Year In Review: Editors’ Picks 2020

CROWN’s editors pick their favourites of the past year.

Alvin Wong, Editor-In-Chief
ROLEX Oyster Perpetual 41

Having long touted Rolex as a ‘first serious watch’ recommendation to anyone within earshot, yours truly is smacked with one of its best first-watch options yet. At below S$8,000, the new Oyster Perpetual 41 is among the brand’s most accessibly priced offerings. Housed in a new 41mm case with a brand new automatic movement, the watch is all class, finesse and understated charm. Everyone’s going crazy over the vividly coloured dial variants. While I’m not immune to that, my heart beats hardest for this silver dial version with gold trim on the hands and indices, which encapsulates the simple sophistication of this evergreen collection.

Melissa Kong, Managing Editor
VACHERON CONSTANTIN Égérie

As a ladies’ watch, this pretty much ticks all my boxes—it’s elegant, stylish, has an automatic movement, a sprinkling of bling, and, perhaps most importantly, is properly sized for feminine wrists. Far too often, I’ve found myself enamoured by a certain watch, only to find it’s oversized for my small wrist. And we’re not even talking about those 45mm watches. The Égérie, I’m pleased to note, sits perfectly on my wrist at both 35mm and 37mm, and is still large enough to be taken seriously (you know what I mean), while retaining that ultra-feminine vibe. I also love the off-centred aesthetic that’s a little bit cheeky but oh so graceful at the same time.

Leong Wong, Editor, Malaysia
TUDOR Black Bay Fifty-Eight Navy Blue

There are hundreds of shades of blue on the Pantone chart and choosing that one outstanding hue must have been a pretty tough job. Trust the team at Tudor to ace this one. This stainless-steel piece not only looks stunning on the wrist, but also feels comfortable, light and solid. Quite fantastic.

Shannon Hartono, Editor, Indonesia
LONGINES Avigation Watch Type A-7 1935

I’m in total agreement with Longines’ new CEO, Matthias Breschan, who said that the watch industry sometimes needs to revisit its past in order to move ahead. That said, Longines is one of the lucky brands with such as rich archive to constantly inspire it. One of the brand’s tribute creations that caught my attention in 2020 is the Avigation Watch Type A-7 1935. Inspired by a model from 1935 that was commissioned by the U.S. Air Force, this handsome watch sports a quirky tilted dial, precisely 40 degrees to the right, to help the pilots to read the time conveniently when their hands are on the plane’s yoke. What a great conversation starter.

Vu Ngoc Dung, Editor, Vietnam
BREGUET Tradition Dame Ref. 7038

Launched in 2016, the Tradition Dame is a sublime, feminised take on the Tradition watches that showcase the collection’s mainstay mechanical features such as the overcoil hairspring and signature pare-chute shock resistant system. I love this boutique-exclusive version in diamond-set rose gold case parades all that and more – featuring an iridescent Tahitian mother-of-pearl time display with engine-turned decoration against a movement plate and bridges treated in captivating dark brown.

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