A Man & His Watch - Matt Hranek

Matt Hranek is an inveterate watch enthusiast with a passion for fine design. He is a photographer, director and men's style editor at Condé Nast Traveller. As Matt writes: "Watches tell the world a bit about who you are, and they can, if you're lucky, connect you to the people in your life that matter most."

The book opens with the author's own Rolex Datejust that belonged to his father, and which sets the scene for the book by poignantly explaining its importance to him. Matt remembers his father buying the watch to celebrate the success of the first year of his own business, the watch was left to him when his father died suddenly when Matt was just 18 years old. A wide range of watches are beautifully illustrated throughout the book and are accompanied by the owners' stories - there is Ralph Lauren on his Cartier Tank Cintrée (...seriously one of the most beautiful watch designs of all time), Mario Andretti on his gold Heuer Carrera, Tom Sachs' customised Casio G-Shock and Hodinkee founder Ben Clymer's Omega Speedmaster Mark 40. There are also watches taken from manufacturers' archives including: John F. Kennedy's inauguration Omega; Elvis Presley's Corum watch, Steve McQueens' Heuer Monaco from the film Le Mans; Andy Warhol's Patek Philippe and the adventurer Francis Chicester's Rolex Oyster.