The Young Gentleman and the time keepers

In this time and age, if you are not interested in the mechanical and precise engineering of a wrist watch, then it is just merely an accessory or jewelry for men. For most men, it would be likely to be the only piece of jewelry we would ever have until we get married (which for me, is way down the road). It is true that an affordable timepiece might not be as accurate as your imobilephone which automatically updates the exact time and date wherever you go. But lifting your wrist up instead of whipping your geekily phone out still make a clear difference of a gentleman. As we approach different stage of our lives, an appropriate wrist watch tells people as much about us as our hairstyle, obviously you don't see many 30 something businessmen with a pony tail. And at different times of our lives, the budget for a time keeper would be different too.

Taking out the younger teenagers (16-18), who's best choice would be a Casio G-Shock, cheap, durable, unbreakable (trust me, those are the dinosaurs of watches, i had one when i was 15, now 22, it's still running perfectly). We can classify the phases of a man's life into The Young Gent (18-21), The Fresh Grad (22-25), The Man (25-30), The Careerist (30-35), The Provider (35-40) and The Stateman (45+).

As the Young Gent, you are most likely to live on a pretty tight budget therefore you need something that doesn't cost you an arm and a leg. The budget at this stage should be under $500 for an affordable time piece. Such fashion brands as Armani, Calvin Klein and Marc Jacobs should be your aims together with the German watch maker Thomas Sabo. Swatch is also known for quality affordable time pieces.

As the Fresh Grad, you need something to tell your potential employers "Hello sir, i am here, i am adequate, i am professional, i am serious for a job". By now your disposable income should be increased enough for you to afford a watch with heftier presence, you can start looking at $500- $1500 watches. In this range we have bigger fashion brands and affordable Swiss brands such as Seiko, TISSOT and Hugo Boss.

Gathered enough experiences from your first job and now settled into the lower end of the corporate ladder, The Man is young enough to care about his appearance and wealthy enough to afford a $1500 - $4500 watch. From this point on, you should be able to look only at quality Swiss watches. Longines, Frederique Constant, Raymond Weil, Tag Heuer are a few names you should look into.


By the time you are 30-35, you are focus on your career, the little bump in salary might help you with a replacement of your old timepiece in the similar price range, maybe a little bit extra if you are feeling like treating yourself ($2000-$5000). Again, Longies, Frederique Constant, Raymond Weil and Tag Heuer fit into your descriptions nicely.

The next stage in a man's life is when he becomes the new daddy (35-40). You now know what to do, have respectable status and reputable image, some could say you are now a real man. You know values lie in quality and you start choosing your accessories in the premium range. You can get familiar with names such as Mont Blanc, Chanel, Baume & Mercier, Raymond Weil, Omega which are in the $3000-$7000 range.

If you played your cards right til you hit 45, you should be on the higher end of the ladder by now, enjoy your sunday golf.  When money is no object, you can now reward yourself with some Maurice Lacroix, Breitling, IWC. If you really cashed in, there is no stopping you from getting a Rolex, just keep in mind that in some third world countries, your wrist could be chopped off.

Owh and if you are still wearing G-Shocks by now, you either took a wrong turn (or many wrong turns) somewhere or you really don't know how to enjoy your life properly.

Brian Nguyen
- Not a player, not quite a douche, he's a gentleman-