Windup Watch Fair Surprise: Maurice Lacroix Aikon Tide

I often post on here about things I don’t like and disappointments I have had, so I wanted to make a positive post about a watch I was surprised I liked when I saw it in person: the blue dial Aikon Tide watch from Maurice Lacroix. 
 

This is an odd one to me because as I get older I tend to go more for classic looks and simple designs. However, I thought this watch was really fun and surprisingly well made. There is a screw down crown, sapphire crystal and 100 meters of water resistance. I don’t care for most of the color combinations, but I’ve always loved blue and this one struck a chord with me. I also liked the wave texture on the dial much better than the waffle texture on the steel models. I’ve also never been huge into the integrated bracelet look, but I liked it  on this watch for some reason and also found it quite comfortable. 

These watches seem like they would be a great fun watch for the beach, sporting activities like tennis, or for yard work. The plastic case seemed quite durable and there is a sapphire crystal and good water resistance so this is definitely not a swatch. I was thinking of it as a sort of a style upgrade over a g-shock that fits a similar niche in the collection. I have a g-shock that I almost never wear because it is kind of big and ugly. I know some people love G-shock but I’ve never seen one I really loved. However, I wouId not hesitate to wear this ML Aikon Tide in the right situations. 

The elephant in the room: the price. Retail is $750 for a quartz watch with a plastic case and rubber strap. I still think that is a bit much, but I don’t think it is fair to compare to swatch or g-shock in terms of price because it really is a different type of build and design compared to either of those. I think a premium price is justified. However, $500 seems about right to me as opposed to $750. I encourage people looking for something fun that they don’t mind sweating in, getting wet, or beating up a bit to check these out.