Do you want a quartz watch, manual or automatic? I believe Hamilton and Seiko have watches iin your price range. Shinola seems overpriced for what you get. The affordable watches forum on watchuseek.com might be a good place to look for ideas. Watchrecon.com allows you to search on the variety of forums for pre-owned watches if you want to go in that direction Ultimately get what you like. Don't forget the n+1 equation, where n is the number of bikes you have also holds true for watches too

Also, the thetimebum.com had good reviews of affordables.

I'm old and not up to speed with all the new sayings. I comprehend "ish" (though can't stand it). Also understand symbol for approximately. Is using them both a thing?

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It doesn't really matter what Phil is saying, the music of his voice is the appropriate soundtrack for a bicycle race. HTupolev

I don't know that it's a "thing" or not. I just use both together when I really want to emphasize a specific top end or ballpark top end price range. It kills me when I see someone ask for advice about a potential purchase, list a budget, then some eager enthusiast about that item comes in and makes suggestions that are 2-5 times the cost of the person's budget when something perfectly useful and satisfactory could be found within their budget. So ~ and "ish" together is my way of saying "No, around $300 is really all I want to spend on this, despite however gorgeous your favorite XYZ brand is at $1500 instead."

This is a good question. I suppose it shows my lack of knowledge, because I assumed that an automatic was just out of my price range anyway at $300 and thought all manual watches were quartz and vice versa. Looks like I need to do a little bare bones research.

Thanks for the website suggestions. I'll check those out.

Quickie definitions:
-automatic – watch winds by the movement of your wrist– Some will also manual wind- once fully wound when you take them off they will probably run somewhere around 40 hours before stopping.

-manual – you need to wind the watch and then it will run depending on the movement anywhere from 38 hours up to as many as 8+ days (Panerai for example has an eight day movement but this is getting way beyond your price range)

- quartz - these are battery-operated

If you aren't sure what you want to start by looking at some of the watches on http://www.longislandwatch.com - also remember that you don't have to buy the watch with the strap that you can buy the strap separately and if you were reasonably handy change it yourself. Most jewelry stores will do it for you for a reasonable fee too. I've had the watch man at my local Rolex store adjust couple of my bracelets- they have never charged me and offer me cookies each time. Strapcode.com gives you an idea of some of the strap options.

I have a Tissot that would meet your criteria except the leather strap but that is easily fixable. It is automatic which is nice and has only hour, minute, second and the day number on it, I like simple watches. I think I paid about 500 Canadian for it so I wouldn't be surprised to see it cheaper in the US. It is going on 10 years of wear and still works well so I consider it money well spent.

Ben

Seiko SARB035 or SARB033. No question. Excellent both mechanically and aesthetically - probably the best value for money on a automatic watch. Look up the reviews on the various 'watch geek' forums.

https://www.amazon.com/...matic/dp/B001AE9XS0/

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Remember - It's important to be comfortable in your own skin... because it turns out society frowns on wearing other people's

Citizen EcoDrive. Nothing better in that price range. Look on Amazon.

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"...the street finds its own uses for things"

I was set on buying new. Found enough info from various ST threads and others advice for buying used. Changed my mind. I like to browse https://davidsw.com/ that was recommended by someone on this forum. He replies fairly quick to emails.

EDIT: Sorry - I misread the original post. I thought the budget was $3000. So, in retrospect: http://www.jomashop.com

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Gnothi Seauton.

2nd that. Best watch I have ever owned.

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I'll be what I am
A solitary man

Check out the Garmin Vivomove Premium - got one a few months ago and absolutely love it. Looks great and I get complements on it all the time.

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| DRINKsimple (friendofhoffman for 15% off) | The Cupcake Cartel |

Love my Swiss Army Dive Master 500. Built like a tank (although not as big as a tank) and works well for professional and casual wear. Mine has the orange dial like in the example below but various colors are available if that's not your thing. Price range fluctuates around your $300, if memory serves I picked mine up for $325 4 years back.

https://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-Swiss-241428-Master-Orange/dp/B004E4GRGO

have you considered a used "higher end" watch. I have been wearing a Tag Aquaracer for over a decade and it is an absolute workhorse. I have banged it hard on numerous occasion and barely shows a mark. I've never thought about selling outright, but on trade I was offered $400 a couple years ago and that was with box and paperwork. It was roughly $1400 new.

This^^^

I own this watch, for a stretch of a few years I wore it daily and it's held up wonderfully, and I swear I've gotten more compliments about that watch than anything I own.

Where would be a good place to get a used Hamilton khaki automatic or a used Hamilton Jazzmaster? Nice watches could buy new but would rather buy used from reliable source.

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

I'm sure there are online outlets. I live in Chicago so I can head over to reputable jewelers on Jewelers Row and peruse their inventory of trade-ins.

Someone above mentioned Seiko - they have several affordable ranges with very different looks, but they are typically very reliable. Quartz and automatics.

What appeals to you is personal. If you're not in a hurry, a good site to visit is Massdrop. They always have some watches on offer, and you can search the site for all watches they've ever offered, some of which are repeated fairly regularly. Lots of Seikos, but some other interesting watches, and loads at the $300 price point. Chronometers, field/military, diver, simple/classic styles, etc. Read the comments and you'll see which ones people rate as great deals and which are not much cheaper than Amazon. Watches not currently for sale, you'll have to read through the comments anyway and hopefully someone makes reference to it.

You say not formal so leather strap, but most very formal watches are leather. Metal bracelets were introduced for diving since leather doesn't do well in salt water, so originally considered a sport watch. Of course, the very formal straps are some endangered species and kind of ostentatious, but there are some really nice plain leather straps out there.

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Brian

Gonna buy a fast car, put on my lead boots, take a long, long drive
I may end up spending all my money, but I'll still be alive

My buddy has a wooden watch and it's really cool they're only about $100

Take a look at Hamilton and Tissot. If you're willing to gray market your dollars go a lot farther but you get a third party warranty rather than a manufacturers warranty.

There are plenty of watches in that price range that are nice looking and reliable. Best thing to do is narrow down your selection....mechanical (automatic), regular quartz, or quartz with self charging (Seiko kinetic/Citizen Ecodrive, etc, or solar). All have their advantages and drawbacks...although I would say on paper there are really no positives to buying a mechanical movement...you just have to want it. Then decide the style (dress watch, diver, pilot, etc) and what features you'd like...date, day, stopwatch, GMT, etc. Once you have that narrowed down you will probably find several manufacturers offering something comparable and you can shop on price and looks. I'd avoid any plated finishes (gold, black, etc) as these are thin in this price range and will quickly wear off. Any of the Japanese brands make high quality watches in that price range. Try to buy in person if possible - I've found it is hard to get the look and feel for a watch over the internet - a slight difference in weight or thickness can mean a lot.

The citizen eco drive that has been mentioned a few times is a very nice watch in your range and criteria set. I really like mine.

I use a G-Shock mudmaster here in theater
I have a nice thin dress Seiko my wife got me that I wear with suites
The Eco drive is my semi-dress watch and goes perfectly with dress shirt and slacks with a coat thrown on where necessary.

/r

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Steve

Ha! I bought a friend one of those. He is a carpenter. The brand was Woodie.

Seiko "Monster"

Google it. I really like that watch.

A lot more to consider than I anticipated! There are more options than I originally thought.

I'm pretty well narrowed down to something simple -- I believe navy/pilot style with maybe just the date and a classic looking silver/stainless round case. After looking at the suggestions of Hamilton, Tissot, Seiko, and Citizen and then doing some digging online to check face styles, I think it looks like Hamilton & Citizen have styles that I like best for the long term.

The Citizens I saw and liked are Eco-drives. The Hamilton I really liked at the top end of the price range for those is an Automatic; it's well over what I initially wanted to spend, but I like it a lot and may go above budget if it's worth it. The other Hamiltons closer to my price range are Quartz. The price difference is $130--$160 for the Citizens compared to $320--$430 for the Hamiltons.

While I really like the look of the $430 Hamilton Jazzmaster, I like the looks of the Citizens at about $150 as much as the Hamiltons at about $350 and I could absolutely live with it and probably forget about how much I like the looks of the more pricey Jazzmaster pretty quickly. Is the quality difference between a $150 Citizen and a $430 Hamilton significant enough to make it worth the cash outlay or are they likely closer in quality than the cost difference would imply, i.e. a difference due to volume & manufacturing costs from a bigger company to a small maker? I don't care about "status" over function. Part of me leans toward the Citizen and then taking some old family leather goods and paying a leather making friend $50 to cut a custom strap from it so I have something with a unique personal tie...still coming in under budget overall. That's something I'd hold off on doing if I bought the over-budget Jazzmaster (whose strap I don't really love but could live with for a while). Any insight into the actual quality difference between the two brands?

The Jazzmaster with the 12 6 and 9 with black face and the date where the three is is sweet. I think it would be even nicer if the whole face was even black instead of the two tone with the different colour in the centre.

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

In this price range you mostly get what you pay for. More expensive generally gives you a more scratch resistant face, better finishing, better materials, and/or a more sophisticated movement. The exception...automatics usually cost significantly more than the equivalent quartz...but for that money you are getting a watch that is an order of magnitude less accurate, needs to be worn or wound constantly, and needs service every few years. There is no logical justification for buying an automatic in this price range other than that is what trips your trigger and you have to have it. Within quartz, all else being equal I would be willing to pay $50 or more for a kinetic/eco-drive vs standard battery assuming I will be wearing it at least weekly, even though I am fully equipped to change any watch battery myself.

There are lot's of 3rd party watch strap manufacturers that you can browse to create a unique and higher quality look. With the two manufacturers you are considering I don't think economies of scale play into the price too much, they are both large enough to produce a huge run of any model they chose to market, and both have similar marketing costs (unlike some other well known "luxury" brands where the marketing is actually a large part of what you are paying for).

Firstly, these are different watches. The Hamilton is an Automatic. Its a purely mechanical watch that is powered by a spring that gets its energy from being wound up automatically as you move your wrist (or manually by winding the crown). The beauty is in the incredible mechanical craftsmanship and ingenuity that goes into making it.

The Citizen eco-drive is a Quartz watch with a solar charger. It is 'electrical' as much as mechanical. More accurate (loses less seconds per year), will not need to be wound (or worn) every 48hrs so it does not stop working.

As for quality - the Hamiltons use some of the more basic types of the swiss ETA movement. If you're going to get an Automatic at that price range, I would recommend going with the Japanese automatic movements, like Seiko or Citizen - better quality / accuracy for the dollar. Once you start getting into the $2000+ range, the Swiss movements from ETA or proprietary ones (i.e. Rolex) become as good, if not better than the Japanese.

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Remember - It's important to be comfortable in your own skin... because it turns out society frowns on wearing other people's

Most watch shops will give you a discount if you ask. Trusted gray market sites are ashford.com, jomashop.com and authenticwatches.com.

Citizen Eco Drive
I have a nice black and green one that I got for my birthday two years ago, very subtle, yet sleek and classy, I love that watch

Hey presto, here's a beauty that turned up on Massdrop. Well within your range, automatic, classic field style

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Brian

Gonna buy a fast car, put on my lead boots, take a long, long drive
I may end up spending all my money, but I'll still be alive

https://www.linjer.co/collections/men-watches

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"Are you sure we're going fast enough?" - Emil Zatopek

Bam! Thanks! I was just checking Massdrop earlier today and missed it.

And, sadly, what someone mentioned earlier in the thread may be a truism -- that once a person gets a decent watch they'll want another. I haven't pulled the trigger on anything yet, but have come across a few -- all outside of my price range by a good bit -- that grab my eye pretty hard.

I ended up making a selection -- Hamilton Khaki Aviation, which came in a fair bit below my budget after finding a deal on Ashford. I have small wrists so it's a solid fit for that; it's casual, simple, and clean so I can wear it daily and also won't feel out of place wearing it on those rare occasions when I have need to don a suit; and it's high enough quality that it should last for quite some time.

Nice. I like simple watches.

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_________________________________
I'll be what I am
A solitary man