Youâve gotta hand it to Usherâthe man simply doesnât age. Not only that, but his choice of fits is remarkably consistent: Compare the picture of him from last night, accepting BETâs Lifetime Achievement award in a white blazer and jeans, to one from the 2005 Soul Train Awards where he rockedâ¦a white dinner jacket and jeans. But what he wasnât wearing 20 years ago was a mind-blowingly beautiful, vintage Piaget watch from the 1970s.
Sourced by the horological wizards over at Analog:Shiftâthe vintage and pre-owned division of the retail giant Watches of Switzerlandâthe timepiece in question is housed in a yellow gold case with an integrated bracelet in a basketweave pattern, making it as much a sublime piece of jewelry as it is a functional wristwatch. Its dial, meanwhile, is entirely factory-set with pavé diamonds, with only a subtle dauphine handset and the Piaget wordmark to disturb its elegant tapestry. Measuring 24mm in diameter, it features a hand-wound movement.
Greg Pallante / Courtesy Analog:Shift
For the past few years, men have gravitated toward smaller and smaller watches. And weâre not even talking about relatively smaller watchesâas in sub-40mm dive watches, or 36mm dress watches, the type of fare that was once considered standard. Weâre talking about dainty, sub-30mm, objectively teensy timepieces that are largely still marketed to female clientele, even when a watch company doesnât divide its catalog into menâs and womenâs pieces. But in the grand pendulum swing away from the 47mm Panerais and the 44mm IWCs of the late â90s and early â2000s, stylish men seem to be gravitating toward the far end of the size spectrum, brandishing elegant little Cartiers, unisex Chopards, and, yes, itty-bitty Piagets.
Some men will inevitably find this far-left quadrant of the diameter graph difficult to stomach, but we should remind you of a few key points. First of all, the A-11, the hand-wound mil-spec watch of the American (and other) forces during the Second World War, measured roughly 31mm wide. (It was made by several companies and thus the case diameters werenât completely uniform.) Positively teensy, and yet, it was worn by an army of millions of battle-hardened soldiers. Secondly: Some of the most exquisite, creative, downright beautiful watches ever designed were either quite small, or they were outright designed for womenâs wrists, meaning they are hella small. Are you ready to write off an entire realm of horological beauty just because of a diminutive case diameter?
Clearly, Usher is not. The man joins the ranks of the intrepid few who have been strapping on watches that ride the fine line between horlogerie and bijoux for the past two or three yearsâmen like Timothée Chalamet, Tyler the Creator, and Bad Bunny, who clearly donât care about the menâs-womenâs divide. (Or your opinion on it, for that matter.) Usherâs Piaget is an ultra-fine, left-of-center approach to this particularly horological problem, but if youâre looking to go small, then donât overthink it: Grab yourself a Tank Must, and join the ranks of the confident.