TAG Heuer Monaco Purple Dial Limited Edition If a purple chronograph is what you’re after, at £2,795, you can’t go wrong with the Triumph Bronze Jubilee. The William Wood is a thoroughly purple watch with a unique design, an emphasis on history, and solid specs. On the crown is an emblem made from brass from a 100-year-old British firefighting helmet. Sapphire crystals adorn the front and back. The case is 41mm in diameter and 13.8mm thick with a very manageable lug-to-lug of 47mm. I would’ve liked to have seen the date background subdued some to blend in. The date window is at 6 o’clock, in an uncomfortably and unfortunate bright white.

The hour and minute hands are bronze, matching the case, crown, and paddle-shaped pushers. The chronograph and running seconds hands are purple (what else?) with a nice lumed lollipop on the chronograph seconds hand. The chronograph measures up to 30 minutes at the 3 o’clock sub-dial. That rotor winds an automatic Sellita SW510 - a reliable chronograph movement with a power reserve of 48 hours. Of course, the text and signed rotor are in matching purple. Breaking the sapphire case back window in a fire is just about as helpful as the fire hose strap, but it’s an element of fun that I appreciate. Circling the see-through case back is a cheeky “In case of fire, break glass”. The sub-dials are in the style of pressure gauges, perfect for the fire hose motif. After years of searching, William Wood sourced some surplus fire hoses in purple from Japan. One of the selling points of William Wood watches is that the company uses recycled fire hoses for its straps. The purple doesn’t stop at the dial though. The warmth of the metal pulls out the warmth of the purple for a watch that feels, well, regal. In my opinion, bronze and purple are a match made in watch heaven. The Triumph Bronze Jubilee is a bronze bi-register chronograph with a rotatable count-up bezel and, yup, a purple dial. It’s a unique approach, but William Wood can’t be accused of deriving inspiration from any other brands. Some watch companies focus on aviation (*cough* Bremont), and some focus on firefighting. William Wood is a watch company oriented around British firefighting history. The William Wood Triumph Bronze Jubilee is a unique watch that spawns from an already unique company. Unfortunately, unless the market rallies behind this radical color, we’ll see the end of purple for some brands with the passing of 2022. We stand to benefit, with the royal color purple making interesting appearances in all sorts of products including watches. That’s no small feat, and the United Kingdom is celebrating in numerous creative ways.

This year, 2022, marks the British Queen’s 70th anniversary of rule. The Triumph Bronze Jubilee is not the only British watch featuring a purple dial that we’ll see on this list. I’m not going to say that his article tipped the scales, but I’m not going to say that it didn’t either. Back on the scent and on the hunt, I found that players in the watch industry have quietly been releasing purple watches since Brandon’s article published. It wasn’t until I came across the William Wood Triumph Bronze Jubilee that the purple flame burned within me again. It was a brilliant idea and one that ingrained itself in me as something I’d like in a watch as well. With some photo-editing wizardry, he was able to provide examples of how scrumptious some of his proposals would likely look. Here’s hoping they stick.Ī little more than a year ago, Brandon wrote an article calling on the industry to use more purple for watch dials. TAG Heuer, G-Shock, Fears, and others are testing the waters with purple watches. Some of them are limited, but some are not, and that’s good news. But in the last year, watch companies across the price spectrum have begun to introduce purple as a color option. Sure, fashion brands with infinite variations of their watches slip a plum model in here or there. The color purple - it’s royal and, until recently, an extremely rare color for watches.

Purple jeans