12 Rectangle Watches From Affordable to High-Luxury

In a world where the vast majority of wristwatches have round cases (about 80 percent, according to industry estimates), wearing a watch with a rectangular case is a great way to stand out from the crowd and perhaps to fly a flag of appreciation for the vintage designs of a bygone era — specifically the early 20th Century, the prime of the Art Deco movement. Best of all, just like their more ubiquitous round-cased counterparts, rectangular watches come in a wide variety of styles and price points, so there are options both for intrigued newbies as well as seasoned collectors looking to add a non-round timepiece to their personal rotation. Here are 12 rectangle watches worth your attention (and yes, we've left out iconic pieces like the TAG Heuer Monaco and Bell & Ross BR-01, which are squares rather than rectangles; perhaps we'll do a roundup of square watches one of these days soon).

Bulova Frank Sinatra My Way

Price: $575, Case Size: 29.5mm, Case Height: 9.05mm, Lug Width: 20mm, Lug to Lug: 47mm, Crystal: Sapphire, Water Resistance: 50 meters, Movement: Quartz Miyota IL45

Bulova’s Frank Sinatra collection pays homage to the eponymous pop music legend, who owned many Bulova watches throughout his life and counted Bulova as a sponsor of his Frank Sinatra Show on TV in the 1950s. The watches’ designs are inspired by Sinatra’s 1950s-1960s heyday, when smaller, thinner watches were in vogue. The Art Deco-influenced “My Way” model in gold-toned steel features a white dial with gold and black accents, with a rectangular, railroad-style minute track, applied diagonal indexes and Arabic numerals, and a rectangular framed seconds subdial. Sinatra’s signature joins the Bulova logo near the top. Inside the elegantly angular case is the Japanese-made Miyota Caliber 1L45 quartz movement, behind a Sinatra-branded caseback.

Hamilton American Classic Boulton Mechanical

Price: $945, Case size: 34.5mm x 38mm, Thickness: 11.2mm, Lug Width: 22mm, Crystal: Sapphire, Water Resistance: 50 meters, Movement: Manually wound Caliber H-50 (ETA 2801-2 base)

The quintessential American-heritage watchmaker (founded in Lancaster, PA, now based in Switzerland), Hamilton introduced its original Boulton timepiece in the 1940s, an era dominated by non-round watches and Art Deco design elements. Today part of Hamilton’s vintage-inspired American Classics series, the Boulton lives on in very period-appropriate form, with a hand-winding mechanical movement, a softly rounded rectangular case (which actually leans a bit into tonneau territory), and a dial defined by radially angled black Roman hour numerals and a railroad minute track. The leaf-shaped hands are blued and polished, the crown is knurled, and the sapphire crystal is domed to continue the curvilinear contours of the steel case. When fully wound, the movement boasts a weekend-proof power reserve of 80 hours.

Raymond Weil Toccata Gent

Price: $975, Case size: 37.25mm x 29.6mm, Thickness: 6.4mm, Lug Width: 19mm, Crystal: Sapphire, Water Resistance: 50 meters, Movement: Swiss quartz

Raymond Weil is an independent Swiss watch brand founded in 1976 and its collections take their names from the eponymous founder’s love of music and musicians. The Toccata family (from the Italian “toccare” for “touch,” referring to a composition on a stringed instrument) evokes a more elegant, lyrical era with its slim, rectangular case (in steel or two-tone steel-and-gold), clean white dial with radiating Roman hour numerals surrounding an angular minute track, a small date window at 3 o’clock, and a pair of thin Dauphine hands for the hour and minute. Slim, curving lugs fasten the case to a calf leather strap, and a grooved crown with an “RW” emblem sets the time. A Swiss quartz movement hums away inside, bringing harmonious life to this musically inspired timepiece.

Frederique Constant Classics Carrée Automatic 

Price: $995, Case size: 30.4mm x 33.3mm, Thickness: 9.71mm, Lug Width: 22mm, Crystal: Sapphire, Water Resistance: 30 meters, Movement: Automatic Caliber FC-303 (Sellita SW200 base)

Frederique Constant launched its first Classics Carrée watches in 2003 (“carrée” is French for “square,” even though the watches’ cases were technically more of a rectangle), with round “open heart” apertures in their rectangular dials. The brand updated to a more sober, traditional look for the 2022 revamp of the Carrée, dropping the aperture in favor of a solid, sectored dial with an outer ring of applied hour indexes, a framed date window at 6 o’clock, and faceted Dauphine hands. The hands sweep over a central rectangle framed by a railroad minute track and enhanced with an elegant yet understated guilloche pattern that adds to the watch’s value proposition. The Sellita-based automatic Caliber FC-303 holds a power reserve of 38 hours and can be wound by the retro-style onion crown on the side of the case.

Longines Dolcevita Automatic

Price: $1,775, Case size: 27.7mm x 43.8mm, Thickness: 10.1mm, Lug Width: 19mm, Crystal: Sapphire, Water Resistance: 30 meters, Movement: Automatic Longines Caliber 592

Longines has been a longtime supporter and timing partner of equestrian events worldwide, and the Swiss brand’s DolceVita watches — originally intended as a ladies’ collection, but expanded to include some more masculine sizes as well, like the Automatic model pictured — have long been associated with that heritage thanks to their understated elegance. The softly curved rectangular steel case frames a sharply designed sector dial, with a silver-brushed outer area with Arabic numerals, thin bar indexes and a railroad minute track; and an inner rectangle with blued sword hands and a tiny date window right above 6 o'clock. The self-winding ETA-based Caliber 592 does its work quietly behind a solid caseback engraved with the familiar Longines winged hourglass logo.

Oris Rectangular

Price: $2,050, Case Size: 25.5mm x 38mm, Lug Width: 19mm, Crystal: Sapphire, Water Resistance: 30 meters, Movement: Automatic Oris Caliber 561 (ETA 2671 base)

Oris jumped into the vintage/Art Deco timepiece realm in 2022 with the simply named Rectangular, offering it in four colorful iterations that are more evocative of the modern era’s trends than those of the 1930s and ‘40s watches that undoubtedly inspired them. The steel cases measure a very modest 25.5mm x 38mm; as with most watch cases in this difficult shape, the water resistance is also modest, at 30 meters. The crown is also small, and the case is subtly curved to hug the contours of the wrist. The dial hosts wide sword hands and a retro-style railroad minute track. Arabic numerals in a vintage font appear at 12, 3, and 9, while an unobtrusive date window occupies the 6 o’clock spot. An ETA-based automatic caliber ticks behind the mineral caseback window of the watch, which is mounted on a color-coordinated, soft leather strap.

Baume & Mercier Hampton Automatic

Price: $2,700, Case size: 43mm x 27.5mm, Thickness: 9.95mm, Crystal: Sapphire, Water Resistance: 50 meters, Movement: Automatic ETA 2671

Channeling the Art Deco-era heyday of the 1940s, the Baume & Mercier Hampton collection was reborn in 2012 and positioned as a series with both retro cachet and unisex appeal. Hampton watches are available in several case sizes, with many of the larger models, like the blue-dialed model above, offering automatic movements inside their rectangular, multifaceted cases. The dials are characterized by sword-style hands and a radiating ring of applied indexes with an applied Arabic numeral at 12 o’clock and either a numeral or a date window at 6 o’clock. The automatic movement inside the featured model holds a power reserve of 38 hours.

Hermès Cape Cod

Price: $3,375, Case size: 41mm x 33mm, Thickness: 6.4mm, Lug Width: 19mm, Crystal: Sapphire, Water Resistance: 30 meters, Movement: Automatic Hermes H1912

Hermès, which started out in the 1880s as a purveyor of leather harnesses and saddles for carriage horses, is today better known for its luxurious handbags and other leather accessories but has also become widely respected as a watchmaker. A cornerstone of the modern Hermès timepiece collection is the Cape Cod collection, which debuted in 1991 and introduced the signature curved rectangular flanked by triple lugs that takes its inspiration from a nautical anchor chain, hence the evocative name. The center of the opaline dials on the automatic gents’ models features a textured checkerboard pattern and is framed by a minute track. The applied Arabic numerals are executed in a font exclusive to Hermès. The watch and its movement are made in Switzerland, while the leather strap that anchors the watch to the wrist is, of course, made from the company’s own world-renowned Barenia leather in its Parisian atelier.

Cartier Tank Louis Cartier

Price: $12,400, Case Size: 25.5mm x 33.7mm, Case Thickness: 6.6mm, Lug Width: 20mm, Crystal: Sapphire, Water Resistance: 30 meters, Movement: Manually wound Cartier Caliber 8971 MC

Louis Cartier created the Tank watch in 1917, deriving its rectangular, curvilinear case shape as well as its name from a French military vehicle used during the First World War. (Perhaps fittingly, the recipient of the first Cartier Tank watch was U.S. General John “Black Jack” Pershing, a commander of the Allied forces.) The Tank has been a coveted style object and the flagship of Cartier’s portfolio of timepieces ever since, designed to appeal to men and ladies alike, and the model most directly inspired by the original model is named for its creator and sports period-appropriate case dimensions. In 2023, Cartier added a lacquered burgundy dial to the Tank Louis Cartier series, adding to its minimalist streamlined appeal by dispensing with most of the traditional dial elements, including the Roman numeral hour markers. The yellow-gold-cased watch still has the sword hands and blue cabochon-topped beaded crown that has long been characteristic of the Tank models. The manually wound Cartier Caliber 1917 MC does its duty inside the case, and the red alligator leather strap harmonizes with the dial.

Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute

Price: $8,750, Case Size: 45.6mm x 27.4mm, Lug Width: 20mm, Crystal: Sapphire, Water Resistance: 30 meters, Movement: Jaeger-LeCoultre Manually Wound Caliber 822

Jaeger-LeCoultre’s signature dress watch, the Reverso, was originally designed as a sports watch, its reversible swiveling case making it a practical timekeeper for polo players during a match. In production since 1931, the Reverso is now available in numerous variations but the core three-handed Reverso Tribute model most faithfully echoes the classical Art Deco look of its ancestor. The rectangular case is distinguished by clean lines and gadroons; the dial features Dauphine hands, trapezoidal applied hour indexes, and a small seconds subdial at 6 o’clock. Jaeger-LeCoultre’s manually wound manufacture Caliber 822, shaped to fit the case’s soft rectangular dimensions, beats inside. In another callback to the Reverso’s polo-playing origins, the leather strap, which echoes the forest green tones of the dial,is from Casa Fagliano, an Argentinean purveyor of high-end polo boots.

Corum Golden Bridge Rectangle

Price: $25,200, Reference: 26331BC.GG.1224BC.01, Case Size: 29.5mm x 42.2mm, Case Height: 8.9mm, Crystal: Sapphire, Water Resistance: 30 meters, Movement: Manually Wound Corum Caliber CO 113

Corum celebrated 40 years since the launch of its most unusual and iconic timepiece, the original Golden Bridge, in 2020. Limited to 40 pieces, the Golden Bridge Rectangle 40th Anniversary uses 18k rose gold not only in its rectangular case but in the manual-winding baguette-shaped movement that gives the watch its name, which is visible through sapphire crystals in both the front and back. The timepiece’s eye-catching, linear design leads the eye from the winding crown and spring barrel at 6 o’clock up to the escapement at 12 o’clock. “Limited Edition 1 of 40” is engraved inside the case at 3 o’clock, while Corum’s hallmark “golden key” symbol appears in a repeating pattern on the caseback window. The watch features faceted rhodium-plated hands and is mounted on a brown alligator strap with a gold triple-folding clasp.

H. Moser & Cie Swiss Alp Watch

Price: $30,800, Case size: 44mm x 38.2mm, Thickness: 10.5mm, Crystal: Sapphire, Water Resistance: 30 meters, Movement: Manually wound Caliber HMC 324

In 2016, H. Moser & Cie. launched the first Swiss Alp Watch, a clever albeit irreverent homage to the world leader in the burgeoning smartwatch category (hint: it’s named after a fruit that allegedly keeps the doctor away) and indisputably today’s most ubiquitous rectangular timepiece. In 2020, Moser released the aptly named “Final Upgrade” of the Swiss Alp, whose softly squared case is made of black DLC-coated steel. Its dial is made of Vantablack, a material that absorbs up to 99.965 percent of all light, making it “the blackest black” you can get on a watch. The ultra-minimalist dial with leaf-shaped black hands has a unique offset seconds display at 6 o’clock that mimics the spiraling “power up” and “power down” display on smartwatches and other devices. On display behind the sapphire caseback is Moser’s manufacture Caliber HMC 324, a hand-wound movement with a 21,600-vph frequency and a four-day power reserve — which is longer than a smartwatch would last without a battery charge.