To quote the famous philosopher and potato crisp aficionado Gary "Plato" Lineker; "Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and, at the end, the Germans always win."
So the Germans, rightly, prevailed after destroying the Brazilians and getting over the line against the Argentines. To celebrate the win, and just to rub in how annoyingly good the Germans are at doing stuff, this week it's Deutschland uber alles, in a watchmaking sense, with plenty of bonus fussball allusions.
So first up we have the Franz Beckenbauer of German watchmakers, A Lange & Sohne, a company that, much like Der Kaiser, makes hard work look effortless. A Lange & Sohne's offerings are limited to a few thousand a year, so the price tags are perhaps a little too rich for your average man in the street. However, if you have saved up for that special watch, I fully and wholeheartedly recommend the new Zeitwerk Striking Time (right). Billed as the world's first mechanical watch with both jumping numerals and a visible chiming mechanism, the Zeitwerk Striking Time has all the technical chops you would expect from A Lange & Sohne, but it's the beautiful, simple-but-complex, form-meets-function nature of the design that gets me every time. The iconic large numeral display is what the eye is drawn to, but the real treats here are the exposed chiming gongs that sound on the quarter-hour, for a little added drama. Features are kept simple with hours and minutes as well as an up/down power-reserve indicator and a small seconds dial. The red-gold case is a rather large 44.2mm while, inside, is an in-house L043.2 calibre movement with a surprisingly anaemic 36-hour power reserve. The Zeitwerk Striking Time is priced at HK$886,000.
If A Lange & Sohne is Beckenbauer, then Glashutte Original is as raw, powerful and clinical as Der Bomber, the irrepressible Gerd Muller. The legendary German striker's heyday was in the 1970s and they must have been happy times indeed as Glashutte Original's Seventies collection is still one of the brand's most striking. The pick of the collection is the Seventies Chronograph Panorama Date, particularly the sunburst blue-dial version (right), which evokes the best of 70s design with modern technology. The steel case is a 40mm by 40mm rounded square and houses a dial rich in indicators, including those for hours, minutes, a large date, month and power reserve as well as two chronograph subdials measuring 30 minutes and 12 hours. As ever with Glashutte Original, movement geeks will be more than happy with the in-house calibre 37-02, which drives 70 hours' power reserve and features a 4Hz column wheel that can be seen through the transparent case back. Given the sporty nature of the watch, there are two strap choices - a retro steel bracelet and a modern rubber strap. The Glashutte Original Seventies Chronograph Panorama Date is priced at HK$127,500 for the rubber-strap version and HK$140,000 for the steel bracelet.
Finally, we have Nomos, a brand known for being sleek, efficient and technically immaculate, kind of like Arsenal and German midfield maestro Mesut Ozil (yes, I'm reaching here a little bit, but, come on, it's Ozil!). At this year's BaselWorld, the Lux Weissgold (below) caught my eye for its achingly minimalist design that somehow manages to retain a sense of masculinity, perhaps with the 40.5mm tonneau case and the use of white gold. Features, of course, are kept to a bare minimum, with even the small-seconds dial only readable with a good, hard look. The movement is a Deutsche Uhrenwerke calibre 2002 and features twin mainspring barrels that provide a beefy 84 hours of power reserve. The Nomos Lux Weissgold is priced at HK$150,000.
