我
一直没有真正搞明白，为什么男人喜欢收藏手表，而不是海蓝色的拉夫•劳伦(Ralph Lauren Polo)马球男装、普德莱(Purdey)双管来福枪，乃至古董指南针。我向豪雅表英国公司(Tag Heuer UK)的董事总经理罗伯•戴弗尔(Rob Diver)提出这个问题，他的回答是，"男人不能挎手袋，因此手表是我们区别于他人的一种方式，是彰显生活方式的一种手段。"这个说法颇有道理。事实上，在奢侈品世界里，很少有东西能像手表一样激发起男人的兴趣。虽然现在有太多方式可以看时间──手机、iPad平板电脑、电脑、电视机──或许也正是因为有这么多的方式，一款精心打造的计时器才会令人如此痴迷，尤其是那些拥有贵族气质和珍贵历史的名表。
男人对于手表的挑剔程度，与女人对于鞋子、头发颜色或美容服务的在意程度相同。如果你对此心存怀疑，不妨去网上看看，那里有几十家专门从事手表购买和收藏的网站，相关的网络论坛也很活跃，男人在那里交换手表购买和收藏的经验和窍门。举例而言，在Watch-ID.com网站上，你可以分析某款名表的历史，准确定位其专业程度，找到哪些名人也戴这款表，甚至它曾在哪些影片中出现过。你知道史蒂夫•麦奎因(Steve McQueen)在1971年的影片《极速狂飙》(Le Mans)中戴的是一款豪雅摩纳哥(Tag Heuer Monaco)腕表吗？你知道猫王(Elvis Presley)在影片《蓝色夏威夷》(Blue Hawaii)中戴的是汉米尔顿(Hamilton)的探险(Ventura)腕表吗？
过去几十年来，手表的大小成为男人关心的一件事情，结合上面的例子，你应该不会对此感到惊奇。20世纪90年代，沛纳海(Officine Panerai)推出第一个民用系列，包括三款限量腕表，灵感来自于该公司在二战期间为海军突击队员设计的军用手表。这种手表很沉，表壳直径在40毫米以上，成为全世界几乎每个成功的银行家所青睐的腕表，与劳力士探险家(Rolex Explorer)、百年灵(Breitling Navitimer)和欧米茄海马系列（Omega Seamaster，邦德(Bond)在1995年的007影片《黄金眼》(Golden Eye)中佩戴的手表）并驾齐驱。
Rex Features
在影片《史密斯夫妇》中，安吉丽娜•朱莉(Angelina Jolie)戴着一块天梭T-TOUCH手表。
不过，花样翻新的手表并不一定就具备吸引力。说实话，我觉得大多数男人不知道什么叫"适可而止"。为迎合人们疯狂追求细节和工艺的心态，如今市面上一些名表在繁琐程度上简直做得让人瞠目结舌。如果你只是坐火车去上班，为什么要戴一块表面比747飞机仪表盘都要复杂的手表？我认识一些男人，手表比老婆还要重要，还有些人的手表经常时间不对或日期出错，因为他们过于相信手表的"自动上弦"功能。
手表对女性没那么大的吸引力，这可能与戴弗尔所说的手袋作用有关。对女人来说，手表只是生活情调中的一部分；但毫无疑问的是，她们对手上戴的东西也正变得越来越讲究。二十年前，女戴男表的潮流开始兴起；当然，好莱坞也起了推波助澜的作用。在《人鬼情未了》(Ghost)中，女主角黛米•摩尔(Demi Moore)戴了一块很大的手表，这是我印象中电影里第一次出现这样的场面。本来这只是"我偷穿男友上衣"的一种古怪暗示，但很快成为彰显个性的标志，女性开始为自己选购男表，劳力士的蚝式男表(Oyster)和欧米茄的海马300米潜水计时表(Seamaster 300 M Chrono Diver)依然属于最受女性欢迎的腕表之列。
手表制造商顺应这一潮流推出"女用男表"，但起初的做法过于简单。戴弗尔说，"他们只是简单地把男表拿过来，在表壳上镶上一圈钻石，以为这样就可以拿去卖给女人。"他说，虽然目前市场反映出女性对大尺寸手表的兴趣，但"女人对自己想要什么非常清楚──她们不仅想要一款表壳直径约40毫米的手表，还希望做工精细，款式高雅，而且对这些方面的要求可能要超出男人的普遍标准。"
女性对另一传统男表品牌柏莱士(Bell & Ross)的兴趣激增，因此该公司在2008年专门推出针对女性的BR S系列腕表，将其经典款BR01男表的表带缩短以适应女性手腕，配备比男表小一些的39毫米表壳，并加入黑白陶瓷工艺和钻石点缀。柏莱士公司销售主管法比安.德诺南柯特(Fabien de Nonancourt)说，"我们注意到女性消费者正在放弃那些女性化、尺寸较小的手表，转而喜欢大一点的手表。"他表示，最受女性青睐的男表包括BR03系列和BR01系列。
"女戴男表"的现象也蔓延到时尚界。近十几年来，迪奥(Dior)、路易威登(Louis Vuitton)和香奈儿(Chanel)等时尚品牌都很重视推出自己的腕表产品，聘请手表制作大师，购买或创立自己的瑞士手表制造厂。这三大品牌不仅有传统一些的女性风格腕表，还都成功地推出了宽大厚实的男式女表──迪奥的VIII系列腕表，路易威登的Tambour Diving潜水表，还有香奈儿的J12系列腕表。豪雅公司的戴弗尔说，在公司以钢和陶瓷材质推出一级方程式系列(Formula One)女性腕表（但有很浓重的男性风格）后，他们很惊讶地看到，公司一直没办法满足强劲的市场需求。
德诺南柯特说道，"如今，女人不愿意借男人的手表戴，她们想要属于自己的一款。"
为什么女性喜欢在纤细的手腕戴上一款沉甸甸的手表呢？
在沛纳海的销售收入中，女性顾客占了15%，但公司不为女性顾客打造专门的产品，首席执行长安杰罗•白纳迪(Angelo Bonati)对此有自己的说法。他说沛纳海在英国推出产品前，对英国女性做了一项调查，问她们，"如果你梦到自己戴着一块沛纳海腕表，当时是怎样的一个情景？"大多数回答是这样的，"我在梦里一丝不挂，而自己手腕上大大的沛纳海腕表能够保护我。"
下面是我认为最适合女性佩戴的几款经典男表：
宝玑(Breguet)的Classique Automatic 5197ba系列机械男表：典雅华丽，不仅外型好看，内在也一样精雕细做。
汉米尔顿的爵士大师系列方型腕表(Jazzmaster Square)：纯正的美式经典，时尚，且微微带有高科技的风格。
百达翡丽的Aquanaut 5164A旅行时间表：终极的运动装腕表，适合搭配从比基尼到"巴黎世家"(Balenciaga)时装的各种款式的衣服。
万国表(IWC)的葡萄牙计时自动腕表(Portuguese Chrono Automatic)：航海风格，但卓越不群，设计极尽简约和清晰。
欧米茄的蝶飞系列腕表(De Ville Hour Vision)：自信十足的男款，戴在手腕内侧，表带和带扣冲外，达到最佳的表现效果。
TINA GAUDOIN
（本文版权归道琼斯公司所有，未经许可不得翻译或转载。）
I've never really understood why men collect watches rather than, say, navy-blue Ralph Lauren Polo shirts, Purdey double rifles or even antique compasses. When I put the question to Rob Diver, managing director of Tag Heuer UK, his answer伟'Men can't wear handbags, so a watch is our way of differentiating ourselves, of making a simple style statement'伟did have a certain ring of verity about it. In fact, few things in the luxury-goods world excite the attention of men like a watch. Despite, or maybe because of, the plethora of alternative time-telling options伟cellphones, iPads, computers, TVs伟the allure of an intricately crafted timepiece is compelling, particularly when it has a tony brand name with a venerable past.
Diver's theory goes at least some way to explaining why buyers have been willing to pay the sky-high prices of the past decade, particularly for mechanical watches; Patek Philippe's Platinum World Time watch from 1939 sold for more than $4 million at an auction in 2002, making it one of the world's most expensive timepieces, while their Sky Moon Tourbillon 5002P, made from 686 parts, costs a mere £1.3 million. There's no established figure or requirement attached to the ideal of a 'luxury watch,' but to me, a watch伟or anything else that's not an absolute essential for living伟becomes a luxury item when one feels one has to stretch to afford it (or simply can't afford it). My own straw poll puts that figure at roughly anything above £1,500. It helps, of course, if the watch is Swiss, the nation universally acclaimed as having the world's best watchmakers. And by Swiss I mean (and the Swiss watchmakers mean) that the watch has a Swiss movement, or mechanism, set into its case in Switzerland by a Swiss manufacturer.
There's a persnickety approach to watches on the part of men that equates to a female specificity about shoes, hair color or beauty treatments. If you are doubtful, check out the dozens of websites out there dedicated to watches and watch collection, with thriving online communities of men swapping tips and trivia. On Watch-ID.com, for example, you can analyze a watch brand's history, pinpoint the levels of expertise on offer and identify celebrity wearers and even the movies a particular watch has appeared in. Did you know that Steve McQueen wore a Tag Heuer Monaco in the 1971 movie 'Le Mans,' or that Elvis Presley wore a Hamilton Ventura in 'Blue Hawaii'?
Given the aforementioned circumstances, it won't surprise you to learn that size has, in the past few decades, become an issue where timepieces and men are concerned. During the '90s, Officine Panerai's first commercial collection offered three limited-edition models inspired by watches the company created for World War II navy commandos. The weighty watches, with their 40-plus-millimeter-diameter casings, became a favorite of seemingly every successful banker on the planet, alongside the Rolex Explorer, the Breitling Navitimer and the Omega Seamaster (Bond's choice since 1995's 'Golden Eye').
It's easy伟and probably pretty accurate伟to make the link between watches with an adventurous or military heritage (Breitling has a long history with aviation; Sir Edmund Hillary was wearing a Rolex when he summited Mt. Everest in 1953) and the aspirations of the men that wear them. You may, for example, sit at your desk all day trading stocks or running a FTSE 100 company, but what you'd really like to be doing is scaling a mountain, exploring the seabed or crossing one of the poles with only a team of huskies for company.
Just because a watch has bells and whistles doesn't make it attractive, though. Between you and me, I'm not at all sure that most men recognize when 'enough is enough.' Emboldened by the frenzy for detail and gadgetry, some of the watches on the market today produced by tony brands are frightful. Who needs more dials than the instrument panel on a 747 when one is simply taking the train to work? I know men who are more scared of their watches than their wives, men whose watches constantly read the wrong time and date because they are simply too overwhelmed by the technology to 'have a go.'
Watches haven't captured the female imagination in quite the same way, chiming with Diver's comment about handbags. For women, watches are only part of their style story伟but there is no doubt that they are increasingly picky about what they wear on their wrists. The trend of females sporting men's watches caught on two decades ago. This was, of course, helped by Hollywood. My first memory of seeing a large watch on a female in a film was the men's watch Demi Moore wore in 'Ghost.' What began as a quirky 'I stole my man's sweater' type of idea quickly became an individualist style statement, with women buying men's watches for themselves (Rolex's Oyster and Omega's Seamaster 300 M Chrono Diver still are among the most favored).
Initial attempts by watch manufacturers to ride the trend's coattails and create 'men's watches for women' lacked sophistication. 'It used to be that taking a men's watch and sticking a load of diamonds on the bezel was all that some brands thought was necessary to sell a man's-style watch to a woman,' says Diver, who adds that the current market reflects the female interest in larger watches. 'Women are very discerning about what they want伟it's not just about the 40mm size; women still want a level of sophistication and elegance that perhaps men would not require.'
At Bell & Ross, another traditional men's watch brand, female interest grew so significantly that in 2008 the company launched the BR S collection in response, adapting their classic BR01 to a women's wrist with a smaller case of 39mm, and using black-and-white ceramics and diamonds. 'We noticed that women were abandoning feminine, small timepieces in favor of oversized models,' says Fabien de Nonancourt, sales director at Bell & Ross. According to de Nonancourt, female favorites from his men's stable include the BR03 and the BR01.
The 'men's watch for women' phenomenon didn't escape fashion houses either. Over the past decade and a half, brands like Dior, Louis Vuitton and Chanel have all become 'serious' about watches, employing master watchmakers and buying or opening their own Swiss workshops. All three brands have successfully launched wide-gauge, chunky, men's-style watches. (see Dior's VIII day range, Louis Vuitton's new Tambour Diving watch and Chanel's J12 collection), as well as smaller, more traditionally feminine models. At Tag Heuer, Diver says the company was surprised to see that when they created a Formula One steel and ceramic ladies' watch, with seriously weighty male overtones, they couldn't keep up with demand.
'Nowadays, women don't want to borrow their man's watch, but they want to have one of their own,' de Nonancourt says.
So what's the enduring appeal of a weighty watch on a tiny wrist?
At Panerai, where women make up 15% of sales (although the company doesn't create a range specifically for females), CEO Angelo Bonati has an answer. He says that in a survey of British females conducted by Panerai before it launched in the U.K., the question was asked: 'If you were wearing this watch in a dream, what would be happening to you?' An approximation of the prevailing answer goes something like this: 'I would be naked and the watch on my wrist would be big enough to protect me.'
Here are some of my favorite classic men's watches for women:
Breguet's Classique Automatic 5197ba: Classically beautiful, as good looking on the outside as it is technically proficient on the inside.
Hamilton's Jazzmaster Square: Solid American heritage with a chic, slightly edgy twist.
Patek Philippe's Aquanaut 5164A: The ultimate sporty dress watch伟works with everything from bikinis to Balenciaga.
IWC's Portuguese Chrono Automatic: Nautical, but exceptionally nice. Note the absolute clarity of the design.
Omega's De Ville Hour Vision: Confidently male; wear on the inside of the wrist, with the strap and buckle exposed, for maximum effect.
TINA GAUDOIN
Diver's theory goes at least some way to explaining why buyers have been willing to pay the sky-high prices of the past decade, particularly for mechanical watches; Patek Philippe's Platinum World Time watch from 1939 sold for more than $4 million at an auction in 2002, making it one of the world's most expensive timepieces, while their Sky Moon Tourbillon 5002P, made from 686 parts, costs a mere £1.3 million. There's no established figure or requirement attached to the ideal of a 'luxury watch,' but to me, a watch伟or anything else that's not an absolute essential for living伟becomes a luxury item when one feels one has to stretch to afford it (or simply can't afford it). My own straw poll puts that figure at roughly anything above £1,500. It helps, of course, if the watch is Swiss, the nation universally acclaimed as having the world's best watchmakers. And by Swiss I mean (and the Swiss watchmakers mean) that the watch has a Swiss movement, or mechanism, set into its case in Switzerland by a Swiss manufacturer.
There's a persnickety approach to watches on the part of men that equates to a female specificity about shoes, hair color or beauty treatments. If you are doubtful, check out the dozens of websites out there dedicated to watches and watch collection, with thriving online communities of men swapping tips and trivia. On Watch-ID.com, for example, you can analyze a watch brand's history, pinpoint the levels of expertise on offer and identify celebrity wearers and even the movies a particular watch has appeared in. Did you know that Steve McQueen wore a Tag Heuer Monaco in the 1971 movie 'Le Mans,' or that Elvis Presley wore a Hamilton Ventura in 'Blue Hawaii'?
Given the aforementioned circumstances, it won't surprise you to learn that size has, in the past few decades, become an issue where timepieces and men are concerned. During the '90s, Officine Panerai's first commercial collection offered three limited-edition models inspired by watches the company created for World War II navy commandos. The weighty watches, with their 40-plus-millimeter-diameter casings, became a favorite of seemingly every successful banker on the planet, alongside the Rolex Explorer, the Breitling Navitimer and the Omega Seamaster (Bond's choice since 1995's 'Golden Eye').
It's easy伟and probably pretty accurate伟to make the link between watches with an adventurous or military heritage (Breitling has a long history with aviation; Sir Edmund Hillary was wearing a Rolex when he summited Mt. Everest in 1953) and the aspirations of the men that wear them. You may, for example, sit at your desk all day trading stocks or running a FTSE 100 company, but what you'd really like to be doing is scaling a mountain, exploring the seabed or crossing one of the poles with only a team of huskies for company.
Just because a watch has bells and whistles doesn't make it attractive, though. Between you and me, I'm not at all sure that most men recognize when 'enough is enough.' Emboldened by the frenzy for detail and gadgetry, some of the watches on the market today produced by tony brands are frightful. Who needs more dials than the instrument panel on a 747 when one is simply taking the train to work? I know men who are more scared of their watches than their wives, men whose watches constantly read the wrong time and date because they are simply too overwhelmed by the technology to 'have a go.'
Watches haven't captured the female imagination in quite the same way, chiming with Diver's comment about handbags. For women, watches are only part of their style story伟but there is no doubt that they are increasingly picky about what they wear on their wrists. The trend of females sporting men's watches caught on two decades ago. This was, of course, helped by Hollywood. My first memory of seeing a large watch on a female in a film was the men's watch Demi Moore wore in 'Ghost.' What began as a quirky 'I stole my man's sweater' type of idea quickly became an individualist style statement, with women buying men's watches for themselves (Rolex's Oyster and Omega's Seamaster 300 M Chrono Diver still are among the most favored).
Initial attempts by watch manufacturers to ride the trend's coattails and create 'men's watches for women' lacked sophistication. 'It used to be that taking a men's watch and sticking a load of diamonds on the bezel was all that some brands thought was necessary to sell a man's-style watch to a woman,' says Diver, who adds that the current market reflects the female interest in larger watches. 'Women are very discerning about what they want伟it's not just about the 40mm size; women still want a level of sophistication and elegance that perhaps men would not require.'
At Bell & Ross, another traditional men's watch brand, female interest grew so significantly that in 2008 the company launched the BR S collection in response, adapting their classic BR01 to a women's wrist with a smaller case of 39mm, and using black-and-white ceramics and diamonds. 'We noticed that women were abandoning feminine, small timepieces in favor of oversized models,' says Fabien de Nonancourt, sales director at Bell & Ross. According to de Nonancourt, female favorites from his men's stable include the BR03 and the BR01.
The 'men's watch for women' phenomenon didn't escape fashion houses either. Over the past decade and a half, brands like Dior, Louis Vuitton and Chanel have all become 'serious' about watches, employing master watchmakers and buying or opening their own Swiss workshops. All three brands have successfully launched wide-gauge, chunky, men's-style watches. (see Dior's VIII day range, Louis Vuitton's new Tambour Diving watch and Chanel's J12 collection), as well as smaller, more traditionally feminine models. At Tag Heuer, Diver says the company was surprised to see that when they created a Formula One steel and ceramic ladies' watch, with seriously weighty male overtones, they couldn't keep up with demand.
'Nowadays, women don't want to borrow their man's watch, but they want to have one of their own,' de Nonancourt says.
So what's the enduring appeal of a weighty watch on a tiny wrist?
At Panerai, where women make up 15% of sales (although the company doesn't create a range specifically for females), CEO Angelo Bonati has an answer. He says that in a survey of British females conducted by Panerai before it launched in the U.K., the question was asked: 'If you were wearing this watch in a dream, what would be happening to you?' An approximation of the prevailing answer goes something like this: 'I would be naked and the watch on my wrist would be big enough to protect me.'
Here are some of my favorite classic men's watches for women:
Breguet's Classique Automatic 5197ba: Classically beautiful, as good looking on the outside as it is technically proficient on the inside.
Hamilton's Jazzmaster Square: Solid American heritage with a chic, slightly edgy twist.
Patek Philippe's Aquanaut 5164A: The ultimate sporty dress watch伟works with everything from bikinis to Balenciaga.
IWC's Portuguese Chrono Automatic: Nautical, but exceptionally nice. Note the absolute clarity of the design.
Omega's De Ville Hour Vision: Confidently male; wear on the inside of the wrist, with the strap and buckle exposed, for maximum effect.
TINA GAUDOIN
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