Match Your Watch With Your Outfit With These Steps

By Instash

Published 14:42 pm

Matching Your Watch With Your Outfit

It’s the little details that count when it comes to mastering the art of suave. You can be rocking the coolest threads in your wardrobe, but the wrong watch can easily make or break an outfit. Imagine a dude in a tuxedo suit with all the trimmings, so far so good as he’s one of the coolest in the room. Then he checks the time on a sports watch with a rubber strap. Doh, now that’s a suave system fail!

Men tend to wear minimal jewelry and so the watch is one of those statement pieces that’s designed to attract attention. And most of us own more than one so we can match our timepiece with the activity we’re doing or outfit we plan to wear. But we don’t always get it right. With the humble watch such a deal breaker when it comes getting your look on point, here’s our quick guide to smashing the suave every time, whatever the outfit or occasion.

Match The Formality Ofyour Watch With The Formality Of Your Outfit

If you only follow one of our ‘rules’ to keeping it suave, then this is the one to take home. Pair your watch choice with the formality of your outfit for the slick look rather than a mismatch fail.

There are probably five main reasons why you would be wearing a watch as part of an outfit – for a formal event (such as a black-tie dinner), business, business informal, everyday casual and sport. And so, as a general rule of thumb, you would pair a dress watch with your tuxedo, a smartwatch for your business meeting, a smart/casual analogue watch for everyday business, a multi-function sport or field watch for casual wear and an activity-specific watch (such as a dive watch, tactical watch or golf watch) for your sports.

Keep It Simple And Practical

Unless big bling is really your thing, the suave approach to matching a watch to your outfit is to keep it simple. Less is more and many top-quality watches have simple lines that add a touch of class to a suit or tux. The more formal event, the less ‘whistles and bells’ you need on your timepiece, after all, you really do just need it to tell the time! Go more casual or sport focused and you should be upping the function quota but keeping it practical means that you’ll actually use all the functions on your sports watch rather than having them there purely for show.

Leather Complements Leather

Now to get down to the details of your outfit and the simple but effective rule of ‘leather complements leather’. This means that a leather watch strap will pair well with a leather belt and leather shoes – in short, you should aim to be matched from wrist to toe. Wherever possible, also try to match the color – so brown leather watch strap, belt, and shoe for example. If you can’t match the strap to your shoes or belt, go for a subtle metal, silver works well, especially for a more formal event. If you are wearing a watch for anything other than sport or casual, avoid a plastic strap. That would certainly bag you zero style points at a formal or black-tie event! And finally, when it comes to a leather watch strap, go for the best quality you can afford and keep any worn in or distressed leather watches for day time casual.

Metal Complements Metal

Keeping with the matching theme, the metal case of your watch should also complement rather than clash with the metal accents of your other accessories and your outfit as a whole. This can be in the metal shade – a silver watch case and a silver belt buckle for example – or the shape of the case. This could be a round silver watch face and a pair of round silver cufflinks or a matt metal watch with a matt ring. Don’t go too far or ‘matchy-matchy’ throughout but these subtle touches work so well to complete a formal outfit.

And, when it comes to the shade of metal, there are some style rules too! A gold-plated watch works well with clothes and shoes in earthy tones while silver works best with shades of grey, blue or black.

Heirloom Watches Are The Exception To The Rule

OK, with all these suave watch style rules, you may think you’ve now got it down, but we do have a curl ball to throw your way. ‘Heirloom’ watches can totally rip up the rule book! Whether it’s a super vintage find you’ve found online or your granddad’s field watch that’s been handed down to you, heirloom watches are a special piece that can be worn to add something really unique to an outfit. An antique watch can really style up a Tux or add some gravitas to a casual outfit – both ways you will attract attention for all the right reasons! You’ll need to take extra care of your heirloom watch in-between wears to keep them in tip top condition, so why not get a watch winder to keep them right on time?

When In Doubt Match Your Watch To Your Shoes!

Not sure what way to go with your outfit and don’t have the time to go shopping? Look to your feet! Matching your watch strap to your shoes is a simple way to keep it neat and your suave on the radar. Black is generally considered dressier, whereas brown shoes lift a less. Formal business suit. Still not sure? Go straight with a silver wristband and a low-key, quality watch and let your outfit do all the talking!