The Great Watch Hunt

[The Horse Man]

Hi all,

TL;DR: I am looking for a 43-45mm automatic watch, with an open heart, preferably on a metal strap for £500 or under.If anyone has any ideas of where I should be looking, I will be very grateful


I have been lurking around these forums for a while, trying to find a watch. The frustration is starting to kill me.

I currently own no watches, not a single one. A sad state of affairs.

I have been looking for a watch for ~18 months now with no luck.

I have a budget of anywhere from £50 - £500, but that is flexible for the perfect watch. However, ideal price would be £200 to £300, I think...

Around 15 months ago I bought an automatic Seiko 5, which looked something like this:



Not that exact one, but close enough. Unfortunately, I decided it was too small as soon as I took it out of the box, I never even put it on. (think it was a 38mm for reference)

I then considered various Christopher Ward watches, this was probably my favourite:



Unfortunately, a few things put me off. Firstly, a couple of my friends have them and it's nice to have something different. More importantly, I would like a metal strap if possible (thought not essential) and finally, the intersection of the strap and case just looks a bit odd to me, the strap doesn't 'blend in' to the case at all, it's hard to explain, but CW are out of the running anyway.

I think my tastes have started to change; where previously I wanted a very minimalistic simple dress watch, as I search more and more, different things are catching my eye (a sure sign that once I have one watch, I will need to buy more, danger for the bank balance)

I got very excited about a couple of different watches from Bulova, and was encouraged that they appeared to be a fairly affordable quality watch brand with a decent heritage. Plus they were a little bit different.

I went and saw/tried on a couple in a jewellers, this one in particular:



I decided against it however as I felt it was just a touch too small. It is listed as being 43mm I, which I had thought would be the perfect size for me, having compared it to a friends 40mm CW C3. Sadly, not the case, still felt it was a little on the small side. Maybe the 43mm includes the crown, I'm not sure. Also, the case is too polished, a little too shiny, more so than most watches I see.

What I did discover though, is that I love the whole open heart idea. I am sure it's not to everyone's tastes but it certainly does it for me.

I recently had a look at Parnis, who have some very nice looking open heart watches, but I don't like the idea that so many are homage's. I don't want to have a watch that attracts a lot of attention but which I have to explain is just a cheapo chinese watch that looks like an IWC. I'm shallow I know.

So here are today, still looking for a watch but with a good idea of what I want:

A 43-45mm automatic watch, with an open heart, preferably on a metal strap

If anyone has any ideas of where I should be looking, I will be very grateful!

Thanks all, and sorry for the long post

Edited by The Horse Man on Monday 21st May 12:35

Edited by The Horse Man on Monday 21st May 12:36

[Eighteeteewhy]

I'll start off right at the bottom end of your budget, it's the only open heart watch I've owned but it's been fine so far...

[TheD]

Bummer. I was just about to recommend you had a look at a Parnis.

[The Horse Man]

I know, sorry chaps.

In many ways they are the obvious choice, but for the reasons stated above I don't really want to go there.

I love this one, and this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8FYJsOaPig

Just need to find something vaguely similar from elsewhere I think!

[Podie]

Have a look at what Stowa do.

[The Horse Man]

Thanks, I had looked at Stowa before and they are rather nice, a good shout.

They are very clean and smart looking, really like the designs. But they don't appear to have any open heart models that I can see?

Is open heart even the right phrase for what I am referring to?

Thanks,

[Justayellowbadge]

Pretty sure I have seen such things from the likes of Raymond Weil, Frederique Constant and Maurice Lacroix.

[The Horse Man]

Thanks yellow.

Unfortunately, such things are out of my price bracket, though they do seem to have some very nice pieces.

[Justayellowbadge]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hamilton-Watch-American-...

[The Horse Man]

The diameter is 40mm though That means it probably isnt going to work (I am bloody difficult I know)

Should I expect to be hit with a customs charge on something from USA? I have always assumed you would with something like this (and could be expensive!)

Still, beaverbrooks do appear to stock them though, so I could at least see for myself

Thanks


edited due to failure to construct coherent sentences

Edited by The Horse Man on Monday 21st May 16:00

[DKL]

You should expect customs charges at this amount. I paid £40 ish for a $500 watch.
You may get away with it or you may not.
Annoyingly most of the charge is admin not actually customs proper.

[The Horse Man]

Cheers DKL.

That is actually a fair bit cheaper than I thought it would be. I had in my head it would be closer to 25%?

Anyway, I discovered there is a beaverbrooks local to where I work, but they close at 17:30 which is annoying.

I still worry about the 40mm though.

I do wish I was a bit less picky, but if I am going to go in a the top of my budget I really need what I buy to be spot on.

Thanks for the help so far all.

[Ikemi]

You'd have to walk in with your 'I want 20% discount or I'm out!' hat on, but Edox do a 43mm open heart watch ... The Les Vauberts Open Heart:



http://www.whartongoldsmith.com/watches-c2/edox-le...

http://www.chrono24.com/en/edox/les-vauberts--id18...

RRP is £850 and it comes on a leather strap, so not a perfect match.

Davosa also do a dress-style open heart design for around £500, but it's a bit smaller at 40mm, and only comes on a leather strap ...



http://www.chrono24.com/en/davosa/classic-open-hea...

Edited by Ikemi on Tuesday 22 May 00:08

[sneijder]

There are some Orients on Creation watches that might fit the lower end of the bill.

[Zigster]

Would you consider second hand? Obviously there can be concerns around fakes (more so with some brands than others, I think) but you can get some good deals if you're careful.

I picked up a Baume & Mercier Hampton 8818 for £600 on eBay. It had box, warranty card, etc and is very definitely kosher. Full retail is about £1,800, although you can get discounts (perhaps say £1,400). Either way, it felt like a lot of watch for the money.

A B&M Hampton might not be exactly your cup of tea - no metal strap and the rectangular shape isn't to everyone's taste - but it's an automatic with the "open heart" look. Perhaps one to keep an eye out for?

[Hoofy]

The Horse Man said:

I recently had a look at Parnis, who have some very nice looking open heart watches, but I don't like the idea that so many are homage's. I don't want to have a watch that attracts a lot of attention but which I have to explain is just a cheapo chinese watch that looks like an IWC. I'm shallow I know.

That CW is a cheapo (with a hefty price tag) English (Swiss!) watch that looks like an IWC is it not?

As is the Davosa, above.

[The Horse Man]

That edox is fantastic, even with the leather strap (would swapping it for a metal strap be out of the question? Seems like a shame to tamper with it though)

It is at the top end of my budget, even with a discount... But it is bloody nice. Question though, wont they just tell me to shove off if I ask for a 20% discount? Is that 'the done thing' in the watch buying game? Not really used to demanding discounts like that!

Onto the Davosa, also a fantastic one, really like it, not a manufacturer I had come across. It is a shame it is a bit on the small side, I guess I'm going to struggle to go and see it in the flesh anywhere?

I have had a scout through the Orient watches and had been on orient's website before. Creation appear to have a lot more than Orient show on their site. I am not crazy? about them, but they are relatively cheap which is good. A lot are a little small maybe. I am undecided anyway but will keep thinking on these.

Zigster, I would consider second hand yes, it would have to be something a bit special, and I wouldn't really know where to start.

Hoofy, interesting thoughts. I had no idea that CWs looked like IWCs, which one in particular out of interest? I feel that a CW might attract less attention that some of Parnis though, the Parnis are very distinctive indeed!


Thanks for all the suggestions again, really useful

[Hoofy]

The Horse Man said:

Hoofy, interesting thoughts. I had no idea that CWs looked like IWCs, which one in particular out of interest? I feel that a CW might attract less attention that some of Parnis though, the Parnis are very distinctive indeed!

The IWC Portuguese range. Parnis, CW or Davosa, it's the same distinctive style and cannot be claimed to be different enough to be an original design. Perhaps look at a Sinn or Damasko (dunno if £500 will get you anything these days brand new but you might find something secondhand on http://www.chronomaster.co.uk [there goes your afternoon ]).

[Ikemi]

The Horse Man said:

That edox is fantastic, even with the leather strap (would swapping it for a metal strap be out of the question? Seems like a shame to tamper with it though)

It is at the top end of my budget, even with a discount... But it is bloody nice. Question though, wont they just tell me to shove off if I ask for a 20% discount? Is that 'the done thing' in the watch buying game? Not really used to demanding discounts like that!

Onto the Davosa, also a fantastic one, really like it, not a manufacturer I had come across. It is a shame it is a bit on the small side, I guess I'm going to struggle to go and see it in the flesh anywhere?

Just to let you know that Uhrenhandel.de have the same Edox for sale via Chronollection ... You'd have to confirm that it's new, but it's up for sale at £574: http://www.chronollection.com/buy-a-watch/edox/les...

You can also buy Edox at ...

Goldsmiths: http://www.goldsmiths.co.uk/product/edox-les-vaube...
Watches of Switzerland: http://www.watches-of-switzerland.co.uk/brands/edo...
Mappin & Webb: http://www.mappinandwebb.com/product/edox-les-vaub...

I'd go in with cash in hand, say you want the watch, but only with 20% discount. Most places will happily offer 10% with little haggling, but 20% is definitely possible. Edox isn't a big name brand, so they won't be shifting as many units in comparison to TAG or Omega.

Alternatively, I don't know if Dom H (PHer) of www.hackettwatches.com could source it for you with ~20% off? It would be worth a chat at least He has sourced many, many watches for many, many PHers with discount that, in my experience, is second to none.

You could fit an aftermarket bracelet to the Edox, but without the end links, it would look a little odd. It definitely suits the dark brown leather

Davosa would mean buying blind ... I don't think there are any UK AD's for this brand, so that could prove tricky.

[Debaser]

Sounds like you want an Orient:

44mm


40mm x 49mm


43.7mm


Unfortunately I'm not sure where you could get them.