This is the first list of watches for your consideration. It is always hard to include or exclude watches from a limited list, but here goes (no particular order):
The Mercedes Gleitze Rolex Oyster – The watch that started it all for Rolex and one of the first usable waterproof watches and testament to Hans Wildorf’s business savvy.
The Seiko 35 SQ Astron – The first production quartz watch available to the general public. It was the harbinger of what Japan was capable of and watches like these and the later all digital quartz watches almost spelled the end of the Swiss mechanical watch industry. And saved it too.
The 1960 Bulova Accutron – Very important as the prelude to the new dawn of electronic watches and, for those days, an awe-inspiring product.
The Omega Speedmaster Professional – AKA ‘The Moonwatch’. Needs no further introduction and it also emphasized the importance of the wristwatch.
The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms – The granddaddy of the quintessential sportswatch. Supposedly beat Rolex to the game by a couple of months.
The Concord Delirium – An almost forgotten watch but it is the thinnest wristwatch ever made at 1.98 mm. It paved the way for a new method in watch making: the caseback is a structural part of the movement.
The Swatch One – This is the watch that put the Swiss watch industry back on the map again, inexpensive, waterproof, plastic and hip.
The Hamilton Pulsar – The world’s first all digital watch. It started a trend and thus was a trendsetter although short lived.
The Cartier Tank – Most recognizable of all Cartier models and named after the first tanks that appeared in WWI. And still in production all be it with different technology.
The Zenith El Primero – The winner of a race, a watch race and the supplier of the pre-manufacture Rolex Daytona movement.
The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak – The birth of a new type of watch: the luxurious sportswatch. Made in many, many variations and very recognizable.
The Braille watch – This simple but brilliant concept makes it possible for people that are visually impaired to tell the time. Now there are watches that literally tell the time but before these, the Braille watch was the only way to ‘feel’ the time.
Please add more to make the list more diverse so that a choice is possible! Thank you all for your contributions
An example of a watch that cannot make the list: The Elgin A-11 military watch as worn by pilots during WWII. Why? Not available to the general public.