Best Watches of 2013

Having a great watch collection full of high quality watches is one of the best investments you can make in yourself. Not only do watches retain their value (or even increase in value!), but they are a solid and practical addition to any wardrobe. Whether you are a wealthy aristocrat or a blue-collar worker, there are watches for any and every budget and to match any personality and sense of style. The right watch can tie together a suit, or simply make a statement about the type of style you enjoy. Whatever your reason for buying and wearing a watch, there is something for you.

The watch industry is filled with tried and true classics. The well-known brands like Rolex, Tag Heuer, and Swiss Army are all mainstays of the industry, with classic designs that have stood the test of time for many decades. Many of these designs have remained more or less the same for almost 100 years. While these designs are classic and it is understandable why the companies that make them would choose to keep them more or less the same, the watch market is still an evolving industry with always changing designs and styles. The year 2013 in particular was a great year for exciting and stylish watches across the price spectrum. The following are some of the year’s standouts.

Breitling Emergency II

Arguably the best watch of 2013, the Breitling Emergency II is a gorgeous and functional timepiece with a stainless steel frame and a distinct orange face. The watch has been heralded as one of the best new developments in the watch industry thanks to its distinct design along with its namesake’s “emergency” feature. What makes the Emergency II so unique is its distress beacon feature, which fires off a distress signal on digital and analogue frequencies for 24 hours. While this feature does make the watch non-functional after the 24 hours, Breitling will replace the watch in the event of a real emergency. The Emergency II has already saved at least 20 lives as a result of its emergency transmission feature. Hopefully, the ability to transmit an emergency signal will become increasingly common in the watch industry.

Martian Smartwatch

The year 2013 was supposed to be the “year of the smartwatches”. After some early adopters started buying smartwatches in 2011 and 2012, many experts in the technology and watch industries believed that the new smart watch market would hit a critical mass in 2013, with dozens of designs and models being released and a significant marketing push by many of the manufacturers and wireless carriers that sold them in their retail stores. However, the smart watch concept was mostly a bust, in large part due to the lack of style that most of the smart watches had. Many of them tried to be functional and provide a large touch screen, things that most watch wearers typically are not that concerned with, and might even be turned off by.

However, one very noteworthy exception was the Martian Smartwatch known as the Martian Passport. Instead of focusing on packing in lots of glitzy feature and a large touchscreen, the Martian Passport instead focused on providing a classy looking watch with the core components of a “smart” device. This watch is widely regarded as the classiest smartwatch currently on the market, and is designed to work in tandem with any of the major smartphone operation systems currently on the market. The Martian Passport gives the wearer the ability to give hands-free voice commands, can show when messages, alerts, or timers go off on your smartphone, and can even control the camera on your smartphone. What makes the Martian Passport a commercial success is its ability to combine these features into a classy black watch with chrome-plated sides and a black and white watch face. If you are looking to add a smartwatch to your watch collection, the Martian Smartwatch is a great way to get one without looking like the geekiest person in the office.

Hublot Red ‘n’ Black Skeleton Tourbillon

If you are a looking for something that is futuristic and aren’t concerned with adhering to traditional standards of what a watch should be made out of, the Hublot Red ‘n’ Black Skeleton Tourbillon is one worth taking a look at. Hublot is already well known for their penchant for unique and futuristic styles, and their new Red ‘n’ Black model lives up to that standard. The watch is made from ceramic with the unique red color injected into it. The watch has a see-through face, so you can look at all of the internal gears and workings of the watch as you wear it. This watch will be sure to make an impression on anyone that sees you wearing it; however you should probably think twice before wearing it anywhere that hyper-conservative expectations of style are prevalent. Nevertheless, the Hublot Red ‘n’ Black Skeleton Tourbillon is a distinct timepiece that just might stand the test of time.

Whether you are looking for something new and unique, high-tech, or simply fashionable, there have never been more great choices than there are today. The year 2013 was great for all three categories, and now is a great time to buy your next watch. If you are looking to buy or even sell a watch, it is absolutely crucial that you go to a watch dealer that will treat you with respect and give you a fair price.

Raymond Lee Jewelers has been in business in Boca Raton since 1983, and is the leading location for any and all jewelry and watch needs. In addition to offering some of the best prices on watches in South Florida, Raymond Lee Jewelers will give you a fair price for any of your old watches that you are interested in selling. Best of all, their store offers a full service department, so you can bring your watch in for clearing, repair, or simply to get the battery replace. If you are interested in finding out more about what Raymond Lee Jewelers can do for you, visit their website by clicking here.