If you caught the watch bug over the last decade or so, it might be hard to imagine a time when dive watches like the Rolex Submariner and chronographs like the Omega Speedmaster weren’t the object of every enthusiast’s desire, and subject to ever-higher resale prices. But forty years ago, following two decades of dominance by steel tool watches, a new era emerged when what a watch could do was less important than how it looked—and the wilder and more decadent it looked, the cooler it was.
This was the era of the Patek Philippe “Nautellipse”, the Piaget Polo, the Bulgari Bulgari, and other classic designs that foreshadowed 1980s postmodernism by prioritizing bold shapes and bank vault’s worth of yellow gold over depth ratings and other less sexy concerns.
Now, after a decade of unchecked enthusiasm for steel grails like the Paul Newman Daytona and Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711, things in the watch world are starting to look a lot like 1980 again. The new Breda Sync, a unisex watch that combines a sweaty, last-days-of-Studio-54 vibe with an ultra-accessible price, is the perfect way to get in on the action.
Like much of Breda’s recent output, the Sync blurs the lines between watches and jewelry, and makes a strong case for heading to the women’s department for your next timepiece. Following recent launches like the Piaget Polo 79, a yellow gold relaunch of a popular 1980s collection, and the Bulgari Bulgari, another Goldfinger-approved classic from the era, the Sync features a sculptural integrated bracelet, a small round case, and a sumptuous selection of dials in flame red, evergreen and (naturally) yellow gold.
Like the best watches of the ‘80s, the Sync doesn’t bother much with hour markers or other practical considerations, and focuses primarily on making a big visual impact with its contrasting shapes, embossed horizontal lines, and bold colors. It’s not the sort of thing you’d wear to the beach, and it won’t be much good at timing laps at Daytona, but if you’ve been into watches for any part of the last decade, chances are you’ve probably got one or two of those already.
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