Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Fashion & Style
  3. Features

Eleven James Gives You Access to Incredible Watches Without an Incredible Price Tag

There are few things quite like giving the gift of time. However, giving a first-class watch can be seriously expensive and out of the budget range of most.

If you’re still looking for the perfect gift for the horophile in your life, consider a membership with Eleven James.

Recommended Videos

The concept is fairly straightforward, and there are two options. “Curated” lets the wearer choose from a lineup of six watches based on the monthly membership price selected ($150, $300, or $500). Five different lineups are offered, and many feature famous timekeeping houses like  Cartier, Tudor, and, of course, Rolex. (We’re especially fond of the Summit Collection, which includes functional Chronographs and water-resistant models ready for adventuring.)

The second option from Eleven James is the “Bespoke Collection”. The wearer can create his/her own collection with at least two different watches that can be worn for up to three months at a time. The price varies based on the watch, but it’s an interesting way to experience these beautiful timepieces as a literal timeshare.

Consider Eleven James a personal lending library of some of the world’s top functional timepieces, all available at the click of a mouse. Imagine being able to wear a rose gold Rolex Daytona for just $700 as opposed to a purchase price in the mid- $20,000s.

It’s a great gift idea for the watch lover who may be considering purchasing an investment timepiece outright. You’re essentially letting them test drive hundreds of watches that may already be on his/her list anyway. (You’ll be seen as a life — and bank account — saver when the enthusiast on your shopping list realizes that a TAG Heuer model fits their day-to-day more than an OMEGA or Bell & Ross.)

Eleven James can also help decide which package is right you (or your gift) with dedicated customer support. You can learn more about membership here.

Geoff Nudelman
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Geoff is a former contributor to The Manual. He’s a native Oregonian who’s always up for a good challenge and a great hike… Read Full Bio
Topics
Swatch’s new gold MoonSwatch is priced like it’s 1969
Wristwatch, Arm, Body Part

Guess what? It’s another MoonSwatch — but this isn’t just another colorway. The new drop from the Switzerland-based watchmaker, the MoonSwatch Mission to the Moon 1969, is the first to use real gold across the dial, hands, crown, and pushers.

The watch marks the anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on July 21, 1969.

Read more
Breitling’s new Top Time is a wearable tribute to the Aston Martin DB5
Car, Watch, Man

Breitling just released a trio of heaters: the Top Time B01 Chronograph 41 Tribute to Aston Martin DB5, a three-edition collaboration with the British carmaker. The connection between the Swiss watchmaker and the British car company runs back to 1965, when a Top Time ref. 2002 appeared on Sean Connery’s wrist in Thunderball, worn alongside the DB5 — the first Q-modified watch in the Bond series. It’s a nice bit of trivia that the DB5 and that Top Time shared the screen in the same film, and both went on to outlive the movie by decades.

The car cues go deeper than the “squircle” gauge-shaped subdials: a wooden inner ring nods to the DB5’s steering wheel, and each edition rides on a hand-colored gradient calfskin strap meant to read like automotive upholstery. All three run on Breitling’s in-house Manufacture Caliber 01, a COSC-certified automatic chronograph with a 70-hour power reserve, visible through a sapphire caseback and finished with an Aston Martin-engraved rotor. The case measures 41mm. The editions are divvied up by material and rarity. Stainless steel with a silver dial is limited to 1,022 pieces and sticks closest to the original ref. 2002, while steel with a platinum bezel and black lacquered dial drops to 315 pieces.

Read more
Look to the sky for these space themed watches
Accessories, Strap, Wristwatch

It was the 1960s. We were in the middle of a Cold War with Russia, and instead of escalating to an actual war with bullets and bombs, we took the conflict to the sky. We created a war of economics, science, and morale in a race to the sky to be the first nation to reach the moon. While the race picked up throughout the decade, it came down to the wire before the USA won the race by landing on the moon (if you believe that sort of thing and don’t believe Stanley Kubrick directed the greatest ruse of all time). In any case, no race can be run without a good timekeeper. And watches were a must-have for all involved. Ever since, chronophiles like me have been obsessed with space-themed watches and, in particular, moon mission watches.

That is why I happened to have this list in my head. Five watches that bring the space race and the great beyond to the forefront of thinking to build a collection that is out of this world.

Read more