The three watches Borna wore most in 2023 – Tudor, Seiko, Universal Genève

Borna Bošnjak

After my first year as a fully fledged member of the Time+Tide team, I can only say that I’ve delved deeper down the rabbit hole, dangerously teetering on the verges of horological degeneracy. After all, as much as this is a full-time job, it has fully enabled my obsessions. Though I ended up expanding my collection by quite a bit this year (to the tune of nine watches), the two watches I ended up wearing the most were pretty clear. You’ll notice I said two, as coming up with the third one was actually quite a bit of a challenge. With so many new releases coming across my desk, a few of them staying with me as longer-term reviews, I’ve actually found myself wearing watches that aren’t mine quite a bit. Add to that the many watches from my own collection that I try to rotate between, and the third spot on this list ends up a bit muddled.

Universal Genève Polerouter

After much deliberation, I’m pretty comfortable saying this was my third most-worn watch of the year. The Polerouter has been with me for more than three years now, and in the time I’ve had it, I feel like I only really began to properly appreciate it this year. It’s long been on the top of my list of most beautiful watches ever made, but I guess it just hasn’t translated to me wearing it as much before. To my surprise, it took to being worn enthusiastically, keeping good time and not really posing any issues along the way. I’ve actually previously considered selling it to fund a steel version, but the only way I could possibly ever see getting rid of it now is to help free up funds for a solid gold Polerouter De Luxe. What’s more likely to happen, however, is that I’ll finally get around to finding a period-correct crown for it next year.

Seiko Crown Special

The next watch on the list was a new arrival, and one with plenty of sentimental value as it was gifted to me by my partner. My wardrobe completely skewed to earthy tones this year, and this watch was just perfect for that. Not only do I absolutely love the dauphine hands and the champagne-to-pink-to-gold dial, but it’s a supremely comfortable watch, too. There’s just something about the way Seikos seem to wear on my wrist… On top of all that, it’s also an important watch for Seiko history nerds. It was the Seiko Suwa replacement for the Marvel, but, more importantly, it’s also the grandpappy of Grand Seiko, as the very first GS models were developed from the Crown Special. The only reason this one didn’t top the list is the fact that it is a vintage watch, making it unsuitable for any sort of wet weather conditions.

Tudor Black Bay 58 Gilt

Womp womp. I humbly concur that this is the obvious and most boring choice for the most worn watch in my collection, but that just goes to show how versatile the Black Bay 58 really is. Rather unfortunately, there’s not much more I can add. This is just the watch in my collection when I need to throw something on absentmindedly. I’ve certainly not babied it, and it picked up plenty of scratches over the year, along with a shining moment of stupidity, almost forgetting to take it off before a carnival high striker attempt.