$20 Watch vs. $100 Watch

steve-in-kville

steve-in-kville

Joined
Dec 25, 2001
Messages
1,139
I've been buying the same model Timex for the past 15 years. Cost about $20 at Walmart. I wait until the battery is shot or the band breaks and just buy a new one. I average about two years per watch.

Anyways, its that time again. I'm looking at one of the Seiko or Stuhring watches this time around, less than $100 depending on the model. My question is, would it be worth it? I'd like to try an automatic. I need something sturdy, leather band, etc.

So to you watch guru's: Would I be able to tell the difference between a cheap Timex and a more expensive watch? Convince me...
 
I have bought a few $100 plus watches. They may last longer, but when they die I costs more than the original price to fix even if they are fixable. About 12 years ago I bought a $10 Casio that supposedly had a 10 year battery. When the band broke 2 1/2 years ago I bought a Timex Expedition for about $23. It was supposed to have a 2 year battery, but it's still going strong. It uses a common CR2032 that I can replace myself.

BTW, the Casio is still working.


Bottom line. If you are not into expensive watches, stick to what works. That's just IMHO, of course.
 
Being a watch enthusiast I've owned a lot of watches and still own a lot of watches. Value in watches is somewhat similar to value in knives. If you weren't a knife enthusiast could you tell much difference in an Ontario Rat 1 or a Benchmade 761? Maybe you could tell some difference but you wouldn't tell that one was 5 times the cost of the other. And in watches it is like in knives, the cheap one does the same job as the more expensive one, and only the buyer can determine if it is worth the increase in cost.

Seiko makes good watches, and a Seiko automatic might last 20 years. I don't have much experience with current Timex watches but in my experience a low priced Casio is a pretty reliable watch. That would be my pick for longest lasting for the money. But you mentioned automatic watches. As an enthusiast I like mechanical watches and for the most part I only wear mechanical watches. Automatic watches can be problematic for me because on weekends I am doing outdoor stuff or dirty work and won't wear my good automatics so consequently sometimes can't keep them running. So I have a few quartz watches that I wear on weekends. You can get relatively inexpensive Seiko, Citizen and Orient watches for low prices that will be good watches for low prices.

Beware though- just like with knives if you don't do your homework you can spend way too much on watches. You might be able to buy a Seiko automatic for under $100 if you find the right place to buy it, but walk into your local mall jewelry store and it might be over $200.
 
I've been wearing solar g shocks for years. Never changed a battery. Not that expensive, and last significantly longer than most batteries are capable of.

Currently wear a Casio pathfinder, been good for 2 years running. I've only seen my battery meter fall from high to medium, once, during a very long cold winter. As soon as the sun popped out, back to high and been there ever since.
 
It depends on what you are after. I prefer the atomic solar G-shock, because 1) it is always exactly accurate with no input from me, and 2) I never have to replace a battery, wind it or use it like an automatic to keep it alive.

I have a couple of Seiko monsters. Nice watches if you are into them. But they are heavy and clunky relative to the G-Shock and Timex, and if you don't wear it for a day or two, it stops running and you have to reset both the date at time. That's a pain, when you are used to the G-Shock.

Bottom line is that I like the $20 Casio and Timex watches, that are more accurate than a Rolex. And if you want to go up the food chain, consider the G-shock with the atomic and solar features. Rock on.
 
I currently wear a Reactor Trident and can honestly say if it weren't for the amazing deal I got on it I would probably never own this expensive of a watch. What I can say on the other hand is that the difference in quality is there, also it wouldn't have that tritium that I love so much. I also see the sense in spending the extra money to get a good lifetime warranty that way I never need to buy another.
 
Pathfinder here
since 8 years.

Third band.

Also had to bridge a faulty sensor which kept shutting the watch down because it sensed it was open which it wasn't.

Solar is great. No battery replacement so far.

100m isn't really diving class but so far the seals are holding up to normal swimming.
 
My concern for most inexpensive watches is in their waterproofness like Jens mentioned above.

My Seiko 5 which is rated to 100M (not really 100M) but it has worked well through several summers of swimming and wet camping weather. I don't know if a $20 watch would fare as well. Perhaps...
 
I've had inexpensive Casios hold up for 20+years. It got used as a dive toy for the kids at a local cabana club many times and also an impromptu fetch toy for our golden retriever (not only dog proof, but also drool proof). Spent more on batteries and bands than I originally paid for the watch. I am in the process of getting another sub $20 Casio. I plan get a Maratac nylon watch band. The funny thing is that it will cost me more than the watch, but I won't have to replace the band once or twice a year ($8-9 each).

I have one of the Maratac NATO style watch bands that has seen 7+ years of daily use and still is in good shape.

Ric
 
About 20 years ago I bought a cheap Timex expedition at a Walmart for 17 dollars. I still have it on my wrist, keeps perfect time, has been in the Atlantic ocean, the Pacific, the Gulf of Mexico, Potomac river, beat up and not babied. I think it's been through two batteries, and one band. It might outlive me.

When I was in the army, I bought a nice Seiko. It ran well for about 3 years. Then it needed a cleaning. Ran well for another year and a half, then stopped again. I gave it to a family member and he had it cleaned and wore it for a few years. He eventually gave it away too. I think expensive watches are like expensive knives; they are not going to cut that rope any better than an Opinel, but they just give you bragging rights you won't get with a Opinel or SAK.
 
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IMHO, what you wear can put a big smile on your face. How much $$ is that worth? I have a drawer full of watches, some fancy and some "wanna-be" fancy. Some are pretty darn expensive and some are pretty value conscious. I love them all, but there are 4 that stand out, and they are not the most expensive ones.

I used to wear Casio dive watches when I was younger and they worked fine. I was on a swim team in one form or another from age 6 through 16. However, in middle school I purchased a Citizen diving watch. After graduating high school my father liked it so much I gave it to him and purchased a Citizen Eco-drive Blue Angels watch (not for swimming) while in college. The Citizen Eco-Drive series has a solar panel in the watch face to charge the battery. It's been 20 years now, and it's still going strong using the same battery and keeping fine time. I liked it so much, about 13 years ago I purchased a gold (plated) Citizen Eco-drive for certain outfits. They are both still going strong, with zero maintenance (same battery). Also, my father still wears the Citizen diving watch I gave him but he has had the batteries and band replaced over time (not Eco-Drive)... that's going on around 25 years. BTW these are all available with bands instead of bracelets if needed.

I ended up getting a different watch for cross country trips on the motorcycle about 10 years ago. It's an Intelligent Quartz Tide Temp Compass. It is waterproof, has Indiglo illumination for when it's dark, and has a digital compass... which you have to calibrate every so often. I don't ride cross-country like I used to, so it's been sitting in my watch drawer and right now the batteries are dead. I use it whenever I want a watch/compass and think things are going to get dirty or wet.

My point is that even though I paid more for these watches, I'm 110% happy with them, and smile every time I put them on. I hope to keep wearing them for another 40 years. Why not wear something that you really like, and that stands the test of time?

One last thing... some small watch battery and repair stores in malls will have lifetime free battery replacement. My father paid $10 20 years ago for new batteries on that old Citizen, and still goes back for free replacements today.

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I bought a Seiko Skx007 in 1997 or 98, I can't remember. But I am still wearing the watch. It's never been cleaned or serviced. It's dinged up and the crystal is scratched, but I still wear it everyday. It has been diving in the Atlantic, Pacific, and on the Gulf of Mexico. I have worn this watch on several canoe and kayak trips. The Seiko has been scratched by coral in the Keys and banged on my boat out in the Gulf.
Seiko makes a great a watch. My 13 year old son is very active, spends a lot of time outdoors and he wears a Seiko Monster. I don't care for the Monster, but he loves it.
If something happened to my 007 I wouldn't hesitate on buying another.
 
I had a gshock for 18 years before I retired it, it went around the world with me. Only two battery changes in that whole time.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 
sgbeskin said:
I bought a Seiko Skx007 in 1997 or 98, I can't remember. But I am still wearing the watch. It's never been cleaned or serviced.
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You can buy a $50 Seiko that uses the same movement as the SKX007 and should last as long. Mechanical watches such as a Rolex sub are usually recommended to be cleaned every 5 years but I've read hints that some people are now saying you can go 10 years. The movement in the SKX007 is generally recognized to last much longer with no maintenance. I've owned at least 10 of them but I did have one that died before its time. But you don't buy a mechanical watch because you think it will last a long time, you buy it because you like the mechanism in a mechanical watch. For that reason I wear mechanical watches most of the time.
 
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