Tim Mosso's recent reflections on luxury watches include an incontrovertible fact: dress watches are back! From Audemars Piguet to Patek Philippe to Vacheron Constantin - the entire "holy trinity" - dress watches are becoming more versatile and usable in casual life. Independents like F.P. Journe, Gronefeld, and Greubel Forsey are sending the same message; wear a dress watch anywhere, any time.

The original wristwatch was an elegant companion for man or woman in daily life. As the public domain became more casual and Rolex became dominant in the luxury watch space, Rolex-style dive watches, pilot's watches, and field watches became accepted standards in offices and social scenes around the world. But over the last fifteen years, watches not designed for driving, aviation, and Scuba diving have made a comeback thanks to innovation by watchmakers and an evolution in taste by watch collectors.

In 2022, Patek Philippe launched the Calatrava 5226G, an ideal example of a versatile dress watch. Thin, white gold, and 30-meters water resistant, there was no doubt that the 5226G was a dress watch. But, at the same time, its 40mm size is robust, the fully luminescent dial is as potent as any dive watch. The "textured charcoal" dial is a rustic departure from delicate opaline or sunburst treatments. And the razor-sharp case design is stridently aggressive. This is a dress watch to wear everywhere but the shower, the pool, and the ocean.

The same year - 2022 - Audemars Piguet launched the CODE 11.59 Starwheel. While the original 1991 AP Starwheel was a delicately styled 36mm yellow gold flower of a watch, the new Starwheel is as hearty as an oak tree. Its 41mm case is crafted from white gold and black ceramic, there's a massive 32mm caliber 4302 in the back, and the dial's "wandering hours" sit suspended over a rich bed of aventurine glass. The 50mm lug-to-lug span equals that of many dedicated sports watches, and the overriding impression is of sports watch-level wrist presence. No rule says a dress watch needs to be small, so this one isn't. In a world where dive watches spend 99.99 percent of their time high and dry, it makes sense for a land-focused timepiece like the Starwheel to be everyday carry.

Vacheron Constantin is the most conservative of the Swiss watchmaking "holy trinity," but the changing nature of watch collectors has elevated Vacheron's collection of classical watches to everyday viable. The famous American 1921 may or may not have been conceived as a driver's watch, but it's welcome everywhere today. Perfect proportions and versatile size make many Vacheron dress watches welcome companions for all occasions. An increasingly casual society has elevated even the most formal of dress watches to greater prominence on the wrists of men and women, and this helps to elevate the luxury watch from a purchase to an ongoing experience. A Vacheron Constantin Patrimony, liberated from bromides about black ties, weddings, and opera, can even be a heavy metal companion to a heavy metal concert. Vacheron at Wacken Open Air? It could happen!

Discover Tim Mosso's choices tonight on Watches Tonight!

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