you pay for a brand I think…largely at least. when other watches or even replicas of comparable quality, often with the same movements (many of these manufacturers buy in the movement), can be bought for say £400, why is a real Rolex £6000? brand mainly.

some movements are made in house, some are bought in and then improved in house, but many are simply bought in.

I recently received a 2002 Rolex Datejust as a very unexpected 30th birthday present. Very subtle, very solid, small enough to fit under a shirt sleeve and absolutely lovely.
It looks like this one

I do like watches, but I really don’t understand where the price comes from.
are you paying for a brand or are you paying for the craftsmanship and materials?

Hand made, genuine swiss self winding ruby jeweled movment, solid gold (not hollow links or gold plated)904 stainless steel, 18ct gold, platinum and rhodium, saphire crystal glass that does not scratch etc etc

As for watch size, my current datejust II is 41mm, perfect size for most men. With out looking to big and fits under shirt cuffs as opposed to my old Submariner that never sat well with a suit and shirt (to big to go under cuffs easily)

And no fake is like the real thing, yes they look similar but thats where it ends regardless of how expensive the fake is.

heres mine when it was new and shiney

Hmmm, somewhat lower in price compared to the other suggestions but I bought a seiko kinetic arctura a few years back and never regretted it. Keeps accurate time, looks understated and never needs winding, battery etc!

Hope this isn’t a hijack, but how are Longines regarded in the watch world. My dad got one for his retirement and it is certainly a lovely thing.

I’m a bit of a watchaholic. I currently own a Rolex Submariner, an Omega Seamaster, a Breitling Chronomat Evolution and a Seiko Orange Monster (plus a few other bits n bobs). The only other watch I fancy at the mo is the Tag Heuer Carrera (auto and Ti).

My favourite is the Roly, it’s a classic stainless/black face and bezel. I know it has w@nker written all over it but it’s my favourite. I bought it in 1992 for £1700 with my first bonus when working in the Far East and I can’t see me ever selling it.

The Breitling came next. Mother of pearl face, gold accents and brown aligator strap. Looks a bit blingy for my taste and is massive. It’s also a bit agricultural compared to the Roly. Not that fussed, I’d sell it in a heartbeat if circumstances changed.

The Omega is the classic blue faced/bezel coaxial movement, James Bond stylee. They are quite ‘cheap’ in this company and I just fancied one. It’s alright but not really ‘special’.

I bought the Seiko Orange Monster a few weeks ago. It’s stainless, auto, very orange and a snip from Singapore at £120. Yes £120! That’s my recomendation if you can face an orange Seiko on a daily basis.

BTW, w@nker watches are just that. Almost a complete waste of money and just for show. Of course a £5 Casio will tell the time just as well but it’s not about the time is it? 🙂

Neil, you haven’t mentioned budget, or if you have, I’ve missed it…there’s a helluva range on this thread.

I’m not generally a fan of Breitling and that one you’ve linked to is gopping…such a fussy dial…it makes me feel physically sick to look at it. Orrible. Do you own a pimped-to-themax Range Rover Sport? No? Then step away from the Breitling.

The skeleton Oris is another abomination. The whole raison d’etre for a skeleton watch is to show off the movement. What you’ve linked to there is the horological equivalent of Ann Widdicombe in a basque and suspenders. Not pretty. Neither am I sold on the moon phase. It’s a complication worth showing off in a Patek Phillipe, not an Oris.

Completely ignoring your request for a steel bracelet and a watch that you can wear doing sports (buy a cheap Casio for that!), but taking on board your comments re: preferring a plain dress watch, how about the Dornbleuth 99.1

A small independent German watchmaker, so you get more love for your money. I grantee you that none of the watches mentioned above have a movement that’s finished like this…

Buy a copy of The Wristwatch Annual and take your time…weeks, months…go to the shops and fondle ’em. You want to end up with something you enjoy looking at for the sake of it, not just to tell the time.

That’s gorgeous Rusty

I’ve got a couple of breitlings, latest ones an avenger seawolf chrono…

I’d go for the omega though if your just after one watch.

Now Rusty, although I dislike the way you have expressed your views on some of the watches that have caught my eye, I do like that German thing. Slight problem wiht exhibition backs though….its the back and very rarely seen. It was the ‘I like the engineering/the instrument = seeing it would be nice but backs are rarely seen’ train of thought that lead me to the Oris. Happy to consider some other skeleton watches if you suggest some.
Budget…undecided. Although the Navitimer at about £5300 full rrp is very probably the limit…probably…hay if I fell in love with a submariner I mind find the extra grand but it isn’t likely. It isn’t about the money though, I want a quality watch that I’ll cherish if a high hundred pound Tag or Oris appeals I may go for it….if on trying it on I fall for a Navitimer….I’ll have to go without elsewhere.

Hope this isn’t a hijack, but how are Longines regarded in the watch world. My dad got one for his retirement and it is certainly a lovely

Longines legend diver is a cracking watch.

who would have thought there were so many deep sea divers, pilots and submariners on STW?

I use loads of different watches, digi types for sailing, Nixon tide watch and that big **** off thing they do until I started bing more aggressive riding downhill during which it shakes so much it came pretty close to breaking my wrist.

But the watch I spent my whole life lusting after and finally got thanks to the wife and daughters saving up on a particularly otherwise distressing ‘big’ birthday, is the Breitling Navitimer, it’s cool on so many levels, not least cos you had to be a bloody mathematician to work the slide rules for working out what fuel you might have left in your plane as you circle what you just told the babe your trying to impress is Calais, but turns out to be Dover (Another tale from another lifetime).

Any idea of a Rolex got summed up in the first few minutes of Die Hard, dicks like that do Rolex, Rolex is what you get by the grateful man after you gave your entire working life slaving your ass off. Rolex is a sad watch.

My ten cents on watches.

who would have thought there were so many deep sea divers, pilots and submariners on STW?

For the record i am a mixed gas heliox rebreather diver 😆

Hence my username depthjunkie.

cut my teeth on trimix open circuit diving in the early days of mixed gas recreational diving expeditions. and have since 2003 been a mixed gas reabreather diver. deepest dive was to 117m with a runtime of 5hrs. does that make me a deep sea diver??

Pic of me on a 98m cave dive:-


Just for proof

Some of mine:

Panerai PAM 112 by Matthewjb, on Flickr

Sea Devil by Matthewjb, on Flickr

Orient Star 300m by Matthewjb, on Flickr

Reverso by Matthewjb, on Flickr

Lol at mr smith 😀 indeed.
this is jewelry

gsp1984….that watch looks too big for me

New watch alert: Hublos. Or the big face Rollies, I got two of those.

Get a used Rolex Datejust, it’ll hold its value so you can convince yourself it’s not a horrendous spend…

Depth-junkie – Get yourself some glasses! Then you’ll be able to stop wearing alarm clocks on your wrists! 😛

😆 @ Superficial.

Why not try a TAG – good enough, stylish enough, and you’ll have some change from the prices quoted here!

does that make me a deep sea diver??

i dunno, but i guess your choice of timepiece is very important and it’s operation contributes to your safety.

MrSmith – Member
who would have thought there were so many deep sea divers, pilots and submariners on STW?

Do they do a watch for plump middle aged IT professional with mild penchant for MTB’s? (AKA ‘typical’ STW poster) 🙂

It’s not about the function silly, it’s about the form and the bling! 🙂

How dare anyone wear a watch because it gives them pleasure eh? You should all be buying sun dials and hair shirts, refrain from washing for a few months, allow your hair to matt into something like a birds nest and then take a tent down to St Pauls to join the rest of the great unwashed.

Apart from that I would say that Depth Junkie’s clearly up at half time.

Back to more serious matters:

OP have a browse through this website: Watches

They’ve been around for at least 10 years, more likely longer and are very reputable.

If you’re going to treat yourself, new has a certain appeal, but you’re paying 20% VAT and a lot of watches that come onto the above site are in pristine condition but you won’t have to pay the VAT (although some of the harder to get Rolex Sports watches have in the past sold for more here than in the shops simply because there was a waiting list back in the heady days of the last decade!)

I have an IWC Portuguese that my wife bought me as an engagement present (well she got a diamond ring plus she has a much better paid job than I do!) and it’s lovely. Classy, not too flash, just the right weight etc. The only thing I don’t like is the leather strap from a comfort perspective. In the summer it gets quite sweaty and they don’t last more than three years if worn regularly. They are also a few hundred quid to replace 😯

If you could find an IWC Doppelchronograph second hand (they don’t make it any more) then that would be a fabulous choice:

1971 Omega Speedmaster MKII racing dial

I love that. Very nice watch Sir 🙂

Out of interest is the winder included in the width/size measurement or is it just the widest part of the housing?

i dunno, but i guess your choice of timepiece is very important and it’s operation contributes to your safety.

Nah, for most divers the Rolex is still just a bit of bling. His safety is being looked after by the VR3 & Inspo Vision decompression computers (aka alarm clocks) strapped to his wrists.

(Says the ex mixed gas rebreather diver wearing a Submariner…)

another watch fan here – If you want to be a little more niche then have a look at Bremont, British designed and I think they are about the best looking watches around at the moment.
Bremont

An American designer also worth a look and great value is Jorg Grey
Jorg Gray

No offence but bremont, like bell & ross and graham, are waaaayyyyy overpriced.

No offence but bremont, like bell & ross and graham virtually every watch on this thread is waaaayyyyy overpriced.

FTFY

But, each to there own emperors clothing… 😉

just get a speedy and be done with it

Ah, another male jewellery i mean posh watch thread. 🙂

and especially for the haters, you could buy 100 or so of the terrorists favourite

Suddenly, this cheap Casio becomes way cooler than any other bit of jewelery on this thread. 😯 For perverse and twisted reasons. I want one.

No offence but bremont, like bell & ross and graham, are waaaayyyyy overpriced.

Says a man who wears a Rolex. 😆

Neil; buy the one you like the look of the most. Simples.

Personally I think you could do a hell of a lot worse than a nice Mondaine, and spend a hell of a lot more money too…

Simple. Elegant. Iconic. Well engineered. Tells the time.

And spend the rest on bikes, innit? FTW! 😀

quite like the look of some of the Bremont watches….but usual problem…they are (with one exception I found) big – 43mm

I suspect I’m going to be sort of driven to the seamaster as its one of very few, sensibly/smaller sized gents watches!

I love the idea of spending big money on a Seiko.

Whichever watch you eventually choose, make sure you negotiate on the price. I bought my husband-to-be (at the time) a Tag Heuer. I phoned all the local jewellers and asked how much they’d do me a Monaco for that afternoon. Mappin & Webb gave me over £300 off the price in their window.

I think this is very nice, might be a bit beyond your budget though

A vintage omega gets my vote. My local jeweller has a selection from around £300 – they won’t lose value and won’t go out of fashion.

Hmm…even I think I’ve just seem function over form go too far 😕

irony is that (practically) no-one wears just a watch anymore for diving, suunto are the commonest wrist mounted numbers device underwater – scuba and freediving 🙂

depth-junkie – Member

<snip> deepest dive was to 117m with a runtime of 5hrs. does that make me a deep sea diver??

Pic of me on a 98m cave dive:-

Just for proof

Nah, that’s 10m at Sharm and not a flash watch in sight 🙂

117m? Bloody norah… Depth Junkie? More like Looney Tunes 🙂

If you click through Paypal onto Goldsmiths, you can get 10% off Omega watches.

If you use Topcashback, you can also get 13% cashback too.

Just a thought.