One last watch....

Can be had for $2k new. Suck it up and save up.

Applaud your specific tastes in a watch. Good luck on your journey…

I was looking at that one earlier tonight so you're on the same page as me. It's close, but the hands don't do it for me. List is $2600-ish. The cheapest one on Chrono24 is $2150US with shipping to Canada (where I am). If it was perfect I'd save for it. A perpetual calendar is appealing, but those hands aren't hitting my sweet spot. Plus, at that price point the Tag shows up used but in good condition sometimes. Tag resale value is pretty crap so I have that going for me, but I'd still like to stay in that $1500US range. Thanks for the suggestion though.

Thanks. You would think it would be easier to find....

Off the top of my head. A Mido Multifort Chronometer 1. 42mm day date. 11mm tall if I recall. Double sided anti reflective. $1350 at retail but probably $900 on the grey market.

This meets all your criteria.

Side note … this is a slightly different model as the one above. I didn’t think you would like the textured dial.

I've looked at this one as well. I'm not 100% on that dial. I'd have to see it in person. There are very few videos that I can find of it. Do you know if the flutes are convex or concave? I have a Mido Ocean Star and am impressed with it, it's been running -1.4 seconds/day since new which I'm pretty happy with. There's also the Multifort M, though the sandwich dial isn't doing it for me, and the mixed indices (dots and hashes) is clumsy. The Chronometer you posted, if it were a sunburst, or flat brushed dial, it would definitely be the one. The vertical lines don't relate to a clock face/watch dial in any way. The designer in me struggles with the vocabulary of those design elements. But, yes, it's super close.

There's also a part of me that doesn't want 2 watches from the same maker. I like the Ocean Star a lot for many of the reasons I've included in my requirements for this one last watch, so I shouldn't be surprised that Mido makes this watch as well. If the flutes weren't in the dial, I'd be the owner of 2 Mido watches. I may still be the owner of 2 Mido watches if I can't find anything else that's better. Thanks for reminding me of this one. It's been a while since I looked at it and because of the Ocean Star on my wrist, I hadn't really considered Mido for another watch.

I have a Hamilton Khaki King too , I agree about the AR lol and I can't figure out what exactly the watch you're looking for... Nothing comes in mind, you really are poking at my brain 😂

I mentioned that one in my response to the other Mido suggestion. I actually like the textured dial more than the fluted one, but I don't like the mixed dots and hashes, and sandwich dials are hit and miss, though if this one was all hashes I might like it more. I have a Mido. It's a great watch. I like the price of the Multifort M, but the Chronometer is probably closer to what I'm looking for. Thanks for the recommendation though.

I've thought about aftermarket crystals for it. It's a pretty great watch for the most part except for the lack of AR coating. I've also ended up with a sea of black watches so am looking for silver or blue. The champagne dial option for the Khaki King might be close enough but the lack of AR, and my desire for something minimalist in the dial, has me not wanting to have arabics on the dial. I already have the compromise watch, now I'm being picky about its replacement....

The Mido next to the Hammie fits your criteria?

This looks a lot like your Carrera inspiration minus the day.

You can see the reflections in the Hamilton in that picture. You don't realize how bad it is until you have a couple of watches with excellent AR coatings. I still like it, but...

The MIDO Chronometer is growing on me. I'm not keen on owning 2 Midos, it's been a soft rule for me to not own 2 watches from the same manufacturer, but if Mido makes 2 excellent watches that fit the requirements, then maybe that's what I do.

I'm pretty sure I'll sell the Hamilton if the Mido makes its way into the collection. I'm really good at not have too many watches. I've had well over 30 watches go through my hands in the last 2 years but I currently only own 6 (+3 beaters that don't count). I would look at the Hamilton and the Mido and always pick the Mido. What do you do? I mean, you even have them in the same winder bay.

I'm still hoping something else I haven't considered appears in this thread but I'm not optimistic.

I cannot tell you how many times I've put this exact watch into a virtual basket thinking; "maybe I don't need the day complication." I'd even found the perfect 21mm strap for it (because; 21mm strap) If that watch had the day complication, I wouldn't be here looking for a watch. But, here's the thing, I was just on 2 weeks vacation, and dumped my phone in my suitcase, and just wore my Khaki King for the duration. And there were a couple of times that had me thinking, "what day is it?" And I used the day complication. Lots of people will suggest it's not necessary because we always know what day it is. But sometimes we don't.

I might pick one of these Tissots up anyway. It's such a great looking watch.

I looked at TAG today , boy they have stepped up their game , and also the Silver Arrow by Longines . Save your money and get what you really really desire is my 2 satoshi’s worth .

Maybe a Tissot Visodate? Under $800, you have extra to pick up a gshock or 2, a Hamilton khaki, or something else to go along with it

On mesh,

Or even blue fume

I recently bought that exact watch and I couldn't be happier with it 😀.

Depending on what your “right blue” is, this may be worth a look:

Seems to fit all your criteria, but it’ll be a love-it or hate-it thing when it comes to the dial.

I had the black dial version for a long time and really liked it. It was very slim at under 11mm, great AR, cool dial texture, and unique art-deco hands and indices. Ultimately I did sell it off since the 42mm wore just a little “dinnerplate-like” on my 7.25” wrist, and the lume was just ok. Otherwise, it was a very nice watch.

Best of luck in the search! 🍻

It's another one that's close but the dauphine hands don't do it for me. Never have. Though I really like the Omega-esque lugs on the Visodate. I may have to ask my watchmaker how hard it would be to swap hands on one of these.

https://www.ashford.com/mido-m0054311103100.html

https://www.jomashop.com/certina-watch-c022-430-11-031-00.html

Of course I like it a lot. And I've been watching for a used one for a while now. They always seem to be just out of reach budget wise. I mean, I can afford it at full retail, I just can't rationalize spending that much on a watch. But, yeah, I suspect anything else might be a compromise. At least I'm not finding anything as nice and even at the Tag price point, there's lots of compromises. Like the Tudor Glamour is 39mm, Oris discontinued this one, but it's a bit big and has arabics. Archimede is a mm too small, though the large dial/small case profile will make it wear bigger than 39mm, but it's missing the day complication. So many watches circle around what I'm looking for or have 5 of my 6 boxes ticked. The Tag hits all the marks perfectly. I may just have to bite the bullet.

I owned one of those Certina DS-4s for a while. It was another one of those "almost" watches. It was very, VERY close, and the price was right. Certina makes some excellent watches and are underrepresented in North America. I believe they aren't imported into Canada at all so it would be an American purchase. But.... the DS-4 is 38mm and as much as I wanted to love it, it always looked small on my wrist. Also, the crown on it was very small and my sausage fingers struggled to give it a wind if it was going to sit on my desk unworn for a day.

The Certina DS-1 is 39mm, so a little bit closer, but I've gambled on the 1mm smaller than 40 idea before and always sold the watch within 6 months. For me, 41-42mm is ideal, 40mm being the compromise, and I like it on my Oris Heritage 65 diver, but to go to a 39mm it would have to be perfect in every other way. Unfortunately the DS-1 has been discontinued and because they were mostly sold in Europe, hard to find used in North America.

The Mido would seem to meet your requirements.

Yeah, I'm leaning that way. It'll be tough to decide between the one you linked to with the nicer dial and excellent price, but smaller case and triangular indices, vs the other one with the perfect size, nicer markers (IMHO) along with the more legible black accents on the hands (like the Tag) but the fluted dial and less friendly price. They all circle around what I'm looking for, but not all in the same package.

Or just buying the Tag used and being done with it. Thanks for your links.

Fair enough, those twisted lugs tho 🥰

Scratches and dings are all part of the journey of wearing a watch, or having an modern items for that matter, it gives your things character

And I think that's discontinued so should get it for cheaper. Seen it in outlet for under €600

Well, I went and looked at some Midos locally. And did a long search on Chrono24 and eBay and various other internet outlets for the cheapest Tag.

The Midos, well, they were pretty great and I found some great pricing on them, but the Multifort Chronometer (and I really liked the idea of COSC certified) dial with the vertical striping didn't do it for me. I very nearly bought the Mido Commander but in the end felt the case was a bit small proportionately to the dial. Very nice watch. Very tempted. But didn't do it.

They also had one of these which was recommended above. Again, very close, but the vertical stripes on the dial were more prominent in person so I passed on it too.

Lots of talk about Certina, so I looked up their web page and found the DS Action Day Date. No silver dial (well, silver with gold accents, but that's not my style), but they had just the right blue. Also no dealers in Canada but their web page referred me to an authorized dealer in Switzerland that does free shipping to Canada so, that's what I bought. Just under 12mm thick. The perfect 41mm. 200m water resistance. Screw down crown. Day/Date. Sapphire crystal with anti reflection. No Arabics. Simple, clean modern hands. Relatively affordable as well.

Thanks for all the recommendations. I'm still hunting for a silver dial watch but will with my day/date watch requirement filled the silver dial one will likely be a Tissot Gentleman. In 6 months or so.

To be honest Craig I don’t know if one last watch In its truest form really exist. On top of that your picky so I don’t have the attention span to think about a crazy good in last watch choice!

Yeah, maybe too picky. I'm pretty happy with some of the others I've ended up with and tried enough to know what I don't like. All the elements I'm looking for exist, just not in the same watch at a reasonable price. Yeah, $1500 is cheap by some standards, but not really? It's still a decent amount of money to spend on a watch. Anyway....

If you made it through all my neurotic responses in this thread, you'll see I bought a "close enough" blue Certina. I did start the conversation with "silver dial, or the right blue." The Certina is the right blue. I wish the date wheels were colour matched but they are clean and legible. It's a good size. It's dial is clean and reads well. Is it perfect? Nope. But it's the closest I could find and probably close enough for now. It was good to see all the recommendations though. Lots of close ones.