Clash of the Titans
These titanium watches prove the super-durable metal is making headway in the world of high-end timepieces
A couple of weeks ago a rather remarkable auction took place at Sotheby’s New York: a collection of watches I doubt anyone previously believed existed. The unsurprising bit: we’re talking Patek Philippe, whose watches dominate the highest auction prices for timepieces (this cache of just 12 watches fetched a combined total of $7.1m, including almost $3m for one watch alone, a 1923 piece that’s the earliest known split-seconds chronograph for the wrist). Of interest here, though, was a collection within the collection, of five watches whose distinction is to have been cased not in gold or platinum, or even steel (the three metals in which Patek operates almost exclusively) but titanium.
Titanium has been a “fringe” metal in watches for some time now, creeping gradually closer to the mainstream, though it’s still a long way off. Nevertheless the Sotheby’s sale seemed timely, because even without Patek’s titanium one-offs – almost certainly made on special request for a highly-valued collector – the metal is having a bit of a “moment”. And the interesting thing is that it seems equally credible across a range of price points. On this page, for instance, you’ve got Breva’s Genie 02 at £88,000, but you could go as low as a couple of hundred quid for a titanium Tissot.
The principle benefit of a titanium-cased watch is that it’s very lightweight – about half the weight of steel. It’s also very tough and non-corrosive, meaning it’ll stand up to the same wear-and-tear as a steel timepiece. It has a different look too, and one that’s almost determinedly unglamorous: a dull, rainy-grey sheen that nevertheless can, in its weird way, seem almost exotic in the crisp, gleaming world of expensive wrist candy.
You’ve got added exoticism in the Breva watch in the fact that it has a built in precision altimeter that measures air pressure to give an altitude reading. Something to take up The Shard, non? Alternatively Omega’s oddball Speedmaster brings together titanium and red gold to conjure up a look designed to be reminiscent of a post-re-entry lunar capsule (remember, the Speedy was the first watch worn on the moon).
My pick of this handsome bunch, though, might just be the Panerai. The classic Big Watch – Panerai was a driving force in the chunky watch phenomenon of a few years back – suddenly becomes feather-light, while the dull lustre seems appropriate to the military origins of the Italian brand’s watches.