FEATURE: The C.O.C.O. Picks Their Perfect Three Watch Collection

 

Cliche Watch #1                    Cliche Watch #2                    Cliche Watch #3

Before we begin this post I've just realised that this is my 2000th post on this blog (started October 2016), thanks to everyone who reads the blog and shares in this most excellent hobby!

I'm sure I don't need to tell you this, but the 'Perfect Three Piece Collection' is YouTube Watch Guru 'meat and potatoes'. I don't know how many times I've watched someone tell me that the perfect three piece collection consists of a dive watch, a chronograph and a dress watch and really the only point of watching these videos is to find out whether or not the dress watch is a Jaeger Le Coultre or not... because pretty much without fail you can guarantee that the dive watch will be a Rolex (usually a Submariner) and the chronograph will be an Omega Speedmaster. As for the dress watch well, it's usually a Reverso, or possibly a Cartier Tank, which is all just so predictable and unspeakably boring!

Which is not to say those are bad watches or anything like that, because clearly they aren't and there's a reason why so many people crave those watches... but maaaaaaaaan is it boring to hear again and again how they make the 'perfect' three piece collection.

First off, who says it has to be a dive watch, a chronograph and a dress watch anyway? What nonsense is that? Most of us do not dive, so any watch with a 200M rating will be more than adequate for any water based mischief we are likely to get up to and it certainly doesn't need a rotating bezel and a helium release valve. Nor do most of us require a chronograph in our day to day lives - I'll tell you secret, I have 'several' chronographs, and the only time I ever run them is once a month to move the oil around. A couple don't even work properly, but I'm not spending £300 to fix something I will never use. 

Does anyone need a dress watch these days? I think not, pretty much anything can be used as a 'dress watch' if the need for one should arise and it certainly doesn't need to be slender enough to fit under a cuff, be missing its second hand and be cased in a precious metal!

Now don't get me wrong, I have a mild affection for the Submariner (though I do think it is drastically overpriced) and I don't mind the Tank or the Reverso. I do think the original 'Man on the F**king Moon' Speedmaster (© Archie Luxury) is the most tedious watch on the planet (although I don't mind some of the later reworkings), and I accept that there may be a small group of people for whom those three watches represent their 'dream collection' because those genuinely are their favourite three pieces.

But the mere fact that those are the watch community's default watches is enough to make me look elsewhere even if I wasn't a complete TAG Heuer fanboy. So in search of some better ideas I thought I would pose the question to the 'Council of Considered Opinion' and this is what they came up with...

Now obviously with no shortlist to choose from there was never going to be a consensus of opinion here, and the Council being the Council, some members took great liberties with the (admittedly loose) brief. All I said was, you can pick anything you like except the Breitling Pistachiograph... but since the post is likely to be railing against the cliched Speedmaster / Submariner / Reverso triumvirate, maybe stay away from them. But the council being the council, well... you can imagine.

We'll start with 'thingziliketoo', who said:

"You did not give a price restriction so here would be one of many trios I could think of..."

A trio I can afford:

Tag Heuer 160th 'Silver' Heritage Carrera

Cartier Tank Americaine medium automatic

Grand Seiko Four Seasons Fall Edition

Three pieces from my collection:

TAG Heuer 160th Anniversary 'Silver' Heritage Carrera

Rolex Submariner Ceramic 40mm 

Rolex Explorer 39mm

And a trio of dream watches:

Vacheron Constantin Overseas Dual Time

Blancpain Bathyscaphe

Rolex Daytona

Next up we had occasional contributor and Swedish bank-hacker 'Jim Dolare$':

 

"This is such a simple question and I have the most superb and perfect three watch collection for you."

TAG Heuer 160th Anniversary 'Silver' Heritage Carrera (for the office)

TAG Heuer Titan Monaco Limited Edition (for when you need to look extra sexy)

Tudor Black Bay 36mm in Silver (for weekends, the beach and casual days)

'DTF' also chimed in with his choices:

Tudor Black Bay 58 (original version)

TAG Heuer Carrera Drive Timer

TAG Heuer Aquaracer Calibre 5 (in black/yellow)

Next up we had 'Remo' who said:

"Well, that's a tough question. But I think I am pretty close with my..."

TAG Heuer Monaco 50th Anniversary (exclusive)

TAG Heuer Carrera 160th Anniversary Silver (formal, reduced, classic but also sporty) 

TAG Heuer Aquaracer (for everyday life and the beach)

If I think about other brands and no price and availability limit I would very much like to wear...

Patek Philippe Nautilus (three hander)

Zenith Defy El primero 21 (non skeleton) 

"...and yes, I have to admit, I would go for a..."

Rolex Cosmograph Daytona (probably yellow gold and black).

Our Belgian chocolate knob enthusiast, 'Yago' said:

"Three watches is just silly and I couldn't make a sensible choice for myself. For a watch noob however who's simply looking for a set of watches to match his outfits or occasions, the logical selection would be a dress watch, a diver and a (pilot) chronograph. Some chronographs like the '60s Carrera can double as dress watches."

Diver

Cheap: Seiko, Certina, Baltic Aquascaphe or vintage skin diver

Mid range: Oris, Tudor, Yema, vintage (TAG) Heuer 844

Premium: Rolex Sub or vintage snowflake. Colourful vintage Omega or Doxa as out there propositions.

Dress

Cheap: Tissot, Certina, Hamilton, vintage Seiko

Mid range: Nomos, Oris, Longines, vintage Omega

Premium: Cartier Santos or JLC Reverso ;), '60s manual Carrera, IWC 3-hander.

(Pilot) chronograph

Cheap: Probably stay clear.

Mid range: Longines Heritage Chronograph, Sinn

Premium: (TAG) Heuer Monaco, vintage Autavia/Monaco, IWC Flieger.

'Kappa MD' weighed in with his selection:

"For a Heuer / TAG Heuer nut like me, I choose my..."

Autavia Viceroy or Autavia Siffert

TAG Heuer Carrera 160th Anniversary (2447S)

Heuer Monaco Steve McQueen Calibre11

"All Chronograph. My Autavia can be the casual, Carrera Silver for formal, and the Monaco SMQ as the iconic sports watch. "

Unofficial TAG Heuer Connected ambassador 'Albert-AMG' also went full-on TAG Heuer:

"For me it must be three watches closely linked to motorsports, so of course it must be three Heuer / TAG Heuer..."

Monza (for example the 40th anniversary Calibre 17 CR2080)

Carrera (for example the Calibre 1887 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR CAR2112)

Monaco Calibre 11 (for example the Gulf CAW211R or CAW211T)

Official Calibre 11 Forum helicopter pilot 'Hubert' also picked solely from the 'correct' brand:

Monaco Calibre 11 blue McQueen (40th Anniversary)

Carrera 160th Silver (in the absence of a Panda)

Autavia Rindt

After some reticence, 'ASW' eventually put forward his selection:

"I have no love for the last two but the Sub is better than most TAGs. I love TAGs, but I can’t honestly say the perfect 3 watch collection are all Tags. So, taking from my own collection..."

Rolex Submariner

TAG Heuer Monaco 50th Anniversary (1989-1999)

Heuer Autavia Calibre 11 Limited Edition

And perhaps unsurprisingly 'Heuerholic' picked three 'Heuers':

Ref 1163 Siffert Autavia

Steve McQueen Monaco Original (or 40th Anniversary)

Ref 110.633 Heuer Calculator (yes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I have one).

Our only non Calibre 11 forum member 'Tudor Rich' gave quite a detailed response:

"This has been a really good question but also really hard!! I do think it's a very personal choice but i would have a smart/potential dress watch, a sports/dive watch and maybe an everyday beater watch.

I have changed my mind so many times I'm still not sure if this is what I would go for. Plus I'm basing my three watches on my budget reality (not that I can afford any of these watches at the moment but I haven't gone for a Richard Mille which I will never be able to afford unless I win the Euromillions!) and lifestyle, not sure if that's the right thing to do here for the question you have asked. Anyway... So I would go for..."

Casio G-Shock (Beater watch) no stress wearing it, classic watch and does most things. Not the most desirable though. 

Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Moon. (Dress watch) Looks elegant, smart and different. Also something to fiddle with while waiting for my food to arrive.

Tudor Pelagos (Any of the styles) (Dive/sports watch) Ok I am biased on this one and I can't see past it. I do love other brands dive watches. I just don't feel that a lot of them are real dive watches anymore. Too much of a pose. Apart from TAG Heuer and Sinn whose watches I do think are good too for their intended purpose. I just feel a lot of the high end ones are too high end to be a true tool watch anymore. 

"Anyway, I might change my mind again a few hours! I did want to put the Tag Monaco Gulf on there, the Tag Carrera and Zenith El Primero. Just as a side note."

Calibre 11 head honcho 'Calibre11' plumped for this straightforward selection:

Patek Philippe Nautilus 5980

Rolex Daytona 6263 (silver) 

Heuer Chronomatic 1133B Monaco

While 'Otto William' went slightly off-piste with:

Heuer "Dark Lord" Monaco

Carrera Heuer Dato 12 (2547N)

Moser Alp Watch

'Snowy' from Japan has even more TAG Heuer watches than I do, so he had plenty to choose from:

"It's a very difficult question... I can’t decide, but from TAG Heuer watches, I would like to list the following three..."

Heuer Autavia Viceroy 1163V

TAG Heuer Bamford Carbon Monaco CAW2190.FC6437

Heuer Monaco 1133B Chronomatic

'Mr Orange' went decidedly upmarket with his picks, but still managed to include one TAG Heuer piece:

"It's an almost impossible question, but here goes:"

Jaeger LeCoultre Amvox 3 Tourbillion GMT

A Lange & Sohne Lange 1 Moon Phase

TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 17 CV5111

While 'Mspeedster' just couldn't make up his mind:

"Easy for me as 1, 2, 3..."

Heuer Monaco 1133B - McQueen

Heuer Autavia 1163 - Siffert

Heuer Carrera 1158CHN - Lauda and all Ferrari F1 Pilots of the 70s

... a short while later...

"If I had to choose from current "new" watches that can be easily bought by just walking into an AD, I'd go with these three..."

TAG Heuer Monaco CAW211P - C11 Blue McQueen

Tudor Black Bay 58 - Black or Blue dial

Omega Speedmaster Pro "Moonwatch" - Hesalite crystal

"If thinking about ultimate dream watches that I know I'll never have a chance to own, then it's these three..."

Paul Newman Rolex Daytona

Heuer Carrera 1158CHN

Vintage Rolex Submariner, 5512 (As worn by McQueen) or 6538 (As worn by Connery's Bond)

"But my real answer remains the Heuer trio I first listed above."

'Tag_ZA' was more decisive, after a brief pause for thought:

"Super tough question for sure. I have had to sit and think of it for a while. Mine would be the following..."

Tag Heuer Formula 1(any version with a stainless steel bezel and a 'hardy strap') - This would be my everyday piece that I can wear around the house, or on hikes, to the farm, etc, without worrying too much about bumps and scratches, while still having a stylish piece on my arm. Also it being a quartz helps a lot with the 'ruggedness' that I would need. A very easy to use, slap on and go piece.

Tag Heuer Carrera CAR2A90 - This piece will be the racy, going out piece. Also quite a show off piece as the black skeleton dial does attract a lot of attention. A piece to wear on more special occasions, that needs a bit more 'looking after' being automatic and fully ceramic.

Rolex Submariner - This has always been on my list and would complete the set perfectly. The perfect diver, still rugged enough for wearing in sporty / adventurous moments, but fancy enough to be a dress piece too.

Finally, 'Imagwai' opined:

"This is really tricky... assuming they all have to be watches that actually exist, I think my three would be as follows..."

Grand Seiko SBGW259

TAG Heuer Carrera chronograph (either the 160th silver dial 39mm glass box that I already have, or a vintage panda)

A vintage Rolex Daytona 6239. But it might be a bit to similar to the Carrera, in which case, I might go for an Explorer II GMT 1655

See, what did I tell you? Ask a simple question - get many convoluted answers... as for me, well what would I choose? Well, that's a very good question, and one I honestly don't have an answer for. The idea of only owning three watches is (as Yago quite rightly said) ridiculous and whittling down the entire world of watches to just three is beyond my comprehension. I tried and I got as far as a Royal Oak, but even then I couldn't decide between a classic blue dial or some kind of Royal Oak 'Offshore'... 

But what I can do is look to my collection and try and pick three pieces from that, so in that case I will have to go with... 

1. TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 01: I don't suppose anyone was ever in any doubt about this really. When this watch was launched it was a case of 'I have to have one' and even though this is still by a long way the most expensive watch I have ever bought I have never regretted it for a moment. 

2. TAG Heuer F1 Kirium Chronograph: A quartz chronograph, but one that can double as a dressy watch with it's unusual ability to present a completely plain dial. This was my first TAG Heuer and my first proper watch and again I fell in love with this from the picture and saved hard to get it. I cannot imagine not owning one of these so it has to be here.

3. TAG Heuer Aquaracer Calibre 5 WAY208C: It was a short battle between this, the Aquagraph and the yellow dial Aquaracer Calibre S, but this one won out in the end. It took me an age to find one of these and then I had the amazing fortune to get one from Bicester Village at a 30% discount! I've always liked it, but since I switched the strap over to this black rubber option I've really fallen for it and I honestly can't see me selling this one if I had to pare down to just three watches.

So there we have it, a variety of answers to that most cliched of questions... and you see the answer really doesn't have to be Submariner, Speedmaster and Reverso.