Now I am sure that this will be seeing a lot from various watch publications over the coming weeks. Needless to say this is without a doubt (no biase obviously) is the best one... As we all know the festive period is without a doubt the perfect time to give your signifcant other, brother, sister, mate, favourite watch blog editor, an awesome watch related gift! So I have searched far and wide to bring to you all a list of my top five gifts! And yes a couple of these are from friends of mine within the space, but I have put them in because they are genuinely awesome presents, nothing else... And also just for your information, if there are any of my family and/or friends reading this article these are by no means present suggestions (they really, really are), right, on with the list??
1. A custom watch bracelet from Creodesignwatches
Now if you do not know who Creodesignwatches is, then stop reading this article, go onto instagram, search him, gawp in dismay at the awesomeness of what he is doing, then come and pick this article up again. He is most famous for taking watches such as Omega Speedmasters and Seiko SKX's apart and modding the dials, hands and chapter rings with a paint splat effect. It may be slightly polarising for some purists, however I think it is very cool indeed, and I will be getting something from him at somepoint. Recently, he put an instagram story up detailing an experiment he was trying in which he took pieces of watch movements and made them into bracelets, even adding the option of customising them in his signature fashion. He put a poll to his followers about whether this would be a product they would be interested in buying and as you can iamgine, the idea was lapped up like warm milk. HE has now started to make them more regularly and with various different options in terms of colour of cord, paint spatter or not, and which movement part you would like, and even the manufacturer that the piece is from. Now I am a bracelet wearer, so for me this is awesome, for you or your significant other it might not be as much? But as a way to accessories your watch, you have to admit this is pretty awesome.
The two current watch bracelets from Creo Design Watches... You have the ability to choose the paint colours and thread colour, giving it a real personal touch...
2. A Bark&Jack Nato strap
Now I could not write this article about cool gifts for watch nerds without mentioning at least one watch strap now could I?? And this one is particularly cool as it comes from a good friend of the blog, and all round nice guy, Adrian a.k.a Bark&Jack. He has recently come out with his own line of nato straps. And yes I know you are all probably reading this thinking that every man and his dog has come out with a line of watch straps recently. But, until you see Bark&Jacks nato straps and see the quality of the hardware and the straps themselves, you will not understand how good they are. They are beautifully made, come in a lovely array of colours, and come in lovely packaging with their own B&J watch pouch. They are also packaged personally by Adrian and his wife. This alone for makes them cooler than any other straps you can buy, getting a personal experience is so important for me, and thats why these straps have made it onto my list! This is why our own Calum Moore has purchased one.....
The four current iterations of the Bark&Jack Nato straps, which our editor Cal recently got as an early christmas present!
3. A vintage framed watch advert
Now this is a cool gift that you can completely customise yourself. If you go onto Ebay, or even Google and type in vintage or old watch adverts, you will be inundated with website who sell them! These can be picked up for next to nothing, put in a nice frame and voila! You have a lovely gift that can be hung on the wall for the watch geek in your life to admire. Another way to do it is to go to someone like www.adpatina.com. I found out about ad patina when listening to the fantastic podcast called The Grey Nato; if you have not heard of this podcast definitely check it out! But anyway, adpatina. adpatina is a website run by a chap called Nick. Nick hunts far and wide to find vintage watch adverts from magazines, and offers them on his website. He stocks the usual suspects such as Rolex, Omega, Audemars Piguet and so on, as well as some nerd favourites such as Seiko, Gallet, Tudor and Universal Geneve. The work that must go into sourcing these prints must be insane, as all of the ads are not only original, but in immaculate condition.
Just a few examples of some of the lovely prints stocked by www.adpatina.com...
4. A watch book full of glossy photos
Now, one thing we all love is watch photography, and more specifically watch porn! How perfect then would it be to have a nice, big and glossy book full to the brim with fantastic photographs of awesome watches, as well as stories from the owners, as well as being able to learn how watches are made by one of the biggest legends in the industry. IF you are reading this and think that is you, which you obviously do, then a lovely watch book like the five I have mentioned below would be perfect!
There really is nothing better than sitting in a comfy chair with a glass of whiskey, maybe a cigar, and a lovely glossy watch book...
5. A T&H Tee
I for one idolise Christian Zeron from Theo & Harris completely. I think it might be getting to the point where I actually am more obsessed with his shoe collection than the watches he sells. What can I say... I am equally as addicted to shoes as watches! Now obviously drooling over the lovely pictures that they put on their website is as far as most, myself included, can go. This is where their 'Goods Shop' comes in. Their range of watch straps, rolls and other accessories do look very well made as far as I can see! However, who is going to spend £290 on a watch roll?? What I do love that they do is their range of T-shirts and caps. They are all quality materials with original designs on, and as you can see below they are awesome! What a perfect gift to give to a watch lover.
A selection of the 'merch' availaible at the Theo and Harris website...
This is just a brief selection of some of the awesome designs they have. I don't know about you but I think the 'Royal Oak' Tee is definitely my favourite. These t-shirts from what I have seen are very well made, and for £28 for the 'Royal Oak' Tee, I really don't think that is too bad. I think this is a great way to show that you are of course a massive watch geek, but in a lighthearted manner.
I hope that gives you some inspiration if you are struggling to figure out what to buy for the watch geek in your life! I have been careful here to choose more stocking fillers, than extravegent presents. Fundamentally, if you want to spend into the hundreds on a present for a watch nerd, then the obvious choice is to just get them a watch!! Well thank you for reading this article geeks, apologies that it is a little late, but if you need a last minute present then hopefully these are some original ideas that you might not have considered!
Thank you all for your continued support, seeing the analytics and seeing people actually reading is what spurs us on to keep uploading regular content. Although we do not stick as ridgedly to our 'three uploads a week' schedule as we would like, we really believe that the articles that we do upload are not only topical and insighful, but also enjoyable for you guys, as that is our end goal here! We certainly enjoy reading them, and hopefully you will have a couple more articles to read before the year is out!
Felix Arnold
Editor & Co Founder