Suggestions for watch brands

[jjdav]

Hello all, I'm hoping to buy my fiance a watch for his birthday (June) and was wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to which brands I should look into? He's not into any high end brands like Rolex, he doesn't think it's appropriate to spend a lot of money. His requirements are:
1. Somewhat dressy
2. Not gold
3. Numbers or Roman numerals on the dial
4. Water proof
5. Not too thick or heavy

I want to get him something very reliable at <$1000, does anyone have any suggestions?

Thank you much in advance!

 

[jewelerman]

Date: 4/5/2009 2:09:59 PM
Author:jjdav
Hello all, I''m hoping to buy my fiance a watch for his birthday (June) and was wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to which brands I should look into? He''s not into any high end brands like Rolex, he doesn''t think it''s appropriate to spend a lot of money. His requirements are:
1. Somewhat dressy
2. Not gold
3. Numbers or Roman numerals on the dial
4. Water proof
5. Not too thick or heavy

I want to get him something very reliable at <$1000, does anyone have any suggestions?

Thank you much in advance!

There are a number of quality brands that are in your price range...Some brands i would consider...seiko,longines,hamilton,tissot,oris,swiss army...i like automatic movements,but if the watch is stainless steel with a quartz movement you can get a quality timepiece for under$500...do more home work and compare brands and costs...websites like overstock.com or bernardwatch.com can supple name brand watches like omega and ebel in your price range.happy hunting!

 

[Imdanny]

Seiko would be my choice, assuming I could find a dial I liked. Be careful at the "mid" price point for watches. For $1000 it is very easy to get a watch with $30 ETA (Swiss) mechanical movement, that isn''t worth that much, either as horology, or as jewelry.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 4/6/2009 12:01:13 AM
Author: Imdanny
Seiko would be my choice, assuming I could find a dial I liked. Be careful at the ''mid'' price point for watches. For $1000 it is very easy to get a watch with $30 ETA (Swiss) mechanical movement, that isn''t worth that much, either as horology, or as jewelry.

true, infact there''re many watches in the 3-4k range that use a $60 re-modify ETA movements.

 

[Diamond Explorer]

There are very few watches that dont use those ETA movements. I can't think of any except 4k and up time pieces.

Are there any reasonably priced watches that have movements of any worth?

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 4/6/2009 1:56:14 AM
Author: Diamond Explorer
There are very few watches that dont use those ETA movements. I can''t think of any except 4k and up time pieces.

Are there any reasonably priced watches that have movements of any worth?

depends on what you meant by "reasonably priced"

 

[jjdav]

Thanks for your responses so far, I had no idea that a lot of brands are actually using similarly produced parts, talk about marketing ploys!

 

[Imdanny]

Date: 4/6/2009 1:56:14 AM
Author: Diamond Explorer
There are very few watches that dont use those ETA movements. I can't think of any except 4k and up time pieces.


Are there any reasonably priced watches that have movements of any worth?

A watchmaker who makes the watch and its movement is called a manufacture. Seiko is a manufacture, for instance. Just the fact that they make mechanical movements means their watches are worth considering (if you want a mechanical watch). Are there any watchmakers who make watches of horological interest below 4k? Yes. Seiko's mechanical movements are well respected (although the best ones are in their high end line that's not sold in the US). There used to be a company called Minerva that made its own watches and movements and it had a lot of fans. Then it went out of business, someone new bought it, now it's a different company, although with the same name. There's another one that comes immediately to my mind called Nomos. I'm not sure what the price points are today. Probably more than 1k. There aren't a lot. Hence, ETA.

It's been a different world since the "quartz revolution" and, yes, ETA is ubiquitous. If I have one piece of advice to anyone spending serious money on a watch (and to me 1k is serious money) it is, "find out who made the movement- research the movement AND the company."

I'd consider spending $500 or less. I'd seriously consider buying a watch with a quartz movement.

 

[Dancing Fire]

i have always been a big fan of JLC watches.

 

[Imdanny]

OP, check this out.

http://www.seikousa.com/#

Seiko is both respected and fairly priced. I''ve been through my watch phase

but the sticking point for me was usually finding a dial I liked. I found dials I liked and bought a Rolex, and IWC, and a JLC.

I liked them (I loved the JLC) but I understand *not* wanting to spend big time money on a watch (and the prices have gone up a lot since I collected watches). If you decide to buy a digital watch, look at Casio. I know it''s not what you asked about, but I''m a big fan of theirs. Excellent quality, give away prices.

 

[Imdanny]

Ditto. A 101 (any case will do) and MUT (traditional model, stainless) are on my wish list.

 

[Imdanny]

OP, here are some Model #'s from the Seiko site that might fit your description (I can't copy pictures of these because the site uses flash). I searched "Men's" plus "Quartz." I don't think there's a percentage in buying a mechanical watch at the 1k price point and below. There aren't that many of them without cheap ETA movements. Although, who knows, you might find one. There are other technologies and collections at Seiko's website. I'm not sure if any of those would fit your criteria of having numerals and being kind of dressy, so I didn't look at those.


Model: SRK005 rectangular (sort of), Roman numerals


There are 5 or 6 more, but they are gold tone, or part gold tone (I realized no gold was on your list so I had to cross those off).

I'm sorry I can't be of more help. One isn't much of a list!

 

[jjdav]

Thank ImDanny, what you said was really helpful, I definitely needed someone to point me in the right direction for research. Now I just have to explain this to my fiance or just show him your comments, the hard part will to get him to pick one out

I think I''ll check out JLC just to see what they look like.

 

[Imdanny]

You're welcome! This is the JLC I had, Stainless Steel (mine had a solid back).
http://www.jaeger-lecoultre.com/na/en/watches/master-control/master-ultra-thin (just "Stainless Steel"- not "Satin"- that one came after I bought mine).

I was completely satisfied with it. I did sell it, though, when it was five years old. Its maintenance interval (when the watch gets sent to the service center and completely disassembled, cleaned, parts replaced, and reassembled) was 4-5 years. They don't have a standard fee. They charge based on what they need to do. The estimate I got from friends was more than $500, closer to $750. That's when I sold it. Basically, the oils break down and then the parts. I could tell it was happening, but I considered it inappropriate to spend that kind of money for a regular service interval.

 

[VRBeauty]

If your guy is of the "green" persuasion, maybe a citizen eco-drive? It''s a line of solar-powered watches. I don''t have one though (I''m a recent convert to manual wind vintage watches!) so I can''t comment on the quality...

Imdanny -- those maintenance intervals are one of the reasons I''m reverting to watches with a track record.

 

[Imdanny]

VRBeauty, I hear you.

 

[April20]

I bought my husband a Baume & Mercier watch when we got married- I got it on crazy discount for about $800. He hates clunky watches and this one has a square face and is very sleek in the design. It has numbers at 12, 3, 6, 9 and is waterproof. It a watch that bridges casual and dressy. Not really one or the other. if that makes sense. At regular retail price, they''re closer to the $1600-1800 price point, but if you search, you can find a good price.

 

[LadyBlue]

I dream on gucci watches to add more bling