Green is the colour of jade and amethyst and so it often appears on jewellery watches. But there are a few men’s watches made in this colour, and they immediately become very distinctive items purely because probably about 90% of all watches sold are predominantly silvery. So let’s take a look at these ten green watches hanging on the wall.
(If this sounds like a strange turn of phrase, I’ll just mention that there is a silly English schoolboy song that goes:
Ten green bottles hanging on the wall,
Ten green bottles hanging on the wall,
And if one green bottle should accidentally fall,
There’ll be nine green bottles hanging on the wall… repeated down to “no green bottles.” )
10 green watches…
Chopard Imperiale 36 mm jade
This is the latest version of a model that Chopard launched in the 1990s, and, presented in December 2014 in time for Chinese New Year, its green dial is made in jade. This coordinates with the lovely green leather strap. Its design has some classical features recalling Ancient Rome, such as the gladius-sword-shaped hands, the Roman numerals, the circular shape of the case, and the unusual column-shaped lugs, centrally-attached to the case in a format similar to the Pierre Arpels and the Pavonina by Glashütte Original. It has an amethyst in the crown. The case is 36 mm in diameter, in rose gold; the automatic movement has a power reserve of 42 hours. This is a boutique edition, reference 384242-5009.
9 green watches…
Van Cleef & Arpels Astronomie Poetique Lady Arpels Zodiac Virgo
This is part of the Extraordinary Dials collection, and also belongs to the Poetic Astronomy series that saw, with the Midnight Planétarium, one of the most exceptional watches of 2014. This piece is more astrological than astronomical, with the Virgo star-sign evoked by the girl in diamonds on a dial in translucent green enamel hand-worked into a green leaf motif. The case is 38 mm in diameter, with a bezel set with 53 diamonds. Central lugs hold a green alligator strap. The watch has a mechanical, hand-wound movement. This piece, reference VCARO41600, is a limited edition of 22 pieces.
8 and 7 green watches…
Van Cleef & Arpels have created a watch in this series for each sign of the zodiac, and it reserves green for the three earth signs, Virgo, Taurus and Capricorn.
6 green watches…
Grand Seiko Hi-Beat 36000 GMT
This men’s watch has a 40 mm stainless steel case with a distinctive deep-green dial inspired by the natural surroundings of the Shizukuishi Watch Studio in northern Japan, where the Grand Seiko is made, not far from Mount Iwate. Inside there is a lot of great engineering. The 36000 in its name refers to the speed of the balance, 36,000 oscillations per hour, 10 impulses per second, that improves its precision and gives the second hand a smoother sweep. It is the first watch running at this rate to have the GMT function, with a second time zone indicated by the gold hand on a 24-hour scale. Seiko’s hi-beat technology began in 1967: this piece has a new calibre, 9S86, a development of the 9S85 launched in 2009, and it uses a proprietary alloy, Spron 610, for the balance spring for improved resistance to magnetism. Accuracy is rated at +8/-1 seconds per day; power reserve is 55 hours. The watch has a sapphire caseback revealing a titanium oscillating weight anodically treated to give it a gold colour. It won the Petite Aiguille prize at the 2014 GPHG Awards. A limited edition, SBGJ005, price €7,050.
5 green watches…
Voutilainen Hisui
This women’s watch combines a mechanical movement by Kari Voutilainen with a dial created by the Unryuan studio led by T. Kitamura, specializing in lacquer, a traditional Japanese craft for centuries. This one-off piece required over a thousand hours of craftwork, made using gold dust and gold leaf, great green turban seashell and abalone shell, to create a green colour inspired by emerald and jade (to which the name Hisui refers). The hand-wound movement has a 65-hour power reserve. The dial is 29 mm in diameter. The watch is a limited edition of one, price about €187,300. It won the “Artistic Crafts” prize at the 2014 GPHG Awards.
4 green watches…
Bulgari Diva High Jewellery Emeralds
Now if this particular watch should accidentally fall, it would be a bit painful, considering the spectacular array of emeralds and diamonds set into the white gold case. It is a 2014 model, part of the Diva collection, and it’s more a piece of jewellery than a watch, with a small quartz-driven dial at the centre of the entire piece which is 39 mm in diameter. The design is based on the fan shape that inspires the whole Diva collection. The reference is 102081, price about €516,100. It won the “Jewellery Watch Prize” at the 2014 GPHG Awards.
3 green watches…
Frédéric Jouvenot Surya
This is a women’s watch, very large at 42 mm diameter, and exceptional for the movement and concept. The time is indicated not by hands, but by petals. At noon, all the petals are green; every hour, a petal changes to a dark grey, until midnight when they are all grey, and the cycle begins again. Minutes are shown by an indicator rotating on the fixed central disc. The petal-flicking mechanism is housed in an inner case, 12 mm in diameter and 5 mm high, at the centre of the dial. The petals are in tsavorite. The name of the watch, Surya, is a reference to the Indian god of the sun, and in fact the petals indicate not only the time, but also the transition from light (at its maximum at midday when all the petals are green) to dark. The bezel is set with 54 diamonds, and the crown has a tsavorite cabochon. Price about €125,000.
2 green watches…
De Grisogono Tondo By Night S09
Fawaz Gruosi, founder and mentor of de Grisogono, absolutely loves colour tinged with a bit of irony, and Tondo By Night is a very colourful collection in a range of hues that includes this forest green piece. The case is made in PLF, photoluminescent fibreglass, so that it glows greenish in the dark. But it’s not just a gadget for bopping in a disco, because the mechanical movement is a fine piece of engineering, reversed with a black PVD gem-set oscillating weight visible on the dial side. The gems are tourmalines; the dauphine hands are forest green, and the galuchat strap is in the same colour. The crown is set with a black diamond. Price about €9,000.
1 green watch…
Rolex Oyster Perpetual Day-Date
Rolex was the first brand to launch this day-date format with the day spelled in full at the top of the dial, back in 1956, and from then it has become a classic. In 2013 it was presented in a series of appealing colours, including this intense green that contrasts to perfection with the case in yellow gold. Rolex has its own gold foundries, and so their cases have a unique sheen created by their proprietary alloys, most famously the Everose pink gold which includes a pinch of platinum, but also their 18-carat yellow and white gold. The case is fairly small at 36 mm, making ideal for every wrist, and it has the qualities of robustness and water resistance that have always been Rolex hallmarks, with 100 metres waterproof rating, middle case made from a solid block of gold, hermetically sealed caseback and Twinlock screw-down crown. The Calibre 3155 movement is COSC-certified and includes the Parachrom hairspring that is not affected by magnetic fields. The green alligator leather strap has a gold folding clasp. And if this green watch should accidentally fall, no problem, it has the Rolex Paraflex shock-absorbing system!
