For Ladies / Quartz / Swiss
With its refreshed Breitling Colt 36 SuperQuartz model, the Swiss brand finally notices the demographics targeted by Dove's Real Beauty campaign that began more than a decade ago. Designed with slightly larger wrists in mind, the new Colt 36 may be a bit too large for a skinnier type of girls that French fashion houses seem to love so much, but, come on, let's celebrate some diversity here!
Quartz / Swiss
Designed for persons leading active lifestyle, the 2015 Tissot T-Touch Expert Solar (ref. T091.420.46.041.00) looks like a mild face-lift of the 2014 model. The refreshed exterior is more convincing. The list of functions is more or less the same. It's awesome in its simplicity, yet not rugged enough to compete with a G-Shock. While the piece's altimeter is good for 4478 meters, you probably don't want to take it mountain-climbing.
German / Quartz
The new Defakto Struktur features almost everything one might expect from an affordable dress watch. Its dial features a very nice layout with ultra-contrast color scheme and visually balanced elements; it comes in a body, which is made by Defakto's parent company Ickler GmbH: a brand that knows a thing or two about designing cases that are not only elegant, but also quite ergonomic, and very well-built; and it features a price that would put to shame even Japanese brands.
Quartz / Swiss
The new Breitling Chronospace Military (ref. M7836622.BD39.100W.M20BASA.1) chronograph wrist watch delivers the usual combination of a high-grade SuperQuartz mechanism, a highly legible dial with the signature analog-digital display and packs it all in a blacked-out steel body. What this timekeeper clearly lacks is innovation. On the other hand, for innovation Breitling has its super-high-tech Breitling Emergency II model, while the rest of the pack is being carefully guarded from anything new.
Japanese / Quartz
The 2014 Casio G-Shock GravityMaster GPW 1000 delivers inside its defiantly oversized body an extremely small GPS receiver, a state of the art solar-powered quartz movement, as well as their signature Multi-Band 6 technology that allows the device to automatically receive standard time-calibration signal from atomic clocks. What else would you probably ask from this little monster? Make you breakfast?
Japanese / Quartz
Featuring traditional for the Japanese brand design, the new Casio Edifice EQB-500D-1A also sports a handy Bluetooth module. To make all of its numerous features work you will only need to accompany it by
Quartz / Swiss
Brutal, yet well-proportioned, the new Breitling Cockpit B50 (ref. VB501022/BD41-155S) aviator's chronograph wristwatch (especially the variation in plain machine-brushed titanium) somehow reminds me USAF's F22 air superiority fighter jet: everything is on its place; everything is completely functional, yet extremely sexy. The only thing that makes the new B50 model different is the price. While still deliciously expensive, it won't make you sell your house to get one.
Japanese / Quartz
Amazingly stylish and surprisingly elegant, the new Orient Dyno Alarm (Refs. FTD09004B and FTD09005W) collection of inexpensive quartz chronograph makes it possible to look smart and cool without breaking the bank. It is almost like if your Toyota Prius was designed by Bertone.
Japanese / Quartz
Although not as technologically advanced as the gorgeous Astron GPS Stratosphere that the Japanese brand has revealed back in February, the new Seiko Prospex Solar Quartz Chronograph (Ref. SSC279) is also about five times less expensive. Offered at MSRP of just $450 (and you can find one on eBay at less than USD $350), the watch looks quite cool for a daily beater, and its built-in solar charger makes the gadget a must-have for a person that spends more time outdoors than inside an air-conditioned office. Just don't forget to swap the brown leather strap for something more practical, like a solid steel bracelet or a hypoallergenic silicon band.
Quartz / Swiss
Unlike the much-awaited Apple iWatch (we will see it in a matter of hours), the 2014 Breitling Colt Caliber 73 SuperQuartz Chronograph doesn't even try to destroy the competition. With its classic massive body, easy-to-grip unidirectional rotating bezel and traditional high-contrast dial, the new timepiece simply delivers in a single, relatively affordable package everything you ever wanted from a Breitling, but never were quite ready to pull the trigger on their more expensive models.