Face Off: Summer Beach Watches

Summer is fast approaching, and if you’re anything like us, you’re beginning to yearn for that next piece that’ll look great on the beach. This year, we were certainly treated to some great new releases at the annual trade shows, and our vintage tastes went towards more bright and exciting designs as well. Freeze those credit cards, because things are about to get straight up awesome.

Vintage

Movado Super Sub Sea

Movado Super Sub Sea — courtesy of Matthew Bain

As some may know, in the pre-Museum days of Movado, they were putting out some seriously intriguing and noteworthy watches. A prime example of such designs is the Super Sub Sea – a sporty vintage chronograph with just enough color in all the right places. This piece also packs an interesting pedigree, seeing as it shares quite a bit of DNA with another early Zenith Chrono by the same name. Essentially, these watches are identical in almost every way, with the exception of the markings on the dial. Inside, is the 149HP manual wind movement, though my favorite part of this piece is the bright orange inner rotating bezel that we see on some examples. It gives the piece such a great pop of color, that I think every summer watch shouldn’t be without. Finding a nice example is becoming harder and harder, so starting the hunt now isn’t a bad idea.

Rolex Stella Dial Day Date

Rolex Day Date ref 1803 — courtesy of Phillips Auctions

I’ve always loved 1803’s for the simple fact that there’s just so many variants out there, and among my favorites are the examples that bear Stella dials. These bright, highly glossy, and colorful dials can be found in just about any color under the rainbow, surely to suit anyone’s tastes. The best looking variants in my opinion include white gold with a light blue dial, yellow gold with a green dial, and the orange dial examples in yellow gold. While aesthetically jovial nature of these pieces may suggest an approachable price point, sadly you’d be wrong to think this. Lately, examples have been realizing quite literally unreal prices at auction, so the market is currently in a crazed state.

Modern

Longines Heritage Diver 1967

Longines Heritage Diver 1967

A few months back at Basel, we were introduced to a great new chronograph from Longines, and all of us at Wound For Life surely took notice. Longines has been putting more and more focus on their Heritage Collection, and with the increasing popularity of vintage watches, this is a very wise move. Much like Tudor has been doing lately, this design is heavily inspired by an earlier chronograph made by the brand in the late 60’s, and the attention to detail that was put into this updated design can surely be recognized just upon first glance. The deep red bezel will have you drooling, and that’s a guarantee. Furthermore, Longines went and used their calibre L688.2 column wheel chronograph movement (based upon an ETA A08.231) in this bad boy, and we couldn’t be happier about that.

Tudor Heritage Chrono Blue

Tudor Heritage Chronograph Blue

Although this piece is by no means a new release, I think it definitely deserves a spot on the list. When the Tudor Heritage Chronograph Blue first came out, I was excited that the brand was reviving one of their iconic designs that we’ve really grown to appreciate in today’s vintage market, but I didn’t necessarily get the full picture. Upon finally trying one out over a long weekend in Palm Beach, it finally clicked. This piece is arguably one of the ultimate modern beach watches, and can be easily be worn building sand castles by the sea or later on with a pair of white jeans and loafers to dinner. Skip the bracelet, mount the NATO, and sip a drink by the pool. You can thank me later.

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