Like everything fashion-related, elegance keeps changing as time, trends, codes and society move on. The inner strength of that particular style stems from its flexibility. It's meant to bend, shift and most of all to be taken hold of by trailblazers. Fashion history is filled with such appropriations, which are the best thing that can happen. From mannerism to plain irony, dandys from all walks of life, from Italy to Zaire by way of England have spiced those tame garments up with their own flavors, colours, and daring moves.
What about timepieces ? Well, the move has been similar, although in a less conspicuous manner. The classical, three-hands, gold, under-the-radar timepiece is the root of all things elegant in watchmaking. Fortunately, a lot of creators have laid their inventive, idiosyncratic and sometimes crazy hands on it.
This explains how a watch as odd as the Golden Ellipse from Patek Philippe has endured. It was a perfect fit for the 1970's, but today ? Thanks to its impeccable sense of proportion, the ref. 5738 has made it eternal, just like a Neapolitan shoulder.
This is where the basic design rules come in. They're the ones allowing clean lines to stand out even though they belong outside the conventional aesthetic vocabulary. And it is exactly what H.Moser & Cie. has succeeded in doing with the Streamliner Centre Seconds.
A slimmer execution can make the best of the heavily connoted cushion shape. A brand like Panerai, known for its sporty, oversize pieces, can pull off elegance when it sheds a few millimeters wide and thick. Such is the recipe for the Luminor Due 38 mm, a perfect date for a cachemire sports jacket, especially with a very smart sunray dial.
That being said, you can't miss when you do less. That' how the Longines Heritage Military Marine Nationale has pushed beyond its armed forces legacy and has become a posterchild for lean, clean lines. Its diminutive 38.5mm case sure does help, even though the watch remains truly military in spirit.
Its easy to confuse uncluttered with elegant, but ornamentation goes hand in hand with a formal, sophisticated appearance.
That specific style has been shaken up by outside-the-box patterns like the fleurisanne engraving on one side of Bovet's Virtuoso V or the gold studs on DeBethune's DB25 Starry Varius. And of course, the exact opposite is just as true : an immaculate, mirror-like, black onyx surface makes the Laureato Infinity Edition so very chic.
Another way to achieve unusual elegance is to shift, litterally. By rotating the movement (and display) of its Grande Seconde Off-centered Chronograph, Jaquet Droz delves into the very British chic of eccentricity.
On another note, it must be stated that some people will always manage to have allure : Vacheron Constatin manages to pull of impeccable taste with a watch bearing the ugly name of Cornes de Vache (cow horns) !
Even elegant timepieces answering to the 1950's elegance pattern can surprise us and take us outside the beaten track. In 1965, the King Seiko wasn't sold outside of Japan. As it is being reissued, it becomes a reminder that being chic in 2021 with a Japanese Mechanical watch is indeed original.
