Breda Watches: The Watch Styles I Like

I did not expect a family watch business to produce the most interesting tiny rectangle I have looked at this month, but here we are. Breda began as the second label inside the Meghani family business. The family story runs from India through Dubai retail and into Dallas, and siblings Amir and Shabeena later moved the company toward brands of their own, with Breda starting in the late 2000s.

The result is a watch brand that does not try to look like every traditional watch counter. The design is genderless and rooted in individuality, and you can see it in the cases: a soft oval, a thin rectangle, a tiny square carried on a ring. Creative Director Kendall Falcon shaped the Jane after a trip to Italy and a meeting on the coast that stayed with her. To me a Breda is less a marker of status than a small way to put your own taste on a daily uniform.

Breda cases are small enough to read as jewelry, but the main models still have real personality. The Jane Watch is an oval with a mother-of-pearl dial and a gold bracelet, so it sits easily beside a slim bangle, and the Small Jane Watch keeps that outline at a quieter scale. The Virgil Watch takes the opposite route with a narrow rectangle and a leather strap that feels right with a blazer or an oversized button-down. The Jane Time Charm Watch can leave the wrist entirely, worn as a necklace, keychain or brooch, and the x Dalmata Time Ring Watch tucks a soft square face onto a ring.

Picture her in the Jane with her dinner sleeves pushed back, then the Virgil Watch the next day when she needs a sharper edge. Decide first whether you want a watch, a pendant or a ring, and check it against the jewelry you already wear. What I would skip is stacking a watch on top of three other bracelets.

What I like about Breda is that family knowledge does not have to mean a conservative shape. The collection moves from a restrained oval to a little rectangle, and then to a watch that can live on a chain or a ring. In my mind the most convincing outfit is not built around a watch at all: a simple knit, one or two familiar rings, and the Jane catching the light when she reaches for the door. That is a quiet kind of self-expression, and it suits a brand that treats time as personal. Although I may be tempted by the ring.