Fratello Talks: Is 2025 The Year Of The Dress Watch?
It’s 2025, and dress watches are in! But that doesn’t mean you have to dust off your tuxedo. In fact, it’s quite the opposite: the dress watch’s link to formal attire has never been less relevant than it is today. Dress watches — both in the stricter definition and in adjacent style — are gaining popularity, but it’s not because of all the opulent, Great Gatsby-esque cocktail parties that millennials and zoomers are throwing; it’s because of a relatively recent styling trend of juxtaposing a geezer-worthy timepiece with the most casual of outfits. Today, on Fratello Talks, we discuss the phenomenon and get into some exquisite examples of recently introduced dress watches. Whether we’ll see them poking out from beneath the cuff of a dinner jacket or a Carhartt jacket seems just as likely, but one thing is sure; we’re all for it. Now, let’s see what’s on the wrist today.
Wrist check
RJ is the first off the blocks, with the Grøne Manueel One on his wrist. This watch was launched late last year by the Grönefeld brothers as an affordable alternative to the far pricier timepieces of their eponymous brand. Is it a dress watch? Though it’s certainly dressy, strictly speaking, the three hands and relatively large 40mm stainless steel case would not exactly classify it as one. But by today’s far looser definition, we’d say it is.
Upon learning of the topic of today’s discussion, Lex snagged himself the Czapek × Fratello Promenade Transparencies Viridian Green limited edition. And though it’s not what he wore into the office this morning, it’s undoubtedly a relatively dressy watch. As you can see, he’s paired it with jeans and a gray sweater, a combination that works well despite being far more informal than the watch.
And finally, opting out of the trend, Nacho is wearing his 1970 Caravelle Sea Hunter dive watch. It’s a sports watch through and through, yet due to today’s relaxed standards, you would not be overly shocked to see someone wearing this watch (or one like it — say, a Rolex 5513) with a suit. It’s the other side of the coin of what we’re talking about today.
Fratello Talks: Is 2025 The Year Of The Dress Watch?
Today’s topic begs the question: what is a dress watch anyway? In the strictest sense, it’s a smaller gold or platinum timepiece with only two hands — no frills, no date, and certainly no bezel or chronograph pushers. However, today, the definition is a bit broader than that. The sports watch of yesteryear is the dress watch of today. I’m talking about the 34mm stainless steel Seamasters and Oyster Perpetuals that, while sporty once upon a time, come across as dressier, more refined watches today. On the modern side of the spectrum, we’ve seen once-smaller classic dress models from Vacheron Constantin, Patek Philippe, and Chopard hover around in the 38–40mm range. It’s not uncommon to see watches like RJ’s Grøne (with a 40mm stainless steel case) referred to as a dress watch.
More often, we see the aforementioned classically sized dress watches worn out of their usual sartorial context. Are you wearing a stone-dial 18K gold Piaget bracelet watch with ripped jeans and sneakers? Then maybe you’re doing things right. Whether it’s a trend here to stay or disappear quickly, we think that dress watches will have a strong year in 2025. And what we’ve seen at Watches and Wonders seems to back our claim. A more recent example is the new Breguet Classique Souscription that we’ve seen introduced today. If you want to read about it, you can check out Daan’s article here.
What do you think of dress watches? Are you into them, or will you be taking a pass? Does the trend of dressing them down make them more appealing to you? Let us know in the comments section below, and tune in next week for a new episode of Fratello Talks.
