This is the Best Value One-Handed Watch - Learn More

Would you buy a watch knowing that it didn’t tell the exact time?

Let me put it another way. Would you be happy if your new watch only told the time to the nearest five minutes?

There are watches out there like that. And this is the kicker. That is their selling point. That’s why people like them. Because they don’t want or need to know the exact time.

Think about that for a minute.

How relaxed must your life be if every minute doesn’t count? If you’re not always in a hurry.

Imagine a watch designed for a less manic world, for a life lived at a slower pace.

Let me introduce you to the one-handed watch.

The Best Affordable Single Hand Watch

One-handed clocks are an old way of telling the time. In the past clocks and watches weren’t as accurate as they are today. And it didn’t matter.

Life was different. It was lived at a slower pace. And it was fine to have rough timekeeping.

When clocks were installed in Westminister Abbey in the 1700s they were fitted with a single hand. That was the norm. There was no need to know the exact minute and definitely not the exact second.

I asked you to imagine a less manic world. Try that again.

Think about only wearing your watch because it’s fun. Studies have shown that when you’re checking your watch you’re only occasionally checking the time. Often you’re just looking at your watch because it’s nice to look at.

That’s why I’m a fan of one-handed watches. They’re quirky looking, outdated and not the best at timekeeping.

It’s also why my favourite affordable single-handed watch comes from an Eastern European factory. The design hasn’t been updated in more than half a century. But we can come back to that later.

First, let’s see the watch.

This is the original Luch One-Hand watch.

Designed and built in Minsk, Belarus. Unchanged since its release in the 1950s.

It has a simple, uncluttered dial with one hand. There is no date window and the markers are labelled with the hours. The minute ring shows the time broken down into five-minute intervals. The larger lines show the quarter hours and the largest show the full hour.

There are variations of this model, with black or silver dials and with the logo and text in Cyrillic or English.

For me, this is the most authentic version - a white dial and Cyrillic text. Remember, Belarus was a part of the Soviet Union when this watch was created. I want it to maintain that utilitarian design that they were known for.

As a watch dealer, I’ve had hundreds of copies of this watch through my hands. And one of the first things I notice when I see this watch in the flesh is the size. It’s 38mm and slim in profile.

Although Luch produce watches for women, I’d suggest that this makes for a suitable unisex piece. 38mm is fine for a man and comfortable for most women too. The small Luch mechanical movement it uses was originally created for smaller women’s watches.

It’s hand-winding, so if it’s the vintage aesthetic that appeals to you, you’ll love the ritual of winding the watch each morning.

Don’t underestimate the appeal of winding your mechanical watch. If, like me, your attraction to a one-handed watch stems from a desire to live slowly, then jump in. Take your time winding the watch. Enjoy the process.

Remember, this is an inexpensive watch that has been built to a budget. It was designed to be worn in the Soviet Union.

So although it does have a real leather strap, the case is brass with a chrome coating. It feels a bit cheap, but it isn’t a deal-breaker. It means that the watch is built the way that it always was - if anything it adds to the charm.

There are a few single-handed watches on the market, but nothing that delivers the value for money of the Luch. Let’s recap what you get for a little over £50.

• Handwinding In-house movement
• Authentic Soviet design
• Real leather strap

Luch 77471760

38mm Diameter 20mm Lug Width Chrome Plated Case Handwinding Mechanical movement Mineral Crystal

An Introduction to Luch Watches

Luch traces its history back to the creation of the Minsk Watch Plant by the Soviet Union in the early 1950s.

The plant trained staff at Minsk Polytechnic. They were then able to work on producing their own movements and watches. The early 1960s saw the development of three brands. Zarya, Minsk and the Russian designed Vympel models.

Minsk Watch Plant

The factory began branding the watches as Luch, and to date has produced more than 1700 models. These include quartz and automatic watches. And of course, the handing-winding watches that they’re best known for.

2010 marked a new and exciting phase for the company.

Swiss watch manufacturer Franck Muller bought an 80% stake in the Minsk Watch Plant. Following this, Luch began to open its own shops and now has nearly thirty in Belarus.

Conclusion

I asked the question, would you buy a watch knowing that it didn’t keep the exact time?

Hopefully, you can now answer yes.

Watches aren’t only about timekeeping. They are also about the design, the history and the simple pleasure of owning something interesting. With the Luch one-handed watch, you get all of this. And at a very affordable price.

The Luch is for buyers who want to slow down modern life a little. It’s for people, like me, who enjoy taking a few minutes out of their day to wind a watch. For watch fans who look at their wrist to view the timepiece and not the time.

I know it all sounds a bit crazy, but trust me. Watches aren’t just about telling the right time. They’re also about telling stories.