Zeppelin Friedrichshafen men's watch

Some watches ask you to look twice, and the Zeppelin 8566-3 is one of them. It belongs to the Friedrichshafen collection, named after the German town where the great airships were built, and that history shows up in the small mechanical details rather than in any loud branding. The dial has a textured blue finish with arabic numerals and a white outer ring, and down near the bottom sits a small subdial for the running seconds. Just below it you get a hexagonal open window straight into the movement, so you can actually watch the wheels turn while the watch is on your wrist. It suits a man who wants a bit more to look at than plain hands, but still wants the whole thing to read calm rather than cluttered.

Inside the case ticks a Miyota 82S5 automatic movement, wound by the natural motion of your arm, so there's no battery to think about as long as you wear it a few times a week. The steel case measures 40mm across and 11mm thick, a size that sits neatly under a shirt cuff at work without ever feeling bulky at the weekend. Zeppelin fitted the dial with a sapphire crystal, the toughest glass available for a watch, which keeps the surface scratch-free through years of daily use. The strap is dark blue leather with a quilted pattern and white stitching, a small touch that gives the watch more character than a plain smooth strap would. Rated to 5 ATM, it shrugs off rain, hand washing and a splash in the pool, though it's not built for diving. Zeppelin has always leaned on aviation for inspiration, and here that comes through in the layered dial rather than in any obvious logo.

Specifications

• Collection: Friedrichshafen, model 8566-3
• Movement: Automatic, Miyota 82S5
• Case: Steel, 40mm diameter, 11mm thick
• Glass: Sapphire crystal
• Water resistance: 5 ATM
• Strap: Dark blue leather with quilted pattern and white stitching

The Zeppelin 8566-3 is for anyone who likes a watch with a bit of substance, literally, since you can see the mechanism at work through that open window on the dial. It's dressed up enough for a suit yet relaxed enough for everyday wear thanks to the soft leather strap. Keep it moving and the automatic movement keeps running on its own, while the sapphire crystal means the dial still looks sharp long after you've stopped counting the days you've worn it.