New formal watch: Classy, Functional, Affordable, all at the same time?

As a big watch guy, I have a couple of suggestions. (Sorry, I don't know how to link directly.)

Timex weekend chronograph:

https://www.timex.com/weekender-chrono/My-Timex-Weekender-Chrono.html

Orient Mako 2 :

https://m.ebay.com/itm/Orient-Watch-Pepsi-Mako-II-FAA02009D-AA02009D-Stainless-Steel-200m-Diver-Watch/263207349603?epid=24010174286&hash=item3d48616d63:g:vrAAAOSwFdJZus9x&_trkparms=gclientid%3Dwa7ab3Yv6oycNTIYd5NSpm_Gx1yvbJrqA9VQu5VDBVtEvNxcX3Am-uiv9paCeFPz&_trksid=p2489528.m4335.l8656

And here is a popular watch blog/YouTube show that covers this very topic with some great recommendations under 150 bucks:

https://youtu.be/CDopU4KNVpE

And here's one discussing under $100:

https://youtu.be/EQlSVobCgss

In reply to paranoid_android:

They are new.  I had to tweak the links in the band, they were catching the hair on my arm, but after that its been great.  As an added bonus mine came wrapped in Russian newspaper that my oldest took to Social Studies class in 8th grade.

In reply to Floating Doc :

I will weigh mine when I get home and post it.

In reply to David S. Wallens :

Love my Seiko5.  I think it looks pretty classy, and it fits my delicate wrists pretty well

I just replaced my Citizen with a Bulova Precisionist.

Love it.

Here is the thread I used to find my new watch last year.

Lots of good suggestions in there.

Are watches all still absurdly large?

monknomo said:

In reply to David S. Wallens :

Love my Seiko5.  I think it looks pretty classy, and it fits my delicate wrists pretty well

I wear mine almost every day. I want to guess it's about 12 years old now. It's not my only watch, but it's the one that I wear the most by far. 

Check out the Rider M005 and Rodina R005. The Rider has a better movement but both are good watches. I really love the minimalist Bauhaus style watches.

Streetwiseguy said:

Are watches all still absurdly large?

Not all, but apparently (from suggestions in this thread) they are still very popular. 

It's part of the reason I like my Seiko 5 and Skagen watches. Very slim, understated, classic. 

I am very much not a fan of the large Guy Fieri- style watches. If that's your bag of course that's fine.

I prefer an elegant, simple, understated piece. I bought a rectangular white-faced Bulova 15 years ago and that's my daily. I get lots of compliments on it. 

Lately Timex of all companies has been reissuing their classic watches, some collaborations with Todd Snyder, which are very much the style I like, and not at all expensive. 

Unfortunately I missed out on their reissue of the Marlin. That's a great looking watch. 

A while back, somebody posted a picture of his new watch.  It took me quite a while to figure out how to tell time with it. 

What was the name of the "Wild Kingdom" guy?  Marlin Perkins.  Didn't he wear and advertise the Timex Marlin watch?

Edit:  Went to find a Timex ad, but found this instead.  Good lord...

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vT3GOc9Zgo

I'm a fan of the 1970s Seiko quartz watches back when quartz was a new thing and they were very expensive and well made. Searching for Seiko + lord quartz, twin quartz, king quartz, grand quartz, QS, QT, QZ, type II, etc on ebay should give plenty of results. 

I'm a big fan of the Casio F-91w and similar variants. Simple and bulletproof. I've had two versions over the last few years and worn mine everyday ranging from work to vacations to weddings to bike rides. Easy swap options for bands if you don't care for stock one. I use nato and one piece military strap on mine. Here is a stainless steel one:

https://m.boscovs.com/shop/prod/mens-casio-classic-digital-watch-a158w-1/104481.htm?utm_source=Google&utm_term=104481&utm_content=Jewelry+%26+Watches+>+Watches+>+Watches+for+Him&utm_campaign=CSE&cid=CSE:Google&scid=scplp28935309&sc_intid=28935309&adpos=1o1&utm_medium=CSE&gclid=CjwKCAiArOnUBRBJEiwAX0rG_T-Wo7ALquKE17LScKTP2VfkFooVpuwxHKh3QuGl_1sXTy8VnhnsxRoCjgoQAvD_BwE

Thread resurrection: Got a belated birthday gift:

Fossil FS4774. Almost the same case and band as the ME1128 (case is slightly scaled-down from that model), but a regular dial face. Which is alright considering how much maintenance mechanical watches need and how vulnerable they are to magnetic fields (this watch is electronic). The more subdued look also has security advantages in the Caribbean...

Since I just saw this, I'll add in as well.   My wife got me a Tissot V8 after my Citizen Eco died in 3 years from cracking the crystal, twice.   The Tissot has a sapphire crystal that still looks mint after a year.  I wear this every day, and I'm not smart enough to take it off when I wrench or work around machinery, and it still looks good.  It's not too heavy or huge, which is great.  Looks like it's under $300.

Oh GRM'ers who love watches! We should make a buy/sell/trade watch thread. I've been getting rid of a few watches lately. Usually just give them to my coworker or trade them for his. I also, buy off of watchuseek forum classifieds. 

In for GRM buy/sell/trades. Really curious to see what 'grassroots' watch collections look like, too.

Please, please, PLEASE stop buying quartz watches.

I've had two nice watches destroyed by leaking batteries and I won't do it again.

There are plenty of beautiful, accurate, good quality automatic watches out there for less than $300.00

They're not any more delicate than a quartz watch.

My Seiko, Ventus and Invicta are tool watches, they get worn all the time (I change them up every week) and are all at least 3 years old and have needed no attention. All three use a Seiko movement.

My Orient is 10 years old and has needed nothing.

My Tudor is 55 years old and has been overhauled 4 times, each time was less than the cost of a quartz fashion watch.

The beautiful Skagen my wife bought me as an anniversary gift is nice but I'm waiting for the day that it stops working and it's power source has rendered it a useless piece of junk.

David S. Wallens said:

I'm going to vote for a Seiko5.

I wear a Seiko 5 as well, pictured here on my relatively small wrists.  It's a 37mm by 8mm thick so I can still get my hands into the dialysis machines I work on daily.  The 5 stands for water proof, unbreakable main spring, shock resistant, date and day complication, and automatic. That's paraphrased but pretty close.  They are available in many sizes and styles, are great quality and mine was $70 from "Worldofwatches.com"

Trans_Maro said:

Please, please, PLEASE stop buying quartz watches.

I've had two nice watches destroyed by leaking batteries and I won't do it again.

There are plenty of beautiful, accurate, good quality automatic watches out there for less than $300.00

They're not any more delicate than a quartz watch.

My Seiko, Ventus and Invicta are tool watches, they get worn all the time (I change them up every week) and are all at least 3 years old and have needed no attention. All three use a Seiko movement.

My Orient is 10 years old and has needed nothing.

My Tudor is 55 years old and has been overhauled 4 times, each time was less than the cost of a quartz fashion watch.

The beautiful Skagen my wife bought me as an anniversary gift is nice but I'm waiting for the day that it stops working and it's power source has rendered it a useless piece of junk.

I've only owned quartz watches so far and I've only ever had watches ruined by water intrusion, but I change the batteries at the earliest signs of low power. I have a cheap Casio that's at least 20 years old and still runs.

Timex.  They last forever. Are cheap. And if you lose it you spend another $25 and get a new one. 

jharry3 said:

Timex.  They last forever. Are cheap. And if you lose it you spend another $25 and get a new one. 

Watches are like cars.

Some folks are content to drive a Yugo over and over again.

When I need to wear a watch I have something similar to this. The only difference is Mickey is silver on mine. Yes, I work in a professional environment. I enjoy watching people's reaction when they notice.

yupididit said:

Oh GRM'ers who love watches! We should make a buy/sell/trade watch thread. I've been getting rid of a few watches lately. Usually just give them to my coworker or trade them for his. I also, buy off of watchuseek forum classifieds. 

That would be dangerous for me. I keep my exposure to the WUS forums to a minimum because I love microbrand dive watches.