Ive come to re-appreciate mine. Didnt wear it much at all for last few years, but put it back into the rotation. Love how light it is, wear it on an aftermarket distressed leather band.

Im looking to buy my first watch and im wondering if you guys can name a few entry level automatic watch makers. My budget atm is 500$ and i dont mind buying a used watch.
BTW noob question, can a chronograph watch be automatic ?

Im looking for a watch that looks something like this

yes a chronograph can be automatic but will be quite a bit more expensive than regular 3 handed automatics.

at $500 you can pick up some used automatic chronographs though you will have to hunt a bit. Quite a few used Hamiltons in this price range.

New automatic chronographs will be out of your budget but if you are willing to go up to like ~$700 or so, you can get something like the Christopher Ward Speedhawk.

Anyways, just look for watches with a Valjoux 7750, 7751, 7753 movement.

If you are willing to get a manual wind mechanical chronograph, Seagull is a good option. They have several around the $300 to $450 mark.

Not going to list all the good affordable automatic makers as there are too many. The big ones are obviously Seiko/Orient, Citizen.

For a watch that looks like the one above, I'll go with the Bernhardt Binnacle Anchor. Its not a chronograph but its a lot of watch for the money ($200)

i like the nomos, but despise the sinn u1 lol ...seamaster looks fine too but i prefer to go "off the beaten path" in the sense that I like the idea of having a less well known name on my wrist (at least in the crowd that i hang in currently, as im sure both nomos and steinhart are well known to watch enthusiasts)

any more suggestions in the nomos- style?

Like you want a brand that even watch enthusiasts don't really know about?

I mean the cheaper alternative to the Nomos style is the Stowa Antea. You also have the Max Bill Junghans and the Muhle Glashutte Antaria. But if they know Nomos, they probably know these others as well.

I mean, Nomos is not well known for most people, so if the circle you hang out in already know this brand, then they'll know almost all the other brands similar to it too.

You could try going for some of the lesser seen Nomos like the Orion or the Zurich instead of the more often seen Tangente, Tangomat, Club.

There is also Union Glashutte but I'm not sure where you are going to find an AD for Union Glashutte if you are in the US. Their Viro and Noramis are fairly Bauhaus minimalist in design.

sorry--- what i meant was less well known as compared to the omegas/tags of the world, your nomos suggestion was great and i was looking for watches of that ilk/brands of that standing

oh ok, then yeah look at those I mentioned above, especially the Stowa Antea.

On a side note, usually I don't like very high contrast white dial toy looking watches but I am strangely attracted to the Sinn U1 White.

Very cool but I think it's the kind of piece you find hard to actually wear.

I have the standard U1. Cool watch.

Can you explain what a lot of watch means here. I see one tells time and the other has a second hand with a thingy on the end.

cxbxax posted the orange and white version of the binnacle anchor earlier



The biggest draw for this watch is the Solid screwed endlink bracelet, the sapphire crystal, and 200m water resist, and an extra leather strap. Which is good package at this price range.

The movement is a Miyota 8215 so hand windable but no hacking seconds. Bernhardt also has a few watches using ETA movements but those are more around $350.

Basically for $200, you have a solid watch thats a bit more expensive than a Seiko Monster or Seiko SKX007, but you are getting Sapphire crystal, a better bracelet, optional leather strap, and a more formal look. Some find the Miyota 8215 to be not as accurate as the Seiko 7s26 or 7s36 but I haven't seen anything definitive either published or from personal experience. But assuming thats true, if you are willing to trade a bit of accuracy for being able to hand wind, then movement wise its a fairly even proposition.

There are a lot of reviews for this watch online from actual owners too though often I find that there is an inherent bias from actual owners.

This one has a decent number of pics :
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=166664

ameoba how bad would i get ripped off if i went to a watch dealer like wempe and attempted to purchase a nomos there? way better off online (if im looking for new)?

No idea. I live nowhere near a brick and mortar Nomos AD.

If your location is accurate, I would go and check for a purchase in that pricerange.

Watchbuys is the big online Nomos AD so you can kind of crossshop.

Nomos is a really tough brand to find in general, and afaik watchbuys is actually an AD of Nomos, which means that in theory the maximum discount you can get from retail from them (if any) would be the same as you could get at Wempe. Also, if you're in NYC and sure you want a Nomos, you'll only waste your time going anywhere BUT Wempe, they're the only NYC Nomos dealer.

Having worn many many automatics and manuals for a number of years, I finally have broken myself from wearing jewelry for the most part. HOWEVER, if i ever get the opportunity to buy this watch, you can bet I will not hesitate for a second to own this master piece.

meh

I like this.

Please explain?

self aggrandizement is pretty low on my priority list these days.

The influx on cell technology and the need to be always connected has made manual time keeping obsolete in my mind, except when it comes to fine appreciation.

HOWEVER, great design and wonderful craftsmanship is high on my priority list... the Cartier ticks both those points in my mind. I might not even wear it... hanging it on the wall like an art gallery and just stare at the watch.

just my .02$

Just took a new group shot..

1,5,2,3,6,4

Nice collection. For some reason I am unable to figure out what the far left watch is. What is it?

Just from LOOKS

I would say

2,3,5,6,1,4

^^ it's seems we're agreed tags are a waste of space

1 is a seiko i believe

Far left is the new Seiko SARB065.

The TAG's are my oldies. Don;t kill me for getting them. I didn't know any better.

haha no worries, we've all done dumb **** in our youth :P it seems your wrists have grown significantly since then anyway!

I kinda want to change my order now, 5 is my fav

Hahah..my 'youth' was also 15 years ago.

I love my Navi the bast...far & away

2,1,3,5,4,6