The three watches Andrew wore most in 2020: Rolex, DOXA and Longines

Andrew McUtchen

I’d almost have to include a ‘ghost watch’ in my three, as there was a long period, at the height of our first lockdown, where I stopped wearing a watch altogether. Despite appearing on Zoom daily, often back to back, for a good few weeks, if not a month, I went bare-wristed. The reason? Two things: it was somehow uncomfortable to be keeping up a sense of normalcy when the weirdness of working out my days in a 1.5m x 2.5m pool shed was so real. Secondly, my relationship with material things went through all kinds of twists and turns in 2020. That’s a story for another day.

The comeback, which happened around May, was with the Rolex Yacht-Master, but more of that below. These were the three watches I wore most in 2020. A quick disclaimer that the watch I wore most in public in 2020 was the H. Moser & Cie. Pioneer Centre Seconds Midnight Blue dial, as that was my weapon of choice for LVMH Watch Week in Dubai at the start of a year that degenerated with dizzying speed. It was in all the pics from that great event, and very nearly could have edged in had things continued as they started.

Longines Avigation BigEye

My love for this watch is well documented, and somehow in 2020, when dressed with a Bond NATO, it made its way to my wrist time after time and for monthly stints. Its design speaks of functionality, and it hails from an era when the wearer was expected to be occasionally under fire. I am usually annoyed by asymmetry on a dial, but the cute little oversized sub-dial at three for me is a little wink of personality, and again functionality at all cost, that appeals. Super, super comfortably sized too for a pilot, which is why it’s ultimately such a stayer in my collection.

DOXA SUB 1200T

This is the watch whose strap never changes. The very second I saw it on our club Erika’s Originals MN strap, the most comfortable in my collection next to the Oysterflex, it was a lock and while it looks good on a range of options, it stays on the Time+Tide Club numbered strap. I wore this watch for mostly sentimental reasons. It reminded me of the Club, the community, and it reminded me how warped time in 2020 had become. Because, in January, right after Dubai (I think), Luke, Khando and I embarked on a national Australian tour with a small collection of DOXA watches to show – that it was in the same year as all else that happened is totally absurd. How could that be!   

Rolex Yacht-Master 40 in Everose Gold

One of the things you might have noted from the selection in general is that there are no watches on bracelets. This was one hunnit percent a result of declining COVID-19 dress codes. While I endeavoured to wear pants that were not of a tracksuit variety every day, the blazers, collared shirts and neatly pressed chinos soon made way for more casual options. And with kicks and jeans came a desire for a smart, but more stealthy watch to suit. Enter the remarkable Oysterflex, a chameleonic bracelet that manages to meld to the general environment remarkably well. It’s yet to be road-tested with black tie, but I aim to try that in 2021. Stay tuned.