(#defsoneanddone) One & Done: The Top 20 Watch Brands of 2022 (& the one model I would own forever from each)

Foreword

Hello, Crunchers! Thought I’d introduce something a little different for you to feast your eyes upon today – To get through the humdrum of work, I devised a simple quick-fire game with a coworker to help pass the time more effectively.

If my manager is reading this, know we had already done every other task we needed to do before getting to this point. Love you, don’t fire me xoxo

The premise is as follows: If you could own a watch from [insert watch brand here], but you could only own that watch, from that brand, forever, which would you pick?

This devolved into us throwing watch brands at one another until either we ran out, or work was over. I enjoyed playing the game, so I decided to share my thoughts and reasonings with all of you guys!

One problem – How do I collate all my intrusive thoughts into a readable format that people will enjoy, and have them think of me as a guy that loves watch design instead of the second potential coming of the Unabomber?

My solution came in the combined forms of Teddy Baldassarre, Time+Tide Watches and GQ Australia. All three creatives had, in one way or another, ranked the top 20 watch brands by revenue generated in 2022.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1PvBADfQ0s

Thus, I decided to painstakingly go through all 20 brands with that game from work in mind, and here it is in all of its very unedited and unfiltered glory. I hope you enjoy!

_For readability’s sake, decided to cover one brand a day. So today it's Bvlgari, it'll be Herm_ès in the next, and so on and so forth. Tell me your thoughts, and what watch from Bvlgari would you wear forever? Follow the hashtag #defsoneanddone for more of these!

#20: Bvlgari – Roma Finissimo 40th Anniversary

Nowadays I firmly believe that Bulgari (or Bvlgari, for whoever really cares about the spelling) is still underrated when it comes to their watchmaking game. Originally a Greek-founded Italian jeweller in 1884, Bulgari is no spring chicken to the horology arena, having released their first watch model, titled Serpenti, in the 1940s. However, though the Serpenti made significant inroads for Bulgari in both horology and technical innovation, it is not nearly my favourite Bulgari watch model.

Enter the Bulgari Roma Finissimo 40th Anniversary – Inspired by a little-discussed design from my username-sake Gerald Genta himself, the 1975/6 original took much of its inspiration from Ancient Roman coins, which the 2015 edition of the watch carries on proudly. At 41mm case diameter and just over half a millimetre thick (5.15 to be exact), to me, this watch just bleeds elegance and class, both in my hands and on the wrist.

In the 21st Century, it feels significantly harder to commit to a minimalist watch design without any other shapes to break up the aesthetic and appease the eye.

Nomos, Junghans, and [insert other Bauhaus brand name here] being the obvious exceptions to the rule.

But even under such scrutiny the Bulgari Roma Finissimo still perseveres with nothing but two Arabic numerals, stick hands and indices, a small second subdial at 7 o’clock and the name engraved on the bezel; And that manual wind BVL128/9 movement visible from the display case-back is also no slouch to look at, either. I have had the pleasure of being able to handle the pink gold variant myself, which is the one Bulgari watch I would be happy to wear forever.

Again, tell me your thoughts! What do you like about this watch? What do you hate about it? What Bvlgari watch would YOU personally want if it's the only one you could have? Be sure to follow #defsoneanddone to keep up!