Gonna get tar&feathered by some enthusiasts (in good sport) for this one here but here goes:
I’m consolidating my watch collection down and have sold off the majority of my hand wound or automatic watches, and am selling the remaining bit in the next few months.
This comes from
- Moving into a city apartment with my S.O. soon and wanting to keep the bedroom watch space to a 2-people sharing a room size
And (mainly)
- Being unreasonably bothered by the amount of work it takes to keep them all wound and running on time. Yes, I’ve had auto winders, but that doesn’t work for the true mechanicals, and tbh I’ve grown to like the grab and go reliability of quartz’s change a battery every other year kind of maintenance. Go ahead and hate away, this is absolutely a minor thing, but it’s enough to annoy me lol. I work from home now and I’ve found that means I don’t switch pieces enough to keep the movements ticking on a large collection.
So: with money not really being a factor (let’s say under 10k, I mean at the end of the day it is a quartz movement, but I think this range should cover 99.9%, recommend me some cool pieces to build out a small 3-4 watch collection! Can’t be too cheap either, I don’t judge on price, only aesthetics + reliability!
If you don’t care about the name on the dial, there are some small companies making some pretty watches with the high tick Seiko VH31 movement. Very affordable too. Check out the Addiesdive AD2023 for example.
On the cheap end, I have to recommend the Casio Oceanus S100 model. Radio controlled, solar, and titanium. For less than $500, i don’t know a better watch.
Bulova jet star
Came here for this. Quartz movement with a sweeping seconds hand. Nice dials across the collection. If you don’t want to spend Grand Seiko money, this is a great option.
Might be slightly out of budget. But it’s insane nobody mentioned the FP Journe Elegante! Check it out!
This is correct.
I will always recommend the Timex Weekender. But you might hate the noise from it if you cant put it in a box or a drawer lol
It’s not for everyone due to its size, but my current favourite quartz has to be my Bulova Lunar Pilot.
Yeah quite to the small side with its sad 20mm it really needs a bundstrap
No info on your wrist size so 39mm might be too small but Seiko Speedtimer. Can’t go wrong with a Seiko quartz. Even better if you can get the JDM version ( SBDL ref ).
Grand Seiko SBGP017, “Sea of Clouds”
Aside from the obvious Seiko and Citizen pieces already mentioned, I think the CWC Military Quartz Divers are very cool and aren’t as popular: https://www.cwcwatch.com/collections/divers-watches/products/cwc-1983-quartz-diver-with-1980-dial-special-project-watch
I bought a couple of Tissot quartz pieces and I absolutely love wearing them, one for day one for night and one for the weekend. Yes they were cheap but they feel the equal of my manual DSOTM retirement watch to wear. Good luck in yon quest.
Bulova Lunar Pilot. Beautiful watch.
Citizen Chronomaster
Some of my fave quartz pieces
https://www.cartier.com/en-gb/tank-francaise-watch_cod1647597304509605.html#dept=EU_Tank
https://www.grand-seiko.com/uk-en/collections/sbgn027g
I already picked up both Tags, the GS is next on my list
Seiko Dolce is a mostly unknown, very elegant small dress watch with a HAQ movement.
Accutron Spaceview, Scurfa Diver One (restocks December but it goes very quickly), Citizen AQ4103-16E