Just like new parents have a large number of bad photos of their children on their phones, watch collectors have a large number of bad photos of watches on their phones. The number of photos is large because we love watches like new parents love their children, and the reason they are bad is because it is actually quite hard to take a good photo of a watch. The myriad of polished surfaces catch every reflection you don’t want, and the lighting is either too bright or too dark, leaving you with about a 5% success rate of Instagram-publishable pictures. This is the reason (apart from the fact he’s a great bloke) that we love our photographer Jason so much, as he has proven himself more than capable of taking a very nice watch photo. While he’s captured literally tens of thousands of watch photos in 2019 — a fact that makes picking any favourites a challenge — I did some digging in the archive to find this modest selection that were my personal favourites from this year.
TAG Heuer Monaco V4 Platinum
The tiny belts that connect the barrels and gear train.
Bulgari Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT
While the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT broke the record for the thinnest automatic chronograph movement ever, you can still see the way the case facets and dial add some visual depth, which is often lost in ultra-thin watches.
anOrdain Model 2
The flecked mossy enamel is hard to get tired of looking at.
Vacheron Constantin Les Collectionneurs – Silver Pocket Watch from 1942
A hallmark on the crown-stem of a Vacheron Constantin pocket watch. Shaped like a duck, which was the official Swiss hallmark to signify 925 silver.
Details of the same Vacheron Constantin silver pocket watch, showing the Arabic numerals with exaggerated serifs printed on the crisp enamel dial.
Hublot Classic Fusion Ferrari GT
Thoroughbred.
Louis Vuitton Voyager Automatic Flying Tourbillon
It’s easy to see that the expertise of Louis Vuitton extends beyond the purely technical elements of watchmaking.
