Ernest Blue and White Floral Elegance Watch

Slipping it on: the stretch strap

The strap is built from flat links on an internal spring. Pull it open, slide your hand through, and it closes back around the wrist on its own. Nothing to buckle, nothing to adjust, which matters if you take your watch off several times a day. Ease it open from both sides; tugging at one end alone wears the spring out. Other models in the pull-on watch section use the same fitting.

White blooms scattered over a deep blue dial

Large white flowers with orange centres sit across a deep blue ground flecked with small pale dots, and the print continues along the strap. The Arabic numerals stay pale, outlined in black, so the time reads clearly over the pattern. A pair of silver hands and a thin second hand sweep across them. On the right-hand side, the red crown stands out against the round silver case.

What this Ernest floral watch goes with

A print this size is meant to be seen, so it works best when the rest of the wrist stays bare. Against a grey marl jumper, a cream blouse or a black polo neck, it becomes the one piece of colour on the arm. The blue is dark enough to pass at work, though the flowers keep the whole thing on the casual side of smart. For something calmer, the plainer Ernest models offer plain dials or smaller prints.

Ernest Floral Elegance: the model in detail

Cleaning the links and the glass

The pattern is printed on the links themselves, so wipe them with a dry cloth rather than soaking the strap. A microfibre cloth is enough for the mineral glass. Water is the one limit worth remembering: the 3 ATM rating handles rain and a wet hand at the sink, not a swim.