Dress Watches – Rolex, Jaeger LeCoultre and Blancpain

[Eric Chan]

A friend of mine is looking into acquiring a dress watch. He owns a SS Submariner and BLNR and would like the next watch to be a rose gold watch on a leather strap. His budget is $20,000 CAD and would have narrowed it down to the following:

1. Rolex Cellini Time 50505. His initial preference was the model with the white dial and brown leather strap, but when compared seen in person and compared to the model with the black dial and black leather strap, he is not so sure now. To him, both are very nice. 39mm. Price: $17,400 CAD

2. Jaeger LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin 1272510. Very classy and was one of the top two on his list until the Cellini was released last year. I would definitely recommend this as I have owned a SS JLC dress watch in the past. 38.5mm. Price: $15,400 CAD

3. Blancpain Villeret Ultraplate 6223-3642-55. This was the other piece he was comparing to the JLC. I checked this one out the other day with him and in my opinion, the look and fit is on par with the other two watches mentioned above. It also is the only one that has a date function, but it does not matter to him. I do not have any experience with handling Blancpain as I have never owned one before, but it does appear to be a quality brand. 38mm. Price: $16,000 CAD.

The original preference for a dress watch for him was rose gold with a light coloured dial and a brown leather strap. But now, he is willing to entertain the notion of a rose gold watch with dark coloured dial and black leather strap. In terms of size, 37mm to 39mm.

So, if any Forum members have any experience with any of these watches, I would love to hear some feedback. For me, I am leaning towards the Cellini Time, but then I am a huge Rolex fan, so my opinion may be a little biased.

Thank you in advance for your time.