[Closed] Im after a new watch, got £ 500.00 to spend

How about this [img] [/img]
with this to go with it
[img] [/img]

I think that would be much more fun.

Oris? If you can add another £60 - £100 to your budget. http://www.precisiontime.co.uk/oris-williams-f1-c-22_64.html

Not owned one for the last 20 years

If I got one now it would do GPS and HRM so at least it would be useful

How about this
with this to go with it

My thoughts exactly. Although I'd have a Simple. 🙂

I was going to put [b]exactly[/b] what Gareth Uglow did.

I'm half with the £8 casio idiots (soooooooo predictable!).

I don't see the point in buying a £500 watch you are not in love with...but I totally see the point in spending £500 on a watch you are in love with...

I like old stuff and would look up your local auctions and keep an eye on what comes up - or ebay?

I have a £400 Boss watch which I got as a wedding pressie but I never wear it.

Now I just wear this... which is light and comfy and does the job.

[img] [/img]

<yawn>

The old casio watch photo, its almost as ugly as the frame.

Good site rbmccunn 🙂

<yawn>
The old casio watch photo, its almost as ugly as the frame.

Good site rbmccunn 🙂

Dare I say it :roll:any other "sensible" ideas ?

Article on the FT here

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/d5f6362e-cf24-11de-8a4b-00144feabdc0,dwp_uuid=3271dd22-ce94-11de-8812-00144feabdc0,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2Fd5f6362e-cf24-11de-8a4b-00144feabdc0%2Cdwp_uuid%3D3271dd22-ce94-11de-8812-00144feabdc0.html&_i_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Freports%2Fwatches-jewellery-november-2009

I have a load of swatches, they are nicely designed, but only last a few years. Just got a Swiss Army for outdoor wear, seems properly solid.

Of course the casio was predictable! I was also going to write what Cynic-al di but couldn't be bothered. Find the watch and decide if you can afford it rather than looking for a £500 watch.

EDIT: Rotary Aquaspeed look quite nice for <£200

Tissot

One of these, from Silvermans. CWC made forces issue watches- this is pretty much identical to the 70's issue chronos- same movement and case, slightly different face. Will need to be wound though.

[img] [/img]

£450 with date, £425 without. Better without, imo.

I bought the cheapest TAG Heuer that you can get a year or so ago becuase I was tired of bashing up my Speedmaster, Seems to be really tough, keeps good time and looks fine more for pretty much any occaision.

There are people who "get" watches and those who don't. I am not say which group is right and which is wrong, I love them and waste lots of money on them, but in some way it is not that different to wasting money on bikes 🙂

This one:
[img] [/img]

Have a look at the Sunnto Core range.

http://www.suunto.com/suunto/Worlds/outdoor/main/Product.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198674746689&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302760267&bmUID=ijL04Zz

180 quids 18 months ago.
Compass, barometer, and it's far more waterproof than me.
Weighs 57 grams despite being rather large.
The watch face is 50mm dia. which allows the digits to be 10mm high.

Lots of change from your £500 to buy shiney bike bits, beer, chips and a taxi home. Yey!

2 year guarantee: I had a problem with a button a couple of months back. Sunnto replaced the watch FOC, no quibbles. They even arranged for the courier to collect the watch, place it in an envelope and whisk the watch to Finland. A new watch arrived 3 days later. Great service.

I remember when those TAG Formula1's came out, around '88-89. The cheap model had a coloured fiberglass case, and they started around £140. I bought a black Series 1000 Professional with luminous face for £245. Still got it, but it's looking pretty tired now, the black coating has worn through and chipped on the case and strap. Nice tough watch, though.

500 quids a tough price in watches, right on the borderline...

check out Traser H3 though, their most expensive one is 340 I think, its tough, and good looking imo. Or save up another 300 quid and get a bell and ross type marine

I'd never go to a dealer and ask for a £XXX anything. They'll give you something for £XXX -that may be worth much less.

The thing with watches is that a quartz digital watch does fulfil the same function as a mechanical chronograph and will probably be more accurate.

An expensive or classic car/motorbike/yacht/gun etc. etc. will be different in use to another item, but a watch is a bracelet that tells you what time it is.

Admittedly, I like an analogue dial for the visual aspect of time (like a pie-chart).

If you want a non-dressy watch that's waterproof and tougher than your arm (not sure how useful that is), then what more can you need?:
[img] [/img]
[url= http://www.watchesshop.com/watches/casio/g-315rl-2aver-g-shock-gents-dark-blue-leather-and-resin-strap-sports-watch.html ]G-shock[/url]

ps. I've a Raymond Weil that I was bought for my 18th birthday. It looks quite nice, but it is less robust than my Casio and doesn't tell me what day of the week it is.

ps. I've a Raymond Weil that I was bought for my 18th birthday. It looks quite nice, but it is less robust than my Casio and doesn't tell me what day of the week it is.

Anything by Nixon, anything else wouldn't be cool.

Anything by Nixon, anything else wouldn't be cool.

[img] [/img]
Not my photo, but this is what the face of my old TAG looks like in the dark. This is what I mean by clear markings

[img] [/img]

Bell & Ross? Ugly and expensive >£3k

Be careful of Seiko Kinetic movements, I bought the dear one when they first came out (about £500) and it packed up within a week!
Once bitten when asked if I wanted another of the same I declined and went for a green faced day date analogue Seiko Kinetic (£250). Had it for five years and it is now failing to hold full charge and I have been told that this is quite common for the storage 'battery' to fade and die after this time.
I have a lovely yellow faced automatic Analogue Seiko but have cracked the glass and it needs a service and as it was an import model sold by Makro to get it serviced and new glass would cost £90 more than the watch cost me!
I also have a Boliva that was an 18th pressie, an Animal small case tough watch, an old battered accurist, and a now non waterproof G Shock.
The best jewellers in Nuneaton sell second hand 'proper watches' for not unreasonable prices was very tempted by a white faced Brietling that was going for £500 but it needed a new glass too.
I love watches as much as bikes............

[img] [/img]
this is the only pic I could find of a Series 1000 TAG, but mine is a rather worn matt black. Good watch, lovely clear dial, dead easy to read.
That Bell&Ross above^^ is exactly the watch I'd love. I personally think it's a terrific looking watch, the aircraft instrument dial design really appeals, but the price is waaaaaaay beyond what I can afford. I'll probably get one of the replica ones with an auto movement; I can afford $90...

http://www.jurawatches.co.uk/u-boat.asp?type=25
I like the big bold look and the empty feeling in my wallet

Similar to CWC / Traser, but a few different styles. Really well made, look smart enough, more importantly v hard wearing.

http://www.nitewatches.com/

Can't believe nobody has mentioned Animal Watches on a MTB forum!

From what I remember, back in the day it seemed to be mandatory to wear one if you wanted to work in bike shop. Still got mine from 1997 and it's still going strong.

Oh dear I'm stuck in 1990's time warp aren't I.

I like these

http://www.traserh3.co.uk/?kw=tritium%20watches&fl=282916&ci=2854627044&network=s&gclid=CJO127u6pJ4CFVVu4wodP1RTlw

tritium glows like a glowy thing I have another watch with tritium caps and is dead easy to read at night.

Hi I have had a Seiko Kinetic auto relay for 8 years. Never a problem. I also have a beautiful kinetic Tissot (Swiss quality without paying extra for the name), but I hardly wear it unless I'm fully suited up.

@ Xipe Totec, a couple of examples of Nixon watches for you:

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

Think they're most expensive is about £800, look very slick IMO without being 'showy'

Worn my Seiko automatic every day for the last thirty years (apart from a service every five years or so)
Can still pick up a nice Seiko sports auto for about 150 quid, if its as good as mine no point spending any more

Damn you all you just mademe go and buy a replacement for the Seiko
Found a nice tan coloured Nite watch at www.Polmil.co.uk for £85 looks like that will be my everyday watch for the next few years. I noted that the dearer models also have a 10 year battery life on them not bad for a £120 watch with tritium markers etc etc.

Some of the Casio G-Shock 'Black Force' watches are rather fine looking - some on eBay from Japan for under £200.

I did the same as oddjob and bought the cheapest Tag Hauer but with a metal strap. I do like it and I've had it for about 3 to 4 years now and it still looks great with little wear to it despite being worn nearly everyday.

However its currently with Tag: the battery went so I sent it in....first it was £60 for a replacement battery and re-seal, then it went to £150 for a service. Not due back for another 3 weeks so it will have been in for 3 months in all. To me, thats expensive slow service and I'm not chuffed. My G-Shock is over 10 years old and I've only replaced the battery once for under £20.

Also had a Seiko Kinetic...cost about £200, died just outside of warranty and a new internal mechanism would have been about £120...I didn't bother

I just replaced a £400 Seiko Kinetic after about 4-5 years (started losing time), loved having no battery but it weighed a ton. This time around I still wanted no battery but wanted something lighter so ended up with a Citizen eco-drive titanium thing. It's this one: http://www.fraserhart.co.uk/Home/tabid/76/CategoryID/447/List/0/Level/a/ProductID/17875/Default.aspx?SortField=EAN,UnitCost+DESC but was reduced to £225 in-store (in Bristol at least).

I've got a nice Breitling that I bought about 6 years ago before my 3 beautiful little girls sucked all the money out of me 😕

But I now find myself wearing one of these Optimum Time watches every day:

[img] [/img]

Light waterproof, tells the time, countdown/up, etc, user changeable battery and I can buy 3 for the cost of one Breitling battery change 😐

I bought up a Suunto Observer recently, Simply the best watch I've ever owned, lightweight titanium and loads of functions

[quote> http://www.jurawatches.co.uk/u-boat.asp?type=25
I like the big bold look and the empty feeling in my wallet

Showerman, those U-Boats look sweet. Shame it would look rediculous on my girly wrist.

You seriously need to ask STW which watch to spend your money on?

You are gay.

Either that or have no style

no offense

I had a Nixon and it looked absolutely trashed within about a year - strap broke, screen scratched to buggery, etc. Contrast to my Animal (003 series?) which must be well over 10 years old now and still looks great.