Fashion is just confusing. A quick flick through any men's magazine and one is inundated with the supposed hot new trends, this year's must-haves and the colour that will define the season. Is grey still the new black? Or is it back to brown? Navy blue, perhaps? Unsurprisingly, it's not hot pink but we may have come full circle and, rather absurdly, black is once again the new black. Everyone from John Varvatos to Burberry and Yves Saint Laurent have jumped on the black bandwagon as the colour of summer 2011. Not the most practical colour in blazing sunshine, but when was fashion ever practical?
To complement the black shirt, shorts and shoes, the black wristwatch is a must and, lucky for you, there are three pieces that have caught this columnist's eye. First up is Longines' Twenty-Four Hours (right), an automatic navigator's watch. It's a welcome reissue of the Longines watches that Swissair navigators used to wear in the 1950s. The most striking thing about it is the matt-black dial, which features 24 white Arabic numerals, coated with Super-Luminova, which make reading the watch in poor light easier. The 24-hour watch has a 'railway track' design outer circle that signifies the minutes. The stainless-steel case is rather large at 47.5mm in diameter, with an oversized onion-shaped crown. Just below the crown is a push button that opens the cover to reveal the transparent back. The inside of the back cover is engraved with details about the timepiece's heritage as well as the issue number. Retailing for upwards of HK$25,000, the look of the Longines Twenty-Four Hours is completed with a black alligator leather strap.
Nobody does black quite as well as Rado and, if you're in the market for something a bit more techy and forward-looking, then look no further than the Ceramica Digital Automatic (right). With an eminently affordable price tag of HK$22,000, the timepiece taps into the trend for ceramics in watchmaking. Its hi-tech black ceramic bracelet is scratch-proof and can withstand ludicrous temperatures. The case is made of steel and with the negative LCD display (a dark background with light-coloured elements) alongside the squarish design there's a certain 80s throwback feel to the watch. The Swiss-made automatic move- ment is proudly on display through the transparent caseback - a novelty among digital watches. Despite it lacking a back light, the Ceramica Digital Automatic won the international Red Dot Design Award this year.
Looking to splurge? If the answer is yes, then Audemars Piguet has just the watch for you. Costing somewhere north of HK$2 million, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Tourbillon Chronograph (right) is as fancy and action-packed as the name suggests. The dial is black with white-gold hour markers and hands, and there is a rather brutal opening at the six o'clock position that reveals the tourbillon. The watch also features a column wheel chronograph while the transparent caseback offers a sneaky peek into the heavy-duty movement within. The satisfyingly bulky case is made of forged black carbon and comes with a black rubber strap.
