Put Your Wrist on the Gold Standard With These Red-gold Watches

As its name suggests, Gevril’s Avenue of Americas was designed for the U.S. market. Says president Samuel Friedmann, a native Swiss who bought Gevril in 2001: “In America, you can find a company president wearing a Seiko or a Citizen. I felt the American market was really undeveloped.”

by Ralph DiGennaro

As any corporate titan knows, when the economic going gets tough, the tough . . . turn to gold. Dollar plummeting? Recession fears rising? Real-estate markets not so real? Then there’s no safer place for your assets than the gold markets — or, perhaps, a nice shiny gold watch.

But not just any old gold will do. For starters, somewhat surprisingly, pure gold is rarely used in watches. It’s too soft to withstand the abuse. Instead, gold watches typically contain a percentage of other metals, like silver or copper, which both harden the gold and alter its color. Add silver, the gold turns yellowish; add copper, it grows redder. And the higher the copper content — up to as much as 25 percent — the stronger and richer the coloration. (Another upside: This deeper tone ensures that these timepieces will never be confused with the shiny $10 “gold watches” hawked by our nation’s more dubious street-corner peddlers.)

Thus, for the boss looking to buy his way into the gold market — and flaunt those holdings on the end of his arm — the following four red-gold timepieces should appreciate rather nicely.