Hip to be Square (or Rectangular)

If you follow my daily WRUW posts, you'll notice that I'm a bit of a rectangular watch freak. I just love the aesthetics of non-circular watches. I honestly think that I would be content if all I have are rectangular watches. I don't even know what it is about them. Maybe it's the fact that they seem to suit me quite well, even if I do say so myself. It's the thin wrist, I think.

I didn't realize just how addicted I am to rectangular watches until I took an inventory. Here are the current rectangular watches in the collection:

1) Obviously the creme de la creme, the centerpiece of my collection, rectangular or otherwise, my grail, the 1990 Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Classique. No further elaboration will be given.

2) The other favorite rectangular watch. For all intents and purposes, as far as I'm concerned this is THE rectangular watch. It's a gold-plated 1970s Cartier Tank. I got this before the Reverso. Getting the JLC made the Cartier somewhat redundant. But it's a good problem to have. I enjoy looking for excuses why I should wear this instead of the Reverso when I'm in the mood for something classy and elegant.

3) The 1937 Hamilton Lester is an absolute gem of a watch and I should wear it more often. It's the smallest in the bunch. I love how it looks when I'm wearing it.

4) 1951 art deco Longines. I think in another life this would have been my favorite watch. It's so elegant and great-looking. But I'm ready to let it go because I really can't have too many watches. @jnjmoddesigns might own this soon since he's looking for a vintage Longines. Might being the operative word. We'll see if he still likes it when he sees it in person.

5) My other JLC, a 1940s art deco. This one looks more expensive than what I actually paid for it. Another great one that I don't think I'll be letting go, at least not for a long while.

6) Sanda Tank, which I got on a whim. I replaced that ridiculously awful strap that came with it with a mesh and now it looks great. At least I think so. Why get a homage, you ask? Well, I wanted a stainless steel Cartier Tank but I wasn't going to drop thousands of dollars on another Cartier Tank. I mean, I already have a Cartier Tank, why would I need two? I don't have that kind of money.

There have been other rectangular watches, of course. Here are the ones that, for one reason or another, I had to let go:

7) 1929 Elgin Legionnaire. @collectiblewatchesmanila love this more than I did so I gifted it to her for Christmas.

8 ) 1950s Gruen Veri-Thin Precision. A casualty of owning the Cartier Tank. I knew that if I wanted to wear something gold and rectangular I would go for the Tank all day, every day. So I sold this on the cheap.

9) Rotary Cambridge quartz. It came on a bracelet but I wanted a "Tank" so I put it on leather. It was too big, as far as I was concerned, to be a proper Tank alternative so I gave it to a staff of mine.

10) 1960/70s Sandoz. I bought this on a whim and decided to give it to another staff at the office who was getting into watches. She wears it every day ever since I gave it to her. I asked her if it's out of obligation (because she does own other watches) and I'm happy to report that it's not. She said she loves it. I hope she's telling the truth. I don't necessarily want to obligate anyone into wearing anything they don't want to.

11) Favre Leuba Tonneau. Not sure what year this is. I think 1970s. Another gold-themed rectangular dress watch that fell victim to the Cartier Tank's presence in the collection.

12) Finally, the one that started my rectangular watch obsession, the Omega DeVille Rectangular manual wind from the 1970s. I love this watch when I first got it. Now that I see it in pics, I think it's a bit too big but when I first got it I thought it fitted just right. I gifted it to the ex so it's gone. Oh well.

That's it.

What's next, you ask (not)? I think I want a Santos. Maybe. I'm seriously considering it. But I decided that I would not be getting something that expensive anytime soon. But, yeah, I think I'm going for a Santos. What else is there?