Graduation watch (self gift)
I've finally graduated (bachelor's degree) and it's been a very long and very stressful journey that really took a toll on me and I'm so glad for it to be over
I wanted to commemorate that with a watch, my father promised me he'd get me whatever watch I wanted once I graduated, but he passed away before he sees me as a graduate.
so I'm fulfilling his promise for him by buying myself a watch for my graduation.
The one watch I had my eyes on for the longest time (Raketa Big Zero) is a bit out of my budget (around 1000 USD) and I'm currently in a sea of options and I'm very indecisive.
Most of the options I really really want are out of budget (Nomos club campus was another option) and the more affordable and micro brands are abundant and varied.
I just want suggestions from normal people (not YouTubers) about good value for money watches that would stand the test of time, given this would most probably be an everyday wear type of watch.
(sorry for the long post)
Welcome to my WatchCrunch profile.
Christopher Ward C63 gets my vote.
I have to be honest with you , I’m in no way rich nor was I when I turned 20 last year. I wanted to celebrate turning 20 by buying a watch , I was able to scratch some money together an get about 1100 euros. With that in mind I went on the same search as you did , I searched through a lot of brands but never found the Thing that catched me. I even considered vintage but was really conscious about buying vintage because I wanted the watch to last a lifetime and maybe even pass it down. So long story short I found Nomos and looked more into the brand, I found that I liked the club campus line the best(which coincidentally is also I think the cheapest line they have) so I decided I’m getting that club campus 36 in future orange. Booked an appointment with a Nomos AD in Hamburg and let me tell you for the “little amount” that I spent there they treated me like a king. Nomos as it seems tells they’re AD’s to not only sell the watch but also tell about the brand.
I’m sorry for the long text but I just wanted to tell you that for me the Nomos club campus 36 was the perfect watch to celebrate something.
I think there’s no shortage of watches in your price range and there will be no shortage of people telling you options. My advice on finding what you want is digging through these online forums and Reddit and all sorts of stuff and just follow the links. Scroll the WRUW feeds and see something you like and learn a bit more about it.
In that $1k range I’d start looking at Christopher Ward, a great brand almost dominating the (just a bit over) $1k range. Seiko has a lot for you, the Alpinist seems great. If you dig the looks the PRX is always an option in a couple sizes. Farer, Traska, Nodus, all fall into that range, even a chunk cheaper.
Today, at sub $1k, you’re really spoiled with options. Have fun looking and hope to see what you decide on.
Traska, tissot prx or gentlemen, Hamilton khaki field or murph
Christopher Ward C63 gets my vote.
I am a fan of Christopher Ward's offerings but I don't necessarily think they spoke to me for this current purchase but will revisit thier catalog again.
Thank you!
I have to be honest with you , I’m in no way rich nor was I when I turned 20 last year. I wanted to celebrate turning 20 by buying a watch , I was able to scratch some money together an get about 1100 euros. With that in mind I went on the same search as you did , I searched through a lot of brands but never found the Thing that catched me. I even considered vintage but was really conscious about buying vintage because I wanted the watch to last a lifetime and maybe even pass it down. So long story short I found Nomos and looked more into the brand, I found that I liked the club campus line the best(which coincidentally is also I think the cheapest line they have) so I decided I’m getting that club campus 36 in future orange. Booked an appointment with a Nomos AD in Hamburg and let me tell you for the “little amount” that I spent there they treated me like a king. Nomos as it seems tells they’re AD’s to not only sell the watch but also tell about the brand.
I’m sorry for the long text but I just wanted to tell you that for me the Nomos club campus 36 was the perfect watch to celebrate something.
I am a big fan of Nomos' design language and offerings and the Club Campus was the initial pick (even before the Raketa Big Zero) but it's just the price that's holding me back (and also kinda the fact that it's a manual wind watch)
There are currently no AD's for Nomos in the country I live in (Saudi Arabia) however our neighboring country does (Bahrain) and I've actually been to them but they sadly have a very limited collection, at least in the branch I went to.
But maybe trying it on would really push me to make the purchase.
Thank you!
I think there’s no shortage of watches in your price range and there will be no shortage of people telling you options. My advice on finding what you want is digging through these online forums and Reddit and all sorts of stuff and just follow the links. Scroll the WRUW feeds and see something you like and learn a bit more about it.
In that $1k range I’d start looking at Christopher Ward, a great brand almost dominating the (just a bit over) $1k range. Seiko has a lot for you, the Alpinist seems great. If you dig the looks the PRX is always an option in a couple sizes. Farer, Traska, Nodus, all fall into that range, even a chunk cheaper.
Today, at sub $1k, you’re really spoiled with options. Have fun looking and hope to see what you decide on.
I do realize there are quite a few micro brands that I still didn't full go their catalog to see if anything they offer suits me, mainly Traska and Nodus. I am a fan of some of the newer GMT models from Farer but they are slightly outside my budget at the moment.
As for Seiko, idk, maybe I'm just being stupid but I want my graduation watch to be something a bit more niche then Seiko (idk I'm stupid).
But yeah I am spoiled for choice which is great but also a nightmare for someone as indecisive as me 😭
Thabk you!
Traska, tissot prx or gentlemen, Hamilton khaki field or murph
The Murph was definitely one of the watches that were in contention but I guess I need to find an AD and see if I can try one on and see how I feel.
Definitely will look into Traska.
Thank you!
I am a big fan of Nomos' design language and offerings and the Club Campus was the initial pick (even before the Raketa Big Zero) but it's just the price that's holding me back (and also kinda the fact that it's a manual wind watch)
There are currently no AD's for Nomos in the country I live in (Saudi Arabia) however our neighboring country does (Bahrain) and I've actually been to them but they sadly have a very limited collection, at least in the branch I went to.
But maybe trying it on would really push me to make the purchase.
Thank you!
I also didn’t know how much I’d love it until I tried on one , you can really feel the quality in hand. It’s funny because that also for me was one reason I was contemplating not getting it because I was used to Automatics but for me personally it’s fun to wind the little guy up every now and then. Please let me know what you decide on getting , I’m newer to watch crunch and want to make as many watch buddy’s as possible haha 😂
I am a big fan of Nomos' design language and offerings and the Club Campus was the initial pick (even before the Raketa Big Zero) but it's just the price that's holding me back (and also kinda the fact that it's a manual wind watch)
There are currently no AD's for Nomos in the country I live in (Saudi Arabia) however our neighboring country does (Bahrain) and I've actually been to them but they sadly have a very limited collection, at least in the branch I went to.
But maybe trying it on would really push me to make the purchase.
Thank you!
I would be interested to know How is the watch market in Saudi Arabia ? Like what brands are the most popular
I do realize there are quite a few micro brands that I still didn't full go their catalog to see if anything they offer suits me, mainly Traska and Nodus. I am a fan of some of the newer GMT models from Farer but they are slightly outside my budget at the moment.
As for Seiko, idk, maybe I'm just being stupid but I want my graduation watch to be something a bit more niche then Seiko (idk I'm stupid).
But yeah I am spoiled for choice which is great but also a nightmare for someone as indecisive as me 😭
Thabk you!
You’re not stupid for avoiding Seiko, nothing wrong with knowing what you don’t want even if you don’t know what you do. I’d consider Traska, Nodus, Oak + Oscar, and Lorier as microbrands. I’d look at Hamilton, Christopher Ward, Tissot, maybe even Bulova as larger brands.
I also didn’t know how much I’d love it until I tried on one , you can really feel the quality in hand. It’s funny because that also for me was one reason I was contemplating not getting it because I was used to Automatics but for me personally it’s fun to wind the little guy up every now and then. Please let me know what you decide on getting , I’m newer to watch crunch and want to make as many watch buddy’s as possible haha 😂
I actually reached out to the AD in Bahrain asking about the club campus models, they currently only have the peach colored one (not my thing rn) but I asked them to tell me when they get more stock of the other colors so hopefully will get to try them out soon.
As for what I end up getting, I think you and the rest of the watch crunch peeps would be the first to know lol.
I would be interested to know How is the watch market in Saudi Arabia ? Like what brands are the most popular
Rolex and Omega are very popular (people used to be more rich than they are now lol) sekio have a presence here but we rarley get the cool models, we mostly get the very bare bones "grandpa watch" ones.
there is his however an epidemic of fashion watches. Nearly everyone here wears overpriced shit watches that they "think" look good.
My mother bought me two watches in the past, a Giordano watch (absolute trash but I have to wear it once a year like an ugly sweater) and a Cerutti 1881 (better finishing case wise but horrible dial work) and sadly this is what most people get here when getting watches.
That or the dreaded smart watch.
(I talk a lot I know lol)
You’re not stupid for avoiding Seiko, nothing wrong with knowing what you don’t want even if you don’t know what you do. I’d consider Traska, Nodus, Oak + Oscar, and Lorier as microbrands. I’d look at Hamilton, Christopher Ward, Tissot, maybe even Bulova as larger brands.
I did look at Traska and even though I love their designs, I think I'd leave that for a future purchase. As for Nodus and Lorier I've heard of them but didn't fully look into them, Oak and oscar is new to me though will definitely check them out.
I feel like I'm too fixated on the Nomos Club Campus and the Raketa Big Zero that I might have to cough up the extra cash, but I'll check these out and see if you manage to change my mind.
Thank you!