Make someone's milestone birthday special with one of these top watches.
1. echo/neutra Averau 39 3H White
From the soaring Averau peak in the Italian Dolomites comes the inspiration for this echo/neutra timepiece, which can make a wonderful gift for someone stepping into a new chapter who is excited to embrace life’s next great challenge.
With its pristine white dial, the Averau strikes the perfect balance between timeless elegance and bold presence. Its fully luminous dial, with added lume on the main indexes and handset, ensures every detail is clear, regardless of whether it’s day or night.
Behind its refined design lies the Sellita SW200-1 in elaboré grade, delivering dependable performance and a 41-hour power reserve. You can opt for a textile strap for casual days or a stainless steel bracelet for a more elevated style.
2. Baltic Prismic Salmon - Bracelet
Baltic did a great job reviving classic cocktail watches from the 1920s, and the result is the Prismic, a silver radial-guilloché-dialled affair topped with a domed sapphire crystal. Supporting the striking pattern is a brushed sector with polished indices, brushed dauphine hands, and a seconds sub-register at 6 o'clock.
The Prismic's 36mm open-backed case made of titanium and stainless steel embeds a Peseux 7001 Swiss mechanical movement.
You can pick from additional lovely colourways—green or blue-grey. The Prismic ships with a highly sophisticated integrated Milanese bracelet.
3. Hamilton Khaki Aviation Pioneer Mechanical Chrono
Know a history buff who's turning 40? Gift them a piece of history in the form of a Pioneer Mechanic Chrono, a solid watch in both form and function. It was issued to the British Royal Air Force (RAF) once upon a time.
This modern 40mm recreation is a ruggedly handsome piece with a textured black dial and a leather strap with an H-shaped pin buckle. It's backed by a 60-hour mechanical chronograph movement, Hamilton's H-51-Si.
The twin registers, beige markings, and white lacquered hands closely match their original counterparts, and the "Old Radium" Super-LumiNova treatment adds to the vintage look.
4. Zodiac Super Sea Wolf Compression Diver II Stainless Steel Watch
If your gift needs to be vivid and playful, you can count on the Super Sea Wolf to deliver.
We recommend the 200m "Sea Turtle" reference shown here. It has a teal green sunray dial with a matching sapphire bezel insert, lime green markings, a baton handset, and a black date window at 3 o'clock. Liberal application of Super-LumiNova ensures that the watch stays highly legible in the dark.
A sapphire crystal tops the dial, and a screw-down caseback with the Zodiac logo protects it from below. Hidden inside is a 40-hour Swiss-made automatic movement, the STP 1-21M. Completing this fun picture is a Jubilee-style bracelet.
5. NORQAIN Independence 40mm
Want to gift something that encourages or inspires a life of adventure? If you find the echo/neutra Averau a tad too elegant, go with a timepiece from Norqain's Independence collection. It's a high-quality 40mm model with a fumé dial, running a COSC-certified calibre, NN08, that's on display through the glass caseback.
Our choice here is the green-dialled version with a handmade "scratched" finish and an integrated bracelet. The blocky indices, semi-skeletonised rhodium-plated hour and minute hands, and a red-tipped seconds hand add some contrast to the dial. Plus, SuperLumiNova keeps the accents highly legible under low light.
6. Nivada Grenchen Chronoking Mecaquartz
Is "versatile and sporty" the configuration you're aiming for? Then consider this Nivada Grenchen Chronoking Mecaquartz with its complex black dial with orange accents. It's a 38mm strap monster underpinned by the Valjoux 72 that combines a quartz movement with a mechanical chronograph.
The vintage Chronoking dial is straight out of the wild and wonderful seventies with Paul Newman subdials topped by a double-domed sapphire crystal.
The model exhibited here also features a tachymeter scale and ships with a black rubber strap.
7. Serica 5303 PLD French Navy EOD Divers Edition
Want to make the gift extra special? Consider getting them a limited edition. Like the Serica 5303 PLD French Navy EOD Divers Edition. Born from close collaboration with the French Navy’s EOD Divers Association, this watch was engineered for the most demanding conditions, and is now released for everyone to enjoy.
Driven by a COSC-certified Soprod M100 movement, this robust timepiece is built for collectors and professionals alike. Outside, a DT Max ceramic bezel, marked with both metres and minutes, lets divers track their maximum working time at any depth.
Far more than a pro diver’s tool, this watch is a go-anywhere adventure essential. With a ceramic black dial, 300m of water resistance, and a choice of blue or green PLD webbing strap make it is as stylish as it is capable.
Want to pick a stylish watch to say "Happy Birthday" to a loved one on their fortieth anniversary? Drop by our Watch Discovery Studio on Collins Street and find the perfect watch to celebrate this special occasion!
