Help Me Pick Out a <6k Dress Watch

[Fantom555]

IWC is nice too

 

[Ich_Dien]

JLC Ultra thin?

 

[Karl_in_Chicago]



You can buy a croc strap anywhere, for any watch. I wouldn't factor that in to a search. I also think you are looking for Rose Gold. May have better luck looking for that search term. Keep in mind those are almost always plated and will damage over time. I suggest either a solid SS, or a very strong plating that will last.
Check out a watch forum (watchuseek). Will give you a lot more suggestions and it will be from "watch people". They work great with a search like you are doing by listing the features you want or don't want.

This is great advice. Watchuseek is full of watch geeks that can give you informed feedback and if one of your considerations is the strap then, as Style Noob notes, that is very easy to swap onto the watch - it shouldn't be the driving choice as to which watch. Also - strongly consider buying used. Lots of watch geeks (I say that with no prejudice as I am one myself) buy and sell watches yet put little to no wear on them and take very good care of them while they own them. Let someone else take the depreciation hit that comes with buying a new watch and pick up an excellent value for yourself. You also don't mention if you require an Automatic - opting for a non-Auto will greatly trim the price as well (and only another watch geek will ever know). The Prestige models of Omega's DeVille line have Roman Numerals and might serve as a good starting point in evaluating look & tech against other competing brands/models.

 

[J. Cogburn]



You can buy a croc strap anywhere, for any watch. I wouldn't factor that in to a search. I also think you are looking for Rose Gold. May have better luck looking for that search term. Keep in mind those are almost always plated and will damage over time. I suggest either a solid SS, or a very strong plating that will last.
Check out a watch forum (watchuseek). Will give you a lot more suggestions and it will be from "watch people". They work great with a search like you are doing by listing the features you want or don't want.

True enough.regarding the band. And I'm having second thoughts about the gold. I like silver or SS better (I've got salt & pepper hair and have always gravitated to silver rather than gold because I think it looks better on me), but had the impression that gold was dressier on a watch. Upon reflection, I'm not sure that's true. Is it?

 

[ethanm]

If you're not averse to vintage I would look into a vintage VC like this

Gold is not necessarily more dressy than silver/platinum/wg. A classic dress watch has no numbers, no seconds, very minimal writing on the dial, no lume, and a leather band.

 

[J. Cogburn]

Thanks for the guidelines.

VIntage would be great. Buy at a discount, get patina - what's not to like?

 

[ethanm]

Thanks for the guidelines.
VIntage would be great. Buy at a discount, get patina - what's not to like?

Agreed. I love my '52 Seamaster, which was only $450 and has way more class than most modern watches that are 20x that price.

 

[Sonny58]

If you are willing to consider stainless you might look at the the new Seamaster 'Aqua Terra'. The 8500 movement is really sweet and it comes in two sizes (38 mm and 41.5 mm). No roman numerals but I really like the classic vintage look of the watch. At least it isn't overly stylized like many new watches today.

 

[johnnyletrois]



If you are willing to consider stainless you might look at the the new Seamaster 'Aqua Terra'. The 8500 movement is really sweet and it comes in two sizes (38 mm and 41.5 mm). No roman numerals but I really like the classic vintage look of the watch. At least it isn't overly stylized like many new watches today.

+1 on the Aqua Terra

I prefer older Aqua Terra with the 2500 movement for the looks. Of course, I'm biased since that's the one I have.

 

[Pennypacker]

What about an Oris Big Crown Pointer Date?

Rose gold, crocodile, dressy, classic. At a fraction of the cost of an Omega.

Edit: it's crocodile grain. but with the money you save you can get a premium strap from dimodell or hirsch.

 

[J. Cogburn]

Thanks to this thread (and your help in knocking some sense into me), I'm down to three choices:

• A 1963 Omega Seamaster deville
• A Georg Jensen (model 318)
• The aforementioned Ole Mathiesen

Leaning toward the Omega. Thoughts?

 

[Matto ELITE]

That watch is hideous. Comparing to Omega is offensive. I would rather check the time on my phone than wear a watch that came out of a jewelry case at Target.

What about an Oris Big Crown Pointer Date?

Rose gold, crocodile, dressy, classic. At a fraction of the cost of an Omega.

Edit: it's crocodile grain. but with the money you save you can get a premium strap from dimodell or hirsch.

 

[msart84]

I think in your price range, IWC would be a homerun. Classic look, great name, perfect watch. http://www.iwc.com/en-us/collection/portuguese/

 

[ALP1530]

Zenith is a very old, well-regarded Swiss brand. I have a rose-gold power reserve that is vey elegant. It's @ $10k but with discounts available at some authorized dealers, you can come close to your budget. Look on Zenith website.

 

[handsolo]

I'll assume you are looking for a piece with some intrinsic value and some name recognition too.

"Now, God-help-me for offering this thought given how I gather Baume & Mercier are felt about around here, but I quite like this watch from an aesthetic point of view" --the watch in your link looks OK but it scores very low marks for intrinsic value. It's a fashion piece, not really a specimen of high quality horology. Granted it does look nice. I like the design. But it gets zero love from the WIS crowd and has minimal name recognition with virtually everyone else. If you decide that you are tired of it after a year or two then you could likely sell it for about one eighth its retail asking price. Not so with a Rolex, and many of the watches by AP, IWC, JLC, etc. Those watches hold their valuations. Even if you aren't likely to resell, I think that the resall market is a good indicator of inherent quality or lack thereof in a piece.

A word of caution on vintage: in general vintage watches are fiddly, delicate, unpredictable, difficult to service, and often expensive for what you get. Consider too that vintage watch market is brimming with counterfeits, genuine watches restored with bogus parts, and hacked together old pieces that aren't worth half of what people get for them. (Ever heard of a Seamaster 300? It's an excellent example of what can go wrong buying vintage when you aren't an expert.) Beware, beware, beware. If you don't open watches yourself, or if you don't have a super-trusted watch guy, then you should probably stay out of the high end vintage market. In the past ten years the state of the art in watchmaking has reached a really high level of quality and seems to be getting better still. These days the fit and finish on a $500 watch can totally blow away a $5000 watch from just a decade ago. Machining techniques have improved. Cases are made from better metals. Movements, cases, and bracelets have benefited greatly from computer aided design and new materials. Case in point: I have a 1980s Rolex Datejust that looks like cavemen made it when I compare it to a $65 Seiko 5 from last year. If you absolutely must go vintage then I wouldn't go any further than an old Elgin or a Curvex or something. Stay under $500 or so and then you won't have to kick yourself later when you find out what you've really got, what's wrong with it, or what it really should sell for.

You'll probably never own a watch finer than a Grand Seiko. The level of workmanship on a GS is simply astounding. You could always get your money back out of it if you wanted to. would it bother you that most people wouldn't know it was a luxury watch? I turned over a Marine Master a few years ago probably at least in part due to that very reason.