60th Birthday present

jackal

Hi,
Looking for suggestions for a watch for my father who is turning 60. He always liked the "diver" style watches, but I am open to any suggestions. Budget is 500 euro tops, and I am not interested in buying off ebay or anything like that, birthday is fast approaching and cannot afford any messing!

Some of the ones I like the look of are tissot and longines, but the latter seem to be mostly out of my budget.

Thanks in advance.

Mitch Buchannon

Have a look at Steinhart. Could be something there that suits you / your father.

http://www.steinhartwatches.de/en/diver-watch.html

Bullseye1

Homer posted this watch. I think it ticks all the boxes. Buy one for around €200 and bring him out for a nice meal and a few drinks on your balance.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=77394905&postcount=1009

Anjobe

Can't get much better than Steinhart for the price, although there is actually a good range of decent dive watches for around €500 e.g.

Lots of nice Deep Blue divers watches at WatchObsession.

A lovely Seiko from Seiya, although time (and VAT/customs duties) might be against you for shipping from Japan.

Buying on the hight street here in Ireland means paying over the odds and limiting the choice, but how about this Seiko. You should be able to find the watch here for €500, although I have bought from Watch Hut before and found them to be very quick and reliable.

jackal

Thanks all,
Just discovered he has an old dive watch so going to go for a more classic style, thanks for the suggestions, the Steinhart looks very nice.

I really like the look of the Longines Grand Classique but the shiny black strap looks a bit naff. Might go see it in the flesh and see how it is. Any thoughts on this one?

Will probably end up buying it in a jewellers here, as its too close to order online, and a fewof us are chipping in cash.

Bullseye1

Would you consider a pre-owned vintage. Great value to be had. I posted a link in the deals thread of a vintage Rolex around €700. I know it's a couple hundred beyond your budget but it's a stunner.

Bullseye1

Here is the Rolex from 1959. Or have you considered a Birthyear watch?
http://forums.watchuseek.com/f29/fs-1959-vintage-rolex-oyster-precision-6426-a-651929.html

jackal

Thanks Bullseye, I did consider vintage watches, but he is not really mad into them or anything, he is not a bling merchant either and I don't think a rolex would be his style, vintage or not. Good idea though, if I had thought of this a bit earlier I would definitely look into the birthyear watches, or some of the classic/german/russian watches I have seen discussed on here.

foxyboxer

I like the quartz Longines Hydroconquest diver*
I believe it's just slightly over €500. Slightly.




*image is the auto but the quartz is the same design and case.

peasant

How about a semi-classic, semi-dressy, semi-diver universal kind of watch?



http://www.junkers-shop.de/Zeppelin-Watch-7252-2-Automatic-Watch-ETA-2824-2-with-Date-and-TubeLights

Zagato

Stowa is also a pretty good brand with some history, excellent build quality, and outside of this forum you won't see too many in Ireland. Hasn't been mentioned above because they're all a little above your budget, and their history is really in Pilot watches, and also bauhaus style watches, rather than divers.

They do have a dress watch (the Partio) which is €535.


I think it would be a good idea to decide on the size of watch that you think your Dad would want. Style dictates that watches be >40mm in diameter these days but that may not suit, and if buying an automatic remember to look at the thickness of the watch too. The above watch is relatively small by comparison 37mm diameter and 10.8mm thick.

Anjobe

Also the Stowa Marine watches, which start from €530, are really nice. However, I think that the delivery time from Stowa can be quite long.

jackal

We ended up deciding on this:


Thanks for your help, I know I changed the brief almost immediately.

Is there much scope for discounts if you are buying at an Irish bricks and mortar jewellers? To be honest I have seen huge variations in the price of this watch online, some asking almost €1000, and fields asking the lowest - €595.

Bullseye1

That Rolex does not look flash in comparison . Nice choice though.