Five watches. £1,000. Go!
Building a killer five-watch collection for under a grand
Think watches are expensive? Wrong! Screw up that thought and pop it up in the bin.
I was listening recently to the Watchfinder podcast, where Andrew and Tom challenged each other to put together a ‘five watch collection’ for £1,000. In other words, pick five watches that form a rounded collection - and don’t spend more than a grand in total.
“WHAT? £1,000!? THAT’LL BARELY COVER THE COST OF THE BRACELET ON MY FANCYPANTS™ PERPETUAL IN PLATINUM!”
Quite. But that’s kind of the point. Watch collecting can often lose track of reality. And the truth is, there are some great watches out there at reasonable prices. Not high horology, of course. But well-made, well-designed watches that tell the time and look the part.
Given the fact I love fighting the corner for affordable watches, I thought I’d have a go at the £1,000, five-watch challenge myself. And I set myself these criteria:
The five categories are dress watch; dive watch; field/pilot watch; chronograph; and ‘beater’.
Only one watch from any brand - no repeats across categories. (Otherwise I might as well rename it the “Five Seiko Challenge”. Ooooh, actually, there’s an idea…)
The budget can be split in any way, as long as the total is no more than £1,000.
Prices are based on easily findable online deals, not necessarily RRPs.
Let’s go!
DRESS
Timex Marlin
£225
I was originally going to go for the Orient Bambino, which is excellent. Then I remembered the Timex Marlin and changed my mind. (Which also meant I could pick an Orient for the dive watch without breaking my rules. Bingo!)
If you think Timex are just cheap-and-cheerful watches you see in the Argos catalogue, think again. They’re really upping their game at the moment, making some lovely watches that appear to be aimed at the enthusiast market - including the elegant Giorgio Galli models, named after their design head honcho, and the rather handsome Marlin models, named after something else. A fish, probably.
I’ve chosen the Marlin in green as it’s a right bloody charmer and no mistake. Properly good-looking, with mid-Century vibes coming from the hands and boxed numerals. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to have it. Not least because green is my favourite colour and this is a particularly nice shade. But the white and black dials might be a bit more traditional for a dress watch, if you’re looking to tone things down a notch.
Timex also uses Miyota movements, which are known for being good-quality, reliable and affordable watch innards. You’ll find one in the Marlin.
Overall, yabba dabba doo!
DIVE
Orient Kamasu
£180
Proper dive watches have a strict set of ISO standards they need to achieve. Sod that. Just go for an Orient Kamasu and you tick pretty much all the boxes anyway.
It’s water resistant to 200m, has a good-quality clicky bezel and is very legible. The lume isn’t the strongest, but it’s ok. And you get a choice of great colours that all look snazzy - including (you guessed it) a nice green one.
What’s most remarkable is that, for the money, you get a genuine in-house automatic movement (‘automatic’ as in it winds itself, and ‘in-house’ as in Orient make it themselves, not buy it off the shelf from elsewhere). I have one of these and, anecdotally, it’s only a few seconds off each day - certainly passable for the money.
The bracelet’s a bit rattly and it’s not exactly Rolex build quality. But it’s less than £200. So pop that complaint in an email and send it to somebody else.
FIELD/TOOL
Seiko 5
£192
Seiko is a cracking watch maker. They make honest watches that are great quality for the price you pay. Sure, the choice is bewildering. And the names are such a random selection of letters and numbers that you’d be forgiven for thinking that a bunch of cats spent all day walking across the keyboards at Seiko Towers. But what you get is a great watch for the money.
I’ve talked about the Seiko 5 range before, so won’t go into detail again here. But I love them and have had a couple myself. They still make me smile when I pop them on my wrist, which (according to George “Mr Watch” Bamford) is the key test.
The Field models are all smartly designed field watches. They look like they live in a cabin in the woods, spending most of their life covered in mud and bears - but will occasionally hack at their beards and put on a shirt and wow the crowds on a night in the big town.
Why are you still reading this? Go and buy one!
CHRONOGRAPH
Seagull 1963
£180
Try getting a mechanical chronograph for less than a couple of grand. Now cut your budget again and try finding one under £200. Tough, because mechanical chronographs (a watch with a ‘stopwatch’ built in) are very complex and involved. If you’ve only got a couple of tons in your pocket, there’s pretty much only one option - and luckily it’s an interesting one.
The story goes that, a while back, a Chinese manufacturer bought the rights to a historic Swiss chronograph watch movement, along with the machines to make them. Originally, they used them for Chinese military watches. Today, they’re called Seagull and they put these movements in cheap watches that have a bit of a following in the watch-nerd community. (Why so cheap? Because China.)
I’ve gone for the 38mm model with a sapphire crystal, as it’s the best size and a bit tougher. I’ve also gone for the see-through ‘exhibition’ case back, so you can have a good look at all the cogs and wheels turning. It’s not high-horology finishing, but it’s OK for the money. Most importantly, if you’re new to watches, or don’t have the bucks to spend on a FANCYPANTS™ SPEEDYTIMEWHIZZ, it’s a great entry point and a very good way to get up close and personal with a mechanical chronograph.
BEATER
BAMFORD x G-SHOCK 6900
£200
I’m as hard as nails, incredibly popular and quite good looking. Who am I? Yes, I’m that one off that film. But I might also be a G-SHOCK.
If you’re not familiar with G-SHOCKs, they’re Casio’s steroid-enhanced digital bruisers. You can set fire to them, drop them from a plane, run over them with a tank or let your children borrow them. After all the abuse, they’ll dust themselves off and carry on beeping and glowing.
I personally like the limited edition Bamford x G-SHOCK 6900. It’s a redesign of the classic 6900, but in black and three shades of Bamford’s signature aqua blue. It’s a right Bobby Dazzler.
While they’re sold out, you can pick them up on eBay for about £180, depending on the day. I’ve erred on the side of caution with the price, but you might be able to save yourself a few pennies here and there by looking around.
Under budget? Of course!
Total spend: £977
I’d be proud to call this my collection. It’s a great set of really decent watches - and all but one is mechanical. I don’t feel like any one is a weak link and I’d get joy from wearing them all. Best of all, I’ve got £23 left over for a new strap or a few ice-creams.
What do you think? Are there better options you’d go for? Have I played it too safe? Let me know. I’m always on the lookout for fun and inexpensive watches to add to the list…