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Round-UpA Match Made In Heaven: Elements Of Time Linked For Eternity

This Valentine’s Day, we celebrate pairs of features in watches that are inextricably linked together and complement each other in various ways. Whether they complete each other’s functions or they become more whole when paired, or they simply make a handsome couple when seen side by side, these features are almost inseparable. Here are unions that belong together, till the end of time

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Tachymeters and chronographs

You Complete Me

Telling time is all about a well-coordinated series of movements in the mechanism within, to harmoniously make time work. Everything has to function properly, one after another, for the timekeeping to be precise. However, there are few features in timekeeping that are practically incomplete without another. And tachymeter scales are just that. Tachymeters can be used to calculate speed, based on a known distance covered and time taken, or to calculate the distance covered, based on the speed that is known and the time taken to complete the stretch. So it has to work together with a chronograph. Technically, you can use it with just the running seconds—preferably a central seconds hand. However, for that, you’d need to manually make note of the beginning and end of the time taken to cover a certain distance, to calculate the speed or the distance itself. It makes a whole lot more sense to use a tachymeter in tandem with a chronograph seconds hand, which can be started, stopped and reset. And that’s why you probably won’t ever come across a tachymeter scale on any watch that doesn’t have a chronograph. The latter always completes the former.

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Tachymeters are often featured on the outer edge of the dial or on the bezel, as seen on the Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch

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The Omega Moonwatch probably the most iconic tachymeter bezel you can find. Seen here is a 2021 Master Chronometer edition

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The Zenith El Primero is one of the most well-known chronograph movements. Seen here is the Zenith Defy A384 Revival watch that runs on a modern version of this movement

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Here is the Zenith Defy Shadow, another watch from the famous family of chronograph movements

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Unlike the Omega Speedmaster, these Zenith chronographs feature the tachymeter scale on the dial itself

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The Breitling Premier B01 also features a tachymeter scale on the dial itself, on the outer edge

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This Breitling Premier Norton edition also runs on the in-house Breitling calibre B01, which is a COSC-certified chronometer movement and offers a 70-hour power reserve

Perpetual calendars and moon phase displays

To The Moon And Back, Always And Forever

Considered among the most poetic complications you can find in a watch, moon phase indicators are more for the romance of time and timekeeping rather than for practical, day-to-day use. It’s an astronomical indication that is defined by the movement of a celestial object, with one complete cycle covering a lunar month. And hence it makes sense for it to be paired with another astronomically-defined set of indicators—those that make up a perpetual calendar—even if the functions have little to do with lunar months themselves. A perpetual calendar does normally show us the date, the month, the year, often the day of the week and a leap year indication too, without requiring adjustments and correction. So to complement the perpetuity of time that you see on these watches, it’s always nice to have a little poetry of the moon and its changing phases on the watch as well. That’s what makes it a display that many watchmakers include with the perpetual calendar. What a match made in heaven!

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Probably the most definitive complication for IWC, the perpetual calendar is often seen with a moon phase indicator in their watches, even if they do feature the former by itself in some others

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As it turns out, this Big Pilot’s Watch features a dual-hemisphere moon phase display, showing the phases of the moon seen from both, the Northern and Southern Hemispheres

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This Parmigiani Toric perpetual calendar also has a dual-hemisphere moon phase

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The slate grey dial of this Toric features a retrograde analogue date display, along with apertures for the day and month, as well as one for the leap year indicator

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The Baume & Mercier Clifton Baumatic Perpetual Calendar runs on an in-house Baumatic calibre and offers a five-day power reserve

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The Baumtic Perpetual calendar was first introduced with a white dial, and was later released in blue as well—both versions in gold

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This watch shows the day and date at nine and three, respectively; the month and leap year at 12 o’clock; while the poetic moon phase sits at six

Day and date displays

Not Without A Date

And speaking of calendar displays, just think about it—have you ever seen a watch that displays the day of the week without the date of month? If you have, it has to have been a rare watch. In fact, if there’s one feature that a watch will have, apart from the hours, minutes and seconds, it’s got to be a date window, often at three o’clock. And while a day window might be a plus-one, tucked right there along with the date, the day will never make an appearance alone. In fact, even in the perpetual calendars you saw above, analogue or otherwise, the day never shows up without a date. So if one chooses to go solo, you can rest assured, the day never will.

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The ladies on these ‘Nose Art’ watches from the Graham Chronofighter Vintage series may be going solo on their dials, but the date and day go hand-in-hand at nine

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Another aviation timepiece, Breitling’s Aviator 8 Curtiss Warhawk chronograph pairs the timekeeping and chronograph with a day at three, but not without a date

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The khaki green dial of this chronograph is complemented by a calfskin leather strap in the same hue, just like the date complements the day

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This Breitling Superocean runs on the same movement that powers the Warhawk. It’s a dive timepiece, so it comes with a 60-minute dive-timer scale, but also with the day and the date

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The COSC-certified chronometer of this watch comes housed in a case water-resistant to 200m

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Another dive timer, this one here is the Bremont Supermarine, which comes in blue or black

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The date goes solo in the black Supermarine, but the day joins in for the splash of blue

Time zones and night-and-day indicators

Night And Day, You Are The One

A long-distance relationship could definitely benefit from a world-timer watch or a GMT feature. And once you’re used to having your significant other’s time zone on your wrist, you might not need to be reminded whether it’s night or day where they are. However, it would still be a nice indicator of what their time is looking like. And so if it’s a time zone watch, why not go for one that has a day-and-night indicator as well! Sometimes it comes simply in the form of daytime and night-time colours on a two-tone GMT bezel, or on a 24-hour ring of a world timer, and sometimes it might just be a separate day-and-night display altogether. Whatever form it comes in, it will always complement the GMT or secondary time display, just like you always complement each other, even if you’re zones apart.

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This Frederique Constant Highlife Worldtimer presents all 24 major time zones on the dial. It was first launched in blue and then later released in green

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The time at the centre and the time zone at 12 o’clock need to be coordinated, and the rest of zones will become aligned with their correct time on the 24-hour scale

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The 24-hour scale is coloured dark and light to approximately show the night-time and daytime hours respectively

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The night-time hours are approximately from 6:00pm to 6:00am, while daytime is assumed to be the opposite

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Even this Oris Whale Shark Limited Edition features a day-and-night two-tone GMT bezel

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The day-and-night hues of the ceramic insert complement the shades of blue and grey on the dial that is textured to look like the skin of the whale shark

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The Czapek Place Vendôme features a GMT function at four o’clock on the dial, right opposite the tourbillon cage. In between the two, at six, is the day-and-night display

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This TAG Heuer was launched just last month at the LVMH Watch Week 2022. It’s the first modern-day Autavia with a GMT feature, and its bezel is coloured for night and day

Steel and gold

Opposites Attract

It’s a combination that doesn’t always work together. Sometimes you look at a steel-and-gold watch and you might feel like it’s a marriage of convenience or compulsion. You might not want to pair golden hues with silvery tones. It’s not always an instant match. However, when it works, it really works. With the right proportions, when one doesn’t overpower the other—or simply when one makes room for the other to shine—it could be just the perfect union.

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The key to making steel and gold work well together is to make sure the metals complement each other, even if they’re not in equal proportions. This Longines Master is a fine example

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In steel and 18-karat rose gold, this Longines features a silvery textured dial, with the hands and the brand emblem in a golden hue to complement the case and bracelet

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Similarly, the gold on this Carl F. Bucherer Pathos Diva is mirrored in the applied hour markers and hands

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The texture of the dial on the Pathos Diva also complements the filigree pattern in gold seen on the inner bezel and casebands of this automatic timepiece

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The steel and gold on this Bulgari Serpenti Tubogas is far more balanced, seen in alternating sections of the bracelet. The gold bezel on the steel case features diamonds flanking the dial

Diamonds and mother-of-pearl

Diamonds Are Mother-Of-Pearl’s Best Friend

This one is as ethereal as combinations go. A mother-of-pearl dial makes for a splendid canvas for a smattering of diamonds, studded diamond markers, or as a centrepiece for a circle of diamonds on the bezel. The incandescent quality of mother-of-pearl and its swirls complement the shimmer and sparkle of finely-cut diamonds, be it round-cut stones, or something more complex. It’s not unusual to even spot darker hues of the pearly substance romancing the white gemstones. This is a pair that was made to last, to transcend time itself. It is indeed a timeless romance—a union that can never go out of style.

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The mother-of-pearl really comes alive on this Omega De Ville Prestige Dewdrop timepiece, with the gold-set diamond markers complementing the applied Roman numerals

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The automatic chronometer movement with a co-axial escapement comes set in a 32.7mm red gold case, affixed to a red gold bracelet made of stunning dewdrop-shaped links

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Here’s a truly resplendent jewelled masterpiece that presents Bulgari’s jewellery-making expertise with splendour

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Called Allegra, this quartz timepiece comes in a 36mm 18-karat white gold case, with a mother-of-pearl dial, set with diamond markers and surrounded by diamonds on the bezel

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The watch is set with a total of 96 diamonds, two citrines, one amethyst, one peridot, two blue topazes, and two rhodolites. The blue alligator leather strap has a white gold buckle

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The Girard-Perregaux Cat’s Eye Sparkle really sparkles with diamonds paved on the central portion of the mother-of-pearl dial and the diamonds on the bezel

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And here’s a watch with a black mother-of-pearl dial. This gold Corum Admiral timepiece features gold-set diamond hour markers that complement the stones on the dodecagonal bezel

 

Bronze and green

Growing Old Together

From ageless old-timers to a younger romance, here are hues that made a go of it more recently, in their contemporary avatars anyway. It’s ironic really since this almost-sepia combination presents such vintage charm. They’re old souls like that, but with the energy of youth. The earthy quality of bronze is enhanced by rich leafy hues, as well as something brighter or far paler even. The more you see them together, the more sense they make. And with age, they grow more appealing still, with the patina of bronze and the fade of green complementing each other even further. Like fine wine, they grow better with time. Truly a match made in heaven, if there ever was one!

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The Rado Captain Cook goes back to the 1960s. Here’s a modern-day edition in bronze. It comes with a fabric strap as well as a strap in leather

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The green dial is complemented by the green on the unidirectional-rotating dive-timer bezel. This watch is water-resistant to 300m

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This is the Zenith Pilot’s Type 20 Extra Special in bronze. It presents classic aviation elements—large Arabic numerals, cathedral-style hands, and an oversized, onion-shaped crown

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Another standard aviation timepiece, this one is the Oris Big Crown Pointer Date, also with cathedral-style hands, Arabic numerals, a big crown, along with an analogue date function

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The aviation theme itself pairs well with the vintage-style appeal of green and bronze. Here’s the IWC Big Pilot’s Watch—a bronze update of the 43mm edition that was launched in 2021

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And here’s a contemporary classical timepiece—the Maurice Lacroix Pontos in bronze. And did you notice? It comes with a day display, but not without a date to go with it

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