For Valentine’s Day: 10 luxury watches under £5,000
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Marie de Pimodan-Bugnon
Freelance journalist
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With a week to go before the most romantic day of the year, take a look at our selection of men’s and women’s watches under £5,000. Why say it with flowers when you can give the gift of time!
Bulgari Serpenti Seduttori
Love is everlasting. Like Bulgari’s serpent, it has the power to rejuvenate. The Italian brand reinterprets its iconic Serpenti watch in a thinner than ever version that extends into an integrated bracelet whose metal links recall a snake’s scales. Proposed in steel with a 33mm diameter, the Serpenti Seduttori keeps track of hours and minutes on a white silver opaline dial. Set into the crown, a pink rubellite cabochon adds a touch of colour. Because love has the colour of passion.
Price: €4,650 / £4,000
Breitling Superocean Automatic 44 Outerknown
Love can change the world. Kelly Slater’s love of the ocean inspired him to create Outerknown, a surf wear brand that uses textiles made from repurposed fishing nets. Breitling shows its support for greater sustainability by fitting its Superocean Automatic 44 with a NATO strap in Outerknown Econyl yarn. Built to withstand pressure to a depth of 1,000 metres, this dive watch keeps precise time courtesy of the robust Breitling 17 automatic movement. Because true love grows from solid foundations.
Price: CHF 3,950 / £3,175
Santos-Dumont Watch
Love will always reach for the sky, a trait shared by pioneer of flight, Alberto Santos-Dumont. This is the watch Louis Cartier designed for his friend in 1904, so that he could check the time while at the commands of his plane. Cartier has returned to the original design for a variant in steel, measuring 43.5 x 31.4mm and powered by a quartz movement with an estimated autonomy of six years. Because love will always make the heart soar.
Price: CHF 3,700 / £3,350
Chanel Première Velours Watch
Love is as soft as velvet. Chanel’s legendary Première watch enlaces the wrist with a rubber strap that feels like velvet to the touch. Its remarkable caress extends the diminutive 19.7 x 15.2mm case in yellow gold and titanium whose octagonal contours are a nod to Place Vendôme in Paris, as well as to the stopper of the N°5 perfume bottle. Set into the crown, an onyx cabochon echoes the midnight black of the lacquered dial. Because in love, every detail counts.
Price: CHF 4,200 / £3,500
Hermès Cape Cod
Love is both a rare and universal feeling. What better way to celebrate love each day than with an icon among watches. Created in the 1990s, the Cape Cod works its magic at the drop of a 29 x 29mm steel case, its instantly recognisable geometry a seductive blend of a square and a rectangle. This bold aesthetic wraps around the wrist on a double tour strap in smooth orange calfskin. Interchangeable, because variety is the spice of love, too.
Price: CHF 2,860 / £2,300
Louis Vuitton Tambour Monogram
Love is a language full of symbols. Louis Vuitton has its symbols, too. The brand returns to its famed Monogram canvas for the all-over decor of this 39.5mm steel watch. Its texture is perfectly reproduced on the dial, which is swept by hour and minute hands, alongside a yellow centre seconds hands. A leather strap carries on this distinctive theme and can be easily swapped, without any special tools, thanks to Louis Vuitton’s patented system. Because love has many faces.
Price: €2,770 / £2,510
Montblanc 1858 Automatic 40mm
Love can make us feel on top of the world. Montblanc invites us to explore these dizzy heights with a watch that “expresses the spirit of mountain exploration and embodies the modern trend of returning to nature.” A back-to-the-roots aesthetic that is embodied in a clean, round, 40mm case in steel and a vintage inflected dial, the whole thing powered by an automatic movement. Because love thrives on simple pleasures.
Price: CHF 2,480 / £2,035
Nomos Tangente Midnight Blue
Love doesn’t need fancy. Nomos has broken design down to its purest form to make this elimination of the superfluous a hallmark of the Tangente watch. Inspired by the teachings of Bauhaus, it sports an elegant midnight blue dial. Hours, minutes and small seconds move to the beat of a manual-wind movement. Take note of the steel case whose 38mm diameter is the perfect match for every wrist. Because love is about sharing.
Price: CHF 1,790 / £1,620
TAG Heuer Autavia Calibre 5 Chronometer
Love is an adventure. With its highs and lows, for worse and for better. After putting the Autavia on hold in 1985, TAG Heuer rekindles the flame of this sports watch with the launch of a complete line-up. Inspired by the model that Jack Heuer imagined in the early 1960s, a firm favourite on the motor racing circuit, the new Autavia presents a moderately-sized 42mm diameter in steel that opens onto a gradient smoked blue dial with coordinating bezel. The engine is the chronometer-certified Calibre 5 for precision performance. Because love needs to be sure.
Price: CHF 3,050 / £2,595
Tudor Black Bay Bronze
Love is a powerful feeling that evolves with time. Traits it shares with Tudor’s Black Bay Bronze. Its rugged 43mm case, cut from this “living” metal, is unique in its capacity to take on a different patina according to its owner’s lifestyle. There’s a definite vintage feel about this dive watch, powered by the in-house, COSC-certified MT5601 calibre: your trusted partner for all your aquatic adventures to a depth of 200 metres. Because love means taking the plunge.
Price: CHF 3,950 / €3,890
