What's a watch you wanted until you saw it in-person?

Every Seiko I have ever seen... More precisely, the "cocktail time". When I saw one in person I hated it, and concequently distrust everything the internet says about how "awesome" Seiko is. 

I drooled over pics and video of the Rolex Hulk...till I saw it in person and put it on. Lost interest instantly.

The opposite situation happened with the Batman and Pepsi (both on jubilee). Thought they looked ok but didn't get the hype...until I saw them in person and put them on.

IWC Pilot’s Watch Top Gun - I liked it for the ceramic case and Flieger design but it looked like a cheap plastic toy in person.

Same with Frederique Constant Classic Worldtimer. The technology is impressive and the photos look great, but the build quality isn’t there in person.

Grand Seiko SGBA 415, the winter dial. I Loved the textured dial and the blued seconds hand. Plus it was a spring drive? Sign me up!

Then I saw it in person. The watch looked so flat. It felt dull and lifeless to me. And the titanium weight threw me off. I realized then and there that I needed my luxury watches to have some heft to them. 

Any Submariner. 

New Sub with the big lugs and ceramic bezel. May have just been the lighting in the store but it just seemed a little blingy for me. 

I desperately want to like Frédérique Constant. In pics, they seem comparable to Breguets…but like you said, the build quality isn’t there and the dials look plastic. 

Longines Sector Dial. Almost impulse bought one online for a good deal, but decided to hold back as I was going to pass a Longines AD while hunting for a Moonswatch. Tried it on and it looked like someone strapped a CD to my wrist, took it off instantly.

On another note, strapped the 37mm Spirit, which I thought was going to be too small, was stunning. Ended up not pulling the trigger, but I am keeping my eye out for one pre-owned eventually.

The Rolex Explorer 39mm. it wears extremely weird compared to the oyster perpetual 39. Something looks off about it or maybe it’s just that has to do with the larger than 39mm appearance.

Batman submariner 

In my head it was a holy grail watch not fit for mortals to wear.   I also hated Rolex for making this luxury unobtainium tool watch product.  That’s far too valuable for use as a tool watch.  

Then, randomly at work, I notice an ICU doc friend of mine wears that very watch.  Excitedly… politely ask to check it out…  cant wait to take in its epic grandeur…. Put it around my wrist, and…!

Huh… ?  this is what people are selling kidneys to get a hold of?  It’s ok… but nothing special 🤷‍♂️ 😑 

I never was a fan of the sub muself either, but I always thought that since it is so popular it will be great in the metal.

But for me it wasn't. Still a great watch, just not for me.

Longines legend diver. 
 

I didnt like any tudor and lust after a zenith chrono 38mm. Try both in person and it reverses. The zenith feels chaotic in the design. the tudor in blue (didnt like the gilt dial) is stunning on hands. I went w my guts and happily wear one now. The zenith sports with the new ceramic bezel was nice too but 10k is too much for me to swallow :) seem like it has dropped on secondary market so will keep my options open for the zenith sports.

i tried the oyster perpetual a long while ago and it was meh too :) didnt understand the hype around rolex. End up w a tudor very rolex look a like haha its not the brand but its each watch to me :) im not against a coke rolex gmt

When Oris released the pointerdate Roberto Clemente le and I saw the pictures, I called my ad to get one. It looked great in the pictures.

When I went to pick it up, I just felt something was off. Still I bought it, because I had my mind set on it.

It was a mistake. Tried to like it for about a year. Put it on lots of different straps, but the love just wasn't there.

Sold it for a big loss. Leasson learned.

That’s funny, I’ve also got mixed feelings about titanium. People rave about how light it is. On one hand, I don’t think it’s all that light, and I don’t really want it to be. A luxury watch should feel substantial. Same goes for ceramic. I haven’t handled a ceramic watch, but I doubt I’ll like the light weight compared to the price. 

I really wanted to pick up one of the Seiko SPBs (253, 143, 145, 147 …). In particular the white dial with the blue accents/bezel (213). Went to my AD and tied them all on and they just wore way too small for me, and kind of had strange proportions. For me. I still think they look nice but not something I would wear. 
 

On the opposite end when I first saw the new Tudor Ranger it felt 

But my AD had one the week they were released so I went to try it on. And I took it home that day 😁. It looked much better to me in person.  I’m even wearing it today! 
 

And as @Max will attest, it’s a total strap monster. 
 

Plus, the lume!

I own this watch and felt the same way you did. Until I put it on a bracelet. For me it was a game changer. I’ve never taken it off the bracelet since (20 months now).

Ok when looking at the picture the G-Shock GA700UC-3A did not impress me.

https://www.casio.com/content/dam/casio/product-info/locales/us/en/timepiece/product/watch/G/GA/GA7/GA-700UC-3A/assets/GA-700UC-3A_01.png.transform/main-visual-pc/image.png

But once I tried it on and really got a look at the dial I was very impressed. It is huge but wears comfortably even on my smaller wrist. and the digital counting seconds with the easy to see day/date is just very practical for the everyday use (esp at work when filling out paperwork). The green version here I actually purchased for my lady since she was looking for one and the next day bought the GA700SK-1A for myself (found it at a pawn shop for CHEAP). Now we regularly steal each others watches to wear on any particular day lol.

Another example of the picture just not looking all that great or impressive is the Bulova Curv in brown

https://citizenwatch.widen.net/content/jpzsm5of4m/jpeg/CURV.jpeg?u=41zuoe&width=1600&height=1600&quality=80&crop=false&keep=c&color=F9F8F6

This watch in its picture seems ok but not great. Once you see it in person however the rich chocolate brown of the dial and the color of the case is absolutely stunning. Both me and my lady agreed we had to have one.

In fact... that Bulova Curv is on my wrist today lol
 

I've yet to see any variant of the SMP300 that I wasn't impressed with, in photos or in person. Such a bad ass watch. Will own one some day. 

And I share your opinion of the Reverso. I love the case design, but when I tried one on it just didn't look right and I thought I'd be paying $7K for a glorified fidget spinner. I think I would like the Cartier Tank Americaine better, but I haven't seen one in person yet, and isn't that the point of this thread, lol?

The Seiko Buttmaster. 

It's very good looking but comfort sucks, it's highly reflective, the locking pushers are very hard to use while it's being worn and they never stay in place unless they are completely stuck (people just end up selling the watch with them stuck) and the both the alarm and chronograph are basically useless. It's a hugely overpriced, poorly designed, poorly manufactured piece of crap. 

Fortunately >90% of what I try on I like less than in pictures, so it's actually a great way for me to not buy a watch.  Most notably for this thread have been all flavors of Black Bay and Aqua Terra.

There have been a couple of things that I wouldn't have even glanced at unless an AD friend had talked me into trying them on.  I'm not in the market for a Piaget, but they're bananas in person.

The latest is the Pelagos 39. I saw it online,  called the AD asked to see it. Went to see it and suddenly I realized that my BB58 Black looks much better. For me the bezel of the Pelagos 39 seems too thick, i don't know something seemed disproportionat. I was incredibly disappointed and haven't found another watch to buy. At that peice point it is very difficult...

Tudor BB58 blue. 
 

But the 925 was another story. WOW!

even though i have deep love for Cartier the ever popular Cartier Santos totally underwhelmed me. Even the black ADLC and medium sizes just didnt sit right on my wrist. Tried the Dumont and same feelings of meh… with the exception of the rose gold bezel. That, was fantastic…

others that were underwhelming for me were the JLC reverso, tudor P39, Rolex Batgirl, submariner, zenith chronos, omega speedie and seamaster, GS omiwatari, White Birch, snowflake, shunbun and plenty of others… And i totally cannot understand the love of stainless steel. It is tiring on my wrist And outdated, imo. 

the ones that totally took me offguard were Panerai’s and IWC, mainly their non-steel variations. Being only 16.5cm wrist size, i was completely taken aback at how well they fit, and how their play in new materials totally removed that “im wearing a big watch look at me” factor. Another lesson of judging in the metal will always be better.

Since I'm always, always opting for the smaller case, I was pretty sure that I would LOVE the small Reverso: historically accurate sizing plus the added presence of the rectangular design - what could possibly go wrong, right?

Tried it on, felt awkward on the wrist and somehow didn't look right. Not "too small", but just not right. Tried on a Grande Taille and fell in love right away; the way the case hugged me was remarkable and the heft of the gold made it melt around the wrist even more.

Pretty much every Speedmaster. I do have a FOIS edition, which I like and use as more of a dress watch. Also highly unimpressed with the new Seamaster 300 Co-Axial Master in-person, which is a shame because I really wanted to like it. 

A lot of micros also fall into this category for me.

Baltic MR01. Loved it until I put one on at the Windup Watch Fair. I found the numerals very hard to read on the salmon dial. Almost illegible. Maybe it's just me. But it came off my list immediately.

The Longines Conquest.

Why does it have to have 2 meter long lugs?