Looking for a wristwatch to wish someone "Happy birthday" on their 21st? Our list has the best options to pick from.
1. Fears Brunswick 38 Champagne
If you're after something elegant to gift someone with old-school tastes and price is no bar, you'd do well to buy a Brunswick, which has revived a 1924 classic with great success. We suggest this champagne colourway with a glass-bead-blasted finish.
The watch features a time-only dial encased in an almost-squarish cushion case. It's overlaid with hand-applied black gold indices and skeletonised hands. A sunken seconds sub-register with an azurage finish at 6 o'clock is a lovely little addition that draws the eye.
Driving the Brunswick 38 is a manually wound ETA 7001 movement visible through the open caseback.
2. Hamilton Khaki Navy Scuba Auto
The Khaki Navy Scuba Auto is a good pick for the hip and happening. It's a 300m diver with a 43mm case, sapphire crystal, and a ceramic bezel insert. The grainy fumé dial has contrasting applied indices and painted 24-hour markers, bringing a field watch vibe. Your eye is sure to follow the red-tipped seconds hand as it goes around the dial.
Hamilton's ETA 2824-based H-10 movement lies at the heart of this chunky timepiece, which calls for someone with a big wrist or a preference for big watches. Of course, the 40mm variant is always an option but that has totally different specs and vibe.
3. Tissot Seastar 2000 Professional - Green
If the Khaki Navy Auto was a chunky watch, the Seastar 2000 stands a step above at 46mm. It makes a great gift for someone who always seems to be in a wetsuit.
With a depth rating of 600m, helium escape valve, and other ISO 6425-ready specs, the Seastar 2000 is a professional dive watch built for high nautical performance. Its wave-patterned dial with shading around the edges appears mesmerising as the light dances around on it. Well-lumed indices, fencepost hands, and a 6 o'clock date window form the rest of the dial.
A robust watch calls for a robust movement, a criterion Tissot has obligingly met by adding its flag-bearing Powermatic 80 movement and even making it visible through the caseback.
We're all for the dial colour featured here. Is it teal green? Teal blue? Turquoise? Its exact shade is difficult to pin down. All we know is that we can't get enough of it.
4. Bausele Endless Sunrise - Alcyone Blue
Inspired by the dawn of a new day over the ocean and backed by a philosophy of "making time for what matters", which is a good LifeProTip to learn at 21, a Sydney Diver Endless Sunrise is a fitting gift for such a milestone birthday. It's a 200m dive watch with a 39.5mm stainless steel case, bright sandwich dial with "Old Radium" LumiNova, and a 38-hour Sellita SW200 movement underneath.
In keeping with the Bausele tradition of adding "a piece of Australia" to every watch, the crown carries a clear capsule of sand from Manly beach in Sydney.
If your gift recipient prefers classic looks, go for the pearly white dial. Favour the orange or yellow if they wouldn't mind something vibrant. If you're feeling indecisive, the blue dial featured here is a safe bet. It can be livened up with an orange rubber strap or toned down with a Milanese mesh bracelet, both of which come with the box.
5. Mido Ocean Star Decompression Worldtimer - Black
The Decompression Worldtimer is sure to make a welcome birthday gift for a travel enthusiast, aquaphile, budding watch collector, or simply a vintage lover.
With a 200m depth rating, world-time bezel, true GMT function, 80-hour autonomy, Nivachron balance spring, bright lume, and dual strap options, this 40.5 mm watch ticks several boxes for a multi-functional tool watch. Yes, some would say it's overkill, but if you know someone who would appreciate this kind of complexity in form and function, why not treat them to this fun timepiece?
6. DOXA SUB 200T Divingstar
Know someone who can rock Doxa's distinctive aesthetic? Surprise them with this highly wearable (39mm) 200m three-hand diver that makes a good daily wearer. It features a unidirectional rotating bezel, screw-down crown, and a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal.
For most colourways, the dial is available in the Iconic matte finish and in a brushed radial "sunray" finish. Beneath the dial, and hidden above an opaque caseback, is the Sellita SW200-1 movement with a power reserve of 38 hours.
With as many as 26 references in this collection, you can pick a dial with the right balance of dressy and sporty based on what will appeal to the 21-year-old you're buying for. We have showcased a yellow "Divingstar" variant here.
7. Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical
Lure a new watch enthusiast into your network by gifting them this well-known military inspired reference from a well-known brand. It's a 38mm daily wearer that runs on the H-50 in-house movement with an 80-hour autonomy.
The Khaki Field earns its "field watch" tag with a rugged build, time-only dial, bold contrasting markers, and the use of lume. And it does the job so well that it sets the benchmark for this category, always making an appearance when the discussion turns to field watches.
You'll find multiple dial and strap combinations for this one, but we recommend the black-dialled bracelet version for gift giving.
8. Baltic Prismic Salmon - Bracelet
This watch is Baltic's phenomenally successful effort at reviving cocktail watches from the 1920s. It runs on the trusty 42-hour Swiss mechanical movement, the Peseux 7001, which is on display through the caseback.
The Prismic was inspired by the refraction of light through a prism and accordingly, the dial features a radial guilloche pattern to mimic the scattering of light. A brushed sector with polished indices overlaps this pattern, leaving the guilloche visible at the centre and against the rehaut. Sitting snugly between the centre and the 6 o'clock position is a hollow, ringed seconds sub-dial.
Of the four colourways available, we think the trendy salmon dial paired with a bracelet strap will make an excellent gift.
Made up your mind yet?
