Five plastic watches worth wearing

Jul 5 2016

If you are considering becoming a serious watch collector, you should definitely make room in your vault for a plastic watch or two. Only the snobbiest of watch snobs steers clear of synthetics, despite the fact that are an important part of horological history.

The world's first mechanical plastic watch was introduced by Tissot in 1971. Called the Astrolon (and also known as the IDEA 2001), it took 20 years to develop and used just 52 parts. Punters could have one on their wrist for around US$50 ($66) and it was completely disposable.

Although it was a sales flop, largely because it was ahead of its time and also because it didn't keep very good time, the Astrolon was to inspire the revolutionary Swatch some 12 years later.

Ken Buckley, Rolex Australia's master watchmaker, says on "Would I wear one? Yeah, I have. It was a black Pulsar Biorhythm from the 1980s," he says. "And I have bought my wife many Swatch watches over the years. People need to remember that without the Swatch, the Swiss watch industry as we know it would not exist."

Executive Style looked at five of the best plastic watches on the market today.

Breitling Avenger Hurricane

The high-end Swiss watch company has just released this chronograph made from a fancy new polymer they call 'Breitlight'. To you and me, it's basically plastic, albeit strengthened with composite fibres to make it stiffer. You'll probably breeze through the security scanners at the airport too, because it's anti-magnetic. Features include a 24-hour movement and 70-hour power reserve. But is it worth the hefty asking price?

Price: $11,570 from www.breitling.com/en/

Swatch Sistem 51

A direct ancestor of Tissot's original Astrolon, the Swatch Sistem 51 is so-named because its groundbreaking movement uses just 51 parts assembled around a central screw. This Swatch caused a sensation when launched at Baselworld in 2013. As it's such a landmark piece of engineering, it's easy to see why some of the world's great watch aficionados have one in their collections. Since kicking off in 1983, Swatch remains one of the most innovative industrial designs of the past century.

Price: $200 from www.swatch.com/en_au/

Casio G-Shock

The celebrity rappers watch of choice, the humble G-Shock has also made countless appearances on the big screen; from Keanu Reeves' classic DW5600 in Speed, to Tom Cruise's DW290 in Mission Impossible. (directors Tony Scott, Ron Howard and Francis Ford Coppola also wear G-Shocks). The G-Shock was launched in April 1983, after Casio engineer Kikuo Ibe set himself the challenge to create a watch that could survive the fall from a three story building onto cement. He tested 200 prototypes before arriving at the DW-5000C. Nowadays the watch has a cult following.

Price: from $199 from gshock.shriro.com.au/

Noon Copenhagen

This little known company was founded in 2006, to produce great Danish design at affordable prices. Henrik Sørig, who has made products for Bang & Olufsen, creates the designs for Noon. Movements are reliably Japanese. We reckon they are worth a look if you're after an inexpensive fashion watch that is a bit different.

Price: from US$45 ($60) from www.nooncopenhagen.com.

Tag Heuer F1

OK, so you'll need to find one of these on the vintage watch market, but it will be well worth the search. Inspired by the success of the Swatch, Tag's Formula 1 was launched at Basel in 1983. A synthetic case, bright colours, cut-to-length plastic straps, and an affordable movement all added up to a huge commercial success, and there's something about the watch that really captures the zeitgeist of the era.

Price: Expect to pay up to $400 on Ebay for an original series 1 in really good condition.

Did we miss any? Let us know in the Comments section.