Buying a watch - Roughly $100 budget

hixx101 on 27/10/2013 - 19:21

Hello,

I have never really owned a quality watch and have always wanted to try wearing one.

I'm wondering where the best place would be to start looking? I've been told to avoid Australian sellers and look overseas - Any advice is greatly appreciated, Mostly prefer black colour face/band but open to anything that looks good.

Thanks

General Discussion

Comments

  • mskeggs on 27/10/2013 - 19:56

    I recommend the Seiko 5 series of mechanical watches in this price range.
    All the top shelf swiss watches are mechanical, so you will get an idea if a mechanical watch would work for you, in terms of accuracy and features.
    I personally like the military style like the SNK807, but there are many options.
    Skywatches that watty linked to is a good site. Here is their range of Seiko mechanical watches:
    http://www.skywatches.com.sg/reviews/seiko-watches/seiko-aut…

  • jzx100 on 27/10/2013 - 22:13
    +5

    Get this if you want to impress the ladies:

    http://www.brandsonsale.com/ca-010553.html

    • 2ndeffort on 29/10/2013 - 10:16

      LOL goes great with the Viking helmet!!

  • jellymelly on 27/10/2013 - 22:22

    I recommend Amazon and choose the ones with "Global shipping" sold direct by Amazon. Got this under $100 and I still love it. Shipping wasn't too bad too.
    http://www.amazon.com/Skagen-Mens-233XLTTM-Titanium-Watch/dp…

  • msmhw on 28/10/2013 - 03:14

    i recommend to have a look at fossil, they have good watches and look really nice. if there is any fossil outlet near you perfect you will get them much cheaper

  • CMichael on 28/10/2013 - 15:26

    I was in the same position as you, and ended up spending a little bit more just to have a style and quality i was happy with.

    Its a little more than $100, but i've been really happy with it!

    http://www.starjewels.com.au/chronograph-an3370-57e.html

    Otherwise, if you want to stay around the $100, a simple Fossil watch looks great and has a pretty good build quality!

  • ryanranran on 29/10/2013 - 00:47

    We don't know how old you are but I dig this one stylewise. No clue about quality (I don't own one)

    http://www.amazon.com/Skagen-858XLSLC-Denmark-Super-Chrome/d…

    • CMichael on 29/10/2013 - 00:52

      That is actually a nice looking watch!

  • 2ndeffort on 29/10/2013 - 02:03
    +1

    You mentioned in your post 'Quality'. As Mskeggs mentioned, generally the higher end watches use mechanical movements, mostly automatic movements to power them. This means that inside they have a small machine cranking away keeping time. These are not as accurate as 'Quartz' watches but because they need tiny gears and levers assembled etc instead of a circuit board off a factory floor, they are inherently more expensive. They dont need battery changes as a result because they are powered by the movement of your arm and will keep going for years.

    Mechanical watches come from a variety of places and the ones that seem to get the best recommendations for reliability are the Swiss automatic movements, notably they are the most expensive. You can also get Russian, german, chinese and Japanese movements. There are others but these are the mainstream ones.

    I am mentioning all of this because, unless you are buying a worn out vintage watch you wont be getting a swiss movement for $100. There will probably be loads of faux swiss brands like Akribos, Stuhrling, Croton, Invicta etc that will pass themselves off as Swiss but really are Chinese and often of questionable quality. Avoid these!

    If I was you with that budget I would look at either Japanese (Seiko or Orient) or from left field, if you want something unique that that few others will have, maybe a Russian watch.

    The recommendations above for Seiko are good, don't be put off by Orient, they have a great reputation for quality. Google Russian Watches and you will see there are some cool unique russian auto watches for very cheap.

    Cant comment on Quartz watches because I have no interest in them, nor do I own any (other than a GPS watch that I use to run with)

    • arislan on 29/10/2013 - 09:26
      +1

      Orient watches are awesome, have a few. Personally I think they are the best value for money.

    • [Deactivated] on 30/10/2013 - 01:38
      +2

      Cant comment on Quartz watches…

      Don't you get sick of fiddling with the date/day thingy wangy?
      Only reason i go for quartz digital watches…

      • arislan on 30/10/2013 - 10:03

        Not if you wear it regularly… besides its a ritualistic thing.. in theory we shouldn't even need watches anymore, there's one on your smartphone.

        I do wear quartz watches as well, but those I reserve for when I'm active (i.e. hiking, sports, etc). That's where g-shocks come in :)

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