Pre-Owned Picks Blue Moon (Phase), You Saw Me Standing Alone

With IWC's focus on the pilot's watch over everything else, you can be forgiven for not knowing much about the Da Vinci line. With more dress-watch appeal, the Da Vinci line has long been used as a platform for IWC complications. It was where Kurt Klaus showed the world a perpetual calendar that could be set by using only the crown. The watchmakers who worked on the Da Vinci throughout the years are the same ones who helped A. Lange & Söhne develop their first calibers. This simple moonphase watch may not be as complicated as some of the others in the Da Vinci line, but it's still a looker. The blue field of the night sky is matched with heat-blued hands and applied markers. This is a lovely dress watch with some unusual lugs that would be perfect for those with a smaller wrist.

The more well-known Glashütte Original moonphase watch is the Panomatic Lunar, but like the brand itself, the often overlooked Senator Panorama Date Moonphase is unfairly forgotten. This dress watch is all about subtle details. Yes, it has the railroad track and heat-blued hands – but take a minute to look a little closer. The dial has a very soft texture that reflects light in different directions depending on the angle it is viewed at. Most importantly, the moonphase window is hand-finished, filed, and polished with the same attention that's given to the in-house movement. This is a simple watch that keeps giving – with more to appreciate, the more you look.

OMEGA has made all the sides of the Moon, dark, grey, white, and even blue. This blue ceramic Speedmaster is more than a chronograph, it also has a pointer date in the 9 o'clock sub-dial, and the ever-important (to this week's pre-owned picks theme) moonphase. Most moonphase complications that choose to have stars in the background generally use the space around the moon in the small moonphase aperture to highlight the night sky. This Speedmaster takes that idea up to eleven and uses the entire dial as a reflection of the night sky – resulting in a rather nice contrast to the gold markers, hands, and moon. This is definitely a watch for someone who finds the standard Speedmaster Professional to be a little on the boring side.

The complete calendar is a classic layout that has been used by watch markers such as Rolex, Patek, and Vacheron Constantin throughout their history. Jaeger-LeCoultre keeps it traditional with a day and month window just above the center of the dial, a pointer date along the edge, and to complete the calendar, a moonphase within the running second's sub-dial. At 37mm, the size is also reminiscent of a classic dress watch, ready for larger wrists who like old-school proportions or smaller wrists who prefer modern sizing.

When you want the best available with no substitutions, the Grand Lange 1 Moonphase is 41mm of pure platinum perfection. The flawlessly finished three-quarter plate movement is on full display for the world to see (on the underside), but let's not forget about the front of the watch. The off-center Lange 1 has been a part of the lineup since the relaunch of A. Lange & Söhne in 1994. It was an immediate hit, with a look that no other watchmaker at the time had anything similar to. The Grand Lange 1 upped the size a few millimeters to 41mm to satisfy those who prefer a slightly larger watch. This extra real estate gave enough room to add a moonphase in one of the sub-dials, but not the running seconds. Lange took the rare step of putting the moonphase in the hour and minute dial, making the platinum moon a centerpiece of this off-centered watch.