Japanese elastic women's watch Ernest E64001-009

A women's elastic watch that slips on without a clasp

The strap is built from flat expanding links that stretch just enough to let the hand through. Nothing to clasp, nothing to adjust, and that counts if you take a watch off and put it back on several times a day. The same easy fit runs through the other models that slip straight over the hand.

Cherry blossom across a turquoise face

The dial background is a mottled turquoise, crossed by dark branches, in the manner of a Japanese blossom print, where small pink flowers open alongside a few white ones. The print continues onto the band, so the whole watch reads as one drawing once it is on. Two silver-tone hands, hours and minutes, are all it carries: no date window, no sub-dial.

Hand-drawn numerals, outlined in black

The twelve numerals are not set out with a ruler. Their slightly uneven shapes, white with black outlines, lift away from the flowers and keep the time easy to catch. That detail is what gives the model its sketched look.

At a glance

From the office to the weekend

Turquoise sits well next to cream, natural linen and pale denim, and it lifts a plain white shirt on a working day. The pink in the print will pick up a scarf or nail varnish without your having to think about it. Worn on a bare wrist, the watch does the job of a bracelet on its own; stacked next to a gold bangle, it gets lost, since the dial is already busy. If the pattern feels like a lot, plainer dials are worth a look.

Keeping the print bright

The pattern sits on the surface, so keep the watch away from perfume and hand cream, which dull this kind of print. Store it flat rather than folded back on itself, and wipe the links with a dry cloth after a warm day. Elastic loses its stretch fastest when it is pulled wider than it needs to be, so open the band only as far as the hand requires.