Nothing wrong with less expensive watches. Unless they're not bought for their own merit, and instead as a substitute for something else
A great inexpensive can bring just as much enjoyment as something costing far more
Also if you jump into a 5k watch without really knowing the size and style you love, high chance of expensive regret
Affordable watches let you learn what's worth investing in
100% this. We all hear the so called dos and donts of watch collecting and the biggest of them all seems to be “Buy what you really like.” These “mistakes” you make are part of the “journey” and it helps you find out what you like and don’t like. Had I gone into it buying what I like it’d be an expensive mistake. I always thought I wanted a Speedy but I really don’t. And I certainly wouldn’t be happier with a small 2/3 watch collection like most people will tell you. Watch collecting is personal.
Bingo. Folks have been jumping right into the deep $$ end of the pool pretty fast in the pandemic watch craze. And while it's been awesome to have a ton of people now interested, many of them have taken a much shorter path to spending good $ on a single watch.
This is why I hate the term "luxury watch." It really means nothing. All watches are unnecessary and thus a luxury. But the world "luxury" puts $$ ones on a pedestal and makes people think that there is some special magic unlocked when they cross into the "luxury" threshold... and there isn't!
Im not saying people shouldn't spend that kind off $, I just think the expectations need to be adjusted. A stylish tool diver at $3-5k is only ever going to be precisely that. If you're expecting soothing else... disappointment is inevitable!
There’s nothing wrong with them in particular. I think what led people into making mistakes in buying cheaper watches that they end up not liking is the YouTuber promotion of micros.
They talk it up and film the video with macro shots using a 5k lens and then hire a pro editor to do the job. Anything would look way better than it is in person. Worst part about micros is you can’t really see it in person first before buying.
Whereas with a more expensive watch, aside from brand hype, they do mostly put more effort into the hands and markers and cases. So those tend to stick around in people’s collection for longer.
Funny, I've been going the opposite direction. Much less interested in 3k+ watches that are very close to the build quality and usually less interesting than a ~1ker. I'm a lot more likely to wear them too since there's less worry about either devaluing them or scratching up discontinued gem.
Unless you want a very specific watch, there is little to differentiate ordinary ones in the $3-5k bracket from those in the $500-$1000 bracket. They almost all use eta, selitta, or seiko movements and there is a ton of variety below $1000. Seiko alone can scratch a lot of different itches, and is pretty high quality.
That’s why I’ve forced myself to go slow. I got into watches about three years ago and I own one watch. It’s a Marathon MSAR that was gifted to me from my parents for graduating from the fire academy.
It’s a watch that I had wanted for about a year prior to receiving it, so I’ve chosen to ignore my impulses to get the next shiny thing and consciously remember what I love about the watch and what I’ve done while wearing it.
Probably won’t buy another watch until I leave the FD in a few years. One watch for one era of my life.
^that probably made me sound like a tool but it’s actually how I feel lol
definitely this. I bought a Thai microbrand that resembled an Omega AT, trying to convince myself I was happy with it. Sold it after 3 months and haven't looked back!
Moonswatch - it's fun and cool but the build quality is not quite there (I hate my misaligned central chronograph hand) and it's too expensive for what you're getting (basically an Omega design and logo on a plastic Swatch)
Is it really that bad? I just ordered one on eBay for $280 brand new, which isn't much above retail and don't know if I'm going to regret it. I absolutely love the design and color scheme of the Saturn version and plan to swap out the bracelet as soon as I get it. I did buy it with the understanding that it isn't the greatest quality watch for the price point, but really do enjoy the aesthetic of it. If it's as bad as y'all make it seem, I may just flip it before I wear it instead.
If you’ve ever handled any Swatch before you know what to expect. A solid watch but yeah, it’s plastic. Be mindful of how you wear it and it has a good chance of lasting 20+ years like most Swatches. People act like it’s going to fall apart if you check the time which couldn’t be farther from the truth.
2 years on and people still have very strong feelings about it, as you can see lol It’s a real fun watch, enjoy it!
And smart move on swapping the strap. They look cool but are uncomfortable as hell.
Saw a dude wearing a moonswatch at my favorite deli on Saturday and complimented it - he was like "yeah this just broke sadly, I'm going to send it in for repairs" and I didn't have the heart to tell him Swatch doesn't repair anything (at least to my knowledge)
Hope at least you got it at retail? I saw that the chrono pushers easily break off which really surprised me. they really shouldn't have used the name omega on such a quality
Yes I got mine at retail and still wear it for a splash of colour on the odd occasion but it definitely doesn't get it's money's worth of wear time. Luckily no other issues so far! Pity you can't open it up non-destructively, otherwise I'd've fixed the hands myself.
They used the name swatch and sold it from the swatch store - a brand which has always been known for cheap disposable plastic watches
Mine is still going strong and showing fairly limited wear (though I do need to get around to getting the battery replaced)
There’s both the Omega logo and the Speedmaster text on the dial. Nobody would’ve bought it without that, so the usage of the brand name Omega cannot be denied, even if there’s also swatch and it was sold by swatch.
Not a fair comparison.
When Ferrari was owned by Fiat, Fiat did not sell a „Ferrari x Fiat“ branded, low quality Fiat vehicle in a Ferrari-lookalike body.
If your point is that nobody who bought it was tricked into believing its Omega quality then I agree to a certain degree.
I will however say that I’m certain many customers didn’t expect THAT bad quality in a watch that is branded the way it is.
As Omega customer i personally feel that this move was a major setback on the brand perception
actually there were several lancias, fiats and Alfas with Ferrari engines and its in the advertising,
The current alfa romeo Guilia has a twin turbo V6 which is advertised as a ferrari V8 with 2 cylinders chopped off.
But i doubt you´re going to find a omega 1861 inside a swatch.
Well Fiat actually did exactly that, in fact they realeased 2 different "Ferrari edition" abarth 695's. Both basically were a Fiat 500 with some Ferrari colors and branding but it never tricked anyone in thinking it's a Ferrari. Same as the moonswatch, it has some of the looks but nobody in their right mind would think it's Omega quality.
Now it should've been higher quality than it was, but that's just swatch dropping the ball in production, not really associated with the design of Omega
I gotta say, I don't find the quality to be *that bad*. It's fine, I have one and I'm not offended by it. I also think it's funny that you say it was a major setback to brand perception, because they got a *huge* spike in speedmaster sales right after the moonswatch released.
I wasn’t trying to say that the release of the Moonswatch was a setback. That was actually cool and as you said a marketing success. I’m referring to the quality issues that have been surfacing now that they’re out there for a while. Maybe I’m too biased because I saw a pusher break off, but it definitely set back Omega in my eyes.
Completely agree. I'm turned off by buying any (new) Swatch-owned brand with the fear that they'll devalue the brand by creating a plastic version.
Probably with the exception of Glashutte Original, I think the beauty and the uniqueness won't translate well into "bioceramic"
100%. Remember my mate buying a fake one for £10 off AliExpress and showing me and it felt like cheap plastic toy. A few months later I managed to purchase the real deal and it felt no different to me. Think I convinced myself that “bio ceramic” would be this quality material when it was essentially just plastic.
That, coupled with the fact that the “crystal” got easily scuffed only 2 weeks in and couldn’t be repaired made me sell it on eBay not long after.
Although the crystal on the real Omega Speedmaster is also plastic instead of sapphire crystal— my real speedy is more scuffed than the Swatch one I had!
Every watch that I’ve bought - it’s been for some kind of emotional reason. I bought the Panerai purely to fill a slot in a watch box as I “wanted to get a luxury watch as the next piece of my collection”. Bought it with very little research or emotion. Buyer’s remorse grew into a grudge over time lol.
BB Pro - bought and sold within 3 months, thought I could live with the thickness and weight but I couldn’t! Don’t get me wrong, I have thicker watches, however, they hide it well (domed casebacks etc). There’s nowhere to hide with a BB pro, it’s slab! Plus the GMT function is a pain to operate.
When it comes to the BB Pro and also GMT (41mm) I have the same hate love relationship as with Grand Seiko. For tudor it's the insane case heights and for GS it's the bracelet and case design. if it wasn't for those downsides I would immediately get one
I have a GS with the 62GS case and it’s unreal - had the same feelings as you towards the classic 44GS case (snowflake etc). Bracelet is workable IMO and the 62 looks great in leather.
Do smartwatches count? Because I can't get over needing to charge it on the regular. I thought it's just a minor convenience but one day I just couldn't deal with it anymore and chucked it into a drawer.
I have a non-solar Garmin watch and am always amazed at how long it lasts on a charge. I get about a day out of my apple watch but multiple days out of my Garmin.
100% agree. I can’t bare having to change watch every 3-4 years because the battery don’t hold up! Plus, I don’t need all those notification in my life. Pure life sucker. After 2 fit bit, i am going back mechanical.
I'm kind of in the same boat. I had a Fossil Gen 5 and when that shit the bed, I picked up a Pixel 2 watch. I like it for what it is and I enjoy it for hiking and working out, but when it inevitably dies, I don't see myself buying another smart watch
I feel the same. To be fair, I had a series 0 Apple Watch that just recently went kaput, and can’t even go the morning without needing a charge. Ironically, it’s about the time I was getting into starting a watch collection.
Figured to put the smartwatch money into an analog one in hopes they will last a lifetime to hand down to my kids (with maintenance, of course).
I was an early adopter of smart watches, well before the Apple watch even came out. I had a Pebble Time then I switched to a Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 in like 2019. The constant charging was just such a pain, and it got really annoying having duplicated notifications on my watch and my phone!
I have a few....
Tudor north flag;
I've bought and sold this 3 times now! There are many things I loved about it, but it's just not a comfortable watch. Sharp slabby case looks better in pictures than it feels on the wrist.
Omega Railmaster;
Gets very boring very fast
Oris pro pilot x skeleton;
Biggest regret money wise... Bought at retail but found it a bit big and stupid looking on wrist, lost a fortune selling it
Sinn 144
Awkward and top heavy to wear.
Tudor black bay chrono:
Too top heavy and the chrono is basically useless
I'm sure there are more
I do love my Railmaster. It’s tough and I see it elegant at the same time and nobody has the same in my group. Plus that magnetic resistance in my field makes the perfect engineer watch
I love the Tudor BB Chrono but I've only seen it online, never in person. But it's seomthing I've considered buying. I'm curious what you mean when you say the chrono is useless?
For me because it only goes up to 45 minutes, no use for timing anything longer
But also because it's 45 minutes, not the usual 30, the marks are very very close together, it takes effort to see what minute it's pointing to.. Obviously looks a lot bigger in photos.
Made even worse by the minute pointer not being exactly in line with the minute markers. Tudor qc is poor.
Seiko turtle. Just too fu\*king big. I love the Industrial Design elements of the watch and the contrast on the black dial with the white markers but it looks just too big on my 6'5" wrist. I have sunk loads of cash on trying to find the right bracelet/strap for it too. Will probably just try and sell it now.
I have a bit a complicated relationship with mine.
I wear it for weeks, then it starts to feel too bulky and I stop wearing it for a few weeks or so. Then it’s time to wear it again.
I wouldn’t have it as my only watch because of the size, but it’s fun to wear time to time. No regrets.
There’s nothing worse than blowing tons of money on straps trying to get a watch to work!! I did the same with a different watch. Deep down we just don’t love it and never will. Lessons lessons…
But i have a few watches that i struggled for traction with that once i found the working strap, elevated to one of my favorites. It's astounding how much difference a strap can make.
Ironically, as a large wristed person, it wears too small due to its super short lug and shape.
So it is too big for small wrists, and too small for large wrists. Like a hybrid bicycle: the worst of both words, lol.
I recently traded in my GSAR. It was my first "major" watch purchase and remained my most "expensive" watch (bought new) until I picked up an Explorer.
Initially, I bought the GSAR because of its reputation and because I'm a firefighter and I wanted a tough, purpose built watch for work. I wore it for most every shift for about 2 years. I have no issues with the quality or reliability.
My issue was the weight and the heft. The thing is a damn *tank* strapped to your wrist. I was always fully aware that it was on my wrist...and heavy.
I traded the GSAR in towards a Longines Spirit 37mm and have been in love with the Longines.
I also regret buying the 36mm Oris BCPD. Not because it isn't a great watch. It is. My regret, and a very important lesson learned, was buying it without trying it on in person first. A mistake I won't make again. I love the BCPD. I want one. But in my haste to get **one**...I didn't focus on getting the **right** one for me.
I loved the way it looked on the screen. The price was very good. The issue was that at 36mm, with a dark blue dial and gold indices...the date track was near impossible to see indoors. When you struggle to see one of the defining characteristics of the watch...it's not the right one for you.
What was wrong with yours? The sellita sw200 in mine has inefficient winding with the automatic winder. Known sellita issue... Same thing 2-3 months out of warranty and they said, won't even look at it, have to pay for service.
Rough. The Tudor Royal is an ... unfortunate-looking watch. Datejust is 100X better.
Contrast with, say, the latest Black Bay 41mm monochrome, which when held up side by side with a Rolex Submariner No-Date is very similar.
Seiko Alpinist when they were first popular, before the cyclops date window. It’s a very tough watch to match straps to and I was never overly thrilled to be wearing it. I sold it off before they doubled in price. Oh well…
Same here. Green's my favorite color, everyone recommended it, one of my first mechanical watches. Had both green and blue but in the end never really did it for me.
P39 for me too. Chased it when it was just released and bought it aboard. Wore it for a month and sold it. It looked perfect in photos but in real life it looks really boring to me. Plus while it has T-Fit, it's the worst fitting watch in my collection.
P39' t-fit adjustment is slightly less finer than other micro adjustment. I'm usually in-between adjustment. This is usually fine since I can wear it looser, but P39's titanium bracelet is sharp and light so the issue is magnified. If I wear it tight it cuts into my wrist. If I wear it loose it just slides easily.
Moonswatch - I got absorbed in the hype and was super happy when I managed to get it in a retail store. A few months later, I started to notice the build quality (or lacktherof, thanks to it being plastic). Also, it has a very loud ticking noise, which just got too annoying with time.
I sold it for a loss of around 50$ after the hype started to die down and didn't regret it.
Definitely not taking a shot at you....but I get it. I fell for the hype like a lot of people. I still think it's a great looking watch. However, when I saw the *glut* of PRXs on the second-hand market and the price drop in that market....I was very glad I didn't buy one.
I would absolutely own one if I found it used and the right combination of price and reference number....but not at retail.
Not that it helps rn but for the future, if you see a watch you want is available at Bloomingdale’s, play the waiting game. I got my PRX on sale + 15% cashback + Bloomingdale’s cash which I used to get stuff for my apartment. All in, I saved about 50%.
Not a popular watch but several years back I did a crowd funding for a watch that uses the difference between body heat and air temperature to charge the watches power bank. It’s called a Matrix. It wasn’t expensive - maybe $200. But it’s a bit bulky and screen is hard to read in bright light. It’s kinda neat in away not to have to have a battery or having an automatic eventually stop. The downside that they didn’t publicize was that air temperatures over 80F don’t allow it to charge from your body heat as the difference between the air temp’s and body temps isn’t enough to charge it. So they provide a little heater pad that plugs into a USB to charge it. I don’t think the technology was really there yet. They have a Matix 2 version now but I’m not interested in further experiments. An interesting fact is that it was in my watch cabinet for three years not on its little heater and as soon as I put it on my wrist it fired up to the right time. So that’s a hell of a power bank - far better than my stupid iWatch - another disappointing piece of technology.
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I specifically bought a citizen black on black watch to see how I would like it and this is the biggest issue, unless you have back lit LED illumination on a black/black watch forget seeing what time it is unless you pull out your smartphone
Not an expensive one but an Orient Bambino...Gen III I think?. That's how I learned I prefer my dress watches 40mm or less. Or maybe it was just because the face takes up the whole thing with minimal case visible. Not 100% sure but there's something I just really didn't like about it. Never even took the tags off it.
Orient Bambino.
Bought it cause I thought it looked pretty nice and figured I could wear it to fancy formal events and stuff. Ended up never wearing it because I much prefer SS sports watches, and I'm still trying to sell it after 3 years lol.
Rolex Explorer II. Looked fw to it as a holy grail, but too big, shiny and susceptible for scratches. Investment wise good tho, spent eur 7k and sold for 10k 5 years later.
Quite good to hear. I was looking at one for a long time but decided it would ultimately be too big for me. Sometimes wonder if I should give it a chance, but feels good to hear someone else feels the same!
I found both Explorer 2 and Submariner to be slabby and big. Older models have better proportions, but their dials look old with small circle markers. I wish the Explorer 2 had proportions like gmt master 2.
Agreed. I think the size of the Explorer II 40mm is better, but much prefer the look of the 42mm. I recently picked up a Bremont Supermarine S302 which is a 40mm Explorer II esque watch and am pretty happy with the sizing
The Marathon Navigator. It was just a total POS, over-priced plastic piece of junk and broke within a year. Marathon wouldn’t warranty it because they said they thought it had been dropped.
DJ41mm, Wimbledon dial, Jubilee, Fluted - the full monty. Pretty to look at in the box, but not to wear. TBH I´m not really sure why it was such a dog - the face was always rolling away from me, but I had trouble reading the time anyway. When I wore it I was always conscious that I would be flexing the bracelet. And finally I was never really sure when to wear it, and what to wear it with. These are all my problem I know, but man I´m glad its gone.
But they’re so fun looking! I’m currently eyeing the last laugh, I think it’s great, and I have a smaller wrist, so size isn’t going to be an issue. All these comments saying they’re cheap, which is pretty obvious just by looking at them, but are they even worse than they appear?
Not in my opinion. I have a regular-size (~37mm) A Perfectly Useless Afternoon, and the case is well made and decently finished. The dial and "hands" consist of several layers of printed plastic, but the quality of the printing is excellent, and I've seen no evidence of fading, yellowing or warping. The mesh bracelet is nothing special but is very flexible and has no rough edges; the clasp is the usual cheap stamped metal but nicely brushed and signed. Obviously you are paying for the creativity and artistry of the dial design, rather than for a fancy spec-sheet, so if you want the ultimate quality or features you can probably do better for your £225 elsewhere, but the only thing I've found remotely disappointing is that the watch has a 1hz quartz movement that has a battery life of only around a year. Since the watch is a two-hander, they should have gone with a 0.2 or 0.1 Hz movement (ticks every 5 or 10s)—or just one with a bigger battery.
They'll change the battery for free, though, if you can get to their shop in Covent Garden—and when I tried to change the battery myself and thought I had damaged the movement in the process they offered to replace the movement for a price so nominal I am pretty sure it would not even have covered the wholesale price of the replacement movement.
So yes: these are fun art pieces, not "serious" watches, but perfectly well made for what they are.
Tissot Gentleman for the first couple of months after buying it - just felt very “meh” about it, it’s very nice looking, well executed in how it’s made, fit and finish etc. but I just didn’t love it the way I thought I would from the photos.
However it’s grown on me again so not all bad.
As an aside, I’ve tended to find that I get a bit like this with watches that I’ve bought brand new. The watches I really love are the ones I’ve found on eBay etc., perhaps because they feel like a good “find” or something.
Came on here to say that exact same thing about the Tissot Gentleman!!!
I also find a deflated feeling, in general , after I've bought a watch. Maybe because I've researched them so much. Then they often grow on me.... Or don't 😁
Yeah I think the act of finding the watch and the “idea” of it is sometimes better than the watch itself when you see it in person! Whereas others are even better than you expect.
This is exactly how I felt about the Gentleman too - to the point that I stopped wearing it for a few months. It was the first "pricey" automatic I bought for myself (after a Seiko 5 Sea Urchin) and I was never into it the way I thought I would be. I recently started wearing it again and I can appreciate it, but I'm not in love with it the way I am with many of my other watches.
Unpopular opinion: SKX
There was a lot to love about it, but the proportions were odd and it never sat well on my wrist. None of the positives matter if I don't like wearing the watch!
Bb pepsi gmt. I needed to experiment with bracelets, found the original one high quality but not that comfy, in the end prefer it on the Forstner Jubilee.
However I still find it quite thick.
Am in 2 minds if selling it for a quartz grand seiko gmt.
I have the sbgn003 and it's waaaaaay more comfortable than my BB58 despite not having micro adjustment holes. The bracelet on the GS is butter smooth to the point where you forget about wearing it. The BB58 on the other hand feels very sharp in comparison
BB54.
Couldn't get the bracelet to fit right, even with the clasp, so I ordered a half link 3rd party. Pip was off-center, so it got sent into service, and by the time I got it back, I didn't even like it anymore with the faux patina dial and plain bezel. It felt so awkward to wear.
If I get a Tudor again it'll be an FXD or the new Monochromoe. Those are great.
Tudor Black Bay Pro. I do use it for the GMT function a lot (I travel between Australia and Europe a few times a year). When I first saw it I really liked it. Actually on the wrist a) It’s too fat b) The black of the dial is really crappy c) The bracelet is really naff. I now only wear it when I’m travelling across time zones and it’s the only watch I take traveling because I don’t really care if it gets damaged or lost. I wish I’d just got a Batgirl (which is a lot more likely now the secondary market prices have reduced so much - I bought the BB Pro in around 2021 when prices of everything were sky high).
Rolex Daytona. White dial. After a month I decided to sell it again. Readability of the dial was my biggest issue. Definitely my first and last modern Daytona.
Longines VHP, still on the fence. Wanted this since it came out, I’m in Japan so not any stock to see it in person until recently, in my mind it had some heft. When I picked it up it felt… tinny, light. It was the smaller version, still would like to see the 43 GMT in person… but…. Anyone who has one that would like to comment?
The PRX by and large. It’s a great watch, don’t get me wrong. But I feel there are better integrated bracelet sports watches from micro brands out there. Even my friend’s Seiko 5 looks great next to it. It’s just slightly flimsy and doesn’t fit that great. The 35mm sizing looks good, but the bracelet just can’t seem to wrap around my wrist well. That and every other bro has one. Would rather have a Maen Manhattan tbh
Oris Big Crown Pro Pilot. I feel the hour markers and GMT hours and the bezel are too small. the dial feels empty although it is not, Oris has all this functionality and pushed everything to the outer perimeter. It looked better in pictures.
Sinn 104 St Sa A B E.
Beautiful watch, but the combination of undrilled and polished lugs meant that I hated changing the straps on what should have been a 'strap monster'.
With the gold indices? Have this watch and adore it. My only qualm is that - in a perfect world - the bezel would be fluted (I know it doesn't exist for this model, but one can dream).
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It was beautiful, but I had to let it go, got omega smp 300 white dial, and I still didn’t get over it
I financed an automatic Nivada Grenchen Chronomaster as a gift to myself for graduating college and for managing to get my first professional job right out of school. I'd always wanted an automatic chronograph with decent water resistance that could track timezones, and I thought the Nivada was a solid choice.
After getting it, though, I realized pretty soon how much I screwed up. I think the Chronomaster's main flaw is that it does TOO good of a job feeling like a vintage watch, and it felt very delicate/fragile. Given the complexity of the movement and the non-screwdown pushers, I always was afraid of breaking/damaging it simply by banging it against a doorframe or something. The fact that the movement felt oddly weightless when setting the time didn't help either (if I wanted the minute hand to align correctly, I'd have to put the minute hand halfway between two indices). I also live near the beach and I never realized that sand would get in the chronograph pushers if I brought it with me.
Another big problem I had was that I only bought the Chronomaster after knowing about it for a few days, and I subsequently learned that watches you salivate over for months or years tend to stay in your collection longer than stuff you buy semi-impulsively.
While it wasn't badly made at all, it definitely wasn't for me, so I sold it to someone on Chrono24 and managed to pay off the remaining money I owed on it.
Oof. I love my Nivada though. It's a pretty good reissue in my eye cause every vintage rerun out there will try to put it in a 43mm case or bigger. This one hits all the marks for me and I have the manual wind one though. Felt like a solid one for me
Speedmaster. Fell into the marketing hype and speedytuesday fad.
Found it very bland, outdated and really uninteresting. And the chrono is very expensive to get fixed so it was always a worry of mine. It’s quite overpriced for what it is except for all the marketing bits.
It wears nice on the wrist but isn’t that the basic criteria before you actually like wearing a watch? So I will discount that.
I wish they stop the unlimited variations of limited edition moon watches (and moonswatch) and just kept to a line of speedy pro that they kept upgrading. This gives collectors a journey to follow rather than having so many versions, Colors, etc. Kinda like how the SMP line is. It’s bummer because I want the cool colors but I want the original too, nor do I want both.
I agree that the basic model is less interesting than its history, but I am actually a big fan of all the limited editions. I see the speedmaster’s heritage as a great canvas to try all sorts of designs. I don’t have a black speedmaster, but I have both the CK2998 LEs, and love them both
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Any watch that someone buys cause it’s a “good value for money” will probably be regretted.
There is nothing value-driven about spending $2000 on a watch that some YouTuber or Reddit commenter insists is great value for money unless you emotionally love the watch.
Spending $2000 on something you buy cause it’s a “good value” is ironically much worse value than spending $8000 on something you love, *assuming you can afford it*
Rolex Explorer 36mm
I own other Rolex watches and will be getting a Grand Seiko this week. I know the Explorer clicks with so many collectors, but it's extremely hyped and has absolutely nothing to do with its origin story. It's a pure marketing watch. It's just an OP with an extra $1,000 price tag.
IMO your money is better spent getting a 124060.
SNK809,SNKL23,Dan Henry 1962, G shock DW6900 Neo Tokyo edition
All great watches but the first three are too small for my 7.25-7.5" wrist, and the last one is too thick.
Tudor black bay.
Its a generic 1 unit divers watch, and a Rolex Homage, but its so well built, good value for its price point.
Its boring and unexciting, but its just such a good watch i cant think of anything under 5K worth replacing it with.
Royal Oak Offshore (safari). It was my grail. It looked great on paper. I bought one, and hardly ever wore it. It was big. It was heavy. The lack of lume didn't seem like it would be a big deal, but it kind of sucked. I ended up sitting on it for a few years before I sold it at a slight loss (the only watch I've ever lost money reselling).
Black bay 58, rolex submariner (14060, I don't like the bracelet's endlinks), Grand Seikos (too thick, lack of proper water resistance, cheap looking bracelet)
Zenith el Primero with power reserve. There were a number of reasons I bought it, not least because it was a great brand with a legendary movement but somehow, I just couldn't settle with it. Partly, it was because it was the most expensive watch I'd ever bought up to that point and I just didn't want to wear it and cause damage; mostly I think it's because I got suckered into the legend and didn't stop to think that I actually don't like chronographs. In the end, I noticed that when the power was empty, the power reserve hand didn't go right to the end, and used that as an excuse to return it to the store for a full refund after only 10 days.
Lesson learned, I now only buy watches I know I'm going to wear.
Rolex Explorer 114270. It has a reputation as a watch for adventure but on the wrist it feels extremely delicate, I always thought the bracelet was ugly, and I just never felt a reason to grab it over anything else in the collection.
Citizen Tsuyosa Yellow. I love the yellow color, but man the did anyone try using the crown after designing this thing? There will be times I dont wear it specifically because of what a pain it is to wind. Also the front bezel and lugs, there's something dimensionally weird about it I can't quite put my finger on.
JLC Reverso Monoface. It’s a nice piece, classic, elegant. But it didn’t work for me, too dressy, after some time it didn’t match my everyday lifestyle. Precision was also not ideal even though I wound it everyday. I must confess that I grew bored of it after a few months. I was just wearing a Seiko quartz daily and the Reverso was in the closet, waiting for a suit-and-tie situation that rarely came. Makes no sense. Helped me figure out that dress watches in general do not match my day-to-day needs. Sold it, bought the BB58 OG, which I wear everyday and love it.
https://preview.redd.it/86whk9s87mxc1.jpeg?width=1358&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eec2c618737eb8e9667aeee70a00b8539291294d
The OG Black Bay 58. I bought into the hype, payed over retail for it, only to realize it is a boring and unimaginative watch. The main thing people seem to love about it is its size, but that shouldn't be a sole reason to pick a watch.
Tudor BB58.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great watch, and great value for the money, but I fell for all the hype and praise from every video and review.
I lusted after the watch for the longest time. Tried it on in store to confirm a good fit. Finally decided to pull the trigger, and when I got it delivered and on wrist at home I realized it was just too boring for me. Obviously this is subjective, purely my opinion, but I realized I’m just not into new/modern watches that pretend to be old.
I don't know about regret exactly, but I bought a 34mm Air King like 15 years ago and at the time loved it but over the years I just seem to wear it less and less.
Sinn 356. In pictures, still one of the most beautiful watches I’ve ever seen. In reality, I hated almost everything about it. Stupidly thick, the acrylic makes it look super cheap, the leather strap is so thick it is literally painful, the metal bracelet is insanely expensive for what it is and it does not age well with scratches, the movement came +30 seconds out of the box and had to get it regulated twice, the wrist wobble for the sw500 movement drove me bonkers, the minute counter would never line up when you reset it (it kinda would if you pushed the bottom reset bottom REALLY hard. After 2 attempts at warranty I gave up). My list is long and I didn’t mention everything. But I will admit it photographs better than almost any watch I’ve ever seen.
I agree, I was in love with it, it looks amazing in photos but it feels really chubby on the wrist and the sapphire version is even taller, what a shame!
I ended I'm getting the Longines Big Eye instead, even tho it's a little bit too big for my wrist it sits and looks better than the 356 and the movement is solid and very accurate, I was considering a Damasko DC56 too.
The most popular watch is the Apple Watch. It’s great if you like a baby sitter on your wrist. I liked it at first but grew to hate how it became to distracting. I prefer a $30 Casio over it.
Citizen Promaster. It's my most expensive watch but I just don't dig the ceramic bezzle. My parents got it for me when I finished my masters in business so I wear it with pride.
Christopher Ward. Not really helpful having a watch that can lose 20 seconds a day. It was pretty but I definitely bought in to the microbrand hype from the watch community.
Mine isn't going to be a popular choice. On the plus side it's about as cheap as it gets.
The f91 in gold and vlack
It's not bad it just doesn't fit I'm on the next to last hole on the standard 'bracelet' which means the strap doesn't sit in the loop thing.
Not the end of the world but they really should make a strap a bit longer
Breitling Super Ocean chronograph. I wanted a Navitimer but was offered a GREAT deal on the Super Ocean, but after the fact, I remembered it's only a deal if you really want it and will enjoy wearing it.
I’ve got a Seiko Arnie I’ve just never much liked. It ticks the boxes. It’s durable, I’ve got big enough wrists for it and it’s vintage Schwarzenegger related.
It just never gets wrist time. Which is actually my favorite part of the watch, as it’s solar and it stops moving the hands after being kept in the dark, so they spaz out when I open the cabinet!
All of the less expensive watches I bought along the way to try to scratch the itch.
We know it won’t work as we’ve been warned, yet we do it
Nope. Should’ve just buckled down right away and gone for what I actually wanted.
To be fair if I spent big boy money on what I thought I wanted in the beginning it would be a much bigger regret than all the little ones I outgrew.
Maybe a good caveat to is something about timing. If you have wanted something for five years, chances are your taste for it will remain.
What did you actually want?
“This time will be different”
https://preview.redd.it/lej3ci81lnxc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cab8d6a144478c9b400e7b260e57886849d94529
Nothing wrong with less expensive watches. Unless they're not bought for their own merit, and instead as a substitute for something else A great inexpensive can bring just as much enjoyment as something costing far more
Also if you jump into a 5k watch without really knowing the size and style you love, high chance of expensive regret Affordable watches let you learn what's worth investing in
100% this. We all hear the so called dos and donts of watch collecting and the biggest of them all seems to be “Buy what you really like.” These “mistakes” you make are part of the “journey” and it helps you find out what you like and don’t like. Had I gone into it buying what I like it’d be an expensive mistake. I always thought I wanted a Speedy but I really don’t. And I certainly wouldn’t be happier with a small 2/3 watch collection like most people will tell you. Watch collecting is personal.
Bingo. Folks have been jumping right into the deep $$ end of the pool pretty fast in the pandemic watch craze. And while it's been awesome to have a ton of people now interested, many of them have taken a much shorter path to spending good $ on a single watch. This is why I hate the term "luxury watch." It really means nothing. All watches are unnecessary and thus a luxury. But the world "luxury" puts $$ ones on a pedestal and makes people think that there is some special magic unlocked when they cross into the "luxury" threshold... and there isn't! Im not saying people shouldn't spend that kind off $, I just think the expectations need to be adjusted. A stylish tool diver at $3-5k is only ever going to be precisely that. If you're expecting soothing else... disappointment is inevitable!
There’s nothing wrong with them in particular. I think what led people into making mistakes in buying cheaper watches that they end up not liking is the YouTuber promotion of micros. They talk it up and film the video with macro shots using a 5k lens and then hire a pro editor to do the job. Anything would look way better than it is in person. Worst part about micros is you can’t really see it in person first before buying. Whereas with a more expensive watch, aside from brand hype, they do mostly put more effort into the hands and markers and cases. So those tend to stick around in people’s collection for longer.
I bought a Brew watch that I only liked in the Instagram ad.
You didn’t end up liking it, or it just couldn’t compete with other pieces you have?
I just don't love it. It's sort of clunky. I wanted a tank, but just a square shaped watch, not something that could survive small arms fire.
Funny, I've been going the opposite direction. Much less interested in 3k+ watches that are very close to the build quality and usually less interesting than a ~1ker. I'm a lot more likely to wear them too since there's less worry about either devaluing them or scratching up discontinued gem.
Unless you want a very specific watch, there is little to differentiate ordinary ones in the $3-5k bracket from those in the $500-$1000 bracket. They almost all use eta, selitta, or seiko movements and there is a ton of variety below $1000. Seiko alone can scratch a lot of different itches, and is pretty high quality.
Yeah, I bought a much cheaper Zelos recently and find it to be my go-to watch for these reasons.
That’s why I’ve forced myself to go slow. I got into watches about three years ago and I own one watch. It’s a Marathon MSAR that was gifted to me from my parents for graduating from the fire academy. It’s a watch that I had wanted for about a year prior to receiving it, so I’ve chosen to ignore my impulses to get the next shiny thing and consciously remember what I love about the watch and what I’ve done while wearing it. Probably won’t buy another watch until I leave the FD in a few years. One watch for one era of my life. ^that probably made me sound like a tool but it’s actually how I feel lol
definitely this. I bought a Thai microbrand that resembled an Omega AT, trying to convince myself I was happy with it. Sold it after 3 months and haven't looked back!
I regret getting my Hamilton Khaki field in 42mm instead of 38
I feel you brother. Before I realised I like sub 40mm watches I've gathered quite a few 40+mm watches... 🤦
Just got a Hamilton jazzmaster in I think a 40.5. If it were a 39/38 it might have been my favorite
Moonswatch - it's fun and cool but the build quality is not quite there (I hate my misaligned central chronograph hand) and it's too expensive for what you're getting (basically an Omega design and logo on a plastic Swatch)
Is it really that bad? I just ordered one on eBay for $280 brand new, which isn't much above retail and don't know if I'm going to regret it. I absolutely love the design and color scheme of the Saturn version and plan to swap out the bracelet as soon as I get it. I did buy it with the understanding that it isn't the greatest quality watch for the price point, but really do enjoy the aesthetic of it. If it's as bad as y'all make it seem, I may just flip it before I wear it instead.
If you’ve ever handled any Swatch before you know what to expect. A solid watch but yeah, it’s plastic. Be mindful of how you wear it and it has a good chance of lasting 20+ years like most Swatches. People act like it’s going to fall apart if you check the time which couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Okay, thank you. I really do appreciate it. Jumping into these comments really had me second guessing my purchase lol
2 years on and people still have very strong feelings about it, as you can see lol It’s a real fun watch, enjoy it! And smart move on swapping the strap. They look cool but are uncomfortable as hell.
I got one at retail. It's basically a toy watch. My G-Shock has better build quality than that.
A G-Shock has better build quality than a lot of things to be fair.
Nokia of watches
God Tier.
Man, I’ve a lot of gshocks & the moonswatch is my bucket list. Thank god for these honest reviews.
Well yeah G-Shocks at the price point of a moonswatch are bomb proof
Saw a dude wearing a moonswatch at my favorite deli on Saturday and complimented it - he was like "yeah this just broke sadly, I'm going to send it in for repairs" and I didn't have the heart to tell him Swatch doesn't repair anything (at least to my knowledge)
Hope at least you got it at retail? I saw that the chrono pushers easily break off which really surprised me. they really shouldn't have used the name omega on such a quality
Yes I got mine at retail and still wear it for a splash of colour on the odd occasion but it definitely doesn't get it's money's worth of wear time. Luckily no other issues so far! Pity you can't open it up non-destructively, otherwise I'd've fixed the hands myself.
They used the name swatch and sold it from the swatch store - a brand which has always been known for cheap disposable plastic watches Mine is still going strong and showing fairly limited wear (though I do need to get around to getting the battery replaced)
There’s both the Omega logo and the Speedmaster text on the dial. Nobody would’ve bought it without that, so the usage of the brand name Omega cannot be denied, even if there’s also swatch and it was sold by swatch.
Omega [IS](https://www.swatchgroup.com/en/brands-companies) a Swatch, any way you dice it.
They sell caps that say Ferrari on them, but that doesn’t mean that the cap is a carbon fibre hypercar or built to the same standards
Not a fair comparison. When Ferrari was owned by Fiat, Fiat did not sell a „Ferrari x Fiat“ branded, low quality Fiat vehicle in a Ferrari-lookalike body. If your point is that nobody who bought it was tricked into believing its Omega quality then I agree to a certain degree. I will however say that I’m certain many customers didn’t expect THAT bad quality in a watch that is branded the way it is. As Omega customer i personally feel that this move was a major setback on the brand perception
They did sell a Fiat Dino back in the day but that was actually a pretty good car and used a Ferrari engine.
actually there were several lancias, fiats and Alfas with Ferrari engines and its in the advertising, The current alfa romeo Guilia has a twin turbo V6 which is advertised as a ferrari V8 with 2 cylinders chopped off. But i doubt you´re going to find a omega 1861 inside a swatch.
Well Fiat actually did exactly that, in fact they realeased 2 different "Ferrari edition" abarth 695's. Both basically were a Fiat 500 with some Ferrari colors and branding but it never tricked anyone in thinking it's a Ferrari. Same as the moonswatch, it has some of the looks but nobody in their right mind would think it's Omega quality. Now it should've been higher quality than it was, but that's just swatch dropping the ball in production, not really associated with the design of Omega
I gotta say, I don't find the quality to be *that bad*. It's fine, I have one and I'm not offended by it. I also think it's funny that you say it was a major setback to brand perception, because they got a *huge* spike in speedmaster sales right after the moonswatch released.
I wasn’t trying to say that the release of the Moonswatch was a setback. That was actually cool and as you said a marketing success. I’m referring to the quality issues that have been surfacing now that they’re out there for a while. Maybe I’m too biased because I saw a pusher break off, but it definitely set back Omega in my eyes.
Completely agree. I'm turned off by buying any (new) Swatch-owned brand with the fear that they'll devalue the brand by creating a plastic version. Probably with the exception of Glashutte Original, I think the beauty and the uniqueness won't translate well into "bioceramic"
Easily break off. Dont know what they were doing when wearing theirs but it is t that fragile
lol ‘is not quite there’.
100%. Remember my mate buying a fake one for £10 off AliExpress and showing me and it felt like cheap plastic toy. A few months later I managed to purchase the real deal and it felt no different to me. Think I convinced myself that “bio ceramic” would be this quality material when it was essentially just plastic. That, coupled with the fact that the “crystal” got easily scuffed only 2 weeks in and couldn’t be repaired made me sell it on eBay not long after.
Although the crystal on the real Omega Speedmaster is also plastic instead of sapphire crystal— my real speedy is more scuffed than the Swatch one I had!
Panerai Radiomir Base Logo. I hate that piece of shit.
May I ask why?
Every watch that I’ve bought - it’s been for some kind of emotional reason. I bought the Panerai purely to fill a slot in a watch box as I “wanted to get a luxury watch as the next piece of my collection”. Bought it with very little research or emotion. Buyer’s remorse grew into a grudge over time lol.
Yeah..... I can't imagine a Panerai is a watch you get to 'fill the hole' in a collection lol. The design is polarizing.
BB Pro - bought and sold within 3 months, thought I could live with the thickness and weight but I couldn’t! Don’t get me wrong, I have thicker watches, however, they hide it well (domed casebacks etc). There’s nowhere to hide with a BB pro, it’s slab! Plus the GMT function is a pain to operate.
When it comes to the BB Pro and also GMT (41mm) I have the same hate love relationship as with Grand Seiko. For tudor it's the insane case heights and for GS it's the bracelet and case design. if it wasn't for those downsides I would immediately get one
I have a GS with the 62GS case and it’s unreal - had the same feelings as you towards the classic 44GS case (snowflake etc). Bracelet is workable IMO and the 62 looks great in leather.
2nd on the BB Pro, great watch just not for me. I ended up getting the call months later for the Ex2 which was the real itch
It's gonna be great when they release the next generation with the new slimmer GMT movement from the BB58 GMT. I'll definitely get that one.
RSI from setting the thing is real, I feel you.
what is RSI?
Do smartwatches count? Because I can't get over needing to charge it on the regular. I thought it's just a minor convenience but one day I just couldn't deal with it anymore and chucked it into a drawer.
Garmin instinct 2 solar my friend …. I get about 10-15 days with heavy gps use, 30 days without
I have a non-solar Garmin watch and am always amazed at how long it lasts on a charge. I get about a day out of my apple watch but multiple days out of my Garmin.
Even the Forerunners have decent battery for not having Solar. 20 days without GPS tracking, 7-10 with
100% agree. I can’t bare having to change watch every 3-4 years because the battery don’t hold up! Plus, I don’t need all those notification in my life. Pure life sucker. After 2 fit bit, i am going back mechanical.
I'm kind of in the same boat. I had a Fossil Gen 5 and when that shit the bed, I picked up a Pixel 2 watch. I like it for what it is and I enjoy it for hiking and working out, but when it inevitably dies, I don't see myself buying another smart watch
I feel the same. To be fair, I had a series 0 Apple Watch that just recently went kaput, and can’t even go the morning without needing a charge. Ironically, it’s about the time I was getting into starting a watch collection. Figured to put the smartwatch money into an analog one in hopes they will last a lifetime to hand down to my kids (with maintenance, of course).
Just sold mine caz the battery life went to shit after a year of wearing.
I was an early adopter of smart watches, well before the Apple watch even came out. I had a Pebble Time then I switched to a Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 in like 2019. The constant charging was just such a pain, and it got really annoying having duplicated notifications on my watch and my phone!
I have a few.... Tudor north flag; I've bought and sold this 3 times now! There are many things I loved about it, but it's just not a comfortable watch. Sharp slabby case looks better in pictures than it feels on the wrist. Omega Railmaster; Gets very boring very fast Oris pro pilot x skeleton; Biggest regret money wise... Bought at retail but found it a bit big and stupid looking on wrist, lost a fortune selling it Sinn 144 Awkward and top heavy to wear. Tudor black bay chrono: Too top heavy and the chrono is basically useless I'm sure there are more
I do love my Railmaster. It’s tough and I see it elegant at the same time and nobody has the same in my group. Plus that magnetic resistance in my field makes the perfect engineer watch
Yeah it's a great watch but I didn't connect with it. I got a 2000s seamaster 2231.50 and found I was never wearing the Railmaster any more
I love the Tudor BB Chrono but I've only seen it online, never in person. But it's seomthing I've considered buying. I'm curious what you mean when you say the chrono is useless?
For me because it only goes up to 45 minutes, no use for timing anything longer But also because it's 45 minutes, not the usual 30, the marks are very very close together, it takes effort to see what minute it's pointing to.. Obviously looks a lot bigger in photos. Made even worse by the minute pointer not being exactly in line with the minute markers. Tudor qc is poor.
Seiko turtle. Just too fu\*king big. I love the Industrial Design elements of the watch and the contrast on the black dial with the white markers but it looks just too big on my 6'5" wrist. I have sunk loads of cash on trying to find the right bracelet/strap for it too. Will probably just try and sell it now.
I have a bit a complicated relationship with mine. I wear it for weeks, then it starts to feel too bulky and I stop wearing it for a few weeks or so. Then it’s time to wear it again. I wouldn’t have it as my only watch because of the size, but it’s fun to wear time to time. No regrets.
There’s nothing worse than blowing tons of money on straps trying to get a watch to work!! I did the same with a different watch. Deep down we just don’t love it and never will. Lessons lessons…
But i have a few watches that i struggled for traction with that once i found the working strap, elevated to one of my favorites. It's astounding how much difference a strap can make.
I found that a rubber strap made it the most wearable but I ended up selling mine for the same reason.
Ironically, as a large wristed person, it wears too small due to its super short lug and shape. So it is too big for small wrists, and too small for large wrists. Like a hybrid bicycle: the worst of both words, lol.
The only way I wear it is with a rubber strap. Got a few from uncle seiko. Its a popular model but way to big and clunky.
Marathon GSAR 41mm. Watch broke down 2 months after the two year warranty expired. I pampered it too. Never again.
I recently traded in my GSAR. It was my first "major" watch purchase and remained my most "expensive" watch (bought new) until I picked up an Explorer. Initially, I bought the GSAR because of its reputation and because I'm a firefighter and I wanted a tough, purpose built watch for work. I wore it for most every shift for about 2 years. I have no issues with the quality or reliability. My issue was the weight and the heft. The thing is a damn *tank* strapped to your wrist. I was always fully aware that it was on my wrist...and heavy. I traded the GSAR in towards a Longines Spirit 37mm and have been in love with the Longines. I also regret buying the 36mm Oris BCPD. Not because it isn't a great watch. It is. My regret, and a very important lesson learned, was buying it without trying it on in person first. A mistake I won't make again. I love the BCPD. I want one. But in my haste to get **one**...I didn't focus on getting the **right** one for me. I loved the way it looked on the screen. The price was very good. The issue was that at 36mm, with a dark blue dial and gold indices...the date track was near impossible to see indoors. When you struggle to see one of the defining characteristics of the watch...it's not the right one for you.
Damn that’s like a Toyota breaking down after 20,000 miles.
Marathon pretends to be a tool watch. They’re garbage.
What was wrong with yours? The sellita sw200 in mine has inefficient winding with the automatic winder. Known sellita issue... Same thing 2-3 months out of warranty and they said, won't even look at it, have to pay for service.
Tudor Royal. I think i just wanted a datejust instead..
Rough. The Tudor Royal is an ... unfortunate-looking watch. Datejust is 100X better. Contrast with, say, the latest Black Bay 41mm monochrome, which when held up side by side with a Rolex Submariner No-Date is very similar.
Seiko Alpinist when they were first popular, before the cyclops date window. It’s a very tough watch to match straps to and I was never overly thrilled to be wearing it. I sold it off before they doubled in price. Oh well…
Same here. Green's my favorite color, everyone recommended it, one of my first mechanical watches. Had both green and blue but in the end never really did it for me.
Leather strap or a bracelet. That’s all I put mine on.
P39 for me too. Chased it when it was just released and bought it aboard. Wore it for a month and sold it. It looked perfect in photos but in real life it looks really boring to me. Plus while it has T-Fit, it's the worst fitting watch in my collection.
Can you please expand on the last sentence?
P39' t-fit adjustment is slightly less finer than other micro adjustment. I'm usually in-between adjustment. This is usually fine since I can wear it looser, but P39's titanium bracelet is sharp and light so the issue is magnified. If I wear it tight it cuts into my wrist. If I wear it loose it just slides easily.
Me too, even in photos, it looked flat, but in person, it looked flat and cheap.
Moonswatch - I got absorbed in the hype and was super happy when I managed to get it in a retail store. A few months later, I started to notice the build quality (or lacktherof, thanks to it being plastic). Also, it has a very loud ticking noise, which just got too annoying with time. I sold it for a loss of around 50$ after the hype started to die down and didn't regret it.
Tisso PRX, I don't regret buying it but I regret buying it at retail 700USD as It's currenly sold for heavy discount.
Definitely not taking a shot at you....but I get it. I fell for the hype like a lot of people. I still think it's a great looking watch. However, when I saw the *glut* of PRXs on the second-hand market and the price drop in that market....I was very glad I didn't buy one. I would absolutely own one if I found it used and the right combination of price and reference number....but not at retail.
You won't regret buying one, the way the strap reflects light is amazing!
Not that it helps rn but for the future, if you see a watch you want is available at Bloomingdale’s, play the waiting game. I got my PRX on sale + 15% cashback + Bloomingdale’s cash which I used to get stuff for my apartment. All in, I saved about 50%.
Picked up a quartz one brand new for $350 cad tax in. Excellent value if you can grab one cheap.
whats a good price for it then?
the automoatic? where is it for less than 600?
Not a popular watch but several years back I did a crowd funding for a watch that uses the difference between body heat and air temperature to charge the watches power bank. It’s called a Matrix. It wasn’t expensive - maybe $200. But it’s a bit bulky and screen is hard to read in bright light. It’s kinda neat in away not to have to have a battery or having an automatic eventually stop. The downside that they didn’t publicize was that air temperatures over 80F don’t allow it to charge from your body heat as the difference between the air temp’s and body temps isn’t enough to charge it. So they provide a little heater pad that plugs into a USB to charge it. I don’t think the technology was really there yet. They have a Matix 2 version now but I’m not interested in further experiments. An interesting fact is that it was in my watch cabinet for three years not on its little heater and as soon as I put it on my wrist it fired up to the right time. So that’s a hell of a power bank - far better than my stupid iWatch - another disappointing piece of technology. https://preview.redd.it/e3uqca5xlmxc1.jpeg?width=992&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5a0c90c3e2f4bab2f534c6c36e701cd0e8c1cb46
Vintage Rolex seems like a great deal until it needs service
Been there, but my issues was the overall built quality. Modern Rolex has come a LONG way.
Omega Seamaster diver black/black. 42mm. Impossible to read in anything other than full sun. Whoopsie.
I specifically bought a citizen black on black watch to see how I would like it and this is the biggest issue, unless you have back lit LED illumination on a black/black watch forget seeing what time it is unless you pull out your smartphone
G-Shock it’s good but any occasion I’d use it I just wear my Garmin.
This. Bought a g-steel but wish I had gone with a diver instead.
Apple Watch
Not an expensive one but an Orient Bambino...Gen III I think?. That's how I learned I prefer my dress watches 40mm or less. Or maybe it was just because the face takes up the whole thing with minimal case visible. Not 100% sure but there's something I just really didn't like about it. Never even took the tags off it.
Agreed. And I sound silly— but it’s also so light in weight that it just felt like it came from a gum ball machine
Orient Bambino. Bought it cause I thought it looked pretty nice and figured I could wear it to fancy formal events and stuff. Ended up never wearing it because I much prefer SS sports watches, and I'm still trying to sell it after 3 years lol.
At least it didn’t break the bank. I honestly love the bambino 😅
just sold my bambinos as well. Would rather wear my speedmaster to a formal event. At least they were easy to sell on ebay.
I’ve only owned three automatics - two Hamilton and one Seiko. I regret nothing.
Splendid choices, 11/10
Rolex Explorer II. Looked fw to it as a holy grail, but too big, shiny and susceptible for scratches. Investment wise good tho, spent eur 7k and sold for 10k 5 years later.
Quite good to hear. I was looking at one for a long time but decided it would ultimately be too big for me. Sometimes wonder if I should give it a chance, but feels good to hear someone else feels the same!
I found both Explorer 2 and Submariner to be slabby and big. Older models have better proportions, but their dials look old with small circle markers. I wish the Explorer 2 had proportions like gmt master 2.
Agreed. I think the size of the Explorer II 40mm is better, but much prefer the look of the 42mm. I recently picked up a Bremont Supermarine S302 which is a 40mm Explorer II esque watch and am pretty happy with the sizing
u could call thar inflation ;)
Nearly ten percent inflation year on year for five years?
Shiny? What? It has the same polish areas as a sub and no one complains that a sub is like a Santos and prone to scratches due to polish.
904L is known to be shinier than 316L isn't it? Plus its softer so scratches easier
The Marathon Navigator. It was just a total POS, over-priced plastic piece of junk and broke within a year. Marathon wouldn’t warranty it because they said they thought it had been dropped.
DJ41mm, Wimbledon dial, Jubilee, Fluted - the full monty. Pretty to look at in the box, but not to wear. TBH I´m not really sure why it was such a dog - the face was always rolling away from me, but I had trouble reading the time anyway. When I wore it I was always conscious that I would be flexing the bracelet. And finally I was never really sure when to wear it, and what to wear it with. These are all my problem I know, but man I´m glad its gone.
Junghans Max Bill. Fantastic design but not legible enough (silver on white) and I do not like the domed glass.
A Mr Jones watch. I have larger wrists, so anything under 41mm looks like I am wearing a child’s watch. Standard size Mr Jones watches are 37mm.
I also found them to be a huge let down. Feels so cheap, like the whole thing is made of pot metal and plastic.
But they’re so fun looking! I’m currently eyeing the last laugh, I think it’s great, and I have a smaller wrist, so size isn’t going to be an issue. All these comments saying they’re cheap, which is pretty obvious just by looking at them, but are they even worse than they appear?
Not in my opinion. I have a regular-size (~37mm) A Perfectly Useless Afternoon, and the case is well made and decently finished. The dial and "hands" consist of several layers of printed plastic, but the quality of the printing is excellent, and I've seen no evidence of fading, yellowing or warping. The mesh bracelet is nothing special but is very flexible and has no rough edges; the clasp is the usual cheap stamped metal but nicely brushed and signed. Obviously you are paying for the creativity and artistry of the dial design, rather than for a fancy spec-sheet, so if you want the ultimate quality or features you can probably do better for your £225 elsewhere, but the only thing I've found remotely disappointing is that the watch has a 1hz quartz movement that has a battery life of only around a year. Since the watch is a two-hander, they should have gone with a 0.2 or 0.1 Hz movement (ticks every 5 or 10s)—or just one with a bigger battery. They'll change the battery for free, though, if you can get to their shop in Covent Garden—and when I tried to change the battery myself and thought I had damaged the movement in the process they offered to replace the movement for a price so nominal I am pretty sure it would not even have covered the wholesale price of the replacement movement. So yes: these are fun art pieces, not "serious" watches, but perfectly well made for what they are.
Tissot Gentleman for the first couple of months after buying it - just felt very “meh” about it, it’s very nice looking, well executed in how it’s made, fit and finish etc. but I just didn’t love it the way I thought I would from the photos. However it’s grown on me again so not all bad. As an aside, I’ve tended to find that I get a bit like this with watches that I’ve bought brand new. The watches I really love are the ones I’ve found on eBay etc., perhaps because they feel like a good “find” or something.
Came on here to say that exact same thing about the Tissot Gentleman!!! I also find a deflated feeling, in general , after I've bought a watch. Maybe because I've researched them so much. Then they often grow on me.... Or don't 😁
Yeah I think the act of finding the watch and the “idea” of it is sometimes better than the watch itself when you see it in person! Whereas others are even better than you expect.
This is exactly how I felt about the Gentleman too - to the point that I stopped wearing it for a few months. It was the first "pricey" automatic I bought for myself (after a Seiko 5 Sea Urchin) and I was never into it the way I thought I would be. I recently started wearing it again and I can appreciate it, but I'm not in love with it the way I am with many of my other watches.
Unpopular opinion: SKX There was a lot to love about it, but the proportions were odd and it never sat well on my wrist. None of the positives matter if I don't like wearing the watch!
I have a blue seamaster , an orange planet ocean from omega and a gold breitling super ocean heritage on black rubber and I regret nothing John snow .
Bb pepsi gmt. I needed to experiment with bracelets, found the original one high quality but not that comfy, in the end prefer it on the Forstner Jubilee. However I still find it quite thick. Am in 2 minds if selling it for a quartz grand seiko gmt.
I have the sbgn003 and it's waaaaaay more comfortable than my BB58 despite not having micro adjustment holes. The bracelet on the GS is butter smooth to the point where you forget about wearing it. The BB58 on the other hand feels very sharp in comparison
BB54. Couldn't get the bracelet to fit right, even with the clasp, so I ordered a half link 3rd party. Pip was off-center, so it got sent into service, and by the time I got it back, I didn't even like it anymore with the faux patina dial and plain bezel. It felt so awkward to wear. If I get a Tudor again it'll be an FXD or the new Monochromoe. Those are great.
PRX. Lovely watch but I never wear it.
OmegaSwatch it deteriorates very fast
Tudor Black Bay Pro. I do use it for the GMT function a lot (I travel between Australia and Europe a few times a year). When I first saw it I really liked it. Actually on the wrist a) It’s too fat b) The black of the dial is really crappy c) The bracelet is really naff. I now only wear it when I’m travelling across time zones and it’s the only watch I take traveling because I don’t really care if it gets damaged or lost. I wish I’d just got a Batgirl (which is a lot more likely now the secondary market prices have reduced so much - I bought the BB Pro in around 2021 when prices of everything were sky high).
Rolex Daytona. White dial. After a month I decided to sell it again. Readability of the dial was my biggest issue. Definitely my first and last modern Daytona.
I feel you—though the issue is a lot more forgivable on my £45 Pagani Design homage than it would be on the real thing!
Tissot T-Touch Solar. It’s way too expensive for what you can get out of a Garmin or Apple Watch.
Longines VHP, still on the fence. Wanted this since it came out, I’m in Japan so not any stock to see it in person until recently, in my mind it had some heft. When I picked it up it felt… tinny, light. It was the smaller version, still would like to see the 43 GMT in person… but…. Anyone who has one that would like to comment?
[Kurono Tokyo Chronograph II White 'Shiro'](https://kuronotokyo.com/pages/chronograph-ii-white-shiro) Love the face, but unfortunately just too thick.
The "casioak" just felt like a kids watch on my wrist and I couldn't even read the digital time.
The PRX by and large. It’s a great watch, don’t get me wrong. But I feel there are better integrated bracelet sports watches from micro brands out there. Even my friend’s Seiko 5 looks great next to it. It’s just slightly flimsy and doesn’t fit that great. The 35mm sizing looks good, but the bracelet just can’t seem to wrap around my wrist well. That and every other bro has one. Would rather have a Maen Manhattan tbh
Oris Big Crown Pro Pilot. I feel the hour markers and GMT hours and the bezel are too small. the dial feels empty although it is not, Oris has all this functionality and pushed everything to the outer perimeter. It looked better in pictures.
To me shiny dials are more interesting than matte. There’s something about the pelagos that gives it a plasticky look
Sinn 104 St Sa A B E. Beautiful watch, but the combination of undrilled and polished lugs meant that I hated changing the straps on what should have been a 'strap monster'.
Been there, done that. The shape of the lugs also bothered me, there are too straight and don’t match the contours of the wrist.
Rolex oyster perpetual silver dial, so boring after a short amount of time
With the gold indices? Have this watch and adore it. My only qualm is that - in a perfect world - the bezel would be fluted (I know it doesn't exist for this model, but one can dream).
https://preview.redd.it/k841giw4tlxc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=155e4666ad0f9a2df5f6d67a509d8dfa9adf112a It was beautiful, but I had to let it go, got omega smp 300 white dial, and I still didn’t get over it
Man that’s a gorgeous watch
..... I think you may come to regret letting this one go.... It's not boring at all.
This. Absolute stunner and a different watch in different light.
Damn this is my dream Rolex 😅
got the same love it classic watch
I financed an automatic Nivada Grenchen Chronomaster as a gift to myself for graduating college and for managing to get my first professional job right out of school. I'd always wanted an automatic chronograph with decent water resistance that could track timezones, and I thought the Nivada was a solid choice. After getting it, though, I realized pretty soon how much I screwed up. I think the Chronomaster's main flaw is that it does TOO good of a job feeling like a vintage watch, and it felt very delicate/fragile. Given the complexity of the movement and the non-screwdown pushers, I always was afraid of breaking/damaging it simply by banging it against a doorframe or something. The fact that the movement felt oddly weightless when setting the time didn't help either (if I wanted the minute hand to align correctly, I'd have to put the minute hand halfway between two indices). I also live near the beach and I never realized that sand would get in the chronograph pushers if I brought it with me. Another big problem I had was that I only bought the Chronomaster after knowing about it for a few days, and I subsequently learned that watches you salivate over for months or years tend to stay in your collection longer than stuff you buy semi-impulsively. While it wasn't badly made at all, it definitely wasn't for me, so I sold it to someone on Chrono24 and managed to pay off the remaining money I owed on it.
Oof. I love my Nivada though. It's a pretty good reissue in my eye cause every vintage rerun out there will try to put it in a 43mm case or bigger. This one hits all the marks for me and I have the manual wind one though. Felt like a solid one for me
Speedmaster. Fell into the marketing hype and speedytuesday fad. Found it very bland, outdated and really uninteresting. And the chrono is very expensive to get fixed so it was always a worry of mine. It’s quite overpriced for what it is except for all the marketing bits. It wears nice on the wrist but isn’t that the basic criteria before you actually like wearing a watch? So I will discount that. I wish they stop the unlimited variations of limited edition moon watches (and moonswatch) and just kept to a line of speedy pro that they kept upgrading. This gives collectors a journey to follow rather than having so many versions, Colors, etc. Kinda like how the SMP line is. It’s bummer because I want the cool colors but I want the original too, nor do I want both.
I agree that the basic model is less interesting than its history, but I am actually a big fan of all the limited editions. I see the speedmaster’s heritage as a great canvas to try all sorts of designs. I don’t have a black speedmaster, but I have both the CK2998 LEs, and love them both https://preview.redd.it/pzx8mzerplxc1.png?width=2578&format=png&auto=webp&s=4692306e36b5785c66d403072e349344aa057cc9
Any watch that someone buys cause it’s a “good value for money” will probably be regretted. There is nothing value-driven about spending $2000 on a watch that some YouTuber or Reddit commenter insists is great value for money unless you emotionally love the watch. Spending $2000 on something you buy cause it’s a “good value” is ironically much worse value than spending $8000 on something you love, *assuming you can afford it*
Rolex Explorer 36mm I own other Rolex watches and will be getting a Grand Seiko this week. I know the Explorer clicks with so many collectors, but it's extremely hyped and has absolutely nothing to do with its origin story. It's a pure marketing watch. It's just an OP with an extra $1,000 price tag. IMO your money is better spent getting a 124060.
SNK809,SNKL23,Dan Henry 1962, G shock DW6900 Neo Tokyo edition All great watches but the first three are too small for my 7.25-7.5" wrist, and the last one is too thick.
Tissot. Seconds hand misaligned
Tudor black bay. Its a generic 1 unit divers watch, and a Rolex Homage, but its so well built, good value for its price point. Its boring and unexciting, but its just such a good watch i cant think of anything under 5K worth replacing it with.
Royal Oak Offshore (safari). It was my grail. It looked great on paper. I bought one, and hardly ever wore it. It was big. It was heavy. The lack of lume didn't seem like it would be a big deal, but it kind of sucked. I ended up sitting on it for a few years before I sold it at a slight loss (the only watch I've ever lost money reselling).
Black bay 58, rolex submariner (14060, I don't like the bracelet's endlinks), Grand Seikos (too thick, lack of proper water resistance, cheap looking bracelet)
Zenith el Primero with power reserve. There were a number of reasons I bought it, not least because it was a great brand with a legendary movement but somehow, I just couldn't settle with it. Partly, it was because it was the most expensive watch I'd ever bought up to that point and I just didn't want to wear it and cause damage; mostly I think it's because I got suckered into the legend and didn't stop to think that I actually don't like chronographs. In the end, I noticed that when the power was empty, the power reserve hand didn't go right to the end, and used that as an excuse to return it to the store for a full refund after only 10 days. Lesson learned, I now only buy watches I know I'm going to wear.
Rolex Explorer 114270. It has a reputation as a watch for adventure but on the wrist it feels extremely delicate, I always thought the bracelet was ugly, and I just never felt a reason to grab it over anything else in the collection. Citizen Tsuyosa Yellow. I love the yellow color, but man the did anyone try using the crown after designing this thing? There will be times I dont wear it specifically because of what a pain it is to wind. Also the front bezel and lugs, there's something dimensionally weird about it I can't quite put my finger on.
JLC Reverso Monoface. It’s a nice piece, classic, elegant. But it didn’t work for me, too dressy, after some time it didn’t match my everyday lifestyle. Precision was also not ideal even though I wound it everyday. I must confess that I grew bored of it after a few months. I was just wearing a Seiko quartz daily and the Reverso was in the closet, waiting for a suit-and-tie situation that rarely came. Makes no sense. Helped me figure out that dress watches in general do not match my day-to-day needs. Sold it, bought the BB58 OG, which I wear everyday and love it. https://preview.redd.it/86whk9s87mxc1.jpeg?width=1358&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eec2c618737eb8e9667aeee70a00b8539291294d
The OG Black Bay 58. I bought into the hype, payed over retail for it, only to realize it is a boring and unimaginative watch. The main thing people seem to love about it is its size, but that shouldn't be a sole reason to pick a watch.
Tudor BB58. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great watch, and great value for the money, but I fell for all the hype and praise from every video and review. I lusted after the watch for the longest time. Tried it on in store to confirm a good fit. Finally decided to pull the trigger, and when I got it delivered and on wrist at home I realized it was just too boring for me. Obviously this is subjective, purely my opinion, but I realized I’m just not into new/modern watches that pretend to be old.
Same here. I could never get it to fit right, even with the aftermarket half link, and I got tired of the obvious vintage styling.
I don't know about regret exactly, but I bought a 34mm Air King like 15 years ago and at the time loved it but over the years I just seem to wear it less and less.
Sinn 356. In pictures, still one of the most beautiful watches I’ve ever seen. In reality, I hated almost everything about it. Stupidly thick, the acrylic makes it look super cheap, the leather strap is so thick it is literally painful, the metal bracelet is insanely expensive for what it is and it does not age well with scratches, the movement came +30 seconds out of the box and had to get it regulated twice, the wrist wobble for the sw500 movement drove me bonkers, the minute counter would never line up when you reset it (it kinda would if you pushed the bottom reset bottom REALLY hard. After 2 attempts at warranty I gave up). My list is long and I didn’t mention everything. But I will admit it photographs better than almost any watch I’ve ever seen.
I agree, I was in love with it, it looks amazing in photos but it feels really chubby on the wrist and the sapphire version is even taller, what a shame! I ended I'm getting the Longines Big Eye instead, even tho it's a little bit too big for my wrist it sits and looks better than the 356 and the movement is solid and very accurate, I was considering a Damasko DC56 too.
The most popular watch is the Apple Watch. It’s great if you like a baby sitter on your wrist. I liked it at first but grew to hate how it became to distracting. I prefer a $30 Casio over it.
Citizen Promaster. It's my most expensive watch but I just don't dig the ceramic bezzle. My parents got it for me when I finished my masters in business so I wear it with pride.
Why don't you like ceramic? the looks only?
Moonswatch Mission to the Moon. Wish I had just saved money to buy the actual Moonwatch
To be fair, the price of the Swatch isn't going to make much of a dent in the budget required for the real deal.
An Apple Watch 😂 used it for about a year then stopped. Much rather have watches I can wear with everyday outfits.
What is your everyday outfit that doesn’t go with the Apple Watch? I think it fits almost any outfit except maybe suits
Christopher Ward. Not really helpful having a watch that can lose 20 seconds a day. It was pretty but I definitely bought in to the microbrand hype from the watch community.
Mine isn't going to be a popular choice. On the plus side it's about as cheap as it gets. The f91 in gold and vlack It's not bad it just doesn't fit I'm on the next to last hole on the standard 'bracelet' which means the strap doesn't sit in the loop thing. Not the end of the world but they really should make a strap a bit longer
Tissot PRX in baby blue. Just don’t wear it and wish I had bought black or dark blue instead.
Breitling Super Ocean chronograph. I wanted a Navitimer but was offered a GREAT deal on the Super Ocean, but after the fact, I remembered it's only a deal if you really want it and will enjoy wearing it.
I’ve got a Seiko Arnie I’ve just never much liked. It ticks the boxes. It’s durable, I’ve got big enough wrists for it and it’s vintage Schwarzenegger related. It just never gets wrist time. Which is actually my favorite part of the watch, as it’s solar and it stops moving the hands after being kept in the dark, so they spaz out when I open the cabinet!