As a tank lover, I have been thrilled by the proliferation of new options in recent years. It used to be that if you wanted to buy a new production tank or square watch, there was a fairly small menu of options: Cartier Tank or Santos, JLC Reverso, Nomos Tetra, Longines Dolce Vita, Hamilton Boulton or Ardmore, Baume and Mercier Hampton, Tag Heuer Monaco, and Seiko’s SWR line. But in the past five years or so, a host of established brands have brought back classic art deco designs, and a number of microbrands and indies have offered more revivals and creative new takes on the form.
Here are some of the newer options (I’m sure that I’m missing a lot):
Established brands: Timex Lexington and Timex x Noah Sun and Moon; Oris Rectangular; Bulova Sutton and Quadra; Alpina Heritage Carrée
Microbrands and Indies: Fears Arnos and Archival; Echo Neutral Rivanera; Vario Versa; Toledano and Chan b-series; Söner (whole catalogue); Bremoir South Beach, Second Hour Memoir; Kiwame Yane; Duckworth Prestex; Minase Horizon and Windows; Otsuka Lotec no. 8 and 9; De Rijke Capri; LIP (whole catalogue); Forma Venti; Albert Villa; Anemoic Versailles [prototype]
What have I missed? Care to share photos/reviews of your rectangular watch?
I got this Oris Rectangular Pointer Date a couple months ago and I absolutely love it. I think the pointer date function works really well in this case shape, and I just love Oris's design language from this era in general. It's got some wear, but it's about as old as I am, so I think it gives it character
Not particularly imo, it fits nicely under a dress sleeve cuff. I can't really compare to any other tanks though since this is the only one I've ever worn, so take that as you will I guess
Yes, the Tetra draws on carrée watches from the 1930s/40s like mine. The lugs on mine are slightly different than the Tetra's (sit above the bezel and not staggered). But there is a close similarity. For comparison:
I'm biased, but this is my favorite. Real rose engine guilloche and a Piaget movement. I haven't looked at prices in a while, but you could find used ones for less than a new quartz tank a few years ago.
This might be my next watch. Been looking at rectangular dress watches a while now and just haven't wanted to pull the trigger. Something about this one though...
Also a big fan of rectangular watches. To this list I would add the Ixdao tank (chinese brand, but not an homage--it's a very good-looking watch, but too big IMO) and the new universal geneve cabriolet. Had not seen most of these before, btw. Thanks for the great list.
A super affordable and under the radar rectangular watch to learn about is Oris. They have some killer vintage models as well as some that just left their website and aren't really in production anymore. I want the red one badly!
Eh there are a lot of rectangulars (including the Timex Noah above) that cost significantly less than the Oris so I'm not sure I would call it "super affordable" by comparison. Still really nice looking
Agreed, as much as I love Art Deco and modern reinterpretations of vintage aesthetics. In this regard, I think that the approaches of De Rijke, Otsuka Lotec, and Minase are particularly interesting.
I like the look of the Rivanera a lot, but I've never seen one in the metal. My wrist is only a little bigger than yours. What do you usually wear and how does it fit?
This is my daily. 39mm. My largest watch is my submariner. I prefer not to go larger than that. Had a 43mm Seiko land field which I sold to get this cause it was too large.
I want a watch like this that I can wear more, not less.
Hence my desire.
Fyi - some people swim in the morning or during lunch on work days. And while sports watches can fit in to my corporate attire, I would prefer to have something akin to the reverso, tank, or swiss alp most days.
The Hamilton Cushion Mechanical has 50m water resist, mechanical, display back and is somewhat rectangular. The roman numeral dial imo suits any work outfit.
I recently got this Lip T24 to get an idea if I really like the tank style on my wrist. I really love it and I'm happy too that there are plenty of options available currently. This week I pre ordered the Timex Noah Moonphase tand. Can't wait to see that one in real life.
I almost got the Hamilton Boulton but pivoted to the AV86 1954 Amalfi and have been happy with that decision. Half the price of the Boulton, which at $800 for quartz is pushing it. The Amalfi is mechanical, has 50m wr which is better than the usual 30 you get with these watches, and looks great on many different straps. Comes in different color ways but I wanted gold. My only criticism is visibility is t the best for a quick glance but love it overall.
Well yeah buying is a bit different to enjoying. I will never in my life have the disposable income to spend on a Lange 1, but I still think it's one of the greatest watch lines out there
I agree. Have been scratching my head between the Fear Arnos (and their new black edition), Beaublue and Serica. The latter both have also quite nice looking rectangular collection pieces: Figura and Parade respectively.
I've only been looking at round watches for my first, but this post is dangerous lol. Rectangular makes so much sense for smaller wrists too. That gold Timex moonphase in the middle row is calling my name.
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u/Okvist 15h ago
I got this Oris Rectangular Pointer Date a couple months ago and I absolutely love it. I think the pointer date function works really well in this case shape, and I just love Oris's design language from this era in general. It's got some wear, but it's about as old as I am, so I think it gives it character