Today, I will present my dream line-up. One of the favorite topics among my watch-fiend friends is, “Which five timepieces would you choose if you could only wear those 5 pieces?” I love to contemplate this question and to dream of an unlimited budget. My dream five-piece collection would have to include at least one Panerai, one black dressy piece, one motor racing piece, one piece on stainless steel and one utility piece. You will notice, as you read this blog, that my dream collection is devoid of gold or what many watch guys would call a “get lost” piece. At first, I was going to include a gold AP Royal Oak chrono or a chocolate and gold Daytona, but then I realized that I would rarely wear these pieces. They’re not really my style. My five dream pieces are watches that I would wear very regularly, in rotation, and they are all high end if not ultra high end. Let’s take a look…

Panerai Luminor 1950 47mm PAM00422

I wore this piece for a short time a few years ago. Many of you may know my passion for Panerai, and I always felt that the 422 is the ULTIMATE Panerai. It’s even larger than the average Panerai, has an in-house movement, a power reserve that is cleverly placed on the back, and loads of wrist presence. The 422 provides the brown leather look and can have an infinite number of strap choices. This piece was the very first piece that came to mind when assembling the Top 5 pieces.

Omega Dark Side of the Moon

I tried this piece on with Adam last fall. It has always been a favorite of mine — it has a classic Speedmaster feel combined with a modern size, modern materials and a superb strap. It could be classified as a racing chrono as well as a sports chrono. The movement is full of high-tech and high-end engineering and the DSOTM is absolutely stunning on the wrist. Given the amazing comfort of this piece and its outstanding movement with chrono and date, the DSOTM would probably be my daily wear and would fit in as my utility piece.

Hublot Classic Fusion Ultra-Thin, 45mm, titanium with shiny black dial

Now this is my formal dressy piece. The strap on this piece is amazing. The manual movement is just perfect for a dressy piece that you don’t wear every day, and with a whopping 90 hours of power reserve, you can wind it and keep it running for days. This Hublot is elegant, wonderfully modern, very high end and just… gorgeous. This was actually an easy choice for my dressier piece — I love the proportions on the case. It’s just sensational.

Rolex Datejust II, smooth bezel, stick dial, silver dial

I would always want a piece on a stainless steel bracelet and I can think of none better than the Rolex DJ2. This is your go-to piece, it’s the piece you grab for ANY occasion. Is it a sports watch? Is it a dressy watch? The DJ2 can look and feel great with jeans and a t-shirt and it can double as a dressy watch for a wedding or a business suit. I actually owned a DJ2 myself, the one with a black dial — find my review here. I traded it away in search of another dream and because the black dial was never what I really wanted. For sure, I miss the DJ2 more than any piece I have sold or traded, it felt completely appropriate in ANY situation. I would have preferred the silver dial, but my DJ2 was one excellent piece. The Rolex oyster bracelet is my very favorite and the quality of this piece is second to none. You can wear it knowing it is powered by a super high-end movement: robust, accurate and precise. This Rolex is a must for my dream collection.

IWC Ingenieur Chronograph Racer Ref. 3785

My Top 5 dream collection would have to include a proper motor racing chronograph. This IWC is the ultimate that I have found so far. It was born from a real F1 association with the World Champion Mercedes team. It is stunning in real life. And its flyback chronograph movement is packed full of high-end engineering. There are a few variations — I would choose either the grey dial or the white dial on IWC’s high-tech rubberized strap. I like a lot of racers, but this one is the piece that my mind keeps coming back to. I can imagine strutting around at the Grand Prix sporting this bad boy.

And there you have it. I have been on vacation this week and I have had a lot of time to dream about watches. These are the five pieces I would have if I could assemble my dream collection today. What are your dream pieces? Have you thought about it? Is your dream line-up a moving target? As always, the fun is in the search…

Yours truly,
TimeCaptain