Dress watch - £300 - £400

[Janesy B]

All my watches are fairly sporty so I'd like to add a dress watch to my collection. I've scoped out 3 options so far

Seiko SARB065 'Cocktail Time'

I love the dial, domed crystal and blue second hand. Hacking and handwinding too.



Tissot Visodate

Seems the most popular option but having the day/date seems to make the face cluttered.



Or, the wildcard that's 1/3 of the price, an Orient Bambino. The domed crystal looks great and I love the proportions of it.



Thoughts?

[reggie747]

One of these perhaps..

http://www.orient-watch.com/orientstar/standard.ht...

Sorry, but the image loading thing is painful here...

[Spice_Weasel]

You could also consider a vintage watch. I've just picked up a 60's Omega Geneve for £350. Very simple three-hander, white dial without a date and a gold case with black leather strap.

I can't upload a pic at present but there is one on the 'incoming' thread.

Edited by Spice_Weasel on Tuesday 10th February 19:27

[marcosgt]

Spice_Weasel said:

You could also consider a vintage watch. I've just picked up a 60's Omega Geneve for £350. Very simple three-hander, white dial without a date and a gold case with back leather strap.

I can't upload a pic at present but there is one on the 'incoming' thread.

I was about to suggest that too.

The Bambino's small (I believe), so a vintage ('60s) watch would be fine.

Here's my Omega Seamaster 30



and my '80s Jaquet Dros



This was my 21st birthday present and, despite never being serviced, still keeps remarkably good time.

Maybe not what you have in mind, but '70s quartz watches might fit the bill too





Very understated, quartz accuracy (of course), great build quality and cheap as chips (each of these were within 1/10th of your budget, although the 3003 needed a bit of TLC).

You can find some very high-end brand names on quartz watches from this era for £100.

M

Edited by marcosgt on Tuesday 10th February 12:01

[SamHH]

marcosgt said:

Maybe not what you have in mind, but '70s quartz watches might fit the bill too





Very understated, quartz accuracy (of course), great build quality and cheap as chips (each of these were within 1/10th of your budget, although the 3003 needed a bit of TLC).

You can find some very high-end brand names on quartz watches from this era for £100.

M

Where do you find watches like those for sale?

[marcosgt]

SamHH said:

marcosgt said:

Maybe not what you have in mind, but '70s quartz watches might fit the bill too





Very understated, quartz accuracy (of course), great build quality and cheap as chips (each of these were within 1/10th of your budget, although the 3003 needed a bit of TLC).

You can find some very high-end brand names on quartz watches from this era for £100.

M

Where do you find watches like those for sale?

Both mine came off eBay within a few days of each other, the 3003 could do with a new crystal, but otherwise they're rather nice.

M.

[Variomatic]

Of your short list, I'd go Seiko, Orient, something else in that order.

The reason is purely practical that, as things stand, with anything Swatch group you'll have no option but manufacturer repair in the near future thanks to their planned restriction of ALL parts from the end of this year. So the Tissot will tie you into very expensive maintenance if anything goes wrong.

Seiko and Orient both make parts available to your friendly local indie, and have far more reasonable charges if you do decide to use their service centres.

Apart from that, I love the look of that Seiko!

[Janesy B]

I went with the Seiko in the end, should be here by the end of the week although I could be tempted by an 60's Omega Constellation at some point.

[FrankAbagnale]

I just purchased a Seiko Cocktail, arrives on Monday.

Wasn't looking to buy another watch but saw it online randomly and it jumped out at me. Thankfully it was a price that meant I didn't have to give it a second thought.

Think I am going to switch it out on to a leather strap asap...



|https://thumbsnap.com/QcML2yeV[/url]

How are you getting on with yours?

Edited by FrankAbagnale on Friday 19th May 11:57

[DJMC]

Was just looking at a Constellation the other day...





£525 from a dealer. No idea what they cost generally???

[LaurasOtherHalf]

I just don't see a dress watch having a date/day complication for some reason

[thehawkswoops]

I have a Seiko SARB which is a tad small at 38mm but lovely. (White face model, looks cream really). Wish I had bought the SARK which is bigger
at 40-42mm and has blued hands. Cracking watches for the price, look on You Tube some guy compares all 3 (inc the cocktail).

Suggest you get one from Creation Watches too. I have had a few from there and they have always been tip top.

Cheers
Mark

[Spice_Weasel]

thehawkswoops said:

I have a Seiko SARB which is a tad small at 38mm but lovely. (White face model, looks cream really). Wish I had bought the SARK which is bigger
at 40-42mm and has blued hands. Cracking watches for the price, look on You Tube some guy compares all 3 (inc the cocktail).

Suggest you get one from Creation Watches too. I have had a few from there and they have always been tip top.

Cheers
Mark

Just be aware that if ordering from Creation you're likely to get hit with import duty and handling charge. I ordered a Seiko Turtle from them last year and paid about £11, most of which was handling charge. Another Turtle order got through OK but then a Longines watch order had me stung at about £100 (although still cheaper than UK prices). There's a long thread running on TZ-UK about this as more often than not these days, you'll have to pay the duty.

I think the days of duty-free imports from Creation are over.

[Wadeski]

I have a Cocktail Time. Lovely thing.

for the money, the finishing and movement is top notch.

[toastybase]

Dress watch for £300?

[DavidCane]

I have the white VIsodate and a Seiko SARB033.

The Vistodate in black looks cluttered because of the white day/date however it's much cleaning looking on the white version,
The SARB033 is smaller but it's a great watch and has a little lume. The Visodate has no lume at all.

Photos of both.

[url]

|https://thumbsnap.com/pDPD3Wkj[/url][url]

|https://thumbsnap.com/GZ3stn4I[/url][url]

|https://thumbsnap.com/bavseyWt[/url]

Edited by DavidCane on Thursday 1st June 16:46

Edited by DavidCane on Thursday 1st June 16:47

[VGTICE]

SARB065 aka Cocktail Time is discontinued so grab em while you can!

[sad61t]

toastybase said:

Dress watch for £300?

Seiko Presage SRPA13J1 could be worth a look; it's towards the bottom of this page:
http://www.seiko-presage.com/lineup/

http://amzn.eu/9fCUNSV

[sad61t]

VGTICE said:

SARB065 aka Cocktail Time is discontinued so grab em while you can!

The 'new' SRPB43J1 looks remarkably similar.

[PurpleAki]

Hamilton Jazzmaster Slim.