the success of the tudor black bay 58, a diver at 39mm diameter launched in 2018, showed that watch aficionados were craving for smaller more discrete and versatile watches comparing to what we had seen in the last couple of decades. midsized watches are on the rise, and I think that is a good thing.
brands marketing is changing along with this downsizing trend, and watch sizes that would’ve been targeted specifically for women in the early 2000s and 2010s are now being considered unisex, as they should.
in terms of style, nowadays there are no big differences between male and female watches. you can see women wearing dive watches and racing chronographs, and men wearing iced out and colourful pieces. It is all a matter of personal style and preferences.
that being said lets get on with it and start looking at some cool watches for both him and her!
the casio a1000 series present a classic shape derived from the 80s and 90s that millennials will reminisce about, with some nice upgrades like the metal case, slightly bigger case size, and better bracelets, there are also a lot of colours and styles if this brushed grey isn’t to your liking.
the seiko srpk25 is a limited edition that brings us the mythical skx case style in the more manageable 38mm diameter and with a touch of snoopy fun. there are other non limited options in a nice range colours if you don’t fancy the dog.
baltic has been on the rise, making some beautiful well thought out retro inspired pieces. one of my favourites is their first, the 36mm mr01, here in a cool salmon dial.
the studio underdog pink lemonade is such a fun piece I had to include it, with its flamboyant colours and fully lumed dial its as playful in daylight as at night. it sold out not long before it came out, so if you want one you’ll have to wait for the next batch.
the nomos club campus 36mm is simple done right, it has a full polished case with very long lugs, an inverted california dial with painted lumed numerals, and an orange small seconds hand. it also has a mechanical in-house movement beautifully finished for the price bracket, and there are a lot of fun colours to choose from!
the serica is here because it has such a cool and different design, and with a manageable case diameter of 38mm (despite the bezels 39mm) it didn’t seem out of place on this list. it comes in three colours, black, white and this crystal blue, that is my favourite because it reminds me of faded vintage pieces.
the longines heritage classic reinterprets longines most iconic timepieces by infusing them with a touch of modernism. with it’s heritage sector dial, this watch looks like the definition of timeless. at 38,5mm its not the smallest watch on the list, but if longines targeted as a unisex option who am I to say otherwise?
longines heritage classic automatic
the grand seiko sbgw283 is the epitome of simple refinement. it has a lovely set of dimensions, and a very well made manual wound grand seiko movement, but the standout feature for me is that lovely textured dial in a delicate shade of pale blue.
the rolex datejust was first introduced in 1945 as a means to commemorate rolexe’s 40th anniversary. it came in 36mm when it was introduced and was marketed as a men’s watch. today it comes in a lot of different styles and regardless if you are men or women you should be able to find the right one for you. I chose the one with the palm dial because I think it is fun, discrete and a bit special. availability with rolex watches nowadays is a problem though, so you got to check in with your ad if you want one…
the way I see it, the cartier tank had to be on this list. the one chosen here is the large tank louis cartier, that is actually a midsized piece, in yellow gold with a hand-wound movement and a minimal black dial, but there are a lot of other options starting from under 4000€ and they are all pure class.
joão vicente is our in-house photographer. born in ‘83, studied architecture in the early 2000’s in universidade of coimbra and in the early 2010’s moved to lisbon to study photography in ipf. loves fighting sports, cars, bikes and watches. works for cinco since the early days of the brand. still loving it.
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