Dress watch recommendations please

[Oz83]

Evening all.

I'm in love with the A. Lange & Söhne Saxonia Thin 37mm. Trouble is, it's just beyond my budget. Can anyone recommend an alternative?

Search criteria

- Dress watch - to be worn on formal occasions.
- White gold or steel
- No date (simple is better)
- No numbers or roman numerals (again, looking for simplicity)
- Preferably no sub-dial
- Preferably smaller than 40mm
- New or pre-owned
- Budget £8k max.


I looked at the Jaeger LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin but I'm not a fan of the triangular hour markers. The jubilee edition of the same watch ticks all the boxes, but it's at Saxonia money.

Any suggestions are much appreciated. There must be some left field stuff I haven't heard of.

Thanks for reading!

[nikaiyo2]

H.Moser & Cie would seem to fit the bill, would need a bit of man maths for the budget, or maybe grey market, but some of the dials are amazing.

UN Classico, these have Roman numerals but stunning minimalist dials.

Glashutte Original?

[anonymous-user]

A friend of mine has a Moser and it is simply beautiful.

I'd be tempted to go vintage. Some good value in older Watches.

Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 18th March 21:11

[Salty Johnson]

Cellini?

[Voldemort]

Might save you a fortune, if it floats yer boat...

[ellroy]

What about a Dornbluth?

[Paul Drawmer]

https://www.christopherward.co.uk/c5-malvern-595-5
slim watch at 5.95mm Understated.

[ZesPak]

Seems like Nomos is a very good fit here.

all of them have a similar style, all available as a thin manual wind or thicker auto, with or without date, at sub 38mm, about 6-7mm heigh and £1000-£2000

I very much like their blue hands and the Ludwig 38 would be my pick:

Edited by ZesPak on Monday 19th March 00:25

[cherryowen]

I'm waiting for a small inheritance to come through, which has a caveat that it must be spent on a nice watch.

For about £1k, there are some very lovely 1960's Omegas for sale on the Chrono24 website. I also find Baume et Mercier pieces to be classy and understated.

I do love the look of a Glashutte original, though!

[Jakarta]

Another Hamilton here, way under your budget though.

Edited by Jakarta on Monday 19th March 01:29

[dxbtiger]

Junghans Max Bill hand wind?

[T6 vanman]

Oz83 said:

Evening all.

Search criteria

- Dress watch - to be worn on formal occasions.
- White gold or steel
- No date (simple is better)
- No numbers or roman numerals (again, looking for simplicity)
- Preferably no sub-dial
-
Thanks for reading!

Oh ..Tough call

Top end of budget ... Maybe a Blancpain


Lower end of budget ... Maybe Meistersinger

[Oz83]

Voldemort said:

Might save you a fortune, if it floats yer boat...

I should have added 'round' to my list of requirements :-)

[Oz83]

Paul Drawmer said:

https://www.christopherward.co.uk/c5-malvern-595-5
slim watch at 5.95mm Understated.

Thanks for the tip. I really like that :-)

A completely different proposition, but that's a lot of spare change from where I originally started.

[Oz83]

Thank you for all your suggestions.

Some really lovely watches there. I've never really liked buying something to tide me over, but actually some of the less expensive options are really great looking. They would do the job...but then this was never about practicality.

It has made me think about my options, that's for sure.

It's tricky with a dress watch. My thought was to 'invest' in something rare and special, knowing that it will be worn 'for best'. But then my budget probably isn't quite there yet.

More research and actually trying on watches required, I think.

[ZesPak]

Tbh watches like Nomos, CW and Hamilton are very well respected brands in their own right and will probably survive you.

If you want to have a nice one but not lose any money over it (so you can sell it once you have the budget for what you're really after), look at a second hand one of these.

[dimots]

What I like about dress watches is that vintage makes a lot of sense...as something that will be worn relatively infrequently and not subject to much abuse.

I'd go vintage Patek. Might be a bit too small though.

https://www.chrono24.co.uk/patekphilippe/vintage--...

[hilly10]

Not long got this fab dress watch and just that little bit different




And you also have the back to look at which is as nice as the front





I would also go with the Dornbluth and the Max Bill dial is so clean and sharp it could cut you.

Edited by hilly10 on Monday 19th March 09:45

[Graemsay]

My first suggestion would be to save up for the Saxonia Thin, because it is utterly gorgeous. The copper blue dial variant is even more special.

If you want to do the sensible thing, my first thought would be the LUC XP in stainless steel. It's a slim and simple piece, but does have the 12, 3, 6, and 9 numbers on its dial. Retail is £7,110.

The Bulgari Octo Finissimo retails for around £11,000 on the leather strap, but is available on the secondary market for £9,000. It's an ultra-thin, titanium watch, and was briefly the slimmest automatic in the world. It really is a gorgeous piece, and one of the few that I actually prefer on the bracelet.

The Drive de Cartier Extra Flat got a lot of people excited when it launched at SIHH last year. The link is to the white gold version (which retails for £14,800), but a steel version has just been released, and that should be in your budget.

The Omega De Ville Trésor is a lovely, hand-wound dress watch. Retail is £9,200, so a bit above your budget.

Lastly, how about something like an Omega Railmaster (£5,040), Rolex Explorer (£4,690), or Oyster Perpetual (£4,150)? They're not dress watches, but put them on a leather strap, and they'd be passable. You might also get more wear out of them on a day-to-day basis.

[PJ S]

If 36mm isn’t too small — https://www.chrono24.co.uk/chopard/luc--id7284172....
https://www.chrono24.co.uk/chopard/chopard-luc-161...
https://www.chopard.com/uk/watches/watches-for-him...
https://www.chrono24.co.uk/chopard/luc-quattro-8-d... – a bit over budget... but it is rather nice and different looking.

If going over budget is possible, then... https://www.chrono24.co.uk/alangesoehne/saxonia-th...