I’m getting married this summer in New York and the parents want to buy me a nice new watch as a present. Some money was left by grandparents and they want me to buy a smart watch I can wear with my wedding suit.

It’s not a traditional wedding, my suit is a light grey 3 piece with a white shirt and deep burgundy tie.

I want something smart, maybe a leather band but also something I can wear again.

Budget isn’t massive. Maybe £400 max.

Any ideas or recommendations?

Thanks

Take a look at christopher ward, they have some smart dress watches. Sale on at the moment too.

Brilliant. I’ll go take a look. Thank you

Have a look at Nite watches, I have the MX10, it really is a nice bit of kit

http://www.nitewatches.com/store/gb/icon/

Tissot Visiodate is worth a look as well, very nice classically styled watch and under £400.

Try the Jorg gray 6500 commemorative edition . Lovely looking watch and I think if I remember correctly it’s about £275 .

I love the tissot PRC 200 both quartz and automatic in silver but wonder if they are formal enough for a wedding.

Like these –

In white

In silver

Or the automatic like this –

Or this –

I like the Tissot Tradition stuff. (relatively) inexpensive, understated and nice.

Have heard really good stuff about the watches from Timefactors, simple, reliable and not too much of a poseur tax

http://www.timefactors.com/new.htm

Elliot Brown Canford, simple classic and you can spec any variety of watch you want from their different variants.

Boccia titanium are good looking under a suit and very reasonable

Steinhart do some nice ones …

Have you considered a nice pocket watch?

Tissot Visodate or Hamilton Intramatic. Both have a really nice 60s dress watch vibe going on. Both should be available for under £400 – Hamiltons are always available at good prices from Creation. And Tissot are relatively cheap for a swiss brand.

I’ve got a canford but it’s a bit too chunky with a suit.

So far the Tissot and some lovely Jorg Grays are floating my boat.

I tried a lovely Bulova on earlier but just didn’t live it.

I also love the Rotary Skeleton watches.

The Rotary skeleton watches are built around Chinese movements, which get a fettle in Switzerland to meet the requirements for being stamped “Swiss made”. I don’t know if that’s something that bothers you, but the rules are that if more than 50% of the value was added in Switzerland (ie, made in China cheaply, then polished and QCed in Switzerland by expensive labour), the watch makers will stick “Swiss made” all over everything.

If I were you, I’d be looking for something with a nice ETA automatic movement if you’re spending £300+. You’ve got much more chance of it holding value over time, and being serviceable. Or go for Quartz 😯

Tron any models/brands you’d recommend?

£400 for me would mean either buying a new watch with an ETA movement, or buying something vintage. Or I’d cut the budget massively and buy a Seiko or Orient from eBay / Amazon / Creation Watches.

My personal taste would be to try and find a very minimal dress watch with a hand wind or auto movement – A Nomos, Junghans Max Bill, Hamilton Intramatic, Tissot Visodate etc. A bit of a “What would Don Draper wear” type deal :lol:. As a rule, manual wind results in a thinner and cheaper watch than an auto. If I were you, I’d go to a fancy jeweller and have a look at the likes of Rolex, Omega etc. and what their models look like and what styles you like. Most watches are copies of other watches in some way or another, and the last thing you want to do is buy something that’s a blatant Rolex Submariner or Panerai copy without realising it.

ETA / Swatch group are basically the VW Audi of the watch world. They own most of the major watch brands, with the added bonus that they sell engines to other people too. A £3-400 Hamilton or Tissot will have an ETA movement. A TAG Heuer will have an ETA movement. A £3-4k Omega will have an ETA movement. TAG and Omega barely change anything on their cheaper watches, to doing the full co-axial movement on the top of the line Omegas.

A lot of smaller non-swatch makers also use ETA movements – ie, Steinhart, Timefactors etc. Steinharts are fantastic quality watches for the money.

ETA are by no means the be all and end all of watch movements, but it’s an easy rule of thumb that if it’s got an ETA in it, it’ll be OK. I’ve got watches with Chinese movements, which run beautifully, but nobody’s ever going to covet them.

Basically, if you find a watch you like, do a google search for it’s name along with the word movement, and someone will have already covered the question on a watch forum.

If anyone claims that they have an “their own in house movement” and they’re not Rolex, Seiko or Orient, go and do a bit of googling and see how true it is.

Seiko and Orient make watches around the £100 mark, and I quite like them just because they make the entire thing in house. Y’know, like Rolex like to make a fuss about. 😆 Seiko make a lot of fancy divers watches, but they don’t make many nice dressy watches – even the £10k Grand Seikos look barely different to a £50 Seiko 5 Auto… Yokobies (a bloke called Harold, based in HK) has a photobucket site and will basically custom make a Seiko to your requirements, which opens a massive range of possibilities. Orient do a couple of nice dress watches.

Another option would be Invicta – I don’t particularly like the brand, but they use nice Seiko based movements, and the prices are incredible. Because the movements are basically Seikos, there are a massive amount of replacement parts available if you want to lose the Invicta brand.

And if I were to go vintage, I’d be looking for an old Omega, Tudor or Poljot. Old Omegas and Tudors are at the upper end of your price range, but obviously they’ve both got a huge reputation. I’d suggest buying from a dealer if at all possible, or getting on a watch forum and asking the guys there to check out your potential purchases. There are a lot of Omegas that are made out of 3 different watches pieced together. Tudor are basically Rolex’s version of Skoda. Same guts, better prices.

Another option would be to go and hunt out something like a vintage Accurist or similar that would have been contemporary to your grandparents. I would expect them to be using fairly standard Swiss movements and not in the least bit waterproof, but I’ve never had one. There is also a nice range of re-issue quartz Accurists around at the moment.

Poljot were a Russian firm that made some gorgeous hand wind watches in the 60s (also sold here by Sekonda), spectacularly thin movements, but you really want to buy at the top end of the market (£120-£150) from a seller with a string of good feedback. I’ve got a Poljot that could really do with a service and some gold replating, and the work would cost me more than buying a perfect one. Again, these aren’t covetable like the major swiss brands, but prices are on the up.

Mk1 Orient Bambino as per the worn and wound review below?

Bambino review.

I’ve got one and in the flesh it’s really distinctive but understated – the strap might be a bit dressy but that’s easily changed.

(The Mk2 is a bit fussier so best avoided)

Nothing says ‘here’s a man who’s comfortable with himself’ like a casio F-91W*.

*spend the rest of the cash on bike bits.

Sinn financial district. Comes with steel and leather straps for everyday use.
I love mine. And the fact that nobody has ever heard of Sinn makes it better. Onlynissue for me is not being active enough when I wear it means tgat in needs regular top up winding.

Sinn is a good call. Proper watchmaker. I love mine. But I think it busts the budget.

There are cheaper models but starting price is around £750

or

Tudor are basically Rolex’s version of Skoda. Same guts, better prices.

– well to be more accurate, Tudor have ETA guts but with Rolex case etc. Still very decent watches.

400 quid, I’d be looking for a vintage 60’s / 70’s Omega Seamaster.

Dunhill?

Quite dressy.

i really can’t make my mind up.

If i could get a Christopher Ward C65 Trident in my budget my mind would be made up.

How about a Junkers Graf Zeppelin?
http://www.longislandwatch.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=7350-4
$549

Linky

The C65 has a real Sinn vibe. There are also a lot of Seikos that have very similar cases and are considered Sinn lookalikes. You could potentially get a custom seiko that looks very similar for 100 to 150 quid.

That style of case with crown guards is unusual to have on a dressier watch but you may find it on vintage military or sports watches.

Is the elliot brown Canford dressy? I’ve mine it’s the 009 with the sunray silver face.

I love it but can’t see it going with a suit.

Dress watch to me means a thin case so it goes under your cuffs happily, no chrono, normally no crown guards, probably no date, rarely any numerals on the face. Something like a Seiko “cocktail time”, an Orient Bambino, or an Omega deville.

That said plenty of people wear big divers watches with suits, and ultimately, most people won’t notice your watch, and even fewer will think anything different of you for it. Unless it’s absolutely massive / gopping. Almost any watch will cost to money in either depreciation or servicing.Ultimately, you’ll look at it most, so buy one you like.

I think if I had 400 quid burning a hole in my pocket, there would be a Steinhart Ocean Military Vintage on its way to me, even though it’s a replica of a classic Rolex diver and nowhere near a classic dress watch.

I’m not bothered what others think as ultimately it’s my watch and my, well the mrs, big day.

I want something I’ll wear again but is smart.

MoseyMTB – Member
I’m not bothered what others think as ultimately it’s my watch and my, well the mrs, big day.

I want something I’ll wear again but is smart.

It comes down to this every time, it has to be your choice.
I’m not one for dress watches, I’d wear my Seiko SPORK, or my old Yema, and to blazes with what people think, because I just wouldn’t ever wear a dress watch under normal circumstances, it would be once in a lifetime so the cost would be unjustifiable.
However, should I find myself needing to own one, that Junkers is, I think, just beautiful, I love the Art Deco styling, and I could actually live with it, and that’s a rare thing in dress watches for me.
I’ve just done a conversion, and the Graf Zeppelin is £322, if you could get one for the exchange rate price.
Actually, the Watch Shop do them, and I’ve just spotted this one, which is gorgeous:
http://www.watchshop.com/mens-zeppelin-lz121-mediterranee-automatic-watch-7750-4-p99940641.html

Mondaine

Does anyone have an opinion on Certina?

Specific the DS Podium –

Honestly? It’s not saying ‘dress watch’ to me, it looks a bit like a Yokobies Seiko 5 mod; it’s just a bit too chunky looking for a dress watch, it’s not especially elegant looking, which is the primary reason to have a dress watch.
I have no need for one, and I never expect to find myself wearing the sort of clobber that would necessitate the wearing of one; I’m sixty next month, never owned a suit, but that Zepellin Mediterranee practically has me clicking the buy now button!
That’s a classy-looking timepiece, that would actually look as good with jeans and a sweater, as it would with a natty whistle.
This is, however, just my opinion, and I’m really picky about watch design, favouring divers with simple faces; dress watches really aren’t my thing as a rule, I’m just giving a fairly dispassionate opinion based on what I’d buy in your circumstances.

I think I’m swaying away from a dress watch as I’ll never wear it again.

As my wedding suit is just a normal suit it doesn’t have to be too dressy.

I think my final choice will be this –

I’d wear it with the suit but also just with casual clothes too.

Nice watch. Like you I wouldn’t really wear a dress watch much. I got this for my 40th last year.

That’s lovely. Makes me wonder wether a metal band would be more appropriate.

I love the PRC 200 as you can see.

In the true spirit of STW, here’s what I’ve got. Nice stealthy watch but different. After the wedding whack a nice coloured rubber or leather strap on it and Robert is your Mother’s brother

Creation Watches is your friend