I’m not a fan of Valentine’s day. It’s just too close to Christmas and the whole thing just smacks of being manufactured to generate revenues for Hallmark. Even celebrating birthdays is a stretch for me, that’s something I need to work on as a father.

Irrespective of this, I am compelled to opine on what I believe is the perfect gift for men: The Omega Seamaster [LINK].

I have a fascination with cogs and all things clockwork. As a child, rather than build cars with (technic)lego I built gear-boxes, just to watch them turn. Naturally this translates to a fascination with watches. The springs, the escapment, the cogs, the ticking and tocking. Minimizing friction, minimizing innacuracies due to temperature or pressure fluctuations. So clean. So precise. So much thought compressed into a single small object. It’s like a tiny city on your wrist.

Omega [LINK] in my opinion are the premier watchmaker world-wide. They hold patents dating back to 1885. They are also the official timekeeper of the Olympics and have been for many years.

On March 1st, 1965 the SpeedMaster became "the only wristwatch to have withstood all of the U.S. space agency’s severe tests under conditions of zero gravity and magnetic fields, extreme shocks, vibrations and temperatures ranging from -18 to +93 degrees Celsius."

It went on to become the first watch on the moon.

The SpeedMaster is terrific, but I’ve always held a soft spot for the design of the SeaMaster. To me it’s a less complicated but equally sophisticated piece of engineering. It’s also the choice of James Bond.  The SeaMaster is traditionally a diving watch and some models still include a "Helium Release" valve that you can pop as you descend. It was the official watch of the America’s Cup in 2003.  A single link in the SeaMaster bracelet contains 10 pieces of steel.

So you can keep your Rolex’s, your Tag Heurs and your Breitlings. If you want an absolute classic watch from a company with a tangible history of innovation and accomplishment, the Omega SeaMaster is the only choice.