So, my Grandmother died recently, and there is a tiny bit of cash coming our way. As we want spend the money on things that will be kept, the kids are using their share to each get a guitar of their dreams, Mrs Seadog as yet undecided, but probably a nice bit of jewellery..

Me, time for a posh watch, not super expensive, £400 maximum. Automatic, leather strap, plain, not enormous… Inspire me as to what I should/could get.

EDIT – never had a posh watch in my life!

Hamilton Khaki Field should be around that price, I like them, don’t have one yet!

The recent Xmas watches thread has lots of nice watches at varying prices

My mondaine automatic fits both your spec and budget:

Dave

Tissot Visodate would be my first choice for UK sales and within budget.

Hamilton Jazzmaster Viewmatic around £460 Uk price (<£400 grey market)

Seiko SARX017 (Japanese grey market <£400)

i love my Rolex Daytona – it’s one of my only prized possessions.

Oris Big Crown.
Be aware some watches cost more to service than a car!!

Posh and £400? think you might struggle there unless you get some moody omega from ebay that comes from india.

Something from Harold or an Elliott Brown

For £400 I’d be looking at an Orient Star of some description and a custom Toshi strap.

Or a Chris Ward.

Steinhart do automatic watches at that price point. I have one on my wish list

Tissot Visiodate or a Chris Ward would be where I would be looking. Orient Mako’s are really nice too but have metal straps.

Seiko Tuna (used) but may need to up budget a bit.

Not that much on topic, but I’ve been looking for an excuse to show this off as I’ve only just got around to taking a picture of it!)

1936(ish!) Schwarz Geneve. Scratched, worn and beaten, with original glass, that will never be replaced. However, this watch saw quite some life with the original owner, and I am immensely proud to wear it in his memory.

Seiko Alpinist

Solid 14ct gold Longines from about 1960, recent documented service, £300 off ebay
and in nearly new condition.

I’ve got one of these very nice in the flesh. Shop about and you will find it cheaper.

http://m.watchshop.com/mens-hamilton-jazzmaster-viewmatic-automatic-watch-h32515135-p99931371.html?utm_source=froogle&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=shoppingfeeds&source=froogle&gclid=CK3KwKPwur0CFTCWtAodiFUAVA

Christopher Ward C11 is a little over budget at £499 but I have one and they’re very good, my Omega Seamaster has been relegated to second place since I got the C11, as much as I like it the C11 just looks great.

Christopher Ward C11

Hmm? Tissot or Mondaine it may well be..

Not *posh*, I’m not entirely sure how you define that! I guess a really expensive dress watch in gold but mine is hardly that. It’s about the closest I’ll get to a *posh* watch until the lottery coughs up and I can afford to spend 3 or 4k on something that matches my taste; which this pretty much defines:

Cost me £350 NOS.

Not *posh*, I’m not entirely sure how you define that! I guess a really expensive dress watch in gold but mine is hardly that. It’s about the closest I’ll get to a *posh* watch until the lottery coughs up and I can afford to spend 3 or 4k on something that matches my taste; which this pretty much defines:

Cost me £350 NOS.

Yobokies or AKA “harold” (seikoboy backwards)
Get something unique and you could be paying alot less than £400.

Benarus
Check out the specs on these watches,the case,movement glass etc,not a well known brand. I like the clean looks. I have the steel Moray excellent watch.

£400 is posh in my book.

As mentioned above, Elliot Brown have some nice watches.

I love my Oris Big Crown, bought with money after my father died. Its been back for repair twice in 5 years and finally seems to be fixed. Quiet and understated.

This ticks all your boxes although I don’t know what case size you class as big. I nearly went for one of these but my budget increased so I opted for something different, however I know a few people with Christopher Ward watches and they are very nice. Different face styles and strap colours are available if that one doesn’t float your boat.

Chr Ward Malvern Automatic

Not expensive, not posh, but relatively small and automatic. An option if you decide not to blow the full £400:

Mine looks just like that^. It was about £48 from Amazon (price goes up and down like a yoyo) and I paid £8.50 delivered for the strap.

Failing that, those Elliot Brown’s look nice, I think they might all be quartz though?

Edit: someone posted a pic of an Elliot Brown Canford with a black leather strap on a previous watch thread. Very nice.

When I say posh, I mean something smarter, dressier, than the venerable G-Shock. Not really a fan of the complicated looking chrongraph/sports type, or metal straps.

I could, however be tempted by something like the seiko divers watch above. I don’t mind that type as they haven’t got all the fussy tiny dials and extra knobs…

I’d go vintage, doesn’t matter how accurate it is – who needs a watch for time telling these days…

I recently had a similar amount of money to spend on a watch (I think it cost around £300) and went for this :

I have a few other watches, but wanted something fairly plain and simple.

I think Tissot do a leather strap version in the PRS516 range.

For the money and given your description I’d go for a 1960s Omega Seamaster

Something like this:

or this:

The last one went for £200 on TZ-UK. £200!

Stowa fleiger

Look at steinhart I have just got one. They do very nice watches at your price point.

Steinhart are great but are q quite large, 42 for the diver is possibly the smallest they do. Stows flieger is a nice 40mm.
Or look at Grovana for a whole range of sport or dress watches (Grovana supposedly make the cases for Steinhart, aramar and a few others)

Oops. Stowa, not stows

I’d look at Stowa too.

How about a Swatch Sistem51?
Automatic – check
Leather strap – mine, photographed below, is rubber. The black version, see the link, has leather.
Plain – yep
Not enormous – again yes.

Only about £100. Use the remaining £300 on a trip to to Switzerland to pick it up as they’re not available in the UK yet.

http://www.swatch.com/zz_en/sistem51.html

Pick a watch you like, then send that picture to Yobokies as already mentioned

He can make you a clone, not a fake/copy, and will be very affordable. They’re generally sterile, i.e. not branded to be a rolex etc, and use a Seiko as a starting point

I have a Seiko military base watch that he changed to look like a Sinn 556/656. I can’t remember how much it was but definitely less than £150, maybe between £100 and £120. The front is sterile, the back still says Seiko as it still is a Seiko, including all movement etc.

Only problem is that its an auto so if I rotate watches too much then its run out of juice by the time I wear it again, but thats not the watches fault. Most autos are like that

Shinola

http://www.shinola.com/shop/watches/therunwell47-leather-watch-s0112.html