My 10 Best Watches of 2023

Well, it's nearly that time again. I think Australia is already in 2024, and the rest of us are just waiting to catch up.

So, because everyone else has done one of these end of year lists, here is mine. I've chosen what I know were my most worn watches even if my WRUW Gallery on here suggests otherwise. I do tend to change my watches several times a day, so it's hard to keep up.

1 - Addiesdive Quartz "Hulk" Submariner Homage

I wore this most out of all my watches to the point where everyone on the WRUW thread was probably sick to death of seeing it. It had many days in the paddling pools, and despite initially feeling very "slabby", I got used to the shape of it. The bracelet is adequate and the lume is amazing.

2 - Pagani Design "Black Beauty" GMT Homage

To be honest, I just wanted one because Craig Fairbrass wore the real version in some film I was watching, and I liked the look of it. It wasn't even on my radar before that. I've heard it referred to as the "Full Black" or the "Black Beauty", and I'll go with the latter because the black with a green GMT hand reminds me of old Lloyds Bank adverts featuring the famous horse.

3 - Lige Design "Smurf" Submariner Homage

Absolutely the cheapest Submariner homage it's possible to buy and amazing to have a high-beat movement inside. It's the same stainless steel case used by all the other homages, but with a mineral crystal and a surprisingly nice butterfly-clasped bracelet with no sharp or rough bits whatsoever. The bezel insert was printed so that it will never align, but I've seen the same on Cadisen and the far more expensive San Martin, and I really don't care that much. I just like the colour.

4 - Omsan x Swatch Naughty "MoonSwatch" Homage

It was less than £2.50 but looks and feels just like the real deal even though none of the chronograph subdials work. Yeah, it's a bit naughty of whoever Omsan is to claim a collaboration with Swatch (unless of course they really do have one), but this is by far the most comfortable and legible watch I own.

5 - Swatch "Once Again"

If it's good enough for the Pope, it's good enough for me. Only a 34mm Swatch with the softest rubber strap I've ever encountered. It's even got a cyclops over the day-date window which actually works. I have the Casio MQ-24 version on its way to do a comparison next year.

6 - Skmei Army Green Casio F-91W Clone

Better than Casio, cheaper than Casio, and completely bought by mistake because the seller sent the wrong colour. I ended up wearing this a lot when I was metal detecting, and I obviously put it on a nato because that's what we all do now.

7 - Skmei G-Shock Homage

Another ridiculously cheap Skmei which is more comfortable to wear than the real G-Shock. The backlight is amazing, but the timer doesn't have a reset button, and there's an annoying animated alarm indicator which they didn't need to add. It all looks the part though and is light as a feather.

8 - Swatch Scuba 200 "Sailor's Joy"

Going back to the vintage year of 1993 for a collector's grade (rather than NOS) version of this Scuba 200 because Swatch stopped making these a long time ago. I paid over the odds for it, and I changed the uncomfortable laminated strap to a much better third-party rubber one. This became my Summer watch for the 2 weeks of Summer which we actually had.

9 - Skmei "PRX" Homage

A recent addition (Christmas present) which has knocked the similarly styled Spaghetti Scameti back into its box for a while. The bracelet was a perfect fit, and the dial is a lot more legible than I thought it would be. It hasn't converted me to buying a real Tissot PRX, but it has converted me to enjoying this particular Skmei.

10 - Steeldive SD1970 "Willard" Homage

Finally, this would have been higher up the list except for it being so damned heavy. I had a lot of days with it on in the garden and marvelled at the lume every time I came back indoors, but it made my arm ache. It's a great watch, and the value is unbeatable, but it got less wear than any of the others.

And that concludes my round up of the best watches I wore this year. I left out the Pagani Kermit which I'm wearing today because I really haven't worn it enough. It's a lovely watch though which isn't really a homage at all to the real Kermit. It's a different size, has a different dial, different seconds hand, a different movement... and of course, it isn't a Rolex... It just looks a little bit similar, but you can can say that about every watch really.

Anyway, have a Happy New Year! I hope 2024 is better for all of us than 2023.