Watch Recommendation

[ndg]

Hi All,

I'm lookijng to buy my first watch in 15 years (and I'm only 28!) and have no idea what to get! Using a budget of £350 (not much I know) and indicators below what would you recommend?

Things I've seen that I like the look of:
Military style watches
Nothing with a metal bracelet
I like the look of the smaller U-boat watches:

And the Longines Grande Vitesse:


Thanks

Nathan

[matthew_h]

That Longines looks really good but I can't find anything about it.

Where have you seen it?

[ndg]

It's on their website in the 'sports collection' I googled to find the image as it's only shown in annoying flash hell. I really like it, but suspect it might be a bit beyond my budget!

N.

[baSkey]

what about a poljot? (do some googling) well made proper mechanical movement.. proper military style. £200-£300

just save some money and get a seiko military watch (often have green webbing strap but you can get black (or you could change it) again a proper movement and well made and have some 'heritage. £40-£80ish i think

i think i may look into those seikos again at some point soon for when i don't want to risk my iwc...

[don1]

The Seiko F1 watch falls into your price range. Black and red, looks pretty nice.


£294.95 with the British Watch Company (.com)

Edited by don1 on Tuesday 15th May 13:02

[ndg]

quite like some of the poljot's, anyone know of somewhere I could actually look at one before buying (preferably around Birmingham/Midlands)

Thanks

Nathan

[CivPilot]

ndg said:

quite like some of the poljot's, anyone know of somewhere I could actually look at one before buying (preferably around Birmingham/Midlands)

Thanks

Nathan

]

Shame you not in the Thames valley area, I have 2.

They really are quite nice indeed, The watch in the middle of this picture is the Sturmanskie Gagarin 40th Aniversary chrono...

(on the left is a Luminox 3402 Nighthawk, and on the right is a Poljot L/E Pilots watch)

Gagarin and 3402 again but closer...


Back of Gagarin...

The movement is lovely a smooth to watch and sounds very nice (sad I know, but some mechanical watches can sound very clanky)

Its pretty much perfect size on the wrist too at about 42mm....


Highly recomment them as a brand, the quality is superb and although subtle in design they do tend to grab the attention as they look (and feel) far beyond their price bracket.

[ndg]

Thanks for the feedback. The one I was particularly interested in was the Sturmanskie Chrono A so very similar to your Gagarin.

I've also seen Zeno watches from Basel which look rather nice and in the right price range does anyone have feedback on these (as they're internet only in the UK)?

Thanks for all the help,

Nathan

[M3John]

ndg said:

Hi All,

I'm lookijng to buy my first watch in 15 years (and I'm only 28!) and have no idea what to get! Using a budget of £350 (not much I know) and indicators below what would you recommend?

I like the look of the smaller U-boat watches:

Thanks

Nathan

Well for that amount of money you really shouldn't be short of choices. To be honest mate i really like this one above. Where do you get them from and how much? I wouldn't mind adding one to my collection.

[ndg]

unfortunately the two I originally suggested are out of my range! go to www.u-boatwatch.com for the model range. They are apparently available in Selfridges and Harvey Nicks...

[jase k]

The U BOATS look pretty good in the flesh!! Fairly big face diameter but not sure on there movement?? Not sure how long these watches have been in UK market?? So as there is only ltd suppliers cant comment on aftersales service.
I am sure someone on here will know!!

[Spice_Weasel]

jase k said:

The U BOATS look pretty good in the flesh!! Fairly big face diameter but not sure on there movement?? Not sure how long these watches have been in UK market?? So as there is only ltd suppliers cant comment on aftersales service.
I am sure someone on here will know!!

Colleague has one of these and it is huge (totally dwarfs your average Rolex / Omega / Panerai). Far bigger than my biggest watch which is a 42mm Fortis Pilot Professional Chrono.

Only problem is a quartz movement...

[hutchingsp]

Have a look at somewhere like www.chronomaster.co.uk as they tend to have a wide variety of watches and styles.

[filaborg]

Spice_Weasel said:

jase k said:

The U BOATS look pretty good in the flesh!! Fairly big face diameter but not sure on there movement?? Not sure how long these watches have been in UK market?? So as there is only ltd suppliers cant comment on aftersales service.
I am sure someone on here will know!!

Colleague has one of these and it is huge (totally dwarfs your average Rolex / Omega / Panerai). Far bigger than my biggest watch which is a 42mm Fortis Pilot Professional Chrono.

Only problem is a quartz movement...

U-boat also do automatic.

[Spice_Weasel]

filaborg said:

Spice_Weasel said:

jase k said:

The U BOATS look pretty good in the flesh!! Fairly big face diameter but not sure on there movement?? Not sure how long these watches have been in UK market?? So as there is only ltd suppliers cant comment on aftersales service.
I am sure someone on here will know!!

Colleague has one of these and it is huge (totally dwarfs your average Rolex / Omega / Panerai). Far bigger than my biggest watch which is a 42mm Fortis Pilot Professional Chrono.

Only problem is a quartz movement...

U-boat also do automatic.

Yes - website lists automatics but my friend's is a quartz (was referring to his) as have been the other physical U-Boat watches I have seen and held (shop near me was selling them last year).

[ndg]

Okay I sepnt far more time than I should have looking around the net for watches and have come up with another few questions!

First off, what are Ollech & Wajs like? Does anyone have experience?
Secondly can someone tell me what is the best material for the lens? mineral crystal or sapphire crystal?
Finally, what do the number of jewels mean? I've worked out that it's to do with the movement, but is it the more the better?

Thanks

N.

[tertius]

ndg said:

Okay I sepnt far more time than I should have looking around the net for watches and have come up with another few questions!

First off, what are Ollech & Wajs like? Does anyone have experience?
Secondly can someone tell me what is the best material for the lens? mineral crystal or sapphire crystal?
Finally, what do the number of jewels mean? I've worked out that it's to do with the movement, but is it the more the better?

Thanks

N.

O&W - very nice, a mid-tier less well known maker, using ETA and Valjoux movements, good quality at a very good price - I have this one on my wrist right now, and really like it:



As for the crystal well there is no "best" really, sapphire is harder to scratch but easier to break (though still pretty hard to do); mineral is the reverse easier to scratch but harder to break, scratches can usually be polished out with a bit of effort.

Jewels: these are used for "bearings" within the movement, see here for a quick intro: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewel_be

More is not necessarily better but tends to indicate a more complex movement. Though I have a 1960s G-P Gyromatic with 39 jewels that only has time and date ...

[wadeski]

these are within your budget on ebay (brand new) - some of the watch dealers on there have sold 4000+ items with 99% positive feedback (there is one i have a personal recommendation for yugotakita* watches), so you can be pretty confident.

its a top watch too.

*bad spelling, at work so not got it in front of me!

[pesty]

ndg said:

quite like some of the poljot's, anyone know of somewhere I could actually look at one before buying (preferably around Birmingham/Midlands)

Thanks

Nathan

I own 3 and think they are great in fact probably will make it 4 soon not in the midlands but could probably post some pics of them.

[pesty]

oh and how about this $410 dollars free shipping from the US and I did not get clobbered fir import tax. arrived within a week.



www.tritiumh3watches.com/TraserClassicChronoBigDatePROBlue.html

Edited by pesty on Friday 18th May 23:41