Help me buy a watch! (1 Viewer)

@Godzilla28 where’s that gold Movado SE I sold to you? If you’re not doing anything with it I’ll buy it back and send it to Canada. It’s a boring quartz movement but it’s clean.

Looks like this.

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Gave that one to my kid already

Here's a few of the dailies that I've worn thru the years that fit your bill.

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Watches are a Rabbit hole every bit as deep as poker chips are.

Make your way over to www.watchuseek.com and start poking around.

I have been a member over there for like 20yrs and have bought and sold dozens of watches on their sales forum without ever having a problem.

I found through lots of experimentation that I have a very specific size and style of watch that I tend to wear a lot and then many watches that I wear very infrequently.

$1000 has become a little light for a "nicer" watch, but if you are willing to be a little creative it can be done. You'll have to focus on non high end brands, but there are plenty of them and then there is the world of of micro-brands.

Send me a PM. We can talk watches next time...
 
If you want to go quartz instead of mechanical, slightly older high end models can usually be had at a considerable discount, while an equivalent mechanical has prolly appreciated in value. Like this Casio was ~$2000 back in 2010 when it came out, but goes for about 1/4-1/3 of it today. And for quartz solar is amazing. :cool

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@Lemonzest
You really have to narrow it down more for us. Your request is like the new guy coming here and saying. "Hey guys, I have been playing poker for ever, but I just realized that I wand a nice set of poker chips. Help me spend my money."

From what you have posted so far:
< $1000, but could expand this a bit.
- Less is more
- Don't care all that much about movement or brand

I could make all sorts of recommendations, but I do think some more info would be helpful:
- For what occasions do you plan on wearing said watch? All the time? Only occasionally, like to dressy event? Swimming? The rational for knowing this would be to narrow down the style & also might help with deciding if we are going with a leather, steel or rubber band.
- If you search "Dive Watch" or search "Dress Watch" or "Field watch" etc which do you like? Here is a list that I found:
1. Pilot Watches 2. Dress Watches 3. Dive Watches 4. Military or Field Watches 5. Racing or Driving Watches 6. Skeleton Watches 7. GMT Watches 8. Smart Watches & then there is the Movement: 9. Mechanical Watches 10. Automatic Watches 11. Quartz Watches 12. Chronometer watches 13. Solar-Powered Watches 14. Kinetic Watches 15. Spring Drive Watches

- I probably would not count on finding exactly what I want at a retail store, but it might be helpful to try on a few watches and see what size you like. Unlike in years past there is a tremendous variety of case sizes that are offered. Decades ago everyone was going for as small as possible. That trend ended and then everyone sort of went crazy going the other direction and now basically everything from 36mm case all the way up to 48mm or even bigger can be found. Your wrist size and build will have a lot to do with what fits best and looks best.
- Thickness is another thing that will alter how you feel about the watch a lot.

For me it took a lot of experimentation to figure out what I like. When I first started collecting watches I had no idea what to expect if someone said Dive watch that has a 40mm case and is 11mm thick. Now I would have a pretty good idea of how that watch would fit and if I would think it is too big or too small or just right.
 
I think Nanook hit it right on the nail. I am into watches myself and went through many phases in my watch collecting. My taste in watches changed and it's hard to recommend watches you might like without more of a criteria since it seems like you're quite flexible in certain areas. But here are two more watches that are less busy than the one I posted earlier. They still have date windows though.

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Hamilton will likely be in your price range w/ both quartz (battery/no-wind) and no-date options.
Yes, I was going to suggest Hamilton as well. I’m wearing one right now - lol. I have “nicer” watches, but this one has really grown on me as a daily driver!

Mine is mechanical, as that’s kinda my thing - all my watches are either mechanical or automatic, but they make a quartz version as well.

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Hamilton and Longines both have exceptional reputations and great lines under 1K that should meet what you're looking for. Also, try searching YouTube - some great videos out there for various "best watches under 1K"
 
Hamilton and Longines both have exceptional reputations and great lines under 1K that should meet what you're looking for. Also, try searching YouTube - some great videos out there for various "best watches under 1K"
Dress Watch for around $1000 or so and my 1st thought was Longines. I looked at the Longines website and unfortunately most of their catalog starts at about 2k, but you could certainly find something nice that was gently worn for 1k.

Here is something more to ponder:
Just like with Poker Chips there are some broad categories:
Poker Chips: Compression Mold, Casino/High Quality Plastic, Ceramic, China Clay etc and within each there are sort of sub categories like the mold: THC, RHC, House Mold etc and then more sub categories like inserts, inlay, art work etc. We all have sort of a hierarchy in our minds where certain chips fall. ie: Casino used THC $1 = somewhere in the $1-$2 range, Good Condition THC $5 = somewhere closer to $5, Tina Ceramics = 40-50¢ etc.

Watches:
Watches have all these broad categories and sub-categories too. To someone that loves watches and collects them the movement is going to be important. Generally speaking any mechanical (wind up) or automatic (self winding mechanical) watch will be considered nicer/more expensive than any of the other types of movements. Talking to "watch guys" they are going to suggest mostly automatic movement watches mostly because Automatic watches are more coveted. Because an Automatic movement is much more expensive to make and maintain than a quartz/battery operated watch Automatic watches tend to live in the upper end of the watch hierarchy and the more complicated the movement the more expensive the watch is going to be.

You could find an Automatic watch that you like in the sub $1000 price range, but you might be just as happy or maybe even more happy owning a quartz watch. Lots less to maintain, keeps better time and many more options to choose from in your current price range
 
@Lemonzest
You really have to narrow it down more for us. Your request is like the new guy coming here and saying. "Hey guys, I have been playing poker for ever, but I just realized that I wand a nice set of poker chips. Help me spend my money."

From what you have posted so far:
< $1000, but could expand this a bit.
- Less is more
- Don't care all that much about movement or brand

I could make all sorts of recommendations, but I do think some more info would be helpful:
- For what occasions do you plan on wearing said watch? All the time? Only occasionally, like to dressy event? Swimming? The rational for knowing this would be to narrow down the style & also might help with deciding if we are going with a leather, steel or rubber band.
- If you search "Dive Watch" or search "Dress Watch" or "Field watch" etc which do you like? Here is a list that I found:
1. Pilot Watches 2. Dress Watches 3. Dive Watches 4. Military or Field Watches 5. Racing or Driving Watches 6. Skeleton Watches 7. GMT Watches 8. Smart Watches & then there is the Movement: 9. Mechanical Watches 10. Automatic Watches 11. Quartz Watches 12. Chronometer watches 13. Solar-Powered Watches 14. Kinetic Watches 15. Spring Drive Watches

- I probably would not count on finding exactly what I want at a retail store, but it might be helpful to try on a few watches and see what size you like. Unlike in years past there is a tremendous variety of case sizes that are offered. Decades ago everyone was going for as small as possible. That trend ended and then everyone sort of went crazy going the other direction and now basically everything from 36mm case all the way up to 48mm or even bigger can be found. Your wrist size and build will have a lot to do with what fits best and looks best.
- Thickness is another thing that will alter how you feel about the watch a lot.

For me it took a lot of experimentation to figure out what I like. When I first started collecting watches I had no idea what to expect if someone said Dive watch that has a 40mm case and is 11mm thick. Now I would have a pretty good idea of how that watch would fit and if I would think it is too big or too small or just right.

Ha. yeah I guess I am a new chipper here with not much knowledge. I would mainly be wearing it for work or social events. Nothing super formal and nothing underwater :)

I have really liked the look of some of the pilot watches for the very simple face designs. So many good suggestions so far. I probably should try a few on and figure out sizing before just buying something online.
 
Ha. yeah I guess I am a new chipper here with not much knowledge.
You are grasshopper...
I probably should try a few on and figure out sizing before just buying something online.
I would highly recommend this. It doesn't seem like much but a couple mm on either case size or thickness makes a world of difference on how it will wear and how much you like it.

One more thought for you:
I never got into this idea too much, but there is this concept of a GADA watch. It stands for Go Anywhere, Do Anything. If you search "Best GADA watch under $1000" or whatever you will get a lot of good suggestions. You will see lots of watches that are kind of the best of everything, but not especially good at any one thing. I just did that search and from what you have said I think you will like many of the suggestions
 
Ha. yeah I guess I am a new chipper here with not much knowledge. I would mainly be wearing it for work or social events. Nothing super formal and nothing underwater :)

I have really liked the look of some of the pilot watches for the very simple face designs. So many good suggestions so far. I probably should try a few on and figure out sizing before just buying something online.
Use a poker chip for reference :)
 
1999 Tag Heuer Link chronometer with white, black or blue dial. About $1,850 when new 24 years ago. Now from $650 used. I have one white and one black that still run like new. Used is the way to go for a watch.

Many Tag models could work.

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A single multi-purpose watch, from beaches to royal pallaces, should be made of steel.

Let's not forget that the watch is the only permissible jewel on a man, in old-fashioned gentlemens' terms.
If you want to be informed about the time, there are countless other ways than a watch.

Try this one, without the date, if possible
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There’s also a small chance that a used Nomos Club Campus can be found right around $1,000. Noice!
Nomos has an excellent reputation. They are generally pretty small watches so for me that is pretty much a deal killer, but even if I did like smaller watches that 1/2 Roman, 1/2 Arabic Numbers thing would tilt me every time I looked at that one. Other Nomos watches might be in the running for @Lemonzest as they generally fit what he has described.

One thing that I didn't think of before is a lot of cheaper watches come with what they call a mineral crystal & not a sapphire crystal. There are other names for them too, but in my experience I have never had a watch with anything other than a sapphire crystal that didn't get scratched within a month or two. Maybe I am hard on my watches, but I really dislike a scratched crystal. As far as watches with a sapphire crystal goes, I have never scratched one yet. If you buy a Citizen for a few hundred dollars most likely it will have some sort of "plastic" crystal. They won't call it plastic, but that is what it is and it will scratch.

Another nice german brand with some watches that fit what you are looking for might be Stowa. They do make automatic watches , but they are on the more affordable price. Right around $1000 is this one:
 
One thing that I didn't think of before is a lot of cheaper watches come with what they call a mineral crystal & not a sapphire crystal. There are other names for them too, but in my experience I have never had a watch with anything other than a sapphire crystal that didn't get scratched within a month or two.
Yes this^^. I was going to mention this as well. This is a very valid consideration. I am incredibly rough on watches. I wear them when I shouldn’t and I’ve broken a couple movements from pure abuse - lol.

I have never scratched a sapphire Crystal when by all rights, I should have :LOL: :laugh:

Your Tissot, Tag’s, Louis Erards, Hamilton’s, etc are available with sapphire crystals and will often have nice very respectable ETA movements.
 

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