Aldren Watch

The hardest watch to get right is the one that has to work everywhere.

An interview. A wedding. A Saturday. Steel on a bracelet is the only thing that does all three, and it is the one most men skip, because the decent ones start at three figures.

It has to work everywhere, so it does.

Aldren Watch was built for the days that change shape. A white shirt in the morning, a jumper by the evening, and nothing in between where it looks out of place.

Sunburst is why it never looks cheap.

The dial is brushed outward from the centre, so it moves from deep to bright as you turn your wrist. That is the detail separating a watch that reads as considered from one that reads as filler.

Four dials, one watch.

Racing Green, Marine Blue, Onyx Black and Arctic White, all on the same polished steel. Pick the one that suits the rest of what you own, or take the blue and work the rest out later.

A bracelet that earns its keep.

Three-link polished steel with a folding clasp that snaps shut and stays shut. Links come out to size it to your wrist, and it carries more weight in the hand than the price would suggest.

Bright enough at three in the morning.

The markers and the hands hold a green glow once they have had some light, so the time is simply there when you want it, without reaching for a phone.

Please note: this is a 3 bar watch, which covers rain and washing your hands but not swimming or showering. The bracelet fits up to roughly an eight inch wrist and is sized by removing links. The small magnifier over the date divides opinion, and owners say so in both directions.