Three mechanical watches rocking the retro remake trend

I have a problem. I cannot stop watching terrible movies. I purposely select a bad film, suffer immensely while watching it and then brutally admonish myself when it’s finished. One recent trial by ordeal was Death Wish , a remake of Michael Winner’s 1970s classic with Bruce Willis subbed in for Charles Bronson as the righteous vigilante. Being the charitable sort, I’ve suffered this film for you, so I can emphatically tell you to not watch it. Ever. It’s awful and kinda offen­sive, much like the original.

Now this isn’t a set up to say that all remakes are terrible and then segue into watches where remakes are de rigueur. No, the point I’m making rather clumsily is that re-making the past isn’t a great idea if it was originally awful. On the other hand, if the source material is good, then it’s hard to fail. There, now for watches!

One of the better remakes launched this year is the Zenith Pilot Type 20 Chronograph Ton-Up. Zenith has been a bit of a dumpster fire in terms of manage­ment until recently, but now the brand seems to finally have its house in order and is raiding its rich archive for inspir­ation.

The Ton-Up is inspired by, rather than a faithful reimagining of, a watch from 70 years ago and it retains the big brash fly-boy design housed in its 45mm steel case. Zenith has upped the vintage quotient here by using aged steel for the case, retro numerals and an oversized onion crown, all to the watch’s credit. Inside, it’s Thoroughly Modern Millie, with an excellent El Primero 4069 movement with 50 hours of power reserve. Features include a nifty column wheel chronograph that you will never use and water resistance up to a 100 metres. The Ton-Up is priced at HK$58,900.