Wrist Watches... What's nice; what's not?

[EXCellR8]

I've never been one for wearing watches, or personal accessories in general aside from hats and cheap shades, but I've been liking the idea of having a nice-ish watch for a few weeks now. I know there's a ton to choose from and I'm not about to go out spending 500 bucks on a luxury watch that I don't really need--but I would like something that at least looks like it didn't come from a flea market kiosk; something in the $150 to $200 range tops if possible.

Should also list my other preferences:

silver/black color scheme
leather strap, no links
durable but casual use
minimalist but not overly so
3 or 2 hand, mechanical
date is ok, but not needed
no smart watches

Not real picky on brands as long as it's not some clearly "made in a Chinese back-alley sweatshop for Amazon Marketplace" or something. There was a thread on here but it was pretty old so I didn't want to bump it up.

Any recommendations or suggestions? Assume I know very little, if anything.

 

[pete6032]

https://www.skagen.com/en-us/holst-multifunction-leather-watch-skw6264

https://www.amazon.com/Skagen-Connected-Titanium-Leather-Smartwatch/dp/B01KLT1AA8

 

[eng2d2]

gshock

 

[KMFJD]

https://www.apple.com/ca/watch/

 

[clamum]

Citizen makes some really decent watches at excellent prices; really good value for the money IMO. I have an Eco-Drive one, just in the field watch style (BM8180-03E I think is the model) but if you search Amazon you'll see a bunch of them. Mine's probably a little more simple (and smaller) than you'd prefer but they make a lot of others you'd probably like.

I know you said Mechanical but I would not rule out the Citizen Eco-Drive/solar watches, they're really great wear-and-forget types.

As for straps, check out the NATO straps. The nice thing is they thread through the pins so that if a pin breaks your watch will just flop around on the remaining one instead of falling off and possibly getting lost. Again Amazon has a billion of them, in all colors. I am partial to the Barton brand ones cause they're a little less hefty/thick than some others I've ordered.

 

[EXCellR8]

Alright I'll certainly check some of these out.

Thanks for the suggestions and input, appreciated!

 

[nakedfrog]

What's nice is not having something on my wrist.

 

[killster1]

What's nice is not having something on my wrist.

so silly that have thousands of $$ in watches but NEVER wear any of them. i really enjoy not knowing what time it is at all times and not having strangers ask me what time it is. i really used to like omega or a gshock since you can beat them up pretty good.

 

[GrumpyMan]

Black Friday sale coming in around that price range, I'm getting a Wiskey Barrel one..

Very Cool Watches

 

[lxskllr]

I like some of the simpler Swiss army field type watches...

https://www.amazon.com/s/?tag=duc0c-20&url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=swiss army watches

Actual mechanical will break the budget, but quartz is in range. I got one from Marlboro years ago. I liked the watch, but the battery died, and I never got another one. Got out of wearing watches years ago.

 

[brianmanahan]

this is the only kind i have ever worn, every day, since i was 8:

 

[brianmanahan]

What's nice is not having something on my wrist.

i have to have something on that wrist or i get this overwhelming feeling that i'm going to get my wrist slashed. i basically never take the thing off when i'm awake, except in the shower.

 

[Riverhound777]

Probably get a decent Seiko in that range. Something like this?

https://www.amazon.com/Seiko-Classi...words=seiko+automatic+watches+for+men+leather

And here is a really good deal on it.

https://www.jomashop.com/seiko-watch-srpa27.html

Also, maybe head over to the watch subreddit, lots of options there to look at. https://www.reddit.com/r/watches

 

[nakedfrog]

i have to have something on that wrist or i get this overwhelming feeling that i'm going to get my wrist slashed. i basically never take the thing off when i'm awake, except in the shower.

But... what about your other wrist?

 

[deadlyapp]

200 for a mechanical is going to be hard unless you don't actually mean mechanical and you mean analog.

 

[EXCellR8]

Just figured mechanical was opposed to something with a screen and LCD digits. I mean, I can tell time I'm not 5.

Probably get a decent Seiko in that range. Something like this?

https://www.amazon.com/Seiko-Classi...words=seiko+automatic+watches+for+men+leather

And here is a really good deal on it.

https://www.jomashop.com/seiko-watch-srpa27.html

I do like the simple looks of that one quite a bit. Something I'd certainly consider.

 

[brianmanahan]

But... what about your other wrist?

for some reason that wrist never bugs me

 

[Carson Dyle]

Just figured mechanical was opposed to something with a screen and LCD digits. I mean, I can tell time I'm not 5.
.

Among analog watches with hands that go 'round in circles, there are basically three types of movement (the inner guts that run the watch): manual, automatic and quartz. A manual needs to be wound periodically, tensioning a spring. An automatic is wound by the movement of your wrist as you wear the watch. A quartz watch is battery operated. Both the manual and automatic will die if you take them off and put them in a drawer for a few days, so would need to be reset. See:

https://www.grayandsons.com/blog/qu...ic-choosing-the-right-watch-movement-for-you/

For ease of use, get a quartz watch. Most lower priced watches (but also some very nice higher priced) watches are quartz. They're also more accurate.

There are a number of widely recognized families of watch styles. Maybe if you looked at a few, you could give us a better idea of what you like. I'm thinking that for every day casual wear, probably something like a field or dive style watch.

https://www.realmenrealstyle.com/watch-styles/

 

[Carson Dyle]

Here's a good thread from last year, with some photos.

https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/looking-for-a-wrist-watch.2502975/

Which reminds me... Another thing to decide on is the size of the watch, in diameter. Men's watches of 30 or 40 or more years ago weren't the gaudy fashion pieces of today, so were more practically sized, like 38 or 39mm. Today, they're often big, stupid things of 45, 50mm or more. Jewelry.

 

[Midwayman]

Yah, unless you actually care about watches a mechanical is pointless. I own several automatics and they are neat if you appreciate well made precision devices, but as timepieces they are worse than a quartz watch in every way.

That said its hard to give specifics but look at-

1. Seiko- good quality to price ratio.
2. Hamilton- Some of their quartz watch might in in your range.

Avoid

1. Invicta.
2. Anything with a inflated price tag (invicta is like this) where normal price is like 80% off msrp.
3. Fossil- I've had lot of these and the quality just is not good.

 

[EXCellR8]

All good stuff, thanks fellas.

 

[FeuerFrei]

How about buying this one? And then tell me all about it. (Haven't heard of the brand before. I'm curious.)

Roue Cal 1

Or this other model ...Roue SSD One

 

[Midwayman]

How about buying this one? And then tell me all about it. (Haven't heard of the brand before. I'm curious.)

Roue Cal 1

Looks like your typical cheaply made fashion watches. Pretty flat faces, you can see tooling marks inside where the band connects, etc. I mean they're probably fine as a watch and all, but just from the photos you can tell they aren't anything special quality wise.

 

[EXCellR8]

Looks decent... and the Seiko internals probably helps too.

$200 might be a bit of a gamble on something with so few reviews though.

 

[EXCellR8]

Couldn't remember where I saw these really classy-looking wood-grain finish watches but I found it:

Original Grain Watches

Specifically this one: Ebony Gold Minimalist

That might just be the one.