The three watches Russell wore most in 2024 are…

Russell Sheldrake

This has been a pretty big year for me. I started this job back in February as our first employee in Britain, and since then, I’ve been on the whirlwind ride that has been launching Time+Tide here in the UK. While helping to build this amazing team here in the Ol’ Blighty has kept me busy, I have also somehow found time to do a spot of globetrotting. Travelling to the African continent for the first time on a holiday to Morocco with my partner, there have been countless trips to Geneva, a quick tour of A. Lange & Söhne in Germany, a brief skiing excursion in France with Richard Mille, a couple of quick journeys on the Eurostar to Paris with various brands. So I’ve hardly had time to let the grass grow as they say.

But in all of that frantic travel, I also had the time to add another watch to my collection, after which I made the horribly grown-up decision to stop buying any more watches until I’ve finally bought a house. And in making that decision, I have also announced that I will be parting ways with another of my watches to help fund my transition into becoming a homeowner. But enough of my financial woes – let’s get stuck into the three watches that got the most wrist time this year. And while I have been lucky enough to try on a lot watches that could have made this list if I were allowed to keep them, mainly that Louis Vuitton Tambour, I am very glad with the three that have kept me company over the last 12 months.

Oris Diver Sixty Five 36mm

This has been my daily beater for about half a decade now. The small diver from Oris has gone through all sorts of punishment in my day-to-day life and has accompanied me on endless adventures, whether it be hiking up mountains in Morocco, kayaking along the coast in Cornwall, or braving the commute from South East London to Chiswick every day. The smaller size fits my smaller wrists perfectly, and while it is a little thicker than some might light, it feels well proportioned.

It does feature a bronze bezel ring, and I quite enjoy seeing a bit of green gunky patina build up every now and then, especially after it’s been in the sea. And then as you turn the bezel this green dust rains down. But overall, its this tough timer’s relaxed aesthetic that keeps me coming back to it time and time again. Nothing is overcomplicating the dial, the small touches of a bubble crystal and (faux) riveted bracelet give it enough of a vintage feel without that being overbearing. The 100m water resistance has held true to its word over the years, and the Sellita inside has kept relatively good time for the amount of punishment I’ve put it through.

Tudor Submariner

You may have caught me talking about this watch while on a recent video hosted by Justin Hast. This is my birth year Tudor Submariner that has been the crowning glory of my collection for the past three years. It doesn’t come out as often as I would like, but I am doing my best to preserve it in the condition I bought it, as this will be the watch I eventually sell when I’m ready to buy a house. However, it will be difficult to part ways with, it was the first watch I spent over £1,000 on, and marked a shift in my collecting, as I moved towards vintage and neo-vintage models. This model is from either 1995 or 1996, and it is the last reference Tudor Sub that still holds Rolex components, which marks this out as quite a pivotal and transitional moment in Tudor’s history.

It is another small diver, as this is the mid-sized version, not the 40mm that you will see more often, and so I know it may look as though I have a bit of a theme going by this point, but I promise, my last watch could not be further from these two if it tried. I love this watch for its faded denim-blue bezel, very faint oil-slick patina on the dial, and how it manages to be an acceptable sports watch to wear with a suit. I’ll be sad to let this one go, but as I said, I’m having to make some very grown up decisions at this point in my life, and this Tudor is the embodiment of just one of those.

Universal Genève Gilt Shadow

I told you this wasn’t another mid-sized diver. I bought this watch back in February of this year to mark joining Time+Tide, and to fill the dress watch-shaped hole in my collection. I spoke about wanting this watch when Zach interviewed me in my first week on the job, and then I think I bought it the very next week, having seen it go up for sale at Kibble Watches. I had been searching for the right version of this watch to come to market for a long time, and I think I bought it at just the right time, although with hindsight I know I could have bought this a couple of years ago and saved a couple of hundred quid, but that’s the beauty of hindsight I guess.

This watch not only marked my joining this publication as Managing Editor, but it was also the watch I wore to my brother’s wedding that happened this summer, and I knew I was going to need something special to mark that occasion. From 1970, this vintage model held the crown as the thinnest automatic wristwatch in the world thanks to the wonderful 2-66 micro rotor calibre inside. While it may just look like a Patek Ellipse, especially after they released the model with a gold integrated bracelet this year, to me this watch has buckets of character that make it it’s own watch entirely. And while it may have been a mistake to buy a plated watch and plan to keep it forever, I’m still enjoying it right now and plan to for a long time to come.