What are your choices for under 5k?

Junghans, i love the minimalist design.

My poll vote

First of all, here are my thoughts on the poll.

Cartier is the obvious loser for me. Way too dressy for me. If I'm spending that much money, I would want to get something that fits my casual everyday wear so that I can wear it often, not something I only wear on special occasions.

As for the Omegas, I don't know where you are finding Aqua Terras under 5k, but they are contenders for the top for me (out of these). There are some models that look decent to me, but nothing really appeals to me particularly well. And as a brand, Omega's lines mostly have something decent looking in them.

The Tudor is the second last for me very easily as I find the snowflake hour hand ugly.

However, the Nomos competes with Omega for me here. I really like the Club line and I have a Club, which I strongly like. However, the rest of their models are way too dressy for me, putting them on par with Cartier.

So ultimately it's between Nomos with a model that I particularly like, but couldn't care less about the other models of, and Omega with an overall decent lineup with nothing particularly appealing in it.

Ultimately my pick here is Nomos, but I would definitely not go with this list for my top 4.

So my ranking with these goes like this:

Nomos > Omega >>>>>>>>>>>>> Tudor > Cartier

My top 4

First of all, I'm judging by brands rather than individual models as I have no experience with most of the stuff discussed and am speaking purely on the design provided by each brand across their lineups. And as you can probably notice, my top is not based on price as most of the stuff that's this expensive is very meh and I do not care for it, so I'm largely looking at lower price points where watches that appeal to me more happen to be priced at.

I think I would put Nomos here because of the Club models, but it has the same drawback as it does above.

Another brand that would absolutely get a spot is Oris. As a whole, I would no doubt rate them above Nomos. I did choose the Club over an Aquis when I was choosing a highly expensive watch, but Oris has a lot of great looking models across their lineup. Aquis is my favourite there.

One more brand that I would put just below Nomos is Grand Seiko as I think they do some really cool stuff with their movements and while their watches also suffer from the too dressy thing, it's far less so than Cartier.

Another one I would put here is Longines. Their watches look solid across their lineups, but they aren't quite as nice as Oris watches. I really like the Conquest lineup and it's my grail, but I'm waiting on them to release an Automatic of their current model with the crown guards in a smaller size as the 39mm one has a lug-to-lug that's too long, so the lack of that is putting it down to the same level as Nomos for me.

So basically:

Oris > Nomos = Longines > Grand Seiko

Love the thought process here but also just pondering the whole Grand Seiko below Nomos line here . . . Hmmmmmmmmmmm . . . 🙄🙄

I would go to Grand Seiko GMT, is fantastic!

A/B/C and maybe a Breitling Superocean (the new one) would be a tough choice.

I’d probably get the Tank and the Aviator 8 with a 5k budget. In fact I’m probably gonna do that at some point this year.

A matter of preference. I don't like dressy watches and Grand Seiko steers towards that, although little enough that I still like them a lot. But ultimately the Club line from Nomos is way more my type.

Tudor Pelagos for me from this list followed by the Omega, then the Nomos. Cartier would be a distant fourth as it holds no appeal to me personally.

Sub £5k I think the Pelagos offers the best value mainly as I have just bought one for just over £4k and I can speak for its quality. So that's my very biased input!!

None of the above.

I'm a big, bald, metalhead-looking guy with a big beard. If I were to ever spend upwards of $5,000 on a watch, it would need to look/be rugged, or at least kinda funky/weird.

From your list, a Tudor Titanium Pelagos fits the bill the best, but aesthetically, it's no different than a Casio Duro, and I just got one on sale for $11 the other day. I know we're all entitled to our own opinions. I just don't see the point in spending more.

No amount of arguing could convince me that a Tudor would be better to take camping, or would look any different with certain clothes, or that any watch on earth keeps as steady time as a cheap Casio (besides maybe a Citizen Eco-Drive or a Bulova Precisionist).

If I didn't have to choose anything on the list, and I had a gun to my head to spend $5k on a watch, I'd likely buy the Bulova Spaceview Accutron 2020.

I’m happy with my white SMP300. You could also pick up a pelagos 39, BBPro or a GS soko. Nomos makes a great watch for the money but you could pick one up used for WAY less than 5k.

There’s so many great options under $5k it really comes down to personal preference. Do you like specs? Are you drawn to a particular design? Are you a fan of a certain brand? Do you want dressy or sporty? What features are most important to you? Are you willing to buy used?

Way too many factors to pick a single watch as the best watch under $5k for everyone.

For me specifically for what I like, the Black Bay 58 in black gilt is my favorite watch under $5k. The reflections you get are seriously addictive. Add great specs, brand heritage, proportions, can be dressed up or down and often used under $3k now? You can’t go wrong with it. There are a ton of other watches I love in this price range but if I had to pick one that’s it.

From the picks in your Video I‘d tend towards Nomos but only because I‘ve recently had hands on an „Ahoi“. In general really independent design and appreciated by smart people (Architects mostly) so what could go wrong? :)

Nah, just kidding, it‘s a great watch for the money and works with a suit as well as with a T-Shirt and Jeans.

Great Video, Burak 🔝