LIFESTYLE Doing Dry January? Here’s What The Stylish Creations In Your Hand Says About You

There’s something about that gleaming canvas of a new year that makes you believe you can do anything – handy, given January’s now-traditional role as the departure lounge for our journeys to self-improvement. Whether you’re pledging to shake up your personal best with the help of an achingly fresh timepiece, or swearing off sugar and booze, this is your moment to be a brand new you.

Walking away from an indulgence like alcohol can be the trickiest ‘new year new me’ proposition, if only because it’s so hard to decide what to drink instead. Some take the view that alternatives aping the taste of booze only serve to make you miss it more, so a clean break may be best. But a drink is not just a thirst-quencher, it’s a calling card, projecting your image out to the world. Who do you want to be? Your next drink can tell you.

It takes the strength of a giant not to let your face crease up like a discarded tissue as you taste that initial kick of a decent drinking vinegar. Shrub drinkers have such stamina as standard. They know the world doesn’t understand their penchant for this piquant, fruity close relative of what, on a better day, might be chip-shop vinegar. They’ve seen doubters come and go, carefully inhaling the sharp aroma, steeling themselves to hate it – and they’ve watched them tumble like dominoes. Vinegar fans – vinegrettes, maybe? – are unbothered by the chatter of those who ache for sweetness. The upper hand is theirs and there’s every chance it will be holding a key to a secret roof terrace so they can gaze at a skyline they know they will one day rule. Yes, that’s right, looks like the meek aren’t in line to inherit the Earth after all – shrub drinkers are first in the queue.

On the wrist? If world domination’s on the cards, you’re going to need a Monaco. Why not this one? Tradition revisited, with a black sunray-brushed dial, a red seconds indicator, and an iconic Heuer 02 movement, manufactured in-house.

The upscale mocktail drinker is worldly and adventurous and thrives on the element of surprise. Witness the calm, collected sophistication, unflinching even when presented with a goblet of dry ice, or a martini glass of artisanal twig sculpture and the tiniest amount of framboise syrup to taste. With a mocktail, you’re not only sipping the physical representation of a bartender’s ego, you’re inviting randomness, colour and risk into your life. A mocktail drinker chucks his car key at the valet and tells them to have a good time for the next hour. And if the car never comes back, what the hey, that just means another adventure is round the corner.

On the wrist? We can’t talk about colour, and just the right dose of surprise, without mentioning the TAG Heuer Carrera Montreal: a 160th anniversary limited edition – only 1000 ever made – with a Mondrian-esque blue azurage counters, yellow Super-Luminova® accents and a red-hot second hand.

A classic. Barring any last-minute surprises on brand availability, you know what you’re getting. As soon as the reassuring carbonic froth hits the back of your throat, you know that little caffeine hit chaser is up next. Cola drinkers are reliable, traditionalist, and recognise the beauty in an icon, but still very much in touch with their sense of fun. Haters may dismiss their choice of beverage as childish, but that’s part of the point: a cola drinker will always be young at heart, the cross-generational life and soul of the party – their boundless energy putting them at the centre of any all-nighter long. 

On the wrist? A TAG Heuer Aquaracer, with its timeless Tortoise shell resin bezel and Super-LumiNova® hands. Midnight dive or dip? With the Aquaracer, that’s always an option.