Inexpensive Watches

[Onomea]

I love luxury watches, mechanicals, as posted in 03hemi’s thread. Those are just gorgeous. Not that I own any. (Do have my Dad’s 1950 stainless Rolex Oysterdate which from time to time I have repaired and overhauled. Rolex Geneva refused to repair it back in the late ’80s — to far gone, they said — but I found a guy in Boston who would... Then later another guy in Yokohama... And I have several quite nice American railroad pocket watches...)

But, anyway, this thread is about moderately priced, or inexpensive, or cheap watches.

Jayframer’s post of his new and attractively retro Timex WWI replica watch reminded me of what nice - attractive and good quality — watches are available for reasonable prices these days.

Here’s one of mine, a Citizen. One of their Eco Drive models. Runs off sunlight or fluorescent light. Battery might need replacing after 20 years, I’ve read. Water resistant to 100 ft, so swimming and snorkeling are okay, but not rated for scuba. (Which is okay with me as I am unlikely to go scuba diving at this point.)

Specs are to be within 15 seconds per month, though this one does better, I think. So-called “saphire” crystal which is some sort of highly scratch resistant glass usually seen on higher end watches.

I replaced the original leather band with the stainless one shown, less than $20 off Amazon.

This watch retails for about $150. (I got it with points from a discount electronics shop where I bought computers and such for the kids years ago when they were still at home.)



It’s a big, somewhat clunky watch, but attractive, I think. I have another, smaller, lighter Citizen eco drive that I’ll maybe post later. That one’s about $100 retail.

So, whatta you guys have in this class of watch?

 

[histreenut]

I really like the MVMT watches. I have not bought one yet, but I am hoping Mrs. Claus will be nice to me this Christmas.
This is one of the ones I like...

Black Link Watch | Men's - 45mm | Chrono Series | MVMT

They are just simple, nice looking watches.

Sent from my VS835 using Tapatalk

 

[CrankyThunder]

I have three RxR approved wrist watches.

I used to work for the railroad and they had very specific requirements on the performance and appearance of their employees watches.

Not sure if the railroads are enforcing the watch requirements now but they had a have arabic numberals (no tick marks) so that you could not rotate it a bit and read 12:55 as 2:00.

If it was battery operated it had to have a second hand that skipped five secs when the battery was low so you could get it replaced and serviced in time.

You had to have it regulated every couple of years with specific performance parameters.

The face had to be white with contrasting colors for the hands and numerals. There were additional requirements that pertained to length of each hand, minimum diameter, etc.

Anyways, most employees owned two or more since you needed a watch when the first one was getting serviced/regulated.

My first one was a seiko railroad approved and a couple of months after I purchased it, it was ruled unapproved because the gold hands did not contrast enough with the white face.

Second one was a bulova electronic railroad approved. nice watch.

My favorite is the Pulsar Electronic Railroad approved. It is my favorite because it has a luminous face that makes it visable in almost zero light and it stays luminous for a couple hours after exposure to a light source. I also like it because it has a screw down knob and is waterproof to 100 feet.

Regards,
Crankster

 

[snubbyfan]

I like my 42mm Seiko 5 Sport Automatic. Never needs winding and doesn't use a battery. All I havta do is wear it and it winds itself when I move.
I've had it since Christmas of 2016 and I wear it everywhere. The gym, pool, hot tub, theater or the cinema.
It's my everyday wear watch. It cost $114


I also have a Garmin Fenix GPS watch with Tracback feature. It's handy out here in the mountains of West Virginia. We like to do lotsa hiking and exploring in the summer and it helps to make sure we can get back home, how far we've gone, how long we've been out, the temperature etc.. We take it hiking, biking and camping. It's rechargeable with a standard usb charger.
This one was on sale for $135


Using the remote temperature sensor during a summer camping trip.


Yup, it got up to 112 degrees that day and I was lovin' it.

 

[bigwheelzip]

Back before the fall of the "Iron Curtain", the governments on the other side required a predetermined currency exchange for each day of a tourist's travel visa. Crossing the Polish border, the equivalent of eighteen dollars for each day of your visa had to be exchanged for Polish Zlotys. The Zlotys could not be converted back to western currency.

Once in Poland, everyone wanted to be paid with western currency, so using up the Zlotys was difficult. As we departed the country, we entered a department store near the border, determined to spend that currency that would be worthless once we crossed the border. It was hard to find anything we wanted there, but settled on a Russian made watch that cost the Zloty equivalent of about sixty dollars, which was the most expensive thing in the store.

Our shopping mission accomplished, we crossed back to the west. Three days later, the watch stopped working and rattled loudly, with several loose parts inside.

 

[les.b]

I know I’ve posted this one before. Under a hundred dollars, solar powered, and automatically resets itself ever day from any of the atomic clocks around the world. Lots of functions, but I leave it in day date. Always within a second of true time, a real bargain.

Best Regards, Les

 

[Stevens]

Timex Expedition, easy reading white face with big black numerals or vice versa. push the stem and the face backlights at night for great visibility.
Easy DIY change battery lasts several years.
The gold Rolex, a real beauty, lives in the sock drawer.
Steve W

 

[Onomea]

I like that Casio, Les. That’s quite a bargain.

Here’s my other Citizen eco drive. This one’s much lighter. Water resistant to 50 ft, okay for swimming but not skin diving. Cost about $100, I think it was.



I like the design simplicity of this one.

 

[snubbyfan]

I know I’ve posted this one before. Under a hundred dollars, solar powered, and automatically resets Israel’s ever day from any of the atomic clocks around the world. Lots of functions, but I leave it in day date. Always within a second of true time, a real bargain.

Best Regards, Les

I like that. I went on Amazon and found one that's a little more my style for $99 free shipping. If anything happens to my Seiko, I may just havta get one.

 

[Onomea]

I like that. I went on Amazon and found one that's a little more my style for $99 free shipping. If anything happens to my Seiko, I may just havta get one.

Yep, I looked it up, too. Here’s what ya get for $86 (price I saw on Amazon for the watch with stainless strap):



That’s a terrific deal!

 

[snubbyfan]

Yep, I looked it up, too. Here’s what ya get for $86 (price I saw on Amazon for the watch with stainless strap)

That’s a terrific deal!

That's a lotta watch for the money.

 

[max]

I retired 12 years ago and have not worn a watch since. I lived by the clock for 40 years and was tired of it. I do have a Seiko I bought at Long Binh back in 70. I also have a Timex I bought several years before I retired.

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

I never had a watch that lasted long enough to justify the price. I am more than happy to use my cell phone.

 

[Farmer17]

I have an Invicta stainless and gold self winding automatic divers watch that was about $90 online and I've see the exact same watch in jewelry stores sell for $300. It looks very similar to a Rolex divers watch and I don't wear it very often since I carry a phone so I have to wind it when I go out but that's no big deal, and I also have a watch winding box but it won't keep it wound for over a couple weeks.

 

[rubiranch]

They do look nice.

I haven't owned a watch in I'll bet 40+ years.

 

[mckenney99]

I don't think I've ever paid more than $25.00 for a watch, ever. I am really hard on them and scratch the **** out of them. Broke several in scuffles with suspects and NEVER was able to get them replaced by the 'jackwagons'. I've got 2 cheap digital Timex's that are no longer made that I've changed the batteries in a couple times each and they keep time good enough for me. My biggest requirement besides time, it's got to tell me what day of the week it is. I've always worked jobs that covered all 7 days so my internal clock NEVER knows what day of the week it is.

 

[wundudnee]

I also have a Citizen Eco drive. It's about ten years old and has been the very best watch I've had. When daylight saving time changes I set it to the current hour and watch my computer until it changes then press the stem in. It's never off over a few seconds during the six month timeframe. I would buy another.

 

[ContinentalOp]

My watch is dirt cheap compared to the "inexpensive" watches here. I've got a basic Casio G-Shock, maybe $45-50, with another $15 (I think) spent on adapters so I can use a nylon NATO-style watch band.

 

[Lou_the_welder]

I wanted to reply with a picture of my watch. It's a citizen eco drive also.
When I started working as a welder, I used to use watches. But then doing the various in my line of work, got them all banged up(damaged).
I went from wearing a watch, to working and not being able to wear a watch, to now being able to wear one again!
So I got it recently. Two months ago(?)
Edit. Here it is.

 

[Onomea]

... a Russian made watch ... the watch stopped working ...

Say, I have one of those, too! A Russian watch that stopped working..... A gift from a friend. Got it in a drawer somewhere... Think mine made it about three days, too... (The Swiss, they are not.)

Yep, found it: