new watch - what to buy?

[bordseye]

After donkeys years of my daily being a Seiko Kinetic divers jobbie - totally bulletproof, even ran over the first one on my motorbike without damage inly for it to get nicked in Jersey marina showers. Well the current one is broken and likely the repair bill will be more than the value of the watch. So into the bin it goes.

What to replace it with. Have often wondered about Rolex but to me the £15k or so is a watch for dressing up rather than taking the boat engine to bits. But I would like a decent mechanical rather than going Citizen or similar. Waterproof, but then they almost all are these days. And I would like a chronograph for sail racing.

And finally the idea of spending decent money on something that instantly halves in value doesnt appeal either.

recommendations?

[Doofus]

What do you call 'decent money'?

[gregs656]

There are a number of regatta timers out there.

[Regbuser]

Rabbit hole website dedicated to regatta timers > https://www.regatta-yachttimers.com/ < not updated recently though

[Boringvolvodriver]

Half the price of a Rolex

https://www.omegawatches.com/en-gb/watch-omega-sea...

Or a cheaper one

https://www.fraserhart.co.uk/l38354526-longines-co...

Or used

https://www.watchfinder.co.uk/Omega/Seamaster%20Ch...

Certina have some good value watches as well for less money

https://www.beaverbrooks.co.uk/0143795/Certina-DS-...

I have the non Chrono version of this and it’s a lovely watch for the money

[Barchettaman]

Ok, so going by how happy you were with your old Seiko Kinetic I would suggest a Citizen Promaster EcoDrive titanium diver.



Rugged and reliable, lightweight, pretty much maintenance free.

Edit: apologies, I completely missed the no Citizen / auto preferred bit. No idea why. Best of luck with your search!

Edited by Barchettaman on Thursday 3rd July 12:12

[fflump]

What is your budget?
Every major watchmaker has chrono models.
Are you looking for new or lightly used? The latter is pretty much the only way to avoid depreciation. FWIW I never buy new as other than the Daytona or Royal Oak-which are impossible to buy new anyway-suffer depreciation

Omega and Zenith have an awesome history of chronographs and the Omega some great nautical watches

[Abc321]

bordseye said:

And finally the idea of spending decent money on something that instantly halves in value doesnt appeal either.

Date-sub on grey market for around £11k. It will easily last for the rest of your life and can be worn to take the boat engine to bits, also will hold its value or absolute worst case drop maybe 25%.

Difficult question to answer when we are unsure what 'decent money' is...

ETA: Missed the chrono bit, Speedmaster then fits the bill? If not wanting to spend £15k.

[Royal Jelly]

Planet Ocean Chrono?

Big, solid, superb reliability, few colourways to choose from.

Speedmaster? As above.

Depends on your budget. Those two are decent money to me. Others would think that meant Vacheron Overseas Chrono money.

[Jamescrs]

Budget dependant a nice pre owned Omega would probably be the choice although I can also recommend IWC as I have a very nice IWC Chrono I prefer to Omegas i've previously owned but IWC are arguably a less well known brand outside of watch enthusiasts and F1 sponsorship

[vixen1700]

https://www.guinand-uhren.de/uhren.html



Guinand make some lovely chronographs in very small numbers from their little factory in Frankfurt. Not something you'll see everybody wearing and not as expensive as you may imagine.

The Longines posted above is lovely too.

[UKsandman]

Abc321 said:

Date-sub on grey market for around £11k. It will easily last for the rest of your life and can be worn to take the boat engine to bits, also will hold its value or absolute worst case drop maybe 25%.

Difficult question to answer when we are unsure what 'decent money' is...

ETA: Missed the chrono bit, Speedmaster then fits the bill? If not wanting to spend £15k.

I would go for a seamaster rather than a speedmaster for your needs (better water resistance).

[bordseye]

Doofus said:

What do you call 'decent money'?

I had looked at a Bremont but to me the £5k cost is a decent amount of money given how much cheaper the likes of my Seiko are, and as you walk out of the shop Bremont in hand you lose half the purchase price. OK you dont buy it to immediately resell and indeed am unlikely ever to resell - but it still sticks in my throats to have thrown away £2500.

Which is a long winded way of saying that £5k is decent money in my book.

[Mogsmex]

vixen1700 said:

https://www.guinand-uhren.de/uhren.html



Guinand make some lovely chronographs in very small numbers from their little factory in Frankfurt. Not something you'll see everybody wearing and not as expensive as you may imagine.

The Longines posted above is lovely too.

That Guinand is absolutley gorgeous

[vixen1700]

Mogsmex said:

That Guinand is absolutley gorgeous

Isn't it just!

[Gastons_Revenge]

£2500, a nicer watch than your old Seiko kinetic that can still be worn doing rough work...sounds like Sinn would be perfect for you. Their upper tier models have a proprietary steel hardening treatment on the case & bracelet which keeps them looking very fresh.

[Nezquick]

vixen1700 said:

Mogsmex said:

That Guinand is absolutley gorgeous

Isn't it just!

If I was in the market for a watch, I'd buy one of those in a heartbeat. That's lovely!

[BiggaJ]

Left field choice .... Ball Hydrocarbon NEDU watch.

Lovely looking thing, to me anyway, feels good, looks good, wears well.

https://oracleoftime.com/ball-watch-engineer-hydro...

https://www.watchadvice.com.au/10480/ball-engineer...

Good used examples can be had within your budget not that the new prices is outside what you want to pay.

https://www.chrono24.co.uk/ball/engineer-hydrocarb...

Love mine, feels premium, hard wearing etc.

[Boringvolvodriver]

Nezquick said:

vixen1700 said:

Mogsmex said:

That Guinand is absolutley gorgeous

Isn't it just!

If I was in the market for a watch, I'd buy one of those in a heartbeat. That's lovely!

I had a look at some of their other offerings and I would also be buying one if I had some spare cash and could slip it past Mrs BVD!

[Bob_Defly]

BiggaJ said:

Left field choice .... Ball Hydrocarbon NEDU watch.

Lovely looking thing, to me anyway, feels good, looks good, wears well.

https://oracleoftime.com/ball-watch-engineer-hydro...

https://www.watchadvice.com.au/10480/ball-engineer...

Good used examples can be had within your budget not that the new prices is outside what you want to pay.

https://www.chrono24.co.uk/ball/engineer-hydrocarb...

Love mine, feels premium, hard wearing etc.

Meh, put me off...