Show us your sub-high end watches

Sporky · September 2023

If we're extending a bit, I am very fond of my JDM Seiko Presage. Ice flake dial, polished titanium case and strap. A bit like a Grand Seiko junior, under £900 including importing it.

Image: http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/presage.JPG

It's a bit classy and grown-up for me though, so if I'm not out for work I more often wear my Nomos, which I put on a £3 nylon strap to make it look like a Swatch.

Neil · September 2023

CountryDave said:

The Citizen is a couple of weeks old. Mrs G got an inheritance and wanted to buy something nice.
Chose it because it looked and felt better on the wrist than the Tissot that was double the price.

The Pulsar was bought from Argos about 25 years ago. Worn every day and is pretty damn accurate.

Both automatic.

Just as an aside, the Pulsar is a kinetic which is actually a rotor driven quartz.

Dominic · September 2023

I'm very into the Technomarine watches ;they were an expensive Swiss brand but fell out of fashion 15 years ago and bought by a Chinese company .....now made in China.
Extremely stylish,good value for money (especially secondhand) .....and all reviews rate them highly even though they are Chinese made now .
I would never buy any watch new ........whether that was a Rolex,Vacheron,Breguet or a Timex ;so much better value used.

Neil · September 2023

Fishboy7 said:

Not sure if this counts as sub-'highend' but I only paid 1300 for this Bremont (without the strap)

A really great buy.

Did you get box and papers?

Neil · September 2023

Sporky said

It's a bit classy and grown-up for me though, so if I'm not out for work I more often wear my Nomos, which I put on a £3 nylon strap to make it look like a Swatch.

That Nomos is lovely.

The strap - not so much.

dano · September 2023

Neil said:

I'm not really into very cheap watches although plenty of quality vintage mechanicals can be bought at cheap prices.

I do have a few newer cheaper models that are very good though.

The ubiquitous 007.

That's the SKX009

For a watch geek you should know that

Sporky · September 2023

Neil said:

That Nomos is lovely.

The strap - not so much.

I had it on blue stingray for a while if you prefer...

Adey · September 2023

FX_Munkee said:

Adey said:

What are all the different rings of numbers around the outside used for? I can see one is mph, but how are you meant to use it?

Apparently it's a slide rule (one of the crowns rotates it) and whilst I am old enough (just) to have been taught how to use a slide rule at Engineering college, I'm buggered if I've ever tried on this watch.

I'm not convinced about the slide rule, but you never know....

Someone must know....

I see @Haych has loads of stuff round the edge of one of his, including litres and lbs fuel, so maybe for a pilot to monitor distance/range and fuel consumption perhaps?

Haych · September 2023

Adey said:

FX_Munkee said:

Adey said:

What are all the different rings of numbers around the outside used for? I can see one is mph, but how are you meant to use it?

Apparently it's a slide rule (one of the crowns rotates it) and whilst I am old enough (just) to have been taught how to use a slide rule at Engineering college, I'm buggered if I've ever tried on this watch.

I'm not convinced about the slide rule, but you never know....

Someone must know....

I see @Haych has loads of stuff round the edge of one of his, including litres and lbs fuel, so maybe for a pilot to monitor distance/range and fuel consumption perhaps?

It's a gimmick, @Adey. It's meant to be a pilot's slide rule so I assume it can convert pounds/kg fuel and maybe distance etc, but unless you have eyes like a microscope it's all a bit useless, I certainly couldn't read any of the text on that bezel and I'm sure any self respecting pilot would have a better way of making vital calculations than relying on a watch!

It's just a fancy gimmick designed to impress in the shop and sell watches.

stimpsonslostson · September 2023

CavemanGrogg said:

duotone said:

https://topreviewsbestproducts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/citizen_mens_bm8180-03e_eco-drive_analog_japanese_quartz_green_watch.jpg

That is easily one of if not my favourite Citizen watches, what put me off buying one was the colour of the strap, and that Citizen don't sell black ones to replace the green one with.

It's a great watch. I had one. Fits any standard 18mm strap. I put mine on a NATO.
I only sold it because my Ga-b2100 meant I stopped wearing it.

stimpsonslostson · September 2023

Brio said:

The most beautiful watchface in the world (IMO obvs) and it has the benefit of being vegan.

I've never worried about my watch potentially being carnivorous before. I am now.

CavemanGrogg · September 2023

stimpsonslostson said:

CavemanGrogg said:

duotone said:

https://topreviewsbestproducts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/citizen_mens_bm8180-03e_eco-drive_analog_japanese_quartz_green_watch.jpg

That is easily one of if not my favourite Citizen watches, what put me off buying one was the colour of the strap, and that Citizen don't sell black ones to replace the green one with.

It's a great watch. I had one. Fits any standard 18mm strap. I put mine on a NATO.
I only sold it because my Ga-b2100 meant I stopped wearing it.

Even on really cheap watches, if I change the strap on them, I'll always buy a replacement strap from the manufacturer of the watch I'm getting the strap for, I don't know why, I'm not really a watch person, I just can't bring myself to use third party watch straps.

I recently got offered an extremely good price on a Breitling Avenger Automatic GMT 43, and passed on it due to the colour of the strap and the difficulty in getting a proper Breitling strap to replace the strap it comes with - quite a bit under £1k boxed with full documentation obviously second hand though it looked brand new and as if it had never been taken out of the box.

Kittyfrisk · September 2023

Quite a bargain for cheapie minimalists

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/276037107347

Fishboy7 · September 2023

Neil said:

Fishboy7 said:

Not sure if this counts as sub-'highend' but I only paid 1300 for this Bremont (without the strap)

A really great buy.

Did you get box and papers?

Yeah. Actually it was £1500 not £1300 but still a bargain. It was all complete but strap was very tatty. I bought the blue Bremont strap for about £60 and sold the watch a few months later for £2300. Wish I could master the same trick on guitars

SpoonMan · September 2023

I'm not really into "normal" watches but I think there are some really cool vintage digital things.

These are cool.

https://images.app.goo.gl/x9sXpJAQJrcgCpN7A

https://images.app.goo.gl/c8UixSPstDxp8AgD7

That's quite plain, there are some really "futuristic" type things.

My dad had a really cool one with a dark red blank face you had to press a button to show the time. Don't know why that was useful but it looked great. Think I lost or broke it when I was a kid

Neil · September 2023

dano said:

Neil said:

I'm not really into very cheap watches although plenty of quality vintage mechanicals can be bought at cheap prices.

I do have a few newer cheaper models that are very good though.

The ubiquitous 007.

That's the SKX009

For a watch geek you should know that

Mea culpa.

In my defence I do have a couple of the 007's too, a K and a J.

TBH I find the Seiko nomenclature awful and very confusing.

What is it with Japanese goods that they have to have strings of numbers? (See Ibanez also)

Kittyfrisk · September 2023

Some more Seiko's. A couple of Monsters & an old SQ.

Image: https://i.imgur.com/7fQKoVk.jpg?1

Neil · September 2023

Kittyfrisk said:

Some more Seiko's. A couple of Monsters & an old SQ.

Those Monsters are nice.

Regarding the SQ at the bottom, it was the first watch I bought new, around £30 IIRC which was quite a bit then.

My late Dad and I bought one each on the same day.

His blue one now belongs to me.

Here they are...

Image: https://i.ibb.co/cvRfNCP/DSCN3271.jpg

SpoonMan · September 2023

CountryDave said:

The Citizen is a couple of weeks old. Mrs G got an inheritance and wanted to buy something nice.
Chose it because it looked and felt better on the wrist than the Tissot that was double the price.

The Pulsar was bought from Argos about 25 years ago. Worn every day and is pretty damn accurate.

Both automatic.

I have one very similar to your pulsar.
Similar amount of wear too. Got it for my 18th.

Neil · September 2023

Here's another inexpensive (but good) watch I forgot about, a Zeno Explorer.

Even has the milled back like Rolex.

Image: https://i.ibb.co/B6pgfvc/DSCN3235.jpg

Image: https://i.ibb.co/drf1bmb/DSCN3236.jpg

Kittyfrisk · September 2023

My SQ was my Dad's too, but he's still with us

They are simple elegant watches & don't seem to date to a particular era. I also have his one manual wind Seiko Skyline .

The Monsters are just tool watches & I love the clunkiness of them. The steel bracelet is the best constructed I have seen on any diver's watch, Rolex etc. included.

Kittyfrisk · September 2023

Ollech & Wajs anyone?
Valjoux 7765 manual wind chronometer & Selectron, plus my daily wear M-65 automatic.

Image: https://i.imgur.com/PjF23Jt.jpg?1

Neil · September 2023

@Kittyfrisk, that Skyline is lovely. I really like the old script dial Seikos. I've got a Skyliner here.

O&W are always great VFM.

Image: https://i.ibb.co/DLz9Jk0/5717902023c0637afadf55fcdc5c58eb8a2496614b714c5d86dc260b.jpg

Kittyfrisk · September 2023

Don't want to monopolise the thread, but Oris are nice too

Two manual winds that were £20 each from a catalogue clearance store in the early 1990's, from when Next stopped stocking them & an unusual red face automatic diver. All 'small' at around 34-36mm, before 42mm+ became the norm for men's watches.

BluesLover · September 2023

Twenty quid for an Oris calendar pointer?
I'm jealous... they'd cost you £1,500 to buy now.
Lovely watches. What a brilliant buy.

beed84 · September 2023

Kittyfrisk said:

Don't want to monopolise the thread, but Oris are nice too
Two manual winds that were £20 each from a catalogue clearance store in the early 1990's, from when Next stopped stocking them & an unusual red face automatic diver. All 'small' at around 34-36mm, before 42mm+ became the norm for men's watches.

Monopolise away, I'm loving this. Those calendar pointers are lovely!

Kittyfrisk · September 2023

^ Yes, I bought some for friends too as I couldn't believe how unbelievably cheap they were.
They weren't that impressed as they weren't into Oris & definitely not manual winders. People eh :-D

Kittyfrisk · September 2023

OK

My grandad's 1950's Timex.
I loved this when I was a kid & still do, but when I eventually inherited it, it was long dead. Being a cheap watch, they are far harder to get parts for to repair than more expensive watches.

So when he died, I bought another watch to remember him by

Neil · September 2023

Kittyfrisk said:

OK
My grandad's 1950's Timex.
I loved this when I was a kid & still do, but when I eventually inherited it, it was long dead. Being a cheap watch, they are far harder to get parts for to repair than more expensive watches.

So when he died, I bought another watch to remember him by

That's the trouble with Timex. Bent metal movements that weren't built to be repairable.

Nice Geneve BTW.

Time was when you could buy them for £50/60 each which was pretty much when I got all mine. Silly money now.

I have a few.

Image: https://i.ibb.co/DDj45dw/2788577376b8c44ade224f2c6d8a4fb19ad8278661e4ac27f61750a3.jpg

viz · September 2023

^ wow.

Plus it really shows how a strap can enhance the personality of a watch. Great collection.

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

In this Discussion

Become a Subscriber!

Show us your sub-high end watches

Comments