Before The Fall: Choosing The Best Luxury Watches of 2017

Tim Mosso and the Watchuwant tech team bid farewell to summer and Labor Day weekend with a survey of the best luxury watches of 2017. While pre-SIHH and pre-Baselworld releases await in the fourth quarter, Tim offers his early selections for "Best Innovation In Style," "Best Mechanical Complication," "Best Innovation In Ergonomics," and "Best Innovation In Value." First we choose the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M Co-Axial Master Chronometer GMT "Big Blue" in blue ceramic and orange rubber. Omega's high-style and off-beat character won our hearts in this Seamaster dual-time. Zenith's new Defy El Primero 21 with its dual escapements and 1/100th-of-a-second chronograph was our choice for "best mechanical innovation/mechanical exception." With a startlingly realistic entry price of $10,600 USD, this dual-escapement Zenith El Primero offers the kind of innovation in complication that we've come to expect from Richard Mille, DeBethune, and Hublot's MP series. HYT's unique hydro-mechanical watches won our hearts long ago, but their immense cases always prevented us from wearing out hearts on our (tiny) sleeves. But with the debut of the lug-less 2017 HYT H0, small wrists and HYT's fluid-time displays now go together like bees and honey. Finally, we heap praise on Bulgari for innovation in value with its extraordinary Octo Finissimo Automatic. The 5.15mm-thick automatic watch wears like a second skin in sandblasted titanium. Whether on a titanium bracelet or leather strap t