Do you have a hidden Gem/s in your collection

Yep, I have one and it's called the Seiko SGG731.

What du you consider as affordable?

Under 100$, 250$, 500$ - 1000$

I think I have a hidden jam watch, and it’s affordable but probably not for every income.

But very interesting topic:) 👍

I believe price is subjective I’ve seen some watches costing tens of thousands that look like crap and ones costing less than fifty bucks like the Casio Duro that look like it should cost hundreds more.

Please don’t hesitate to show off that hidden gem.

I like my Seizenn (Merkur) Dirty Dozen Homage. It was $80 shipped, and has since become one of my favorite little watches. Pretty accurate little movement too, keeps going for a day and a half.

I was going to get the sterile dial version, with just the broad arrow, but it would have cost $15 extra and I'm cheap.

I absolutely agree.

Probably my Casio Oceanus T200. Ticks all those boxes: Affordable (not cheap, per se, but a ton of watch for the money in terms of features and finishing), looks fantastic, and is about as versatile as you could hope for from a three-hand sports watch. I think it's an overlooked gem, primarily because it's JDM-only; if it were available more readily outside Japan, I'm certain it would be more popular. Stellar watch all around

Still astounded at the quality and finish from San Martin

Helm Miyako.

Very, very detailed dial and case back, ISO rated, etc. Especially for the price, IMO, YMMV. $375

And this Electric Chrono, $10 😂.

$225 for a Swiss auto moonphase. Smooth 28.8kvph sweep of that long second hand and counterbalance is fun to look at. Nicely done sunburst dial. Surprisingly good lume. Very fine brushing on the case and a lot of faceting and undcutting to make it comfy despite being 40mm. Sapphire. Signed crown and custom rotor. 100m WR fwiw though I never swim wearing a watch. Wearable under a dress cuff or with a t shirt.

Smiths PRS-25 gilt enters the conversation. Affordable but not easy to buy. It is good for any occasion and not a usual suspect.

My hidden gem is my Citizen Chandler field watch.

It’s about $100, is 37mm, has an in house Eco-Drive movement, and is a great little field watch (which are very versatile). It goes great with any outfit you can name(except actual diving) especially with a nato strap.

I think this guy qualifies 🤩 picked it up a few weeks ago at a very good price it's mostly a casual watch but one evening, it was me and my girlfriend's anniversary, I wore it with a blue suit and I was really surprised with how good it looked!

So, quite rare to find at a decent price, very versatile and I think the design speaks for itself.

All my watches are hidden gems. 😂 I feel like this one is especially though.

I have many that were under £100. Let's try this one at half that:

Aperture Edition 1.

It's the first watch from a Korean microbrand, who tried to source materials as much as possible from Korea. He actually managed to make the dial and hands entirely in Korea, which is a very difficult feat.

For just under $300 with coupon, my Praesidus A-11 Vincent Speranza L.E. A wonderful field watch with a Seiko movement (could have gotten Swiss for more… but why?). Amazing wearing watch from an up and coming microbrand from Oklahoma with a military focus.

Not sure how to define "versatile," but finally got ahold of this baby a couple months ago. Unique design and affordable price from a tiny brand not many have heard of: The Aevig Corvid.

My hidden gem is this SteelDive from AliExpress. Love the colors, the bezel, the 300m water resistance, and the size is perfect for me.

Mine would most likely be my vintage Seiko 5216-8020 Lord Matic Special.

It's a sharp, versatile watch with a really nice 28,800bph chronometer grade movement that blows a lot of contemporary Seiko offerings out of the water. All for just under 430 USD. If this was a brand new watch from Seiko it would easily cost several times as much.

This Tissot PRS 200 was part of a larger auction lot of watches and as such I had zero expectations that I would vibe with it however it has become a go to GADA. As a chrono diver it is versatile, a quartz movement keeps the cost down (and the convenience factor up) while the design allows it to be dressyish or casual. The 5-link bracelet makes it one of my most comfortable and though unnecessary for me it even has a diver's extension. There are at least four different colorways with blue being particularly striking and though it is discontinued it can be found preowned in the $200 range.

Paid about 400usd for it plus 180usd to omega for waterproof and service.

So all in all with the strap at about 70usd, the total is 650usd and it allows:

Having an omega with one of their best vintage calibers

Having a classy vintage watch

Having a light easy wear for casual attire

Dressing it up for more formal wear as slim and slides under cuff easily

Being waterproof enough for light dish washing (not a mountaineer 🤣)

A GUB GDR era spezimatic its such a cool and versatile watch but it sadly broke

Orient FUNEL003B0 quartz (on an Aliexpress bracelet)

Pros:

• Less than $100 when I purchased this 3 years ago.

• Quartz, accurate time keeping

• Looks like a Cartier tank, but easily distinguishable because of black dial color.

• Very light

• Slightly bigger than Cartier tank quartz. Fits my wrist better

Cons

• Quartz. Needs battery change once in a while. Not easy changing battery. Its got a flat back

• No lume

• Not very water resistant

Let’s take another meta level in it.

What do like to do with watch.

Dress up, dress down, strap monster, water resistant, rough, sapphire crystal, a beauty full movement to look at, anti magnetic and a long power reserve.

If you find a watch like this it’s probably hidden jam all ready. Because we all know not every watch can offer that.

For me personally is a hidden jam watch a watch that’s:

1. Not on the radar for every one/ mentioned on every YT- channel or blog

2. Filled most of the boxes

3. I don’t mention the price because as said before is subjective. Even at entry luxury price point of 5k it can be totally affordable form some one. And the price says nothing about the true value of the watches.

Some examples of my personal hidden jam watches are:

Watches I own and wear daily since years:

Tissot PRC 200 - A Daily beater on the dressy side with a diver heart.

Orient Kamasu Diver - One of the cheapest if not the cheapest diver with ein house movement, sapphire crystal, applied indices, two more complication (weekday + day date), comfortable, rough and at least for me tastefully designed.

Temption CM03 - I Love that Watch !

GMT, integrated bracelet with strap option, elabore eta movement, day date, rotating bezel, sapphire crystal, 10 atm, screw down crown, amazing readability by day (lume is ok), no visible branding on the dial (just to enjoy the pure beauty of the dial) and probably more.

And for the end something I recently change my prospective on.

I thing watches with high end quartz movements a hidden ja as well.

very nice watch and value for money too.

the prc200 is such an underrated watch