The Time+Tide holiday gift guide: all the best gift ideas for watch enthusiasts

Jamie Weiss

The holiday season is upon us, which for the increasingly global Time+Tide team, means very different things. For our Australian team, it means time for sun, surf and barbeques. For our UK and US teams, though, it means breaking out the winter warmers and hoping for a white Christmas (or at least a break from the rain).

But no matter where you are in the world, we can help answer a question you’re no doubt asking yourself: what do you get for the watch enthusiast who has everything? I mean, more watches, obviously, but which ones? And more importantly, what about things that aren’t watches? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. I’ve assembled a motley list of watch and watch-related gifts that will help you solve all your horological gifting conundrums, regardless of your budget.

Casio Duro MDV107D-1A3

Watches are usually fairly lavish gifts to give during the holiday season, but this Casio Duro is a genuine stocking stuffer. Famously worn by Bill Gates, the Duro is an unpretentious, robust quartz-powered diver with a unidirectional Pepsi-coloured bezel and 200 metres of water resistance. It delivers maximum style and specs on a minimum budget, and is sure to be liked by both dyed-in-the-wool enthusiasts and total watch novices alike. Price: US$156 from the Time+Tide Shop

Bergeon 7812 Professional Grade Quick Service Watch Repair Kit

If you’re looking to step up and do a bit more work on your watches yourself – or know someone who would love to do so – this 18-piece quick service tool set is perfect for carrying out minor services on watches. Bergeon is the name in watch tools – they’re used by virtually all the Swiss luxury brands at both a manufacture and boutique level – so it’s proper stuff. Made in Switzerland, the tool kit is packaged in a hard plastic case that’s perfect for travel and has enough gear to help any watch aficionado easily change batteries, pop open casebacks, change or shorten bracelets or do even finer repair work. The coolest bit, though? The specialised Swiss Army knife/case opener that comes with the kit. How much more Swiss can you get? Price: US$300 from eBay

Molequin Smooth Calf Leather Straps

French watch strap maker Molequin has a deservedly glowing reputation among watch enthusiasts. They’ve also recently released a range of smooth calf leather straps, which are the perfect partners to any watch enthusiast’s dress watch. Molequin’s smooth calfskin, sourced from France, has been double-tanned and soaked in a mixture of oils to produce a buttery smooth, soft and supple leather. Treat your wrist this holiday season (or treat someone else’s!) with one of these straps. Price: US$122 from Molequin

AIS Collective ChronoPen Watch Cleaning Kit

No one likes wrist cheese, but you need to be careful with how clean your watch as not to scratch or damage it. That’s why Swiss firm AIS Collective’s ChronoPen Watch Cleaning Kit is such a great tool (as well as a great holiday gift for a watch lover): it’s a gentle yet effective product that’ll get your pride and joy looking box-fresh as we head into the new year. The kit contains a 30ml ‘cleaning pen’ containing their specifically developed cleaning solution and an extra fine brush head. It’s a clever design: the pen shape helps you be precise while cleaning, while the dense yet featherweight brush gets into all the hard-to-reach spots of your watch without damaging its case or bracelet. The kit also contains an extra-thick cotton polishing towel. The cleaning solution does not contain any aggressive chemicals or abrasives – it can be used on all case materials, including precious metals – and each ChronoPen is good for around 60 uses, which should last at least until next holiday season! Price: US$68 from the Time+Tide Shop

Tiffany & Co. Knot Single Row Bangle

A playful and contemporary take on an archival bow design from 1889, the Knot is one of Tiffany & Co’s most defining designs and an expression of love’s unwavering bonds. In time for the holiday season, Tiffany has launched a range of stylish “single row” Knot designs, and this bangle is the pick of the litter. Crafted from 18k rose gold and polished by hand for high shine, this unisex design features a hidden clasp that releases by pushing the knot motif downward. It looks great worn on its own or stacked with other bracelets (or watches) – and everyone loves opening a Tiffany blue box come gifting time. Price: US$5,400 from Tiffany & Co.

Porsche 911 Turbo S Christmas Ornament

The Porsche 911 is every watch lover’s favourite car – sorry, I don’t make the rules – and this Christmas ornament, modelled after the 992-generation 911 Turbo S, beats any Nativity set you might put up. I especially love the idea of strapping a Christmas tree to the top of your 911, but I wouldn’t be bold enough to do it myself. If you’re looking for a more perennial 911 model, Porsche Design also offers miniatures of the 911 Dakar caked in mud and the 992.2 Carrera S covered in snow, with skis strapped to its bonnet. Price: US$101 from Porsche Design

Raymond Weil Millesime 35mm

The Raymond Weil Millesime has been a game changer for the Genevan brand: a contemporary take on a sector dial that’s received many plaudits from enthusiasts and even won the Challenge Prize at 2023’s GPHG, the Millesime is easily the most exciting watch in RW’s current range and a perfect daily wearer. It’s become even more versatile as it now comes in a unisex and on-trend 35mm diameter, making it perfect for gifting to every sort of watch fan. The 35mm range encompasses a number of different looks, from silver dials with batons to blue dials with Arabic numerals; time-only models to moonphases and classic stainless steel cases paired with leather straps to gold PVD with full bracelets. Price: starting at US$1,895 from Raymond Weil

Bark & Jack Nylon Straps

Bark & Jack nylon straps, made by our friend (and YouTube phenomenon) Adrian Barker, are must-have accessories for any watch enthusiast. Indeed, putting one’s watch on a Bark & Jack has become somewhat of a rite of passage for many collectors – as well as a signal to other watch aficionados of your aficionado status. It helps that Bark & Jack straps are easily some of the most comfortable in the business while also being very competitively priced. These are a no-brainer for holiday gifting – they’re totally perfect for Secret Santa. Price: US$45 from the Time+Tide Shop

Digital Calipers

I had to include these digital calipers as not only are they cheap and cheerful, but they’ve been extremely useful in the Time+Tide Discovery Studio, too. These digital calipers can easily measure depth, step, outside diameter and inside diameter through two sets of jaws which crucially for watch applications are made from plastic, meaning you won’t damage your watch (to quote Russell: “don’t get metal ones and scratch your watch like a mug!”) They’re a great stocking stuffer for fastidious watch nuts. Price: US$9 from Amazon

Leica Q3 43

From the extremely affordable to the “you’re definitely not on the naughty list” tier… One of the best gifts you can give a watch enthusiast is a decent camera to take photos of their watches with, and the Leica Q3 43 is a more than decent camera. A compact full-frame offering from the esteemed German brand (Leica often gets called “the Patek Philippe of cameras”), its 43mm standard focal length mirrors the natural perception of the human eye, making the Q3 43 perfect for street, travel and event photography as well as capturing expressive portraits. It’s also particularly good at taking photos of watches, as you can use its excellent digital crop feature to simulate different focal lengths. Design-wise, it’s a beautiful thing, and it’s easy to live with, too, thanks to the Leica FOTOS app. Price: US$6,895 from Leica

Norqain Wild One

The cutting-edge Norqain Wild One features high-tech construction in a bold, lightweight sports model, and is the perfect watch to gift to a particularly active watch enthusiast. Designed with Jean-Claude Biver on the board of advisors, the Wild One line begins with its innovative case construction. The multi-layered design features their proprietary Norteq carbon fibre composite for the 42mm outer cage, secured to an inner titanium and shock-absorbing rubber structure. The laser-cut black dial has a multi-level effect that must be seen, and upon closer inspection, consists of an intricate pattern that features the interlocking double “N” of the Norqain logo in three layers. The rest of the specs inspire the confidence of all Norqain timepieces, with the Kenissi-made NN20/1 chronometer movement, 200 metres of water resistance, screw-down crown, and sapphire crystals front and back. Price: starting at US$5,490 from the Time+Tide Shop

A Man & His Watch by Matt Hranek

To quote Tim Minchin, “like most gifts you get, it was a book” – but there’s no reason to get the watch lover in your life a boring tome this holiday season. Written by watch collector, photographer and NYC men’s style fixture Matt Hranek, A Man & His Watch catalogues 76 of the world’s most coveted and historically significant timepieces – such as Paul Newman’s Daytona and Churchill’s Tiffany watch – Hranek having travelled the world conducting first-hand interviews and diving into exclusive collections to gather their never-before-told stories, complete with stunning original photography of every single piece. Price: US$55 from the Time+Tide Shop

Doxa SUB Cufflinks

Ties, socks and cufflinks are classic gifts for men this time of year – but don’t get him boring cufflinks, get him these fun Doxa cufflinks instead! Modelled after the brand’s famous SUB range of dive watches, they come in multiple classic Doxa colours like Professional Orange and Sharkhunter Black; include the iconic decompression scale bezel, miniature painted hour markers and the Doxa logo at the centre; and you can even rotate them like you’d rotate a bezel, or interchange different coloured ‘dials’ for different outfits. These are a perfect gift for the die-hard Doxa fan, or the desk diver who’s required to be suited and booted for the office but wishes they were in the water instead. Price: US$330 (individually), US$1,280 (complete set of 7 colours) from Doxa

Blok 33

This holiday gift guide was mostly assembled with adults in mind, but I thought it might be nice to throw in a horological gift for kids, too. Designed to help young’uns tell the time, the Blok 33 might be made of plastic (a Swiss bio-polymer), but it’s distinctly less disposable than other children’s watches and is built to withstand the rigours of play. Indeed, its entire design revolves around ease of use, such as integrated lugs for toughness; a left-hand-mounted, screw-down crown that won’t dig into growing wrists and helps offer 100 metres of water resistance; sector-shaped numerals and bezel markings that make measuring time a cinch… Most of all, it just looks cool – adults wouldn’t be embarrassed to wear it either. Price: US$204 from the Time+Tide Shop

Wolf Earth Triple Watch Roll

Every watch lover needs a watch roll (or three), but not all are made equal (or ethically). This triple watch roll from Wolf’s Earth collection, which was inspired by Wolf CEO Simon Wolf’s passion for sustainability, has a vegan apple leather exterior combined with recycled satin jacquard lining in Wolf’s Signature pattern with coordinating matte metallic hardware. As the name implies, it offers storage for three watches but also boasts a hidden capsule with three compartments for other valuables. Perfect for travel. Price: US$330 from the Time+Tide Shop

Farer Eddington

Named after influential English astronomer, physicist, and mathematician Sir Arthur Eddington, this hand-wound beauty with a massive moonphase display and a charming pink copper dial is a classy watch gift from a fan-favourite microbrand. Speaking from experience, I find watches with unusual-coloured dials (basically anything that’s not a blue, black, white or silver) make for great gifts as they’re the sorts of watches that people often don’t buy for themselves, but absolutely adore when they get one from a loved one. Price: US$1,932 from the Time+Tide Shop

Greubel Forsey: The Art of Invention by Michael Clerizo

A bit of a niche gift idea, this is one for the real WIS. Written by veteran watch journalist Michael Clerizo, this is the untold story of how two rebellious master watchmakers, Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey, learned their craft, met, established a brand, and in a few years created some of the most astonishingly beautiful and mechanically sophisticated timepieces ever made. Today, they are recognized as the makers of the most uncompromising (and expensive) timepieces in the world. A great read for even those unfamiliar with the Greubel Forsey brand. Price: US$150 from Amazon

Swatch Flik Flak x Monbento

Here’s a kooky collab that’s another perfect watch gift for kids this holiday season. Swatch’s Flik Flak label has teamed up with bento box makers Monbento on a pair of watches that come in a stylish set with a matching lunch box. It comes in ‘Dino Diner’ (pictured above) and ‘Berry Nice’ flavours, with each watch boasting a fabric strap, quartz movement and robust plastic case, while the bento box includes two dividers and a robust fabric strap to keep things closed. Beats the beat-up G-Shock and Vegemite sandwiches in a plastic bag that I used to go to school with… Price: US$62 from Swatch

Tropic Straps

Often imitated but rarely replicated, Tropic was one of the first Swiss firms in the 1960s to manufacture rubber watch straps, with the brand becoming popular both as an aftermarket choice and as an OEM. Since the 60s, the design has been somewhat genericised, but genuine Tropic straps are a cut above your average ‘tropic’ or ‘tropical’ strap. These soft yet durable rubber straps come in a wide range of colours and are a great last-minute Christmas present for the watch lover in your life. The best bit? Because they’re made of natural rubber, they smell like vanilla. Put a watch with a Tropic strap in a draw and you’ll soon have all your wallets and keys smelling like vanilla. Nice. Price: US$99 from the Time+Tide Shop

Detrash Cali

I don’t know about you, but I always feel mildly guilty every holiday season about all the waste generated by gift wrapping – and let’s face it, a lot of gifts you get this time of year are often quite disposable. So, why not gift something that’s a bit more sustainable? Mechanical watches are an inherently sustainable product but the Detrash Cali, the eco-friendly microbrand’s first watch with a California dial, is a cut above the rest in this regard. It’s a case made from 80% recycled 316L stainless steel, a two-piece NATO strap made from recycled ocean plastic produced by award-winning Swiss firm #tide and comes shipped in a pouch made with offcuts from clothes manufacturing. Reuse some wrapping paper and pop this under the Christmas tree. Price: US$509 from Detrash

The Sickness Card Game

Shameless plug alert, but I waited until the end of this gift guide for it, so forgive me. When Time+Tide was founded in 2014, we just wanted to start a new kind of conversation about watches. Less pretentious watch stories. More honest watch stories. A new, energised angle on things. And 11 years later, while some things have changed, our addiction to stories about watch addiction is potentially even worse than it was in the beginning. This is why we made The Sickness – a game for watch addicts. For ourselves. As seen on A Matter of Time, think of The Sickness as a cross between Cards Against Humanity and a therapy session, just all about watches. Filled with spicy questions about watch collecting and culture, it’s the ideal horological icebreaker and Christmas gift. Price: US$20 from the Time+Tide Shop