By Kristian Haagen in Copenhagen, Denmark
When we are young we dream of our first luxury watch. Well I certainly did, and I tried to make those dreams come true by asking my expat friends to bring back copies of my favourite brands from the markets in Asia.
However, at the tender age of 21, I finally bought my first luxury watch, which didn't give me eczema or stop working after 24 hours. It was a Rolex Submariner. Man, was I proud to finally strap on my dream watch. But once you buy that first luxury watch, something happens: you realise there is so much more out there.
Of course Rolex Submariners, Omega Speedmasters and TAG Heuer Carreras are all cool watches. Perfect, even. But once you have grown out of the Levi's 501s of horology, you want to try something more daring and fun. And you are in luck as there are plenty of watches to choose from that fit the bill perfectly. Allow me to suggest these four brands:
> Richard Mille
Add some colour to your grey outfits. Strap a crazy party on your arm. This is what most of Richard Mille's watches represent: fun horology. And quite spectacular they are, too, as most of his watches are made of exotic materials and offer peculiar functions, such as a declutchable rotor, torque indicator or G-Force sensor, as well as an E6-B flight computer. And you want that, don't you? Those functions hit you right there, where that funny feeling starts. Well start saving, young man. Richard Mille does not come cheap. The entry-level model will set you back €42,000 but also grant you access to any party in the world when it's sitting on your wrist. richardmille.com
> SevenFriday
Ahhhh, isn't it fun when you think you know it all and it turns out that you don't? At least that's the feeling I got when I first saw a SevenFriday watch (great name, by the way). The king of Instagram, WatchAnish, shared photos of sharp-dressing gents stepping out of customised supercars wearing these spectacular watches. When presented like that I automatically assumed that the watch would reflect the price of these luxurious modes of transport. Oh, how wrong I was. Even though the daring design of SevenFriday watches oozes high-end, they will only set you back around €1,000 for the standard version. Which sounds just like a pair of H&M jeans that fit you perfectly and turn out to be your favourite denim. sevenfriday.com
> A. Lange & Söhne
German manufacturer A. Lange & Söhne is all about traditional horology made the Glashütte way. Everything is handmade, and every watch is assembled with the kind of tender loving care reserved for newborn babies. One of its designs stands out from the more traditional watches, however: the epic Zeitwerk, which shows the time via digital apertures. But don't be fooled by the word "digital". This timepiece is fitted with a mechanical movement of the highest quality and will even strike the hours if the room is too dark for you to get a decent look at the watch face. alange-soehne.com
> MB&F
Max Büsser is a playful fella, and he's living out his childhood dreams of cartoon characters, retro spaceships and Star Wars themes with MB&F. His watches look like no other, and they are all the result of a bunch of talented suppliers that chime in and support Büsser's forever-young approach to modern horology. This is why MB&F is short for Max Büsser & Friends. He also prefers to call his watches machines, which makes perfect sense since most of the models in his collection look nothing like your ordinary timepiece. mbandf.com
