collection that seems to be stealing the hearts of today’s young men. Sophisticated yet contemporary, the Metro offers a power reserve indicator and date but in such a simple, clean manner that you almost don’t know those added features are there. While some may not consider Nomos a true luxury line because of its attainable price, it is definitely making its mark on today’s generation.

As with many other “firsts” in the world of horology, details about who exactly developed the first chronograph watch have been lost in the mists of time, but one thing is for sure: Swiss watch manufacturer Zenith beat everyone else to the punch when it came to making the first fully integrated automatic chronograph. The movement, dubbed El Primero, debuted in 1969 and, to this day, remains the most precise series-made chronograph in the world. We’re taking you inside this iconic caliber, from its illustrious history to its first-class technological specs.

The Story

The El Primero took a total of seven years to develop from drawing board to final product. It was originally conceived in 1962 and was intended to launch on the 100th anniversary of the Zenith company in 1965. It was to be the world’s first integrated automatic chronograph as well as the world’s most accurate one. To make matters more difficult, this movement was to be miniaturized to fit a date complication.

Zenith’s engineers and watchmakers accepted the challenge head-on. Albeit finally releasing the watch four years after its original intended launch date, the team managed to create a groundbreaking caliber that was so finely honed that its core design would never have to be upgraded, even almost 50 years later.

The 1970s saw the watchmaking industry buckle under the weight of the Quartz Crisis, and it was then that the El Primero movement was briefly retired so that the brand could move into producing quartz watches and compete with the rest of the market. Thanks to watchmaker Charles Vermot, who kept the original plans and tools needed to produce Zenith’s mechanical calibers, El Primero was resurrected in 1984, once the crisis settled and interest in mechanical watches bloomed once more.

In 1988, Rolex tapped the El Primero movement for use in the collector favorite Daytona chronograph. El Primero continued to power Rolex Daytonas until 2000.

The El Primero caliber has since earned its own collection within the Zenith Manufacture family. Each watch features different complications like a minute repeater or a gyroscope module but never compromises on the precise composition and accuracy of the original El Primero movement.

The Technology

The El Primero caliber did not earn its title as the world’s most precise series-made chronograph for nothing. In the seven years that Zenith’s teams took to develop the movement, they managed to create a design that pairs a special cadence of 36,000 vibrations per hour with seconds and chronograph hands that move 10 times per second: these features afford the chronograph the accuracy to measure time down to 1/10th of a second.

Despite the integration of that high vibration frequency, which normally cuts down a watch’s power reserve considerably, Zenith succeeded in preserving the power reserve of the El Primero caliber. This watch runs for 50 hours without being wound.

Each El Primero watch takes nine months to produce. A series of 2,500 operations are performed by 300 expert pairs of hands and 18 different metals are used to put the timepieces together, and in total, 23 different models carry the El Primero caliber.

This movement is unlike any in the world: its accuracy, efficiency, and prestige are sought after by the most elite watchmakers, and its designs inspired countless others from different manufactures all over the world. The Zenith El Primero is truly one of a kind.

To learn more about the history of the Zenith brand, visit this post on our blog, the Loupe!