Any good recommendations for ~300 EUR?

arleitiss

Hey, I am thinking of buying a watch but I don't understand much about them, I was wondering - in general, is it even possible to get a watch for around 300 Eur? I mean I heard before that watches cost like 20'000, 50'000 etc..

If possible - any recommendations you can give on what to look out for?

List of things I would want:
*Not digital watch, no electronics if possible.
*Ticking pointer, not the one that goes smooth.
*not colored, just stainless steel color (silver color)

I am 20 btw, so I need something modern-ish but not the futuristic digitals.


Thanks.

MiCr0

Have a look at the what are you wearing thread and see do you see anything nice.
A quartz movement on a steel strap should be easy

Orlaw3136

You can get a great watch at that price. Just make sure you buy from a company that makes watches, not so much from a company that makes jeans (e.g. Hugo Boss, Diesel, Armani make some flashy looking watches but they're unlikely to last you for life...)

Do you have any other particular preferences - for instance, will you want to wear the watch in water ? Do you prefer a watch with a clean, uncluttered display or one which has sub-dials on its face ?

Is there a particular reason why you prefer quartz (ticking pointer) ? Perhaps you want to avoid the cost of servicing the watch or is there something else ? When you say that you want 'no electronics' be aware that a quartz watch is essentially electrical - but of course doesn't have to have a digital display.

By way of examples of what you could get with your budget, either of these would do you for life if you wish, but they are not quartz :-

http://www.seiyajapan.com/collections/seiko/products/seiko-alpinist-automatic-sarg003

Slightly more formal, but still a classic 'sports watch' (the way that term was used in the '50s) :-

http://www.seiyajapan.com/collections/seiko/products/s-sarb033

Also, you might get hit with some import duties if you order from this seller (these are japanese domestic market watches that are hard to get in the EU). Mind you, I've ordered 3 times and have been lucky.

So, for a quartz recommendation I think your money could be well spent on something like this which is great value and has some nice features (chronograph, radio controlled, 'eco-drive', meaning it doesn't require battery changes) :-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Citizen-Chronograph-Stainless-Bracelet-AT8010-58E/dp/B009K0MC1Q/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1389000099&sr=8-3&keywords=citizen+quartz+watches+mens+stainless+steel.

It's 20 euro over your budget at current exchange rates. If I was going to spend around that money on a watch that I would wear all the time with everything at your age that's what I would get though.

Same watch but white dial and not reduced (I much prefer the black dial myself)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Citizen-Chronograph-Stainless-Bracelet-AT8010-58B/dp/B009K0MC3O/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1389000202&sr=8-15&keywords=citizen+quartz+watches+mens+silver+dial

Finally as a tip, when you say you want something modern-ish I'd advise you to avoid stuff that looks trendy. With the money you're spending you can get a watch that you will keep for life. The best approach is to look for something classic.

Lex Luthor

anything below 300eur some of the best bets are Orient, Seiko, Junkers, Citizen

You'll definitely get a good watch online for that money
Try amazon for a starting point

Geomy

A Tissot watch might have what you're looking for.

arleitiss

Orlaw3136 wrote: »

You can get a great watch at that price. Just make sure you buy from a company that makes watches, not so much from a company that makes jeans (e.g. Hugo Boss, Diesel, Armani make some flashy looking watches but they're unlikely to last you for life...)

Do you have any other particular preferences - for instance, will you want to wear the watch in water ? Do you prefer a watch with a clean, uncluttered display or one which has sub-dials on its face ?

Is there a particular reason why you prefer quartz (ticking pointer) ? Perhaps you want to avoid the cost of servicing the watch or is there something else ? When you say that you want 'no electronics' be aware that a quartz watch is essentially electrical - but of course doesn't have to have a digital display.

By way of examples of what you could get with your budget, either of these would do you for life if you wish, but they are not quartz :-

http://www.seiyajapan.com/collections/seiko/products/seiko-alpinist-automatic-sarg003

Slightly more formal, but still a classic 'sports watch' (the way that term was used in the '50s) :-

http://www.seiyajapan.com/collections/seiko/products/s-sarb033

Also, you might get hit with some import duties if you order from this seller (these are japanese domestic market watches that are hard to get in the EU). Mind you, I've ordered 3 times and have been lucky.

So, for a quartz recommendation I think your money could be well spent on something like this which is great value and has some nice features (chronograph, radio controlled, 'eco-drive', meaning it doesn't require battery changes) :-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Citizen-Chronograph-Stainless-Bracelet-AT8010-58E/dp/B009K0MC1Q/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1389000099&sr=8-3&keywords=citizen+quartz+watches+mens+stainless+steel.

It's 20 euro over your budget at current exchange rates. If I was going to spend around that money on a watch that I would wear all the time with everything at your age that's what I would get though.

Same watch but white dial and not reduced (I much prefer the black dial myself)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Citizen-Chronograph-Stainless-Bracelet-AT8010-58B/dp/B009K0MC3O/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1389000202&sr=8-15&keywords=citizen+quartz+watches+mens+silver+dial

Finally as a tip, when you say you want something modern-ish I'd advise you to avoid stuff that looks trendy. With the money you're spending you can get a watch that you will keep for life. The best approach is to look for something classic.

All of those watches you linked would be something I want to get, I wouldn't wear watch in water, mostly just every day.

Also if it doesn't require battery changes, does it need to be winded up or something?

arleitiss

Lex Luthor wrote: »

anything below 300eur some of the best bets are Orient, Seiko, Junkers, Citizen

You'll definitely get a good watch online for that money
Try amazon for a starting point

I would prefer to avoid Amazon and Ebay, I kind of feel like if there is any problem - the hassle of sorting out is doubled through online.

Orlaw3136

arleitiss wrote: »

All of those watches you linked would be something I want to get, I wouldn't wear watch in water, mostly just every day.

Also if it doesn't require battery changes, does it need to be winded up or something?

Nope. Eco-Drive (Citizen techology) is based on solar power. In theory, the power cell (lithium ion I think) should last 'forever' if it isn't dumped in the dark for years. That said, you might find it needs replacement in oh about 10 or 15 years. That's only a might. The same can be said for 'kinetic' powered watches (although they are not solar powered), or any other solar powered watch by a reputable manufacturer.

Watches that need to be wound are either 'mechanical', using a spring based movement in which you replenish the energy by winding (usually every 24 hours) or 'automatic', which if worn regularly do not need to be wound (they use a rotor system to continually wind the spring which utilises the movement generated by being worn on the wrist). You only need to wind an automatic if you don't wear it for a few days, generally. With either mechanical or automatic you need to set the date as well if you've let the watch wind fully down - some people find that to be a bit of a pain, as you'll want to set it correctly so that the date changes over at midnight etc.

The ultimate 'set-and-forget' watch will be an eco-drive/kinetic/solar powered watch which has a perpetual calender. Perpetual calender means that the watch 'knows' whether there is 28, 30 or 31 days in the month so that you don't have to adjust it at the end of the month to show the correct date. The calendar function is usually good for around 99 years after which you have to make an adjustment (generally you set the watch to another year which matches the current year for dates/days in a month. As the watch doesn't display the actual year it doesn't matter that this might be inaccurate).

Radio-control means then that the watch receives a signal which tells it exactly what time date it is by reference to the atomic clock so in principle it will be absolutely correct down to a split-second.

This is subject to being in a location which can receive the right signal, but any good quartz based watch even without radio control will lose very little time (you're talking seconds as opposed to minutes in a year).

A mechanical/automatic watch would be considered very, very accurate if it was plus/minus a couple of seconds per day, but even very expensive ones are within acceptable bounds at -4 to +6 seconds in a 24 hour period, so that in principle if it lost up to 3 minutes per month it would still be considered accurate.

As regards water resistant, even if you don't want to wear the watch while swimming its nice to know you have decent resistance. With very dressy/formal vintage watches you'd take them off when washing your hands. I'd generally look for water resistance rated at 20 bar or 200 metres in an all round daily wearer. Even if you don't scuba-dive with the watch you'd still want it serviced about every 5 years or so to ensure that it remains water resistant and is generally sound - to be honest most people who own watches never bother with this, but then they wonder why they run into problems 10 years later.

Of the ones I linked to I think the black-dialled Citizen is excellent if you want an all-round watch that you can wear anywhere and you don't want a mechanical/automatic movement. Eco-drive, perpetual calendar, radio controlled, 20 bar water resistant and chronograph (has a stopwatch) with fairly classic but modern looks, and is a nice size. Also great value.

arleitiss wrote: »

I would prefer to avoid Amazon and Ebay, I kind of feel like if there is any problem - the hassle of sorting out is doubled through online.

I can see where you're coming from but you'll pay a premium for buying from a bricks & mortar shop. If you buy e.g. a citizen from amazon.co.uk you'll get a citizen EU-wide warranty so that if there is a problem you'll be able to deal directly with Citizen through an Irish service centre, in the event that the vendor fails to meet its obligations. The standard warranty (for citizen Eco-Drive watches) is 5 years - which is excellent.

I suggest you do a bit of looking around online, print out the stuff you're interested in, then go to a decent jewellers and start trying things on - its free to look. You can always ask them to bring their prices down a bit, armed with the info regarding online prices and while they may not be able to match the price fully they might do some kind of discount which you can live with if you are very adverse to buying online.

Eoin

As Geomy says, a Tissot may be a good option. Check out the PRC 200 - it's a nice watch (battery powered) available in a few different styles. I think the stainless steel bracelet with the black face is the nicest, but the blue face is also nice.

Amazon tend to be very good to deal with, if you buy directly from them. I wouldn't rule that out.

arleitiss

Well I suppose since it comes with warranty and lets me deal directly with manufacturer, that's alright to purchase from amazon then, and yeah I would prefer to have stainless steel bracelet too.

Thanks for the help, I might look into those citizen watches.

Lex Luthor

arleitiss wrote: »

List of things I would want:
*Ticking pointer, not the one that goes smooth.

Thanks.

Can I ask why?


a few suggestions
http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/seiko3s/item/ssc011p1/
http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/seiko3s/item/ska519p1/
http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/seiko3s/item/ska519p1/

Maybe something on here can change your mind?
http://www.orientuhren.de/index.php?language=en&osCsid=rg196totlnlc13eounrolefj11

http://www.orientuhren.de/orient-automatic-deep-em65002d-pri-159.html?reviews_id=152
http://www.orientuhren.de/orient-automatic-deep-em65006d-p-180.html

Deep Thought

Have a look an independent brands...for a few euro more you could get a nice Steinhart Diver

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

blindsider

https://fromanteel.nl/online-shop/the-generations/johannes-black/_watch_this/

Limited edition piece. I don't know much about the brand but they seem to use Ronda (Ronda.ch) movements, which seem to be well respected. Swatch are limiting the sale of their ETA's.

Fey!

How about Bisset?

I came across these about 5 years ago and bought one last year. Nice heavy watches with a two year warranty. I've ended up retailing a small selection of them.

Lex Luthor

Deep Thought wrote: »

Have a look an independent brands...for a few euro more you could get a nice Steinhart Diver

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

agree. I have the Ocean 1 Black but if I was looking again at a Steinhart diver the new Ocean One Vintage would be top of my list followed by an Ocean 1 Vintage Red