Buying a new watch; which brand(s) do you recommend?

[Porch_Rabbit]

I never really understood it much either. People are free to waste money on whatever they want, but what utility does an expensive watch offer aside from signalling to others your willingness to spend a few thousand dollars on a piece of jewelry?



I bought one of these with a smooth bezel maybe in 2004. I wore it probably less than 5 times that year and never again. Don't even know where it's at now, probably in storage somewhere.

Have a couple other watches I bought in the early 2000s, probably $500-700 range, and only wore them once or twice. No idea even where they are now.

Don't really see myself buying a watch again unless it somehow can do something super cool and useful that my phone can't.

They don’t provide any utility at all and are a completely irrational waste of money. Having said that, I just think they are really cool. I catch myself looking at and admiring my watches all the time. Also they are not to impress others, as the only complements I’ve got are for my cheaper ‘fashion’ watches. And I know no one else out there notices or recognizes my watches. I just love them for myself. And I don’t waste money on really in other vanity objects. Unless it has utility like ski gear and whatnot.

 

[puppybird]

I never really understood it much either. People are free to waste money on whatever they want, but what utility does an expensive watch offer aside from signalling to others your willingness to spend a few thousand dollars on a piece of jewelry?



I bought one of these with a smooth bezel maybe in 2004. I wore it probably less than 5 times that year and never again. Don't even know where it's at now, probably in storage somewhere.

Have a couple other watches I bought in the early 2000s, probably $500-700 range, and only wore them once or twice. No idea even where they are now.

Don't really see myself buying a watch again unless it somehow can do something super cool and useful that my phone can't.

Why do people buy classic cars when they could buy a brand new car that does everything better for 1/10th the price?

 

[val_lixembeau]

What are your thoughts on Nomos?

Nomos is great. They have their own distinctive style instead of trying to "homage" existing bestsellers. They do a ton of stuff in-house and have contributed innovations to watch movements.

I wouldn't buy one personally just because they wear super big. The watch faces they have are usually very large for the case diameter so the look gigantic to me. I also find their style kind of too slavishly geometric or something so the look doesn't appeal to me personally. They blow away something like a Daniel Wellington though.

 

[Henry Swanson]

Nomos is great. They have their own distinctive style instead of trying to "homage" existing bestsellers. They do a ton of stuff in-house and have contributed innovations to watch movements.

I wouldn't buy one personally just because they wear super big. The watch faces they have are usually very large for the case diameter so the look gigantic to me. I also find their style kind of too slavishly geometric or something so the look doesn't appeal to me personally. They blow away something like a Daniel Wellington though.

This is correct about them wearing big. My tangente is only 38 mm but looks much bigger. People often refer to their style as bauhaus style.

 

[val_lixembeau]

What do you think of the seiko 5 line? I really like this one. The blue dial and brown strap look great imo

I would pass on this Seiko. You already have that colour combination in the Fossil. The Seiko 5 is a fine watch with decent value but they are a bit hit or miss for accuracy (maybe not a problem for you if it isn't a daily driver and you have to reset the time when you wear it anyways?) and I'm not really seeing what it adds to your collection that you don't already possess.

 

[Te Huna Matata]

Nomos is great. They have their own distinctive style instead of trying to "homage" existing bestsellers. They do a ton of stuff in-house and have contributed innovations to watch movements.

I wouldn't buy one personally just because they wear super big. The watch faces they have are usually very large for the case diameter so the look gigantic to me. I also find their style kind of too slavishly geometric or something so the look doesn't appeal to me personally. They blow away something like a Daniel Wellington though.

I hate the gigantic, oversized watch trend. These 50mm+ Aragons and Invictas just look tacky as hell. Even as someone with a large wrist (7.5in), I won't go above 44-45mm. But the fact they were larger than the small case diameter is a plus for me since they are on the smaller end of what I'd wear. I think the smallest I own is my 36mm Seiko. A 38mm Tangente is a huge want of mine. Once I finally sell my house and have some extra money, that will definitely be a purchase.

 

[Drain Bamage]

What was that brand that was like even cheaper than Casio and Timex... its like Aqua or Acqua or something, and they had their own fake indiglo back when indiglo first came out, only theirs was shitty. Not bright enough. the watch was like 18 bucks though and looks pretty good for the price, at the time (early 90's)

 

[MMA since 1993]

What was that brand that was like even cheaper than Casio and Timex... its like Aqua or Acqua or something, and they had their own fake indiglo back when indiglo first came out, only theirs was shitty. Not bright enough. the watch was like 18 bucks though and looks pretty good for the price, at the time (early 90's)

Armitron?

 

[MMA since 1993]

Do any of you guys have odd brand watches? or brands that aren't as popular but still have history in the name?

I've been looking at a few different brands since this thread was made. Brands like Gigandet, laco, sea-gull, sinn and a few others. Some of these look great.
sea-gull

While looking at these, i ran into dan henry watches. These watches “pay homage to the vintage styles of the 1930s, 1940s, 1960s and 1970s". They look nice. This guy apparently has a collection of over 1,500 watches and decided to make his own line.

 

[val_lixembeau]

Do any of you guys have odd brand watches? or brands that aren't as popular but still have history in the name?

I've been looking at a few different brands since this thread was made. Brands like Gigandet, laco, sea-gull, sinn and a few others. Some of these look great.

(Not so sure that I'd put Laco and Sinn in the not-popular-but-have-history category. I'd say both are popular...)

Seagull certainly fits, but I've seen one first hand and it didn't impress me. It really does feel like a watch made by mid-century communists. I think the movement isn't standout either, though it does have historical noteworthiness.

 

[MMA since 1993]

(Not so sure that I'd put Laco and Sinn in the not-popular-but-have-history category. I'd say both are popular...)

Seagull certainly fits, but I've seen one first hand and it didn't impress me. It really does feel like a watch made by mid-century communists. I think the movement isn't standout either, though it does have historical noteworthiness.

After looking up sinn and laco. I realized they are popular, but only among watch connoisseurs. I've never seen them brought in any watch thread here

 

[val_lixembeau]

After looking up sinn and laco. I realized they are popular, but only among watch connoisseurs. I've never seen them brought in any watch thread here

Oh, I didn't realize you meant popular among the general public; I thought you were talking about watch nerds...

Personally, for a flieger, I think IWC would be my go-to brand. They have a pilot, big pilot and chronograph and all are styled pretty cleanly. To me, brands like Stowa and Laco are a little bit too spare on the dial and go a little overboard elsewhere.

One microbrand I also like is MkII which had a pilot's watch that was a mashup of popular British MoD watches I believe.

As far as Sinn, I think they are very Germanic. Overbuilt and engineered with maybe less concession to style. The one that appeals to me most is probably the 104 St. You can clearly see the instrumentation inspiration and I like the syringe hands.

 

[MMA since 1993]

Oh, I didn't realize you meant popular among the general public; I thought you were talking about watch nerds...

Personally, for a flieger, I think IWC would be my go-to brand. They have a pilot, big pilot and chronograph and all are styled pretty cleanly. To me, brands like Stowa and Laco are a little bit too spare on the dial and go a little overboard elsewhere.

One microbrand I also like is MkII which had a pilot's watch that was a mashup of popular British MoD watches I believe.

As far as Sinn, I think they are very Germanic. Overbuilt and engineered with maybe less concession to style. The one that appeals to me most is probably the 104 St. You can clearly see the instrumentation inspiration and I like the syringe hands.

I forgot who introduced me to the chrono24 site, but many thanks to that guy. I really wanna pull the trigger on that Gigandet chrono, it looks vintage and very unique. But the guy is in italy and he said getting to the post office is difficult at the moment, and i understand.

The cheapest iwc big pilot is $1,200 on chrono24, and it's nice. But i'm saving up to get a $1,700 SawStop table saw for my side woodworking business. Funny, you like the 104st from sinn, i like the 103st.

Man, that casio thread had me looking at a few of them. Cheap watches for sure, but they're very durable and many watch guys recommend them as daily wearers. I found two models i like and they seem to be discontinued or out of stock. But i really like the way the different straps look on them.

EF-503

Spoiler

EF-500

Spoiler

 

[lsa]

Do any of you guys have odd brand watches? or brands that aren't as popular but still have history in the name?

I've been looking at a few different brands since this thread was made. Brands like Gigandet, laco, sea-gull, sinn and a few others. Some of these look great.
sea-gull

While looking at these, i ran into dan henry watches. These watches “pay homage to the vintage styles of the 1930s, 1940s, 1960s and 1970s". They look nice. This guy apparently has a collection of over 1,500 watches and decided to make his own line.

Steinhart pretty nice watches. And not that well known among casuals I think.
I also have some russian military diver watch.
Looks cheap as hell and rinky dink but works very well.

 

[MMA since 1993]

Steinhart pretty nice watches. And not that well known among casuals I think.
I also have some russian military diver watch.
Looks cheap as hell and rinky dink but works very well.

this is really nice, a paul newman daytona homage

 

[lsa]

this is really nice, a paul newman daytona homage

I got 2 Steinhart.
I like them. Good quality for the money.

 

[MMA since 1993]

Beautiful watches sir.

i wonder if they also make the pianos.

 

[puppybird]

 

[lsa]

Beautiful watches sir.

i wonder if they also make the pianos.

I would not wear that on my arm