Frank Gehry Fossil watch

This is a quirky little watch, designed by postmodern architect Frank Gehry and developed by Fossil. Hands up if you know what a postmodern architect does? Apart from design watches smart alec! Anyway, this watch has an mental time read out display in Frank Gehry’s own script. If the time is 11:30, the display reads in script, "half past 11" and if the time is 12:54, it reads as "6 til 1". Weird eh? The display also automatically switches back and forth showing a negative screen during daylight hours and a positive screen at night.

It contains the usual stuff as well as a calendar function. For $150.00 you get a brushed titanium case with a silver colored titanium plate around the perimeter of the display, a black genuine leather strap and an 11-year warranty. Not bad eh? Also available in brown. BUY IT

For more watches and cool timepieces, click here.

The PIMP watch

Wanna act like a pimp? Or better still, wanna act like one of those robots from Battlestar Galactica? Well, let me introduce the most mental watch ever. The PIMP is the world’s first high quality LED watch using 72 LED lights. The watch is plated with 18k Gold for the ultimate stylish pimp ass look! It’s pretty well crafted and brings cutting edge design and technology into your bling.

This rude bwoy is part of a limited run, so if you like it, act swift! $189 and available in three designs. BUY IT

Paul Frank killer calculator watch

LOOK AT THESE BAD BOYS! This is, without doubt, the coolest watch ever made. Harking back to those ace eighties digital watches, the super dapper Paul Frank Calculator Watch makes all that modern looking garbage look redundant and dull.

The watches are available in a range of colours, from dark green to a pink thing which probably won’t sell as well with the lads. The watches have all the functions and things that you’d expect of a digital watch (which means you can set the time and date by pressing fiddly little buttons) as well as the fully functioning calc’. You can also go swimming in it too, and for £40 (ish) you’d be a moron to avoid buying. BUY IT

[via Retro To Go]

Nixon Rotolog watch

Something a little different to finish the week, a wood-panelled timepiece from Nixon – the Rotolog watch.

Known as a surfer company, Nixon also has a fine line of seriously quirky watches – and for me, this is the best. This Rotolog features a Japanese quartz movement, stainless steel case and a real walnut wood inlay, along with a custom stainless steel band, with real walnut and a butterfly closure. And as it’s from a surfer firm, it’s obviously water resistant.

Available from Nixon dealers for around £200. Other non-wood variations also available.

Nixon UK website

Via Retro To Go

Paul Smith Jumping Date watch

I’ve stuck to the classic styles and brands so far this week, so here’s something a little more contemporary from a brand not usually associated with watchmaking – Paul Smith’s Jumping Date watch.

This a limited edition piece with a Swiss quartz movement in a stainless steel case. The name’s down to the unusual date feature that jumps around 3 date positions on the dial. Also worth noting is the slightly off-centre casing, which has a Paul Smith engraved sketch on the rear and a dial that’s protected by a synthetic sapphire crystal in orange.

Not cheap at £399, but definitely a head-turner.

Paul Smith website

Tissot T-Touch watch

Tissot has a strong watchmaking heritage – check out the driver’s PRS 516 from the 60s for a timeless timepiece. They’re still doing it too – combining classic looks with state-of-the-art technology, most recently ith the Tissot T-Touch.

A big, chunky watch and bracelet packed with all manner of functions, all accessed via a touch-sensitive screen. These include an accurate Altimeter (in feet and metres), Chronograph, Compass, Alarm, Thermometer (in ºC and ºF), Barometer as well as Date and Time (choice of 12H and 24H).

The T-Touch Polished Titanium model retails for around £455, with a black strap version available at £435. The most expensive watch I’ll be recommending this week – but a solid investment from a quality watchmaker.

Tissot website

Mondaine Swiss Railway watch

How about a watch with a heritage, that’s a design classic and still costs less than £100? You get the lot with the Mondaine Swiss Railway Watch.

The watch is modelled on the Swiss Railway Station Clock which has been displayed in every Swiss railway station since the 1940s – and originally designed by Swiss Federal Railways employee Hans Hilfiker. He designed the face to be easily readable from a distance, with a red second hand to enable passengers to judge precisely when trains would arrive and depart.

This smart timepiece also has a quartz movement and water-resistance and is available online for a very affordable £98.

Buy it at the Design London website

Via Retro To Go

Sekonda One watch

After featuring the highly desirable (and highly priced) TAG Heuer Monaco watch last week, I thought I’d use this week to feature some stylish watches with more realistic price tags, starting with the Sekonda One range.

Launched in 1966, Sekonda has been the biggest selling watch brand in the UK for the past 18 years, with the One range introduced last year. Prices for this range vary between £40 and £75. The 3792 model (pictured) is something of a throwback to the 70s with a big, slightly stretched face and chunky brushed metal bracelet, giving the impression of a timepiece retailing for much more than its asking price – which is £50.

Certainly worth a look as an everyday watch.

Sekonda website

TAG Heuer Monaco watch

To celebrate what would have been Steve McQueen’s 75th birthday, TAG Heuer has reissued one of the most famous and iconic watches in the world – the TAG Heuer Monaco. But hurry – it’s a limited edition.

The Monaco was designed to match McQueen’s suit in the movie Le Mans, which itself was a replica of the suit worn by TAG Heuer’s first sponsored driver – Jo Siffert. That adds the cool factor, but its status also lies in the technical innovation – it was the world’s first square-cased chronograph, with a microrotor for automatic rewinding – the revolutionary ‘Chronomatic Calibre 11′.

The new version differs slightly from the original, featuring a white dial, along with red, white and blue bands to match the McQueen/Siffert suit and blue alligator bracelet. Only 4,000 made – if you want one, you’ll have to pay £2,400.

More from the TAG Heuer website

Via Retro To Go

Bell & Ross BR-01 Instrument watch

If the BR-01 were a chocolate bar, it would be a Yorkie. Look at it – it’s a ruddy big man’s watch, essentially a fighter plane’s cockpit clock that you can wear on your wrist. It doesn’t get more macho than that. But if you’re more Goose than Maverick, or you just have girly wrists, the BR-01 is not for you. The price – well, you had to ask… the basic model won’t give you much change from two grand. More details HERE