As watch lovers, we spend our afternoons pitching, researching and writing stories, poring over the new timepieces coming in and out of our office, and hunting for deals on used and vintage pieces online. When a new watch comes across our radar, one that particularly resonates with our tastes, we can’t help but obsess over it. We talk about them, debate their relevance, orate on their greatness and rail on their faults. So, here’s a taste of that: six timepieces are watch-loving staff can’t seem to shake, right this second.
Wakmann 7733 Yachting Chronograph
“Collectors will spend several thousands of dollars on vintage chronographs from Breitling or Heuer when similar watches using the same movements and near-identical components — notably from brands like LeJour, Zodiac, Hamilton and Wakmann — sell for far less. That isn’t to say these watches go unloved, but the fact that they go for thousands less than their better-known counterparts reveals that many collectors place too much value on brand names.
In that respect, this Wakmann represents an obsession over a larger subsect of vintage obscura but I’m discussing it here specifically because, well, look at it. That stunning blue dial radiates like the Pacific Ocean on a clear day, and that red regatta timer in the three o’clock sub-dial is an amazing accent, even if just the idea of timing a yacht race sounds excruciatingly mind-numbing. The $1,800 price tag is by no means chump change but, given its design, a Valjoux chronograph movement and its pristine condition, it’s hard to consider this anything other than an astounding value. — Andrew Connor
