I just got one of these for work – smart enough to wear with a suit, cheap enough that it won’t be the end of the world if it gets wrecked. Apparently Pulsar is a sub brand of Seiko.
+1 Mondaine, but not sure you can get one for a ton….
I have got 3 watches currently, 2 of them fairly cheap but decent everyday watches and a more expensive (but still pretty reasonable in the scheme of things) Rotary that my OH got me as a wedding present.
But, I still want to get a Skagen and a Mondaine watch. Oh, and I need a new digital watch! Hmmm.
I bought this one from harold/yobokies, slightly more than your £100 budget at $315/£195 but have a look around his site and i’m sure you can find something that little bit different for your budget.
For what’s it worth (very little in the real world) i’ve had numerous comments regarding the watch and i’ve always been of a mindset that i don’t need a watch as i’ve got the time on my phone but since buying it in march this year now i feel kinda lost without it if i don’t wear it, and being mechanical it self winds so i do nothing to it apart from perhaps manually change the date if the months have 30 days and i occasionally knock it back a minute or two every month as it runs slightly fast.
I’m sure a £10 casio digital would tell the time more precisely but coming from a “i like nice things” perspective this wins hands down, no pun intended 😉
Orient Bambino or Symphony. I’ve got a Bambino and it’s a great watch for the price and fairly distinctive looking – like a classic Omega but with a domed crystal.
Happy Skagen owner here too, not a watch wearer but was given it as a gift and it suits me fine, super slim and unobtrusive. Has drawn a surprising number of compliments too, but maybe that’s just Vancouver folks.
Another Yokobies customer here. The Seiko 5 Military with a Yokobies face and hands mod is a lovely subtle watch, especially if you have the case polished.
This is what mine looks like, only it now has a stainless mesh bracelet; I need to take a photo of it as it now appears, along with my Seiko SPORK, which has a Stainless ‘shark-skin’ mesh bracelet now as well.
Another Yokobies customer here. The Seiko 5 Military with a Yokobies face and hands mod is a lovely subtle watch, especially if you have the case polished.
This is what mine looks like, only it now has a stainless mesh bracelet; I need to take a photo of it as it now appears, along with my Seiko SPORK, which has a Stainless ‘shark-skin’ mesh bracelet now as well.
Go for something fairly plain – a lot of the more ornate cheap watches are heavily “inspired” by stuff in the ££££ bracket…
Seiko and Orient make the best cheap mechanicals watches. They also make the entire watch, which pretty unusual – most Swiss makers will buy in the mechanical movement. I can vouch that the movement used in Seiko 5 is incredibly reliable and is capable of being very accurate – I think I’ve had my 5 for at least 5 years, worn it whilst working on cars, dropped it etc. and it’s still ticking along nicely. That said, out of the box, there aren’t many Seiko 5s which are knock out good looking.
The nicest looking cheap watches I’ve seen in a while are the Accurist vintage range and the Daniel Wellington range:
I have to say that the DW range looks great, with very thin cases akin to a vintage dress watch, but they have zero water resistance, so they’ll need treating like a vintage dress watch…
If you fancy a vintage dress watch, the Poljot / Sekonda De Luxe is nice and can be picked up for under £100 on ebay. Lots of these were sold in the UK as Sekondas, so repairs etc. shouldn’t be a major issue.
That said, I own several nice mechanical watches, including a Poljot like the above, but the watch I most regularly wear is one of these:
I love the juxtaposition of a bog basic Casio with a gold tone finish… It’s a kosher Casio (people do make fakes!), and was £16 from Singapore via Ebay. The time keeping is stupidly good, and the day and date is always right, which is ultimately the reason it gets a lot of wear.
+1 on Skagen. I got this one for £100ish and it looks good against much more expensive watches. It’s lasted a year so far which doesn’t sound much but most watches I have owned before die much faster than that…
…If you shop around, you can get it within budget 🙂
Was about to buy one myself when the battery recently went in my Mondaine – decided to just have a new battery fitted – it was actually a close call despite the price difference between a battery and a new watch.
Some nice good value watches listed. If it were me I’d go for either a Seiko automatic or a Citizen Ecodrive. The last thing I need is another watch, kind of wish I hadn’t bothered looking at this thread…