Have you ever thought to yourself “I wonder if there’s a watch for that?” Well, there might just be – I’ve collated 6 examples of such!
These days, it seems like there’s a watch for everything. Do you want to time a race? TAG Heuer’s got you covered. Do you wan to blow people away at a fancy event? Vacheron Constantin has your back. Not sure what you want, but you know you want a watch? Seiko probably has exactly what you’re looking for.
But amongst the typical purposes watches are known for – well, beyond bragging rights – there comes the occasional watch that is tailor-made for something you’ve never thought of. Time exists for all things, after all, so naturally watches can exist in for any manner of any task. So, what are these strange jobs that watches have been made for? Read on, and find out!
MAT Egg Master II
We start off with perhaps one of the most bizarre watch complications I’ve ever encountered, and the very inspiration for this article. If you’re unfamiliar, this is a watch from Parisian microbrand Mer-Air-Terre, or MAT. Using the French words for ‘Sea’, ‘Land’ and ‘Air’ should give you a bit of a hint as to what they offer in the industry.
This is where they typically stick, creating purpose-built adventure watches for all manner of rough-and-tumble scenarios. So when they released a new version of their 39.5mm Picobello dive watch in collaboration with the Association de Sauvegarde de l’Oeuf Mayonnaise (ASOM), or Association for the Preservation of Egg Mayonnaise, you can imagine everyone’s surprise.
Because instead of being a regular diver, the MAT Egg Master II has a unique culinary twist: a bidirectional bezel with which to time boiling eggs. Atop the bezel are four triangular indications: poché, coque, mollet and dur, for poached, soft-boiled, medium-boiled and hard-boiled eggs respectively. Just set the indication of your choice to the minute hand, set your eggs in boiling water, and take them out once the minute hand reaches the end of the coloured bar.
You might think that’s absurd, but truly, how many dive watches are really being used for their intended purpose? At least this watch embraces it. And after butchering some poached eggs for myself this morning, I’m thinking I might need it myself.
Reference: AG9 AC EGG-1
Price: €990
For more information: MerAirTerre.com
Hublot Big Bang Unico Golf
But if cooking eggs isn’t really your speed, or you can afford to pay someone to cook them for you, you might want to enjoy a round of golf while you wait for breakfast to be served. With that, Hublot is more than happy to help.
Debuting in 2017, the brand partnered with top golfer Dustin Johnson to create the Big Bang Unico Golf, which is capable of mechanically tracking your game as you go. How does it do this, you ask? Well, on the right side of the case are two buttons shaped like golf putters.
The two o’clock pusher, in highlighter yellow, adds a stroke to the player’s score, while the white four o’clock pusher advances the game one hole. Down at six o’clock, a running total of the player’s 18-hole score is kept with a pair of discs. If you’re starting a new game, just hit the pusher at eight o’clock, and the entire complication resets.
While it might seem incredibly technologically redundant, especially when put up against other luxury golf-tracking watches like the TAG Heuer Connected smart watch, it was never meant to be wholly practical. The imposing 45mm frame is meant to command attention at any country club you choose to bring it to. But as intimidating as it is, the fibreglass-aluminium Texalium and carbon fibre construction ensures that your swing isn’t affected.
Reference: 416.YS.1120.VR
Price: AU$53,500
For more information: Hublot.com
Brew Metric
With everything becoming a luxury these days, sometimes it’s difficult to swallow a coffee that just cost you seven bucks. For that reason, or perhaps your unabashed love of coffee, you might make your own at home with an espresso machine. Or maybe you’re working at one of the stores charging the seven bucks. In any case, the Brew Metric is the perfect watch for you.
Why? Because it, and the entire company, was founded on the basis of making a good cup of coffee. Usually, that starts with extracting a shot of espresso from the machine, which can sometimes be difficult to time. That’s where the Brew Metric steps in, offering a mecaquartz chronograph complication with a highlighted zone between 25 and 35 seconds. Just start the timer as soon as you begin extracting the espresso, wait until you hit that zone, and cut off the flow as soon as the chronograph hits 35 seconds.
Being a chronograph, of course, you don’t have to just use it for timing coffee. In fact, you don’t have to use it at all if you just like the look. I wouldn’t blame you. The 36mm TV case, integrated bracelet and bright colours give it a retro charm like no other. Spotted on everyone from your local barista to Idris Elba, the Brew Metric proves the price of style doesn’t have to be steep.
Reference: Brew Metric Retro Dial Chronograph
Price: AU$672
For more information: Brew-Watches.com
Sinn 308 Hunting Watch
If there was any brand that takes the crown for solving particularly specific problems, it has to be none other than Sinn. The Frankfurt brand is essentially all of Germany’s manufacturing archetypes distilled into one horological identity. Recognisable for its penchant for no-nonsense, efficient timekeeping, Sinn is your favourite tool watch brand’s favourite tool watch brand.
Case in point? The 308 Hunting watch, developed specifically to help you legally hunt at night. Though it features hybrid ceramic luminous elements across the hands and indexes, the real highlight is the similarly applied moonlight display at six o’clock.
As opposed to a moonphase, the moonlight indicator uses its hybrid ceramic appliqué to show when moonlight is brightest at night. As long as a majority of the moon indicator is within the T-shaped space of the six o’clock index, moonlight will be ideal for nocturnal hunting.
If you’re not familiar with hunting and asking, “Why not just use a light?”, it’s important to note that hunting with any kind of artificial light is categorically banned throughout all of Germany. While other countries like Australia and the United States carry some exemptions for artificial light, Germany does not, making this Sinn extremely important for the rule-following hunter.
Trust me, I know this. Mostly because I had to search and read hunting regulations for each country online.
Reference: 308.010
Price: €2,570
For more information: Sinn.de
Horage Lensman II
The fifth watch on the list might be one of the most useful of these specific watches to my own profession. Photography, while fun, has a steep learning curve. Lighting, shot composition, shutter speed, f-stop and ISO majorly affect how a picture is taken, and with so many new terms, sometimes it can be hard to follow. So why not just get a tool that not only serves as a cheat sheet, but also as a fancy horological partner?
Biel/Bienne brand Horage answers the call with the Lensman 2, a handsome GMT watch that also doubles as a photographer’s best friend. With a tonneau case and a lens-inspired bidirectional bezel, the watch functions like a mechanical slide rule for film or digital photography.
To use it, match an ISO number of your choice to any of the icons in the top-right of the watch, depending on the prevailing lighting conditions around you. Once that’s done, the opposite side of the bezel will show you all the possible f-stop and shutter speed combinations that will get you the perfect exposure every single time.
It sounds like a gimmick, but it’s perhaps one of the best modern applications of the mechanical slide rule I’ve seen in the industry. Pair that with a stylish profile, a micro-rotor automatic in-house movement and COSC chronometer certification, and you’ve got one heck of a watch on your hands.
Reference: Horage Lensman 2 Black
Price: AU$9,486.45
For more information: Horage.com
DRT Tempus Fugit
This article was originally meant to have five watches, but when I remembered seeing this, I just had to include it. If there was ever a bizarre purpose for a watch, the DRT Tempus Fugit has to be it. Made as a collaborative effort between Dr Benoît Dubuis, Dominique Renaud and Julien Tixier, this watch is tasked with tracking the grimmest of occasions: your eventual demise.
No, I’m not kidding. Taking its name from the Latin phrase for ‘Time Flies’, the watch counts down towards the end of your estimated lifespan.
How do they get this information? Upon purchasing the watch, the owner submits extensive personal information, including a DNA sample. This is then run through a complex algorithm developed jointly by researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) and the Inartis Foundation. From there, the DNA sample is stored on a chip within the secular perpetual calendar movement, itself housed inside a tamper-proof titanium case.
The watch tracks your estimated remaining time through the ‘Life Gauge’, a coloured ring around the movement that advances once per year. Over time, the gauge moves along, revealing a secret message chosen by the owner, perhaps to remind them of all the great things they’ve done in their life, or a similar message of encouragement.
It’s definitely a bit of a dark complication, but one made with noble intent: a permanent reminder to celebrate the often-forgotten value of simply being alive.