SIHH: Best of The Mid-Range Watches

If our low-down on day one of the SIHH show left you thinking that you’ll need a six-figure sum in order to secure any of this year’s new releases, fear not. There’s a fair bit on offer in the (relative) bargain basement, too. Cartier might have left us agog with the near GBP 1 million price tag it has attached to the White Tiger watch, but the really big news from ‘the king of jewellers’ is the launch of its first ever diver’s piece.

With an entry price of GBP 5,700 in steel, the imaginatively-named ‘Cartier Diver’ has been pitched as a direct competitor to the legendary Rolex Submariner. The chance of it making even a mild dent in Sub sales seems minimal, but if you don’t happen to be a Rolex fan but you are looking for a properly made underwater watch, the Diver should certainly be on your short list. Made to the recognised ISO 6425 standard, it features a beautifully engineered, uni-directional bezel with half-minute adjustment, a screw down crown and excellent luminosity.

And, if you thought perpetual calendar watches always had to be astronomically priced as well as being astronomically aligned, you might be surprised to learn that Montblanc, the German pen meister which is working hard to up its horological offering, has unveiled a perpetual calendar model in its Meisterstuck Heritage range with a starting price of just GBP 8,500 in steel. And yes, that really is cheap – look elsewhere, and you’ll struggle to find a perpetual for twice the price.

Panerai also impressed us with its new Radiomir 1940 Chronograph collection which come equipped with movement from a hand-wound mechanical Panerai OP XXV calibre, while Ralph Lauren will now sell you a scaled-down, 39mm version of its original 45mm RL67 ‘safari’ three-hander for below GBP 2,500.

By Simon de Burton