columbia-watches-2

Unless it’s adding a bottle opener to a piece of our clothing the world utilitarian isn’t one that’s thrown around on a regular basis here at Cool Material. Most of the time, utilitarian is synonymous with piece of shit – just like that first car your parents got you. And then there was Columbia Sportswear Watches. Just launched by the famous outerwear manufacturer, these nine watches have more working parts than that car (Barometer, Compass, Chrono, Temp) and they look a whole hell of a lot better too.

G5-Cool-Material

Vaer has been one of our favorite watchmakers for as long as we can remember because they produce new, classic watches based on iconic designs. Case in point, the Vaer G5 Meridian watch you see here. This timepiece is a 1950s-inspired 20ATM automatic watch that’s USA-assembled, dual timezone, built with ocean-ready functionality, self-winding and the brand’s first true GMT (the latest version of their core dive watch design). What’s more, it pays homage to other watches that are incredibly more expensive or hard to come by whilst also adding new aspects that makes this Vaer G5 Meridian watch more desirable than the other options in our opinion.