The Watch Word

Time, gentlemen, is definitely of the essence. A smart, functional, accurate timepiece adds the correct finishing touch to your garb, tells you when to expect a full moon, gets you out of the sack in time for your brunch date at Chambord -- all during the course of 432,000 ticks and tocks a day. Left: eminently geared for on-the-town wear, the array includes a magnificent pocket watch designed by Cartier. Flat as a roulette chip, it's 18-kt. yellow gold with a fine Swiss movement; you'll wear it anchored to an evening waistcoat with a handsome chain; $580 for the watch; $58 for the chain • An after-dark accessory that keeps a suave grip on your folding cash, the 17-jewel Swiss watch set in a money clip of deeply scored 14-kt. gold is a Tourneau creation; you'll have to peel $118 off the old money clip in order to pay for the new one • Hamilton has pioneered the only portable timepiece in existence powered by a tiny energizer, no bigger than a buttion, that runs it for more than a year. The Hamilton Van Horn is 14-kt. gold, with black dial and sweepsecond hand, is shock resistant, anti-magnetic and Martini-proof; $175 • The LeCoultre self-winding alarm watch will remind you of important engagements in a persuasive yet confidential tone; simple to set, the alarm dial revolves effortlessly in the center of the watch face; $95 • Conquest Sweep is Longines' special tag for their 14-kt. gold automatic watch in an ultra-thin waterproof case. The dial is luminous and the strap is blond-tone hide; as in all fine Swiss watches, a jeweled lever carefully controls the mainspring's action; $195 • Hardly thicker than its black suede strap, the Tourneau watch boasts an unusual segmented dial that makes it a smart-money choice for dress-up occasions; in stainless steel, $98; in 14-kt. gold, $175 • The Omega Seamaster is equally right for landlubbers engaged in non-nautical pursuits; this model is automatic, 17 jewels, in stainless steel; $95 • The cocktail hour begins whenever you say with Hawthorne's good-looking five o'clock watch; the repetitive Roman numerals are gold-etched; the band is suede; $38.50.

Above, for daytime excurstions on land or sea: (l to r) the Seafarer, a multi-purpose chronograph especially designed for yachtsmen, hunters and fishermen. Its yacht race dial gives five-minute intervals for starting races; lunar dial shows daily high and low tides and positions of the moon; Swiss made for Abercrombie & Fitch; stainless steel, water resistant case, $99.50 • Tourneau's calendar chronograph is a compact marvel of Swiss ingenuity, sports four special dials countersunk in the face: besides ticking off the solar day (any old time, that is), it gives you the date, month and year, the phases of the moon and is equipped with a stop-watch mechanism; the strap is cobra skin; 17-jewel movement in stainless steel, $95; in 14-kt. gold, $175 • A rotatable outer rim makes the Tissot Around-the-World ideal for the air traveler or business exec who phones frequently to distant countries. Major cities in each time zone are included on the face, which revolves to indicate corresponding time around the globe; a wee window on the dial gives you the date; self-winding; $75 • The Movado Sub-Sea automatic is designed with the skindiver in mind: guaranted waterproof at 100 feet below the surface; dial markers show up clearly in even the murkiest of depths; 17-jewels; alligator strap; stainless steel case; $99.50 • The waterproof wrist alarm by Tourneau is powered with a non-breakable mainspring, sports numberals that glow in the dark, sweep second hand, and shows (beside the 9) a green spot when alarm is set, a red one when it's off; in stainless steel, $75 • Abercrombie & Fitch's Auto-Graph includes a unit counter that can be used to tote up your golf strokes, or compute miles per gallon; sports car bugs will use its outer rim to check absolute miles per hour; its stop watch is a boon at all sporting events; $85. Federal tax of 10% is included in the prices of all watches shown.