After graduating from university I’ve been interested in a vintage, gold dress-watch. I have a lot of casual and sporty watches, but not a really dressy, formal watch. Something more suitable for the office would be nice to have as I leave the campus grounds. Vintage is a bit friendlier for the budget, and I like the symbolism behind it – there’s a story behind every scratch and blemish, and I get to add a few chapters to it before passing the watch on to next generations. That gold bit though, that’s a bit of a gamble. I haven’t had any gold watches before and I’m not sure yet if gold is my color – not to mention the costs that come with a solid gold watch case.
So far I hadn’t found anything I dared to buy, but last week this Huguenin watch appeared on a local forum.
Huguenin is an old, but not prestigious, Swiss brand. The watch is a mechanical handwinder from the ’60s and has a gold-coated 34mm case. It’s clean and minimal: just three hands, not even a date complication. The dial has a beautiful brown-tinted patina that matches well with the gold case. If this was a vintage IWC or Omega, with a proper gold case, I’d have to spend at least 1000 euros. But this barely known Huguenin? A few tenners.
That makes this Huguenin a perfect test-watch: it has the looks I’m interested in and want to try wearing, but not the costs associated with it. Wearing this for a while will help me figure out if smaller, gold watches are my thing. So far it’s definitely looking up though, can’t complain about these looks.
