Question: What do the Eiffel Tower, Sushi, David Bowie, Nirvana, the Leica M5, blue jeans, Elvis Presley, and the Rolex Daytona have in common?
Answer: They are all icons that were once overlooked, ignored, or misunderstood by the masses.
Given that this is an article about watches, let’s focus for a moment on the Rolex Daytona. Most forget that Rolex couldn’t initially get people to buy the Daytona. Few, apparently with the exception of Paul Newman, really wanted a Daytona at the time of release. Times change and now the Daytona is one of the more iconic (and expensive) references in the Rolex line.
The question I routinely ask myself and others is which currently underrated or overlooked watch has the potential to become a modern tool watch icon?
Each year, we are offered a bewildering array of watches to purchase but very few meet my criteria of a modern tool watch icon. For nearly a decade, the watch industry has been rehashing, rereleasing, reissuing, and generally regurgitating past successes with only a few daring to look toward the future.
In 2023, “faux-tina fatigue” got the best of me and I decided to write off reissues altogether. On the other end of the spectrum, ultra-modern watches that looks like spaceships or fishbowls hold little appeal for me. While I can appreciate (from afar) the audacity of brands like Arken, Linde Werdelin and MB&F, their creations don’t fit my lifestyle.
My tastes fall squarely within the “tool watch” genre. These are go-anywhere, do-anything watches that don’t require pampering. I can wear them to work, on vacation, at the supermarket, or on an adventure. My ideal tool watch is versatile and transitions effortlessly from a bracelet to a NATO. Integrated bracelet watches, excessively thick watches, whimsy, and fixed spring bar watches don’t make the cut for me.
Identifying potential modern tool watch icons remains a challenge. Too many tool watches are straight homages or reissues looking toward the past with no regard for the present – let alone the future. I admire companies like Nivada, Vulcain, Aquastar, Yema, Ollech and Wajs, Benrus, and Baltic. Their homage/reissue watches certainly have their place. Many would disagree, but I put the Tudor Black Bay series in this category as well. These are all great watches and companies, but if I’m going to purchase a vintage-looking watch, I’ll seek out the original if at all possible. For example, I’d rather hunt down an amazing Tudor Submariner at the CW Watch Shop before I purchase a Black Bay. Similarly, this incredible Technos Super Compressor holds more appeal for me than a modern Benrus or Longines reissue of their super compressor style watches.
This leaves me hunting references that tweak old designs, incorporate new materials, use bold colors, and/or offer something unique beyond what I can find on the vintage shelf. I like my watch to stand out and be interesting but maybe not too interesting. Unique and playful are welcome, but I don’t want a science fiction experiment on my wrist.
The final point to discuss before diving into my list of possible modern tool watch icons is price. In 1970, a new Rolex Daytona cost somewhere between $250 and $1,000. Adjusted for inflation, that range translates to roughly $3,000-$7,000 today. This is interesting because my relationship with a watch changes once the price reaches around $5,000. I routinely carry more than that in camera equipment and would certainly own watches exceeding that price point, but for a daily driver I wear comfortably, and without worry, a $5,000 limit feels reasonable.
Cedric Bellon CB-01
Cedric Bellon is my favorite watch designer. Full stop. If you weren’t aware that there are watch nerds passionate about designers, you’re not alone. In most cases, designers remain behind the scenes in the watch industry. Cedric Bellon is an exception. The CB-01 is a modern take on the skin diver that I believe will achieve cult status. Additionally, CB is blazing a trail for sustainability in the watch world. Rare are the occasions where you can directly support an artist and have something incredible to show for it. This is one of them. To find CB watches, you will need to go to Watch Angels, which manages production. Is it odd that there is no CB website? Maybe. But for a designer who is doing things differently, the website is apparently an unnecessary afterthought. From my vantage point, Cedric Bellon is to watches as Miyazaki san (MS-Optical) is to Leica lenses.
Fortis Marinemaster M-40
If a criterion for becoming a watch icon is being misunderstood upon release, the Fortis Marine Master is steaming full steam ahead toward icon status. Beyond its hooded lugs, the Marine Master doesn’t hark back to any specific reference, although I can appreciate a resemblance to my beloved Heuer 984.004 and other, similar, hooded lug, watches of the era. Its bold colors, matching rubber strap, and innovative design are guaranteed to make watch nerds and keyboard warriors alike either salivate with excitement or erupt in fiery debate. The Marine Master stands alone in its category. A peerless tool watch with proportions and design elements found in few other places. Watch pundits and reviewers often complain about a lack of innovation, yet overlook it when it’s staring them in the face. A 21mm lug width is a spec requiring comment, but let’s not lose the forest for the trees. My previously mentioned Heuer 980.004 has 21mm lugs, is similarly shaped, and nearly perfect perhaps partly because of the 21mm lug width. Given my experience that that Heuer, I will also be purchasing a bracelet just in case I decide to dress up my Marine Master in the future. Maybe you should, too. Aftermarket, 21mm, straight-end bracelets are few, far between, and are often of the borderling vintage cosplay ladder, razor, or mesh configuration. Pictured below is the Fortis Marine Master M40 in the snow white colorway. Colorway is important with the Marine Masters given there are so many options. Rockstone is my color. All of them are available now through the CW Watch Shop
Tudor Pelagos
The Pelagos’ popularity almost disqualified it from this list. Moreover, it was never misunderstood. It isn’t even controversial. Nonetheless, an argument can be made that the Pelagos is on track for icon status. Even though it is more or less just a classic dive watch that some would say even borders on homage, its clean lines and titanium case persuaded me to keep it on the list. I own the OG, 2012, 42mm edition with its subdued dial, icy titanium bracelet, minimalist text, and generic movement. Any tool watch enthusiast who claims not to appreciate the Pelagos is like a Leica photographer who doesn’t appreciate the Leica Q – they are lying and should be dismissed.
Serica Diving Chronometer
If you had the chance to go to the Windup Watch fair in 2023, you would have seen some amazing watches. Too many were homages and reissues for my taste but in the middle of the homage madness was a relatively young brand named Serica doing their best to put their spin on what one person described as “vintage elevated with a modern sensibility.” Another said that if James Bond was alive today, he would wear a Serica. I agree. Clean and classy. The porcelain white dive chronometer is, for me, the heir apparent to the Rolex Explorer II Polar. Since Rolex went maxi and blinged out the Explorer II, a gap was left for a white tool watch, and Serica stepped up. At 39mm Serica watches say a ton in a small package. I am unsure of mesh anywhere outside of tent screens and laundry bags, but don’t let the Milanese mesh bracelet this watch comes with dissuade you. The bracelet is easy to change on this piece. I know Serica is vintage inspired but as the vintage-inspired trends wind down, I expect Serica will stay one step ahead of the pack. The brand was started by designers, and I always bet on a company started by designers rather than a company that hires designers. Pictured below is the Serica Diving Chronometer.
Sinn U1/U50
I cannot lie. I will never own a Sinn U1. I don’t get it. I don’t like the lines. I don’t like the shape. I don’t like the colors. I don’t like the Tetris-inspired, 8-bit syringe hands. I hear video game, chiptune, music in my head every time I see that watch. That, however, does not stop me from appreciating a future icon when I see it. I hated Nirvana’s Nevermind the first 55 times I heard the album, but that didn’t stop me from eventually appreciating all the screaming and noise. Maybe I will get there eventually. The U1 is brutalist architecture for the wrist, and I understand why it has nothing short of a cult following. It isn’t for me, but I can easily recommend it for you. I encourage you to ignore me on this one and at least consider doing what I say and not what I do.
Image used with permission by Mike A @inkabloc
Bell & Ross BR03A-MIL-CE/SRB
Bell & Ross pilot watches are not watches. They are cuffs that tell the time. You and I both know you would love to be able to rock a leather bund like Brad Pitt in that Quentin Tarantino movie; or maybe wear some of those bangle and leather bracelet things that Johnny Depp wears on his wrist. Yet we both know that neither you nor I can’t do that without feeling like we are running around in some sort of cosplay in Harajuku or Comicon. You can, however, make a cuff work with the Bell & Ross BR-03. If you haven’t checked out a Bell & Ross in a while. The new, 41mm, version takes the edge off. It looks square, but it isn’t. The case melds into the strap, creating an icon that is understated and bold at the same time. My wife wants me to get the copper, but I am dead set on the military colorway. It might be of interest to note that my wife stole my black BR-03 from me. Bell & Ross makes extremely small straps, and they should be commended. The small strap, however, opens the door to your wife stealing the watch from you. Pro tip: get 2.
ZRC 1904: Gands Fonds 300 Osmium
No discussion of modern tool watch icons would be complete without discussing color. Black, white, and patina watches are the bedrock of vintage but if you are doing modern, might I suggest you go all in and do it properly? Go bold. Maybe go blue? Like really blue? The ZRC was almost cut from the list for breaking the homage rule but should the rule be enforced when the homage is a homage of a design that is unique, their own, and has never been homaged elsewhere? A watch this bold needs a bold case, and the ZRC case is nothing short of bold. Like the Bell & Ross discussed previously, the ZRC is more of a cuff than a watch and when it is paired with modern colors it is something to behold. If the Osmium is too much but you are still open to an experimental watch shape, more demure ZRC option is waiting for you in the CW Watch Shop or ZRC 1904.
Weiss 42mm Standard Issue Field Watch
Have you ever had a friend try to set you up with a person, and you look online, and you say to yourself, “Really? This is who they are trying to set me up with? I am not seeing it.” Then you go to your friend to express your concern, and they say, “You gotta trust me. Their pictures don’t do them justice. Please just meet them.” So you meet them and learn about them, and a few months later, you fall in love and get married, and you live happily ever after? That is what you are going to do with Weiss. You gotta trust me. I didn’t get it either until I saw one in real life. There is something about the finishing, the case, the craftsmanship, and knowing that Weiss is the future of American watchmaking that makes you fall in love. My only complaint is that Weiss needs to figure out a better way to photograph their watches so I don’t have to have this discussion over and over and over again. NOTE: if you pair a Leica M6, a Weiss watch, and a slouchy beanie, that is Hors catégorie – god tier – style in some circles. Pictured below is the Weiss Standard Issue Field Watch.
Tag Heuer Solargraph Titanium
If we are being honest, I recoil in horror when I see the Tag Heuer logo. You might recoil, too, if you wore a Tag Heuer Link in high school in the early ’90s, and your memories of the early ’90s are riddled with episodes of getting punched in the face at a flag pole at 3PM. Don’t, however, let my trauma be your trauma. Tag Heuer has been on a reinvention tour lately, and the Solargraph Titanium has my attention. A family member recently appropriated my travel watch, and I believe the Solargraph will be the replacement. For travel, I prefer a thin, quartz watch, and this Solargraph seems destined to be the one to get me back to my Tag Heuer roots after a 30-year hiatus – flag pole or no flag pole. It is unlikely a quartz watch (Grand Seiko excluded) will ever reach icon status, but this one would be on the list.
Image used with permission by Blake Buettner from The Deep Track
Conclusion
As you can see, my tastes lean toward watches that are, in one way or another, striking, bold, and tilt modern. There are tons of other tool watches I would love to own including anything by Damasko, or the newly released Fortis Novanaut, but these watches look just a little too much toward the past and don’t push the design envelope quite enough for my taste. If your taste is a bit more understated or traditional, these might be good places to start.
There are other tool watch icons that that could have been included in any list of icons, such as the Omega Peter Blake 2254.50, Omega Great White, Tudor North Flag, and the Rolex Explorer II 16570, but are either no longer in production or fall just outside the price range I set for this list. Perhaps “neo-vintage tool watch icons” is a story that should be saved for another time.
