Choosing a Speedmaster Pro / Carrera style watch for £200

[L555BAT]

I'm looking for a bracelet'd, black faced chronograph tachymeter. The real things are unfortunately out of reach, but I don't want a specific clone/fake/homage, just something of the same style. And a quartz, I admire autos but this is for use everywhere (and due to the budget).

Budget: £200.

This is my shortlist:

SSB031P1 - maybe a little "busy"?:


SNDC99P1:


SNDC93P1 - not so keen on the tachy being inside the glass, but it is very light as it's titanium:


EF-503D-1AV - I like the all-horizontal numbers on the tachy, but the face is maybe a bit busy. Tachy also looks classier than on the Seikos:


C7 RAPIDE CHRONOGRAPH MK II C7SKS-MK2 - so this is probably on a different level, I like how precise the face and bezel look, and how clean the face is. But is it worth the £300?


Any others I should look at, and opinions on the above?

Edited by L555BAT on Saturday 7th June 18:45

[L555BAT]

Oh and my wrist size might also be a consideration: 17.5cm or 6.9 inches.

[yeti]

The Chris Ward is the cleanest and best looking - a grown ups watch for want of a better description.

But that Ti Seiko is great value for money!

[R36vw]

Christopher Ward ....quality shows through there. If you're anything like me, and buy watches like the missus buys shoes...you can't go wrong with one of these. They are solid on their price and the brand IMO is only shifting upwards. You could wear for 2/3 years and still likely shift it close to what you paid for it.

[marcosgt]

Personally, I find that particular CW a bit bland (and I like a number of their watches), with too much plain black dial, but I'm sure some see that as positive.

Any reason you've not got any Citizens in there? They're the obvious Japanese competitor to Seiko, not Casio. I'm sure they'll have something worthy of conisderation, even better if it's Eco Drive!

M

[L555BAT]

marcosgt said:

Personally, I find that particular CW a bit bland (and I like a number of their watches), with too much plain black dial, but I'm sure some see that as positive.

Any reason you've not got any Citizens in there? They're the obvious Japanese competitor to Seiko, not Casio. I'm sure they'll have something worthy of conisderation, even better if it's Eco Drive!

M

Hadn't looked at Citizen, have now though and found the Oxy AN0880-57E which is unfortunately discontinued:


Found this nice Fossil CH2600 too:


And the Zeppelin 7286M-2 7284M-2, unfortunately discontinued - this would almost certainly be my choice if I could find one:


edit to correct Zeppelin model number

Edited by L555BAT on Thursday 24th October 18:47

[PJ S]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm//251363929494 – you can always buy the bracelet separately, later.

http://www.superchrono.com/index.php?main_page=pro... – not the cheapest, esp if VAT on import is levied.

http://www.tiphodinky.cz/panske/zeppelin-7284m-2-c... – £168 plus postage. Accept Paypal, but do they ship internationally?

[yeti]

Please don't buy the Fossil watch. The others are all respected watchmakers, not fashion brands.

[flasher]

I think this is good for the price.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Casio-EF-547D-1A1VEF-Chron...

But I think this is slightly better given your budget, and it's an auto:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seiko-Mens-Automatic-Watch...

[Snubs]

I've found the Chr Ward to be good value. With minutes rather than batons in the hour positions it addresses marcosgt's point about the plain face to some extent:



Tissot are another option if you're revising the budget up to Chr Ward money, at £295:



http://www.goldsmiths.co.uk/Tissot-V8-Gents-Watch/...

My guess is in a week you'll have revised the budget up to Omega speedy money

[L555BAT]

PJ S said:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm//251363929494 – you can always buy the bracelet separately, later.

http://www.superchrono.com/index.php?main_page=pro... – not the cheapest, esp if VAT on import is levied.

http://www.tiphodinky.cz/panske/zeppelin-7284m-2-c... – £168 plus postage. Accept Paypal, but do they ship internationally?

Thanks, didn't think of that. There are a few of the leather ones still around. I wonder if I could get the real bracelet via their spares channel.

SuperChrono import would work out at about £290 I think. But from reading online I see a fair bit of people who didn't have a good experience with them.

yeti said:

Please don't buy the Fossil watch. The others are all respected watchmakers, not fashion brands.

I was a little suspicious of it and after a quick read after posting it was soon off my list. Cheers.

flasher said:

I think this is good for the price.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Casio-EF-547D-1A1VEF-Chron...

But I think this is slightly better given your budget, and it's an auto:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seiko-Mens-Automatic-Watch...

Yep I had that Casio down but unfortunately it's just too big for my wrist.

Not keen on that Seiko's styling, don't like the big numbers on the bezel. And I've fallen in love with Tachymeters now, so it's now a requirement Don't want an auto either.

Snubs said:

...
Tissot are another option if you're revising the budget up to Chr Ward money, at £295:



http://www.goldsmiths.co.uk/Tissot-V8-Gents-Watch/...

My guess is in a week you'll have revised the budget up to Omega speedy money

That's definitely a candidate now. Wish it didn't have the 12 4 8 numbers though.

[Nuisance_Value]

How about this? Need to be quick as there is only 4 left but reduced from £200 to £57.00 It's kind of speed master influenced.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Accurist-MB936BB-Chronogra...

[Hodgie]

L555BAT said:

Although I'm happy with my Seiko, the Zeppelin was always in the back of my mind so managed to source one on leather from Germany. It's a 7280-2. The markers on the dial are slightly different from the 7284-2.

That is a really nice looking watch!