Ladies watch for 50th birthday present

[Rich_AR]

So my mother is turning 50 next month and I'd like to get her a nice watch as a gift. It needs to be an automatic/Swiss movement, a quality brand and elegeant at the same time. Silver only (no gold), brown strap or bracelet I'm thinking.

Budget is around £700-1000

Please shoot me some ideas!

Edited by Rich_AR on Wednesday 19th February 09:32

[michael gould]

Well firstly as a 54YO I wish my son was a generous as you .....you might find an Omega Constellation at the top end of your budget......please don't buyer her a TAG as modern day TAGS are only worn by the great unwashed and I'm sure your mother wouldn't want to be labelled as such

Im sure somebody will have a better suggestion shortly

[RichB]

The other consideration is to find out if she is into the modern fashion for ladies to wear men's sized watches or not. No point buying her something 35mm dia and finding she thinks it looks daft so doesn't wear it.

[mrdemon]

New price ?

As £700 is not going to buy you a top brand auto new.

I have been looking for my gf for about 6 months and even at 1.5k you will be looking at a battery even 2nd hand.

My gf will have no idea it has a battery and she will not be wanting to pay £400 for a service.

[hilly10]

Take a look on Jura watches Oris have a nice female collection all with proper movements

[mrdemon]

michael gould said:

Well firstly as a 54YO ..please don't buyer her a TAG as modern day TAGS are only worn by the great unwashed and I'm sure your mother wouldn't want to be labelled as such

Im sure somebody will have a better suggestion shortly

What a load of rubbish :-)

I was going to buy a tag today and the ladies carrera wv1411 is a great ladies watch imo

[Adrian W]

I would try and find a few more penny's and find a used Datejust.

[Rich_AR]

RichB said:

The other consideration is to find out if she is into the modern fashion for ladies to wear men's sized watches or not. No point buying her something 35mm dia and finding she thinks it looks daft so doesn't wear it.

Not sure a big old mans watch is elegent!

On a serious note, I think 26mm or around that size would suit.

michael gould said:

Well firstly as a 54YO I wish my son was a generous as you .....you might find an Omega Constellation at the top end of your budget......please don't buyer her a TAG as modern day TAGS are only worn by the great unwashed and I'm sure your mother wouldn't want to be labelled as such

Im sure somebody will have a better suggestion shortly

Thanks, she's done a lot for me over the years, so I like to treat her well. I did scan over Tags, but thought against it.

Adrian W said:

I would try and find a few more penny's and find a used Datejust.

Not sure how people would take a secondhand object as a gift.. but I like your thoughts however!

Edited by Rich_AR on Wednesday 19th February 09:34

[mrdemon]

34mm is Hugh on a girl /woman imo .

I was going to buy a 29mm and still think that's big for a female of slight build.
Not a fan of women wearing big watches it's a bit in your face.

[michael gould]

mrdemon said:

michael gould said:

Well firstly as a 54YO ..please don't buyer her a TAG as modern day TAGS are only worn by the great unwashed and I'm sure your mother wouldn't want to be labelled as such

Im sure somebody will have a better suggestion shortly

What a load of rubbish :-)

I was going to buy a tag today and the ladies carrera wv1411 is a great ladies watch imo

do you wash ? suggest you have a rethink and buy something half decent like a Tudor

[mrdemon]

michael gould said:

do you wash ? suggest you have a rethink and buy something half decent like a Tudor

the poor mans Rolex, no thanks :-)

[RichB]

mrdemon said:

michael gould said:

do you wash ? suggest you have a rethink and buy something half decent like a Tudor

the poor mans Rolex, no thanks

or, the thinking man's Rolex

[coldsnap]

michael gould said:

Well firstly as a 54YO I wish my son was a generous as you .....you might find an Omega Constellation at the top end of your budget......please don't buyer her a TAG as modern day TAGS are only worn by the great unwashed and I'm sure your mother wouldn't want to be labelled as such

Im sure somebody will have a better suggestion shortly

Seems you swayed the OP rather easily, but why do you feel this way?

[michael gould]

RichB said:

mrdemon said:

michael gould said:

do you wash ? suggest you have a rethink and buy something half decent like a Tudor

the poor mans Rolex, no thanks

or, the thinking man's Rolex

the thinking mans Rolex

[michael gould]

coldsnap said:

michael gould said:

Well firstly as a 54YO I wish my son was a generous as you .....you might find an Omega Constellation at the top end of your budget......please don't buyer her a TAG as modern day TAGS are only worn by the great unwashed and I'm sure your mother wouldn't want to be labelled as such

Im sure somebody will have a better suggestion shortly

Seems you swayed the OP rather easily, but why do you feel this way?

They purport to be high end when they are either using quartz movements for £3 or ETA movements for £10.50 (I know that’s not always the case)

They discount like mad resulting in very poor residuals ………their reliability has become poor (plenty of evidence on this forum of that). They feel and look cheap (because they are)

The styling has become brash and they seem to be using their past glory to sell at inflated prices

And they are worn by doormen and people who own cars with stainless steel exhaust end fittings
Apart from that …..i like them (my Mum and Dad both have one)

[RichB]

michael gould said:

RichB said:

mrdemon said:

michael gould said:

do you wash ? suggest you have a rethink and buy something half decent like a Tudor

the poor mans Rolex, no thanks

or, the thinking man's Rolex

the thinking mans Rolex

The Rolex belongs to the thinking man so the apostrophe is necessary.

[coldsnap]

michael gould said:

They purport to be high end when they are either using quartz movements for £3 or ETA movements for £10.50 (I know that’s not always the case)

They discount like mad resulting in very poor residuals ………their reliability has become poor (plenty of evidence on this forum of that). They feel and look cheap (because they are)

The styling has become brash and they seem to be using their past glory to sell at inflated prices

And they are worn by doormen and people who own cars with stainless steel exhaust end fittings
Apart from that …..i like them (my Mum and Dad both have one)

Ah I see, I was initially concerned that your thoughts would be based on sweeping generalisations

[michael gould]

coldsnap said:

michael gould said:

They purport to be high end when they are either using quartz movements for £3 or ETA movements for £10.50 (I know that’s not always the case)

They discount like mad resulting in very poor residuals ………their reliability has become poor (plenty of evidence on this forum of that). They feel and look cheap (because they are)

The styling has become brash and they seem to be using their past glory to sell at inflated prices

And they are worn by doormen and people who own cars with stainless steel exhaust end fittings
Apart from that …..i like them (my Mum and Dad both have one)

Ah I see, I was initially concerned that your thoughts would be based on sweeping generalisations

funny man

[wildoliver]

IMO there is nothing wrong with Tag provided you don't delude yourself as to what the brand is, it isn't exclusive and it isn't particularly quality, it is a fashion brand now, it's cheaply mass produced and the bottom of the ladder for "prestige" watches. Where does it fall in relation to say Seiko? Personally I don't think the vast majority of current models offer anything a Seiko doesn't offer at a vastly reduced price.

But I still bought my girlfriend an F1 Christmas 2012, she loves it and wears it all the time, I also like it, but I wouldn't go out and buy one thinking it was "special" it's just a nice sports watch.

I'd probably put my money in a used Rolex (and slightly up my budget) as it will retain it's value. Make sure it's serviced and the case/strap are refreshed and she won't see it as used, it will be a classic, women like classic they don't like used Then again only you know your Mum, I also bought Sarah a Vostok Cadet (the smaller version of the Amphibia) it cost something silly like £10, plus a tenner for a nice Nato strap, she gives it as much wrist time as the Tag because it's special, it's got a story behind it, there are a lot of bargain watches out there made nicely from obscure manufacturers that don't cost much (I would advise against a £10 Russian watch though) possibly she would appreciate something more unique who knows? You.

[michael gould]

wildoliver said:

IMO there is nothing wrong with Tag provided you don't delude yourself as to what the brand is, it isn't exclusive and it isn't particularly quality, it is a fashion brand now, it's cheaply mass produced and the bottom of the ladder for "prestige" watches. Where does it fall in relation to say Seiko? Personally I don't think the vast majority of current models offer anything a Seiko doesn't offer at a vastly reduced price.

But I still bought my girlfriend an F1 Christmas 2012, she loves it and wears it all the time, I also like it, but I wouldn't go out and buy one thinking it was "special" it's just a nice sports watch.

I'd probably put my money in a used Rolex (and slightly up my budget) as it will retain it's value. Make sure it's serviced and the case/strap are refreshed and she won't see it as used, it will be a classic, women like classic they don't like used Then again only you know your Mum, I also bought Sarah a Vostok Cadet (the smaller version of the Amphibia) it cost something silly like £10, plus a tenner for a nice Nato strap, she gives it as much wrist time as the Tag because it's special, it's got a story behind it, there are a lot of bargain watches out there made nicely from obscure manufacturers that don't cost much (I would advise against a £10 Russian watch though) possibly she would appreciate something more unique who knows? You.

not sure a pre-owned watch is ok for a Mum's 50th ......but I would agree its the best way to buy a watch