What's the hands down best dress watch available for less than $400?

I'd prefer a non-Seiko automatic with a black dial. I love Seikos but I already have two and I'd like to try something new this time. I'm currently wearing the Orange Monster.

I've been looking at the Hamilton Khaki King II prices at around $300:



It caught my eye since House wears it on tv-show (first 3 seasons, then switches to a Casio Pathfinder). Any experiences with that particular watch or any tips for similar watches in the same price range? I'll definitely want a black dial, leather strap, and a strong casing.

great suggestions

there are different bang combos

the law of diminishing returns applies to buying multiple luxury watches, but if there is one watch you are crazy about and you've never bough a nice watch, then buy it. you won't regret it. wear it everyday too. saving it for special occasions is just stupid. every day is a special occasion.

100% agree. i have 5 and end up only wearing 2-3 of them regularly. i'd wager my breguet hasn't been worn in over a year.

So what's the general opinion on the no nonsense no date submariner?



I am looking for a watch, but don't want to buy one that makes me look like a douche. Other watches I am considering:

Rolex gmtiic
IWC spitfire chrono
Tag heuer carrera
Omega seamaster

kabout,

If you love the watch, go for it. There's a good amount of Rolex detractors among watch people but it's a classic looking piece. Which spitfire you going for? I think they tend to look better on leather straps but personal preference really.



So I want a white faced diver really bad, I like, but am not in love with the "White Knight," but it seems hard to find now anyways.


The "Boss" by Seiko is still easily available for around 200, I like the face but hate the case/bracelet.

If I were to get a White Night Monster from seiya, how hard would it be to do a case swap with my OM? resulting in a White Monster, basically. When I say how hard, I'm really asking "any ballpark ideas on how much it would cost for a professional to do this," I guess. If I pick up a WNM, I may end up liking the black, but I've really got my eyes set on SS/white face.

I just found out I live about 30 mins from a Seiko outlet, I'll have to wander over and ask them about it too.



Just stumbled across this site, which has some funny Seiko mod stuff.

I have thought about doing this. You might be able to save yourself some trouble and source a white dial/chapter ring without buying the whole watch. Seiya is an authorized dealer so I believe he can order parts. If not there are other dealers who will do this though I haven't seen any white dials for sale.

Anyway, doing a dial/hands swap is pretty straightfoward I believe you can find someone on watchuseek that will do this for around $50 or so. You could then sell the black-n-orange monster.


BTW, the white knight is very, very hard to find nowadays. If you like that piece and you see one I would just grab it as it is in high demand and if you change your mind you won't have any trouble getting rid of it on WUS.

I was look at this IWC spitfire (on the brown leather strap)


But I am leaning more towards the sub/carrera since they are pretty much allround watches. I will have to take off a watch with a leather strap too often, and will probably end up losing it somewhere .

What do people think about Invicta watches? I did a quick search for Invicta, but nothing came up. I know little about watches, so when I was looking for a decent one, I just filtered Amazon for $200-$400 watches and decided to buy whichever one caught my eye and got reasonable reviews. So I end up buying this:

Invicta Ocean Ghost

I guess I should've researched it more b/c I didn't realize how massive it was at first, but it's since grown on me, and it gets a decent amount of compliments and attention.

Are you serious?

gah.

also, whoever posted that two-tone daytona a while back, I'm pretty sure that's a fake based on the subdial placement.

Nice, thanks pvn, I'll email seiya see whats up.

Apparently I baaaarely missed picking up a cheap used White Knight too

http://forums.watchuseek.com/showthread.php?t=264087

I think the guy who bought it might actually be a 2er as well.

i need a bracelet watch and was saving toward a gmt ceramic, but just saw a breitling bentley mark VI and it's totally blown me away. it's not too "blingy" or busy like some other b's, very classy and understated imo. not sure i wanna spend 1k more for the b than the rolex

rolex gmt


mark vi on bracelet


looks killer on a strap also

I just don't like the name bentley on the watch, but that's just me. But besides that it is quite a big watch (bezel on the rolex makes it seem smaller).

I went and checked out the Seiko outlet in Wrentham, MA and was disappointed.

Damn, that's the one I'm gonna check out

Seiko outlets are basically lame. THe problem is that you're only going to see US market stuff there. Most of the stuff seiko sends to the US is crap. The good stuff is asian market only. The really good stuff is Japan Domestic Market (JDM) only.

that no frills sub-mariner is great. i wear an all stainless datejust and i f love it. ive been wearing everyday, every where for 8 years. its part of me now.

it was my dads first fwiw and he wore it for almost 35 yrs before giving it to me. it keeps great time and is in amazing shape. no visable damage while wearing it after 40+ yrs of wear.

Breitling has been pushing their ad campaign pretty hard for this it seems, the Chronomat B01, featuring their first in house movement, which looks a lot like a 7750 imo, no surprise I guess.





43.5mm, 6.5kish for stainless models.

Linky

Love the Rollerball bank check numbers on the bezel.

love it, only thing I really don't like is that big square in the middle, what the hell?

Otherwise, very sweet watch indeed.

Looks pretty tall though?

Since you all seem to know your watches, what do you guys think of TW Steel watches? I have been looking to spend about 600-700 on a watch and have come across those. I really like the 50mm CEO collection.
What are your thoughts on them?

Do you have any other suggestions that fit the size (45-50mm) and price range?