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It’s officially wedding szn, and one of the most consequential days of your life deserves a watch that’s equally important. I led a Gregorian chant and lit a bunch of taper candles inside a creepy old house to consult the Watch Illuminati on which pieces they wore on their special days. There are, as always, a few interesting lessons from our panel of experts.
The first and most surprising takeaway is that even though the watch is tied to one of the most meaningful moments in your life, there’s no need to be overly sentimental about it. Three Illuminati members actually SOLD the watches they wore on their respective wedding days not long after tying the knot. That might sound heretical, but as explained by Albert Coombs—cofounder of the watch group Official CP Time—it makes a lot of sense. Many people get married when they’re young, without the funds to buy their dream watch. They’ll wear the nicest piece they have for their wedding…and then trade it in later for an upgrade. These are watch collectors, after all: Grails are more important than feelings!
I was also excited to see how many of our panelists wore stainless steel sport watches during their wedding ceremonies. There are Rolex Submariners and Tag Heuer Carreras in the mix, a great reminder that they have always looked great with a tux.
The last piece of advice comes from Kelly Yoch, director of client relations at Watches of Switzerland: Brides should wear a watch, too. Yoch didn’t wear a watch at her wedding, but “would change that now in a HEARTBEAT,” she told me. “I would put a beautiful champagne strap on my grandmother’s little Bulova. Biggest regret I had. I encourage brides all the time to never change who they are for ONE day. A bride should never put that watch away. Adjust the timepiece the same way a bride would have her hair and makeup done.”
Now, here’s what our watch experts wore on their wedding days.
“I got married wearing my 14060 Rolex Submariner. I bought it from the original owner, who got it for his 10-year anniversary present in 1992. He and his wife were upgrading his watch, so his wife was selling it for him. I sent them a wrist shot on my wedding day and told them I was continuing the tradition. I still keep in touch with them. Joyce brought her 1968 1601 Rolex Datejust I had just gifted her and the photographer actually did some wedding watch shots on the rooftop of that hotel overlooking the Arno.
“I chose this one because it was my first major watch purchase, a watch I had been lusting over since I was a kid. The no-date Submariner was just THE watch for me. Also the fact the previous owner had it as a wedding anniversary gift—continuing the wedding trend—was super cool to me.
“One of my best friends borrowed [my Submariner] for his first date, and then got married in the same watch in April 2022.”
“For my civil wedding, I chose to wear my first watch, which I received when I was 18. It’s a Dior Malice that I really liked to wear, as I could change the strap depending on my outfit. I had a white strap that was perfect with my light rose dress, and I think it was discreet and elegant. It was meaningful to choose this watch for my wedding as my mum offered it to me.”
“The Milgauss was my first and only Rolex at the time. As a doctor, I absolutely love the history of the Milgauss. I purchased it from one of my dear friends who is still a secondhand dealer. It was all around a win-win. Sadly, I don’t have that watch anymore.
“This is a pathway for most people. You get married young and usually without a lot of discretionary income. If you love watches, you want to grow your collection which generally means selling or trading up.”
“The watch bug hit me about a year before I got married. At the time, I was deep in the process of learning all things vintage watches, but I didn't own many watches. To be more precise, I owned two watches: an overly polished vintage Tudor Submariner (reference 7016, for the Tudor nerds out there) and a very simple vintage, two register Heuer Carrera with a brushed silver dial (reference 3647S). For me, the wedding watch decision was easy. The Carrera was classy, well sized for formal occasions (36mm), and looked killer on a black strap. I wore a traditional black tux for the wedding, so the general aesthetic worked perfectly (in my opinion, smaller is always better for watches paired with formalwear).
“Now is the part where I fess up. I ended up selling the watch not long after my wedding. While on my honeymoon, I came across (and ultimately purchased) a $5,000 "Ed White" Speedmaster, and the purchase was the biggest of my life at that point. After buying the Speedmaster, I started feeling irresponsible and decided to sell the Carrera to ‘rebalance my books.’
“While my time with my wedding watch was short, I'll always have fond memories of wearing it on one of the important nights of my life.”
“The watch I wore on my wedding was a Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute To 1931 US Edition. I was surprised by my best man Jack Carlson with the gift before the wedding in Washington, DC. My soon-to-be wife Christine had coordinated with him on what I may like and I was shocked when he presented me with the box! It’s such a special watch!
“There’s no engraving yet. The plan is to get a coat of arms from the College of Arms in London at some point! Jack and his father bought a Reverso and had their coat of arms engraved on it.”
“The first ‘nice watch’ I bought was a Nomos Tangente for my wedding. I don’t know how I found Nomos, but I remember being baffled that it could cost 10x more than one of those non-descript IG brands. So, I went to see one in person and was immediately hooked—the design, the movement, it all clicked for me. Not too long after my wedding, I actually sold that Tangente. I wanted to buy an Explorer and thought all I needed was one decent watch (how naive!). Anyway, I recently reached out to the person I sold it to, so now I’m on a hunt to track it down.”
If you really love watches, like Chng, you and your partner can make your wedding day a matching multi-watch affair. “APs for the [ceremony], Cartier Crashes for the dinner, and Vacherons for the afterparty. I hope that doesn’t come off as frivolous. We just really like watches and wanted to switch it up with every outfit change.”
And if you don’t wear a watch yourself, maybe you’d like to present one as a gift…
“I didn’t wear a watch on my wedding day. I had intended to wear my mother-in-law’s antique Chinese pearl cuff bracelets (one on each arm) that are a part of their family history, but I was all nerves before walking down the aisle and forgot to put them on! Tragic.
“I did, however, buy my husband a Patek Philippe Calatrava Ref. 5022G in white gold, which he wore on our wedding day. I bought it from Eric Wind of Wind Vintage. It’s clean and classic with a beautiful cream dial and Arabic numerals on a leather strap, which is my husband’s vibe. I figured it didn’t hurt to go straight for the crème de la crème for our wedding day. It will be a family heirloom one day. I like to think I’m a pretty good wife…that being said, I did make sure Eric included a second strap to fit my wrist.”
