Discussion: How to narrow down your shortlist for your next watch

marcky

I'm starting this thread to invite and encourage anyone who wants to buy a first/next watch and needs help shortlisting a few. I encourage everyone to ask for help, and for everyone to help each other. 

Start off by naming a few criteria which are very important to you (e.g. must be below a certain budget, looks and feels like a certain watch, or must be of a certain colour). 

I believe this would be a good way for everyone to discover watches they've not considered/seen before, and a good way for us to help each other out.
 

#general #watchfinder #nextpurchase
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blackdial
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$1k is the limit with no dress watches and no chronographs please.

marcky
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blackdial

$1k is the limit with no dress watches and no chronographs please.

I will assume you probably wouldn't want the strap to be a basic black or brown leather, but may consider a sportier design.

  • Tissot Gentleman/PRX are good all-rounders, they are slightly sporty (one more sporty than the other).
  • Seiko Alpinist is a good pick if you want a beautiful dial.
  • Studio underdog has beautiful manual-winding chronographs for well under that price. Playful colours without leaning too far into "childish". These are harder to get though, so you'll have to subscribe to the newsletter, wait for information on when they're producing more, then grab them quickly.
  • Hamilton Khakis are great if the above options are still too refined and you'd like it a little more rugged but not too much so.
  • Zelos makes very well-finished divers and other watches around that price range as well, but availability varies from time to time
     
Aurelian
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So, this is like one of those arcade fortune telling machines.  Ok, I will play:

Diver, bracelet, red or orange dial, automatic, $200-750, 40mm or less (that's the kicker)

marcky
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Aurelian

So, this is like one of those arcade fortune telling machines.  Ok, I will play:

Diver, bracelet, red or orange dial, automatic, $200-750, 40mm or less (that's the kicker)

So many divers out there to choose from that it's really difficult to narrow down, but I'll pick a microbrand that is personally on my wish list. If you check out the reviews, I would imagine the finish and choice of materials will surely impress.

Zelos Spearfish/Mako/Swordfish

Spearfish 40mm 12Hr 'Copper'
Mako V3 300m Ti 'Burgundy'
Swordfish 40mm Ti 'Blood Moon' Meteorite

They have many colours but availability may be spotty since they supposedly don't repeat a production once it's sold out (but they have a few series and many colourways so something might pop up, but the Mako is in stock right now, and  there are "orangish" colours like salmon to consider). 

Aurelian
·
marcky

So many divers out there to choose from that it's really difficult to narrow down, but I'll pick a microbrand that is personally on my wish list. If you check out the reviews, I would imagine the finish and choice of materials will surely impress.

Zelos Spearfish/Mako/Swordfish

Spearfish 40mm 12Hr 'Copper'
Mako V3 300m Ti 'Burgundy'
Swordfish 40mm Ti 'Blood Moon' Meteorite

They have many colours but availability may be spotty since they supposedly don't repeat a production once it's sold out (but they have a few series and many colourways so something might pop up, but the Mako is in stock right now, and  there are "orangish" colours like salmon to consider). 

Thanks for the suggestion. Zelos wasn‘t on my radar. I had been looking at Orient and Phoibos but they seemed too large.

marcky
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Aurelian

Thanks for the suggestion. Zelos wasn‘t on my radar. I had been looking at Orient and Phoibos but they seemed too large.

Glad to have helped! I skipped over the brands I didn't feel very strongly about, and tried to get you closer to 38mm. I assume you'd be somewhere around 6.25-6.5" wrist, like me. Just remember some dive watches wear smaller than their indicated size due to the bezel.

If budget permits, Oris Diver 65 does come in 38mm for some variants but you're looking at a much higher price.