Need to buy a thank you gift to a good friend, looking to spend around $3k on a watch.
He is a 40 yo professional who runs his own business. He is the kind of guy who does appreciate 'brand' names.
Online retailer with a exchange policy would be preferred as i live in a regional area and i do understand that some people may be picky when it comes to design of the watch
Thanks
Don’t understand the negs - OP has mentioned an appreciation of brand names, and brand wank in the watches space comes steep. They’re obscenely overpriced status symbols.
$1-$3k is kind of a pointless price range to be shopping for ‘brand appreciation.’ Definitely not to say good watches can’t be had, but you have to be careful you’re not paying for the big box and glossy brochure of a second tier brand with a cheap movement found in <$300 watches.
FWIW if I was spending $3k I’d be getting a Grand Seiko with 9F movement like poster unknown
user74 below has suggested.
Starbuy is my go-to online watch retailer when I want Australian stock and quick delivery, and I don't mind paying a little more than the cheapest price online for the peace of mind of an extremely reputable seller with excellent after-sales support.
TicTacArea I use to get those harder-to-find models, as their range is second only to eBay, and when they're heavily discounting stock their prices can be cheapest anywhere. Delivery is a bit slower as most of their stock will be coming from Spain, where they're based. I've never had to return anything through them, but most reviews on TrustPilot and other review sites are overwhelmingly positive.
Other than that, there are a handful of eBay sellers I've used regularly for watch purchases but it's going to depend all on which brands you're buying. There's nothing wrong with buying watches from eBay as long as you're not falling for any too-good-to-be-true deals that are much cheaper than anyone else from sellers in China/Hong Kong where a lot of scammers and disreputable sellers are based.
As for what you should buy; you have to be more specific than a budget. That's nothing to go on.
What does this friend like to wear?
Asking which watch to buy for $3k is akin to asking, "Buy me any car for less than $100,000". The choices are endless.
I think the OP has to define what "Good" watches mean as my interpretation starts from $5K
The OP will only get a selected few of the swiss watches as per your comment.
$3K will only limit watches with Prouds, Brevilles Jewellers and the like.
I am replying to your comment, not only because I appreciate it. But, I can come back to it when I have the same question.
If you message PJC, WatchNerd or MathNerd and ask…. oh, hold on, scrub that…
+1
Whatever happened to those guys?
Banned/Penalty Box
Any idea what for?
Just like like a car when the watch leave the retailer it drops in value dramatically .
I would shop at reputable auctions and obtain a decent watch at huge discounts from RRP .
Many people with dough change watches every season so many recent great brand watches can be found .
Rolex stainless steel models said hi.
Tag Heuer? Longines? If it has to be new, it's more than likely it will just be an overpriced quartz watch at this price point.
.. or an entry level Automatic.
You should try posting to r/watches to get better recommendations than here.
If he is a big iphone user, it mightn't be bad to get him an apple watch.
3K will get you a lovely Oris or Longines automatic, two very respectable brands with some great pieces
Christopher Ward imo. They make some pretty nice watches and aim for that price range. They don't have the same heritage as other established brands but still make some very good pieces.
Ultimately though, this boils down to what your friend wants in a watch.
Grand Seiko Automatic , perhaps you can find one second hand. It has a wonderful In-House movement Seiko Caliber 9s65. But as crazy as it sound $3,400 does get you a Brand New Grand Seiko 9F Quartz Movement accurate to +/- 10 seconds per year.
Can't seem to find anything at $3k, more like doubling that:
https://www.grand-seiko.com/au-en/collections/elegance?price…
A Grand Seiko is a true enthusiasts watch.
For the vast majority of people a Seiko is a sub $500 piece so buying these for non enthusiasts is a waste of money.
If you absolutely had to buy what looks like a prestige watch then I reckon any kind of metal bracelet dress watch that is Swiss made would impress many people.
Maybe a Tissot?
iF they buy new remeber at the very least 25% off the RRP
I;ve gotten 30% off omega and 37.5% off bretling
too hard to buy a watch for someone, maybe buy him a switch instead
You spelt swatch wrong…
I’ll show myself out.
Have a look on the Longines website, plenty of good quality Swiss movement watches in your price range.
I'm always against buying watches for other people because each person has their own aesthetics.
I'm a watch addict. I have a moderate collection with a couple of, to me what are expensive watches (TAG, Omega etc). If status is important then Swiss Automatic is probably your sweet spot. There is an ongoing argument among watch afficionados that Japanese watches, particularly their more premium models represent much better value and they probably do but very few people, even among watch enthusiasts would be able to recognise a Grand Seiko. If status is important, being recognised is part of the charm.
I often look at www.drop.com and I've bought a couple of Glycine swiss automatics from therm as well as a couple of exotic italian watches as well. Drop.com is a reputable website that has been around for years, they run a group buying scheme, others might know how it works bettert han me but they have always been reliable when I've bought, their delivery can take a while but they normally put an estimated delivery on the advert.
At the moment they have a good, conservative looking Muhle Glasshutte watch up on their sales, looks like a nice discount. This is a swiss watch with a swiss auto movement. Muhle are a reputable swiss brand, glasshutte is the name of the town where their HQ is, there are several watchmaking firms located there. Heres the link https://drop.com/buy/muhle-glashutte-terrasport-1-beobachter…. Another idea, my first auto was a Christopher Ward, they are a UK owned online swiss watch company. I should have kept my C60 trident with an ETA movement but I sold it years ago to raise money for my omega. For the diehard watch flippers and traders the best deals are via the international watch traders forums. There is a good search tool called watchrecon that you can use to find the watch you are after but unless you know exactly what you are after and what you want to pay and you know how to spot a scammer a mile off I would avoid.
I often watch Drop for watches.
And this is where individual tastes comes in.
I dont mind German watches like Sinn, Glashutte original etc. however to me $875 us is a lot of money to pay for a 44mm field/pilots watch that effectively runs a Selitta SW200 no date with a leather strap.
There's just a not a lot of 'meat' for that kind of money.
Don't "good" watches start from about $10k?