5 watch photos that leave us with a goofy grin and make us grateful we’ve got wrists

Fergus Nash

Online shopping is an incredible thing. You can’t come into physical contact with every new watch release, so poring over press releases and store catalogues has become the only way we can analyse new watches. As a result, scrutinising images is now a hugely important part of our pre-purchase tool-set. Occasionally though, the quality of the images themselves is enough to distract us from taking in all the details, instead blowing us away as a whole composition. Here are examples of 5 watch photos that leave us with a goofy grin.

DOXA Sub 200 C Graph Aquamarine

The only wrist shot on my list belongs to the DOXA Sub 200 C Graph in Aquamarine. The minty-fresh pastel hue of the dial, textured strap, and bezel highlights is so clean and legible when viewed from a slight distance, and the pocket shot highlights the compactness of the case shape with its deceptively large diameter. The sub-dials are laid out satisfyingly far apart, keeping the dial from seeming too busy even with that level of increased detail.

Fratello x Oris Big Crown Pointer Date

Possibly the most gorgeous bronze-cased watch I’ve ever seen, the oxblood-meets-burgundy dial matched with gilt hands and dial printing oozes vintage charm and warmth. The white printed Arabic numerals ensure it remains easily legible, and the tones of the watch are allowed to shine with the rough grey-brown leather strap not being too distracting. This particular photo highlights the sparkling gold minute track, which along with the coin-edge bezel form some of my favourite elements of the watch.

Grand Seiko SBGJ237

This GMT from Grand Seiko made me question why no other GMT watches have asymmetric bezel segmentations, and the fact that it’s dripping with Seiko’s proprietary Lumibrite just makes it even more special. While the minimal amount on the hands and indices only gives you the essentials for reading the time, the green glow of the complex bezel design is just the right amount of busy once the lights go out.

Longines Heritage Military Marine Nationale

Macro shots are almost always guaranteed to be gorgeous, but when a watch is so hyper-focused on details as this Longines is, it reaches a whole new level. Being able to see the individual spots of ageing on the faux-patina dial is so satisfying, and the sheen of the blue hands contrasting with the black-filled lume really drives that 1930s feeling home.

My Great-Grandfather’s Omega Seamaster

While I admit I’m biased here, I do believe that this is a lovely photograph. Taken with my old phone on an overcast day, the wooden bench in a random South Melbourne park gave a wonderfully warm backdrop for the cream-dialled and gilt-handed Omega from 1958. While it looks a lot cleaner to the eye, this photo happened to pick up all of the patina on the gold and dial, especially on the seconds hand and the date window.