Christmas gift guide: The best watches for family and friends
Dec 03, 2020
Make sure this year ends on a memorable and uplifting note with you presenting your loved ones (or yourself!) a stylish and sturdy timepiece that will last for decades to come. From dress to dive watches and everything in between, here’s our picks for your closest family members and friends:
For Mom
Timepieces that look great on any size wrist, drawing just the right attention with a slender strap, a hint of sparkle, or elegant displays of hours and minutes, small seconds or date
La Mini D De Dior Satine watch with Milanese mesh bracelet; 19mm stainless steel case, bezel and crown set with diamonds; mother-of-pearl dial, quartz movement
Omega Constellation Manhattan Aventurine; 29mm in 18K Sedna gold and stainless steel case with diamond-set bezel and hour markers
Montblanc Star Legacy Small Second; 32mm stainless steel case with curved finish; automatic movement, hours, minutes and small seconds
Vacheron Constantin Égerie self-winding watch; 35mm 18K pink gold with dial in pleated motif and bezel set with 58 round-cut diamonds; interchangeable leather straps
For Dad
Whether it’s a dress up or down day, these discreetly dapper designs come in luxurious metals and finishes, as well as a bevy of useful functions
Hermes Arceau Lift Tourbillon répétition minutes; 43mm rose gold case with horse-shaped cut-out in the lacquered dial showing the Hermes hand-wound tourbillon movement
Blancpain Villeret Ultraplate; 40mm red gold case, midnight blue dial with sunburst finish and red gold hour markers and hands; transparent caseback showing self-winding movement 1151 that offers a four-day power reserve
Vacheron Constantin Traditonelle Self-Winding Ultra-Thin; 41mm 18K 5N pink gold case that is only 7.26mm thick; transparent caseback showing self-winding movement 1120 with 40-hour power reserve
IWC Portugieser Automatic; 40mm 18K 5N gold case, silver-plated dial, gold-plated hands, 18K gold appliques; small seconds display; transparent caseback showing the IWC-manufactured 82200 calibre; brown alligator leather strap by Santoni
Piaget Polo S 2020 with green PVD dial with guilloché detail and luminescent hour markers in rose gold; 42mm steel case; Manufacture Piaget 1110P automatic movement with seconds and date; limited to 888 pieces
For Your Significant Other (Men)
Watches with a strong and sturdy profile, just like the man in your life
Chopard Alpine Eagle XL Chrono with flyback function; 44mm stainless steel case with integrated bracelet; powered by Chopard 03.05-C automatic movement with flyback function
A.Lange & Sohne Minute Repeater Zeitwerk; 42mm white gold case with matching deployant buckle; deep blue dial in solid silver and rhodium German silver time bridge; calibre L043.5 with minute repeater and jumping numerals mechanism; limited to 30 pieces
Bulgari Octo Finissimo Skeleton Ceramic; 40mm ultra-thin (5.5mm thick) ceramic case; transparent caseback; manually wound skeleton movement with small seconds and power reserve indicator; 65-hour power reserve
Omega Seamaster Diver 300M 007 Edition; 42mm Grade 2 Titanium case and mesh bracelet; brown aluminium dial and bezel ring; Super-Luminova diving scale, blackened hands and indexes; self-winding Master Chronometer Calibre 8806; caseback features a series of numbers which follow the format for military-issued watches ending with 007 for James Bond and 67, the year the first James Bond film was released
Audemars Piguet Code 11.59 Self-winding Flying Tourbillon; 41mm 18K pink gold case, black aventurine enamel dial; pink gold applied hour markers and hands; black lacquered inner bezel; double carved sapphire crystal; self-winding movement with central rotor and flying tourbillon
Panerai Luminor Marina Fibratech; 44mm Fibratech case, bezel, winding crown and safety lock crown-protecting device; 12-sided screw back in micro-sandblasted titanium, engraved with the words “70 Years Warranty”; anthracite with sunray finish, sandwich structure, with Arabic numerals and hour markers in green Super-LumiNova; small seconds at 9 o’clock, date at 3 o’clock; Panerai Sportech black strap; automatic movement with anti-shock device; limited to 270 pieces
For Your Significant Other (Women)
Watches that are gorgeously feminine yet extremely capable
Piaget Limelight Gala; 32mm 18K rose gold case set with 62 brilliant-cut diamonds; Milanese bracelet in 18K rose gold; sapphire crystal caseback; Manufacture Piaget 501P automatic mechanical movement
Dior Grand Soir Plissé Précieux; 36mm 18K pink gold case; pink gold bezel set with baguette-cut diamonds, pink gold crown with one rose-cut diamond, back set with iridescent sapphire crystal and pink gold plating; bruised white gold dial set with gradient snow-set diamonds with pink and white gold pleated openwork details; automatic movement with 50-hour power reserve; gray satin strap
Jaeger-LeCoultre Rendez-vous Moon Medium; 34mm pink gold case; silvered grey dial with guilloché finishing and set with diamonds; automatic self-winding movement; leather strap
Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Arpels Day and Night Fée Ondine Watch; 38mm white gold case and bezel set with diamonds; rotating white mother-of-pearl dial with miniature painting, diamonds and yellow sapphires; plique-à-jour and champlevé enamel cap, miniature painting, with diamond, sapphires, tsavorite and spessartite garnets; automatic mechanical movement equipped with a 24-hour module developed exclusively for Van Cleef & Arpels, 60-hour power reserve
Breitling Navitimer Automatic 35; 35mm stainless steel case; silver dial with steel bidirectional rotating bezel; silver dial with red gold hour markers and Super-LumiNova luminescent hour and minute hands; self-winding movement with 38-hour power reserve
Chopard Happy Sport Sun, Moon & Stars; 18K rose gold and stainless steel case with diamond-set bezel; five free-moving diamond-set emblems inside a midnight blue dial; Chopard 09.01-C automatic movement with 42-hour power reserve
Cartier Révélation d’une Panthère Watch; 37mm 18K white gold case set with brilliant-cut diamonds; red lacquer dial with panther motif in diamonds revealed by movements of the wrist; Manufacture manual-winding calibre 430MC
For Your Best Gal Pal
Sleek, dependable and long-lasting, these timepieces describe your friendship beautifully
Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Classic Small Duetto; 34.2x21mm stainless steel case; hour and minute functions on front and back dials; silvered grey dial with satin-brushed and guilloché finishes with baton hands on the front; black dial with frosted numerals and dauphine hands at the back; manual winding movement
Nomos Tetra Divine Spark; 29.5×29.5 steel bipartite case; copper dial; manual winding movement; velour leather grey strap
Baume et Mercier Hampton rectangular quartz watch, 35x22mm 316L steel case, diamond-set mother-of-pearl dial; interchangeable iced blue leather strap
Chanel Boy.Friend Tweed Large; stainless steel case; steel bracelet with black coating and tweed motif, folding buckle; manual winding mechanical movement; Black guilloché dial, seconds counter; interchangeable straps available in quilted and alligator leather
Hermes Heure H watch; 21x21mm steel case with diamonds in feather setting; steel bracelet; mother-of-pearl dial set with 11 diamonds and transferred sunburst motif; quartz movement
For Your Best Bro
Highly enviable for their badass looks and functionality, these timepieces are easy to swap and share with your best buddy
Omega Constellation Gents’ Watch; 41mm 18K Sedna gold case; polished blue ceramic bezel with Ceragold Roman Numerals; sun-brushed blue dial; Omega Master Co-Axial Calibre 8900; transparent caseback
Roger Dubuis Excalibur Huracan; 45mm titanium black DLC case and bezel; skeletonised dial Rhodium plated hour markers filled with SLN; lower flange with transferred texts and minute tracks; RD820SQ calibre automatic with 12-degree inclined spring balance and 60-hour reserve power
Girard-Perregaux 1966 Orion; 40mm steel case with DLC treatment; smoky sapphire crystal caseback; black aventurine dial; domed outer edge; self-winding mechanical movement with 46-hour power reserve
Hublot Big Bang GMT All Black Yohji Yamamoto; 45mm micro-blasted and polished black ceramic case and bezel; black sapphire dial; HUB1251 self-winding GMT movement with 72-hour power reserve; engraved ceramic caseback “SPECIAL EDITION XX/50”; black rubber strap; limited to 50 pieces
See also: Calling all volunteers: 5 ways to give back this Christmas
