Anyone help me choose a watch?

random10

My boyfriend is turning 30 in a few weeks and I was thinking of getting him a good watch. He loves watches but doesn't own a really good watch the most he has spent is 250 euro. He loves OMEGA watches. I'm thinking of spending 1500euro or up to 2000 at a stretch. what would the experts here recommend and where in dublin will i get best value? thanks guys i would be afraid with my lack of knowledge that i'd get ripped off!!

Blackpitts

random10 wrote: »

My boyfriend is turning 30 in a few weeks and I was thinking of getting him a good watch. He loves watches but doesn't own a really good watch the most he has spent is 250 euro. He loves OMEGA watches. I'm thinking of spending 1500euro or up to 2000 at a stretch. what would the experts here recommend and where in dublin will i get best value? thanks guys i would be afraid with my lack of knowledge that i'd get ripped off!!

not sure u can buy a new Omega for that price.
However, you might go for a second hand Seamaster on some websites where you can get a good deal.
Those are available on watchfinder, a pretty realiable website
http://www.watchfinder.co.uk/Omega/Seamaster-300m-Watches/2531.80.00--c10300-watch.aspx
http://www.watchfinder.co.uk/Omega/Seamaster-300m-Watches/2531.80.00--c10175-watch.aspx
http://www.watchfinder.co.uk/Omega/Seamaster-300m-Watches/2533.50.00--c8889-watch.aspx
http://www.watchfinder.co.uk/Omega/Seamaster-300m-Watches/2894.52.91-c9507-watch.aspx

bogmanfan

Well he's lucky to have a girlfriend like you for a start. Great gift idea.

With Omega, the two most popular models are the Seamaster and the Speedmaster. You should be able to get a new quartz Seamaster within your budget, or a used automatic model in excellent condition. I think €1500 should get you a decent Speedmaster second hand also, although I'm not too sure on prices for these.
If you are in Dublin, have a look in Dawson Jewellers on Dawson St. They have a good range of new and used Omegas to look at, although they will not be the cheapest. Get an idea of a model you like and then get hunting online.

Oh, and the last time I was in Corr's Jewellers in Powerscourt Centre, he had a very nice Seamaster Regatta Chronograph, a very rare model, for around €1600. Definitely worth a look.

Good luck with the search...

mailforkev

Great girlfriend!

Blackpitts has linked you to a couple of used versions of what I'm wearing at the moment, a Seamaster 2531.8000 (my personal favourite Seamaster Pro).

Watchfinder is fairly reputable, may be worth a phone call to see if you could do a deal too.

I know the newer automatic model is €2,400 (before cash discount) in Weirs and BT, so I would have thought that a new Quartz would deffo be had for well under the 2 grand mark. Alternatively have a look up North before the VAT increases up there.

MiCr0

i think every guy on this forum would love to recognize the OP as their girlfriend :-)

douglashyde

A little of topic but isnt a saying that its really bad luck to buy your boyfriend a watch?

That's what my girlfreind said - she is probably just cheaping out on gettting me a watch

Blackpitts

douglashyde wrote: »

A little of topic but isnt a saying that its really bad luck to buy your boyfriend a watch?

That's what my girlfreind said - she is probably just cheaping out on gettting me a watch

tell her you heard the same about big diamonds...

traco

Blackpitts wrote: »

tell her you heard the same about big diamonds...

Exactly - never heard of any such saying, I'd hate to think how much business jewelers would loose if it wasn't for GF, Wives etc buying watches for guys.

OP - great gift and the Omegas have a nice look and history.

bigfeller

I was in the Dawson Jewellers a few months ago and they had a Great White in stock - one pictured below:



I think the asking price was approximately €1900. You should get 10% off. Worth a look - it's a stunning watch. I'd love one but the wife already bought me a GMT Omega and I'm unlikely to get another.

But it is my birthday in a few weeks...baby - is that you???

j1974

random10 wrote: »

My boyfriend is turning 30 in a few weeks and I was thinking of getting him a good watch. He loves watches but doesn't own a really good watch the most he has spent is 250 euro. He loves OMEGA watches. I'm thinking of spending 1500euro or up to 2000 at a stretch. what would the experts here recommend and where in dublin will i get best value? thanks guys i would be afraid with my lack of knowledge that i'd get ripped off!!

Hello,

Fair play buying him a watch. 2 grand is just the starting price for high end watches to be honest. Omega are lovely and I once priced the casino royale special seamaster (with rubber strap) for 2650.00, that was at the time of the movie release. To be honest, most of these watches are over priced. There is a relay good mid price range of watches which fall between say a €250 casio range G shock, not a bad watch actually and an 2300.00 Omega or Oris. These are watches like Tissot, citizen dive promaster and Seiko kinetic. These are all round the 600 - 1200 range and are beautiful. they all come in realy cool packaging with long 3-5 year guarantees. You can get great chioice from weirs on the foot of Grafton st, they do all high end, mid range and more inexpensive ones. Watches have a theme in general, Motor racing, yachting, diving, swimming, hiking, casual and dress watches. Decide which one suits him, each wath theme has features reflected on the timepiece (stop watch etc) personally I love nice diving watches and have 2 of them. many of the mid range also require no battery, or Quartz power source. My Citizen eco-drive diving watch is powered by light and will keep acurate time up to one second if kept in the dark for 3 weeks. There's a realy nice Tissot watch at the moment for a little over 800. euro which is for diving and yachting, it also makes a cool dress watch. I saw it last week in dundrum but you'll get it in town easily. its on http://www.tissot.ch/?mod_news/owner_collections/id_235

Bottom line, dont drop 2000.00 euro on a watch that has an air of status symbolism to it, shop round and you'll get something realy cool and james bond-esque for less. the packaging alone on these bad boys makes for a cool present. Ask someone to take you through the citizen, seiko, tissot range in Weirs but dont mention Omega,You would only end up getting the bog standard omega, which aren't that cool realy. and tell them you'd prefer automatic to quartz.

Having said all that, prices may have come down so you could always just have a look. bring a guy with ya, might help.

Blackpitts

j1974 wrote: »

Hello,

I saw it last week in dundrum but you'll get it in town easily. its on http://www.tissot.ch/?mod_news/owner_collections/id_235

you are comparing a quartz to an automatic watch with history and a name, there is not a real contest i think, omega wins all the way down.
I agree it's a matter of taste but your idea of a better value for money is based only on the fact that the Tissot is cheaper than the Omega.
You pay 250 for a watch which maybe has a 15 $ movement in it so I woiuld define it overpriced too.

j1974 wrote: »

Bottom line, dont drop 2000.00 euro on a watch that has an air of status symbolism to it, shop round and you'll get something realy cool and james bond-esque for less. the packaging alone on these bad boys makes for a cool present. Ask someone to take you through the citizen, seiko, tissot range in Weirs but dont mention Omega,You would only end up getting the bog standard omega, which aren't that cool realy. and tell them you'd prefer automatic to quartz.

bottom line, dropping thousands of euro for a status symbol is something that can be said also about cars, bags, clothes, shoes etc as well.. so don't attach a stigma to watches in general.
And when you say Omega are not cool for you, you should say that this is only yourpersonal opinion. I know plenty of people who would rate them close to Rolex or other top brands because of their history and their engineering.
Obviously you don't know what a Speedmaster is and why NASA picked that model in particular to go over the Moon.

j1974 wrote: »

Having said all that, prices may have come down so you could always just have a look. bring a guy with ya, might help.

It's very unlikely that prices in Ireland would be cheaper than some websites like the one I have linked. But the prices of the watches in Dawson Jewellers are not that bad too.

j1974

Blackpitts wrote: »

you are comparing a quartz to an automatic watch with history and a name, there is not a real contest i think, omega wins all the way down.
I agree it's a matter of taste but your idea of a better value for money is based only on the fact that the Tissot is cheaper than the Omega.
You pay 250 for a watch which maybe has a 15 $ movement in it so I woiuld define it overpriced too.



bottom line, dropping thousands of euro for a status symbol is something that can be said also about cars, bags, clothes, shoes etc as well.. so don't attach a stigma to watches in general.
And when you say Omega are not cool for you, you should say that this is only yourpersonal opinion. I know plenty of people who would rate them close to Rolex or other top brands because of their history and their engineering.
Obviously you don't know what a Speedmaster is and why NASA picked that model in particular to go over the Moon.



It's very unlikely that prices in Ireland would be cheaper than some websites like the one I have linked. But the prices of the watches in Dawson Jewellers are not that bad too.

Apologies, it's my personal opinion that your reaction is over the moon!!!
MY Citizen aqualand and Tissot seastar are both automatic and over 5 years old and cost less than a grand. Youre just paying for the Brand name like it or not.<SNIP> I doubt the OP's boyfriend is going to compare the internal strokes per minute and all that jazz, most guys dont. you obviously take your watches more seriously than the average guy.

<snip>

mailforkev

j1974 wrote: »

Bottom line, dont drop 2000.00 euro on a watch that has an air of status symbolism to it...

The OP wants to buy a fancy gift, so of course the brand is important. Chances are this will be the only watch that she buys her bloke so she wants to wow him. He's probably always wanted to own an Omega so rightfully IMO she wants to try and tick that particular box for him for his 30th.

If he wants a Seiko or Tissot than he can get one himself in the future, she says that he already has a few watches but nothing particularly fancy.

For a lot of folk they want to tick certain standardised boxes before you then branch out a bit. The less well known (to a regular joe) brands can follow in the future when you have a bit more cash, i.e. save to get the Omega/Breitling/Rolex you've always wanted out of the way then the warm glow of a Sinn/Fortis/Damasko/etc. can follow later.

Just my €0.02.

Cyrus

bigfeller wrote:

I was in the Dawson Jewellers a few months ago and they had a Great White in stock - one pictured below:



I think the asking price was approximately €1900. You should get 10% off. Worth a look - it's a stunning watch. I'd love one but the wife already bought me a GMT Omega and I'm unlikely to get another.

But it is my birthday in a few weeks...baby - is that you???

That's a crazy price for that they go for sub 1k on tz-uk all the time

bigfeller

Cyrus wrote: »

That's a crazy price for that they go for sub 1k on tz-uk all the time

It was new.

foxyboxer

Depends really if he prefers a mechanical over a quartz.
Do you know if his current watch is quartz?
At a budget of between 1,500 to 2,000, a discount from an AD would need to be forthcoming.
"He loves Omega watches", you need to find out which specific model.

Is he interested in the mechanical aspects of watches or does he just need one to tell the time that looks good too.

For the price range, my recommendations;

Omega Seamaster Professional
http://www.omegawatches.com/gents/seamaster/300-m-quartz/22218000
Quartz model, retails at e1560 but expect a minimum 10% discount.

Also comes in black,
http://www.omegawatches.com/gents/seamaster/300-m-quartz/21230416101001

If he's an automatic fan then the price will obviously increase and automatic Omega's fetch well over the 2k mark, and so out of budget.

You could get a Speedmaster Professional moonwatch for e2,100 from Weirs (if they still have it in stock)
http://www.omegawatches.com/gents/speedmaster/professional/38705031

This is an idiosyncratic watch, as in it's manual winding with no date and has a plexiglass crystal, but then if he's an Omega fan, then this is their Marquee watch and he's well aware if it and it's history.

Personally, I'd tell him you'd like to buy him a watch for his 30th. You could then discuss the options and maybe he could meet you half way price wise to get the one he wants.

Watches are very personal to us men and I'm sure he has his eye on a few particular models. Oh, and if only everyone had a generous partner like you. Good Luck.

Blackpitts

j1974 wrote: »

I doubt the OP's boyfriend is going to compare the internal strokes per minute and all that jazz, most guys dont. you obviously take your watches more seriously than the average guy.

<snip>

the OP's bf wants an Omega or something like that, i've just explained why there is a difference in the price with the Tissot and why you can't dismiss it like a stauts symbol or a waste of money.
I don't know why you got so defensive.

foxyboxer

Cyrus wrote: »

That's a crazy price for that they go for sub 1k on tz-uk all the time

Those are exactly my sentimonies...:D

mickman

random - while this is a truly amazing gift to get your boyfriend i think he should pick it himself. would you like to get an engagement ring or to pick it out yourself? its the same thing really

you wont get omega for that kind of money at all and if you do it will look so bland it wont even be looked at twice

i got a breitling in the caribbean at xmas for 3500 euro ,same watch here costs 5000 euro. a lovely watch, often see people stare at the diamonds on the face of it when in a lift etc and they nudge the person besdie them to have a look.

i also loved watches but wouldnt bite the bullet to buy one but im so glad i did. tell him you want to buy him a watch etc but think about doing it on hols somewhere (usa etc) to get proper value

Cyrus

mickman wrote: »

random - while this is a truly amazing gift to get your boyfriend i think he should pick it himself. would you like to get an engagement ring or to pick it out yourself? its the same thing really

you wont get omega for that kind of money at all and if you do it will look so bland it wont even be looked at twice

i got a breitling in the caribbean at xmas for 3500 euro ,same watch here costs 5000 euro. a lovely watch, often see people stare at the diamonds on the face of it when in a lift etc and they nudge the person besdie them to have a look.

i also loved watches but wouldnt bite the bullet to buy one but im so glad i did. tell him you want to buy him a watch etc but think about doing it on hols somewhere (usa etc) to get proper value

yes you will get an omega for that kind of money, you'll get almost any type of one you want pre owned from a reliable source

planet ocean might be nice?

and while diamonds on your dial might be your idea of a watch that isnt bland mickman, a lot of people prefer watches without

mickman

Cyrus wrote: »

yes you will get an omega for that kind of money, you'll get almost any type of one you want pre owned from a reliable source

planet ocean might be nice?

and while diamonds on your dial might be your idea of a watch that isnt bland mickman, a lot of people prefer watches without

well good luck to the OP if they buy their boyfriend a second hand watch :-)
as long as she is ok with a second hand engagement ring they are sorted!

Cyrus

mickman wrote: »

well good luck to the OP if they buy their boyfriend a second hand watch :-)
as long as she is ok with a second hand engagement ring they are sorted!

i take your point, however id rather pre owned on most high end watches, rolex aside, most lose 25-45% of value in the first year.

and second hand engagement rings are vintage not second hand