Help! Need advice on a luxury men's watch!

Manona

Its my other half's 30th bday soon & I want to get him a nice watch. My max budget is €500...any advice?! It's a metal sport type watch with a chronograph that in looking for

bren2002

Manona wrote: »

Its my other half's 30th bday soon & I want to get him a nice watch. My max budget is €500...any advice?! It's a metal sport type watch with a chronograph that in looking for

Seiko's the best you'll find for that budget.

Bullseye1

Here is amazon's selection.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search/ref=sr_nr_p_n_feature_seven_br_mrr_3?rh=n%3A328228011%2Cn%3A%21328229011%2Cn%3A199482031%2Cp_76%3A184176031%2Cp_n_target_audience_browse-bin%3A199495031%2Cp_n_feature_seven_browse-bin%3A212534031&bbn=199482031&ie=UTF8&qid=1317934698&rnid=199497031#/ref=sr_nr_p_36_4?rh=n%3A328228011%2Cn%3A%21328229011%2Cn%3A199482031%2Cp_76%3A184176031%2Cp_n_target_audience_browse-bin%3A199495031%2Cp_n_feature_seven_browse-bin%3A212534031%2Cp_36%3A389074011&bbn=199482031&ie=UTF8&qid=1317934707&rnid=389061011

Eoin

How about a tissot prc200? Comes in well under budget. I have one and love it. As nice as watches several times the price in my opinion.

Available with a black, blue or white face
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tissot-PRC200-Chronograph-Quartz-T17158652/dp/B000L3CHC0/ref=pd_cp_watches_1

Anjobe

Or for something a bit more dramatic how about a Deep Blue Juggernaut 1000m, there's a couple of these available on Ebay at the moment.

Does it have to be metal? I rather like these Swatch auto chronos (from Amazon)

Monty Burnz

Manona wrote: »

Its my other half's 30th bday soon & I want to get him a nice watch. My max budget is €500...any advice?! It's a metal sport type watch with a chronograph that in looking for

Do you care whether it's mechanical or quartz? Why do you want the chronograph?

I ask because you're a long way away from a luxury chrono at €500, but you can get a pretty nice non-chrono watch for that sort of money.

Eoin

Well, depends what you call luxury. Certainly 500 is a long way from Omega, not going to get you a Tag (though the low end ones don't do much for me). You'll probably get a nice Swiss made one like the Tissot though, which, in my very biased opinion looks and feels quite classy.

Monty Burnz

Eoin wrote: »

Well, depends what you call luxury. Certainly 500 is a long way from Omega, not going to get you a Tag (though the low end ones don't do much for me). You'll probably get a nice Swiss made one like the Tissot though, which, in my very biased opinion looks and feels quite classy.

Yeah, you're in Tissot/Hamilton/maybe entering Longines territory.

Bullseye1

If you fancy something more unique how about one of these beauties. Thinking of picking one of these up myself.


More details here:
http://www.poljot24.de/en/pd1091818803.htm?categoryId=1


More Russian Chrono's:
http://www.tz-uk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=191785&start=15

Manona

Eoin wrote: »

Well, depends what you call luxury. Certainly 500 is a long way from Omega, not going to get you a Tag (though the low end ones don't do much for me). You'll probably get a nice Swiss made one like the Tissot though, which, in my very biased opinion looks and feels quite classy.

Thanks, I had actually been looking at a few tissot ones as I liked the look of them but wasn't sure of the actual quality as I dont want to be just paying for a name.

Manona

bren2002 wrote: »

Manona wrote: »

Its my other half's 30th bday soon & I want to get him a nice watch. My max budget is €500...any advice?! It's a metal sport type watch with a chronograph that in looking for

Seiko's the best you'll find for that budget.

Are seiko better than tissot?

Manona

Bullseye1 wrote: »

If you fancy something more unique how about one of these beauties. Thinking of picking one of these up myself.



More details here:
http://www.poljot24.de/en/pd1091818803.htm?categoryId=1


More Russian Chrono's:
http://www.tz-uk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=191785&start=15

Thanks for that, it is quite nice but I know he would prefer a metal strap as he already has on with a leather strap that his mother gave him.

Manona

Is quartz or automatic better?

Eoin

Manona wrote: »

Thanks, I had actually been looking at a few tissot ones as I liked the look of them but wasn't sure of the actual quality as I dont want to be just paying for a name.

Good quality. I also have a seiko chrono which has never let me down. But the prc200 just looks and feels that little bit more premium.

peasant

Manona wrote: »

Is quartz or automatic better?

As an instrument of measuring and keeping time, quartz is clearly superior. A cheap quartz movement is out a few seconds a month, a good one only a few seconds a year. Insert battery, set time, forget about it.

A mechanical watch on the other hand is more interesting. You can listen to it ticking, you may be able to see the movement throught the back, you can obsess about its accuracy in different positions and so on.

At the end of the day, it's down to personal choice and preference.

Monty Burnz

Manona wrote: »

Are seiko better than tissot?

Tissot are good quality watches. Seiko make watches in a range of qualities so they go from cheaper than Tissot right up to watches costing over 20 grand.

Re. quartz and automatic - some people who like gadgets and machines prefer automatic because there's a little clockwork engine working away inside. Others don't care about that stuff and only care about whether the thing works. I've a friend who bought an automatic watch that goes 'wrong' by a minute a week or so (which is actually ok for an automatic) but he was very disappointed that his 'expensive' watch didn't keep time exactly right. He should have got a quartz watch (which are usually cheaper too).

I prefer automatic because I like the little machines, and it doesn't take much to make sure every now and again that your watch is within a minute of accurate.

Reloc8

For a sporty watch on a metal bracelet with a budget of €500 I would buy this excellent, excellent watch, job done. You can get it with a black dial (same site) or orange. That navy blue one is the pick of the litter though. It changes hue in the light.

http://www.seiyajapan.com/product/S-SBDC003/SEIKO-Prospex-200M-Diver-6R15-Automatic-SBDC003.html

The seller is utterly reliable from personal and reported experience, and a pleasure to deal with.

Deep Thought

If you are going down the Russian route

how about this one.





http://www.m-watches.com/catalog/vodolaz-moscow-classic-automatik-241604311019-p-247.html

Or even a Steinhart

Manona

Eoin wrote: »

Manona wrote: »

Thanks, I had actually been looking at a few tissot ones as I liked the look of them but wasn't sure of the actual quality as I dont want to be just paying for a name.

Good quality. I also have a seiko chrono which has never let me down. But the prc200 just looks and feels that little bit more premium.

I've been online looking at them today & I love the prc200! I really like the navy face but the black is nice too...thanks for ur help as that one is now one of the choices!

Manona

Monty Burnz wrote: »

Manona wrote: »

Are seiko better than tissot?

Tissot are good quality watches. Seiko make watches in a range of qualities so they go from cheaper than Tissot right up to watches costing over 20 grand.

Re. quartz and automatic - some people who like gadgets and machines prefer automatic because there's a little clockwork engine working away inside. Others don't care about that stuff and only care about whether the thing works. I've a friend who bought an automatic watch that goes 'wrong' by a minute a week or so (which is actually ok for an automatic) but he was very disappointed that his 'expensive' watch didn't keep time exactly right. He should have got a quartz watch (which are usually cheaper too).

I prefer automatic because I like the little machines, and it doesn't take much to make sure every now and again that your watch is within a minute of accurate.

Thanks so much for that. I'm not really sure which he would prefer. I was looking at the tissot prc200 as it has the look I know he would love & has also gotten a lot of good reviews from diff websites I have been on. I know one of the options for it is quartz chronograph. Jeez I never thought buying a watch would be so complex! Ha

Eoin

Manona wrote: »

I've been online looking at them today & I love the prc200! I really like the navy face but the black is nice too...thanks for ur help as that one is now one of the choices!

I got the blue face because I have already have a black face Chrono. Otherwise I'd have definitely gone for the black one.

Zagato

Important to think about the size of the watch too, that Seiko is 44mm, does your boyfriend have skinny wrists? If he does then this might look quite big, just think it's worth thinking about

Eoin

It's 40mm - doesn't wear that big as the edge is very thin on it. It does seem to sit quite high though.

Reloc8

The Seiko Sumo I linked to ?

I think its 44mm without the crown.

Zagato

Reloc8 wrote: »

The Seiko Sumo I linked to ?

I think its 44mm without the crown.

Sorry, was posting from phone, yep, was referring to the one you linked to. It's just I have relatively scrawny wrists and wouldn't get deasy with it

Eoin

Reloc8 wrote: »

The Seiko Sumo I linked to ?

I think its 44mm without the crown.

Sorry, was on mobile earlier and didn't read your post properly.

Reloc8

No worries - you and zagato are right in any event, its chunky and you'd want to like big watches, or have big wrists.

Manona

Zagato wrote: »

Reloc8 wrote: »

The Seiko Sumo I linked to ?

I think its 44mm without the crown.

Sorry, was posting from phone, yep, was referring to the one you linked to. It's just I have relatively scrawny wrists and wouldn't get deasy with it

Thanks for that...I'm prObably leaning towards a tissot now but I'm gonna buy in a store so that I can see the size of the watch face etc. He would have skinny wrists, i would say they are pretty middle if the road cos they ain't massive either! Haha

Manona

Hi!
Put the deposit down on the Tissot PRC 200 with a blue face but am now wondering is the v8 better? any opinions?!

Anjobe

Manona wrote: »

Hi!
Put the deposit down on the Tissot PRC 200 with a blue face but am now wondering is the v8 better? any opinions?!

I think it depends on whether he likes a more classical or more sporty look. I would go for sporty and hence prefer the V8, although the Tissot quartz chrono I like the best is the PRS516.

If you could push the boat out a bit further there is also the Veloci-T which really is very nice and excellent value (£595) for a Swiss auto chrono.