OT: Where to buy a watch online?

Status
Not open for further replies.
roppda

roppda

Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Messages
804
Hi-

I know this is off topic, but I also know that there are quite a few watch people who are regulars in this forum.

I'm planning on buying a decent watch soon, something in the $200 to $500 range. I know this isn't real watch territory, but I'd like to get something reasonably nice.

I've found several places online that seem reputable and have good prices on these types of watches. Any input you can give me on these web sites (good or bad, but particularly if bad) would be really appreciated. If you know of any other sites you have dealt with and can recommend, please let me know.

Here are the sites I'm wondering about:

Princeton Watches (www.princetonwatches.com)
www.eWatches.com
www.righttime.com

Thanks for any help!

Dan
 
I don't have any experience with any of those, so I can't offer you any advice there.

As for other places, a lot depends upon what watch you're looking for. Here are some places I can tell you are good....

chronograph.com - They're overseas, but I know a lot of people who have bought from them with no problem.

bernardwatch.com. - More upscale stuff, but they do have some lower priced models.

You might also look through the Sales Forums on timezone, pmwf.com, etc.
 
Here is my recomendation to you on watches n that price Range. First would be
Titoni - Great swis mechanical watch with ETA movement.
Tutima is a German watch maer with swis ETA movements just above your price range.
Hamilton is another good one with ETA movements.
Oris is another watch company.

I mentioned brands because that is more important than places. You can google the brands and find the places. But you can spend a ton of money on a POS and it's still a POS.

I have owned all of the above watches and they are good quality for the money.

Seiko - Kinetics just don't last as long as I'd like. The charge drops after 7-8 years. Same goes for Citizen ECO-DRIVE.

I use to collect watches big time.
 
Sorry... I couldn't resist.

joewalker.jpg
 
Even I'd listen to Cobalt on this subject... but I might add:

What about Swiss Army? I have many older friends that have some fine watches and they have all picked up a Swiss Army. Based on that I did too and it has been a great watch.

I don’t follow watches enough these days to know what movements anyone is using unless they are an upper end watch.

TonyG

Cobalt said:
Here is my recomendation to you on watches n that price Range. First would be
Titoni - Great swis mechanical watch with ETA movement.
Tutima is a German watch maer with swis ETA movements just above your price range.
Hamilton is another good one with ETA movements.
Oris is another watch company.

I mentioned brands because that is more important than places. You can google the brands and find the places. But you can spend a ton of money on a POS and it's still a POS.

I have owned all of the above watches and they are good quality for the money.

Seiko - Kinetics just don't last as long as I'd like. The charge drops after 7-8 years. Same goes for Citizen ECO-DRIVE.

I use to collect watches big time.
Click to expand...
 
Watches are located in the bottomless money pit right next to bottomless money hole where knives are located :) The biggest risk factor in buying watches via the internet (beyond legitimacy of the dealer and authenticity of the product) is the warranty. The mid to high end watchmakers try to discourage deep discounting and grey marketing of their products on the internet. Sometimes the online dealers will sell an authentic watch but without the manufacturers warranty, substituting their own warranty in its place. So where ever you buy, make sure you are getting the manufacturers warranty if that's important to you.

As mentioned above, Timezone is often an excellent resource for locating reputable dealers. I have even purchased from individuals overseas with information I first found on Timezone.

I don't know what kind of watch you are looking for but since the unification of East/West Germany, I've seen some really nice, reasonably priced watches coming from the former East Germany. Very competitive features and price versus many of the high-end Swiss brands. Again, I don't know what you're looking for in a watch but just for fun check out http://www.watchbuys.com/ I haven't bought from these folks so caveat emptor. Good luck with whatever you purchase.
 
Cobalt said:
Here is my recomendation to you on watches n that price Range. First would be
Titoni - Great swis mechanical watch with ETA movement.
Tutima is a German watch maer with swis ETA movements just above your price range.
Hamilton is another good one with ETA movements.
Oris is another watch company.

I mentioned brands because that is more important than places. You can google the brands and find the places. But you can spend a ton of money on a POS and it's still a POS.

I have owned all of the above watches and they are good quality for the money.

Seiko - Kinetics just don't last as long as I'd like. The charge drops after 7-8 years. Same goes for Citizen ECO-DRIVE.

I use to collect watches big time.
Click to expand...

Thanks to everybody for the info. Keep it coming if anyone else has more good leads.

Cobalt - Had never heard of Tutima, and I really like what I've seen tonight, but probably more than I want to spend. I was already looking at Hamilton, but the others are all new to me.

I should have known better than to ask for pointers to good watches. You guys are just trying to eliminate some of the competition - maybe I'll spend some of my Busse budget on watches instead...:cool: I'm measuring every potential watch as how many BATACs it equals.
 
My wife gave me a Breitling B1 Superquatz for my birthday (held +7 seconds for the year). I am very pleased with it. I also am a TimeZone member and highly recommend going there to see and learn a little bit about watches. And, yes, it is like knives. $$$
 
My method of choice is to poke around on a huge site like Amazon until I find a particular model I want, then use Froogle.google.com to find the cheapest place online to buy that model. I've done the same with some production knives, before Busse took control of my entire knife budget. My current watch is a Citizen Skyhawk Black Eagle and I love it.
 
Once you start doing a search on a forum like watchuseek.com, you will soon come to realize that that there are literally hundreds of watches that fall into your price range..

What particular style of watch are you looking for?

Seiko - Kinetics just don't last as long as I'd like. The charge drops after 7-8 years. Same goes for Citizen ECO-DRIVE.
Click to expand...
Their auto/quartz divers offer excellent value for the money... :thumbup:
 
Cobalt said:
Here is my recomendation to you on watches n that price Range.

Tutima is a German watch maker with swis ETA movements just above your price range.
Click to expand...
Damasko, Sinn, Marcello C., Stowa, Nomos, Jorg Schauer, Jacques Etoile, Muhle, and Limes are just a few other brands (among many, many more) that could be added along with that Tutima.. ;)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top