Looking for a new mens watch...

That Mondaine is a nice looking watch. I've had Seiko 5's and Citizen Eco Drives in the past and had no issues with either of them. Both were Swiss Army Knives of watches. I now wear a Casio W70 on a velcro band and have a F-91W as a backup so I have no room to talk.

Thanks for the feedback folks!

A lot of brands I would not have thought about or even heard of.

That black Filson is quite handsome...

I currently use my phone and my nicest in the past has been $50 timex's, but I always find these threads very interesting.

You mentioned that you wanted a “blackish face”.

I’ve worn this Seiko Chronograph for many years and I find it difficult to impossible to read in direct sun light as the hour markers overwhelm the hands with glare.

I’m fifty one so I imagine some the problem can be attributed to my eye sight but still, it seems to me that combining a black face with chrome markers & hands is putting style too far ahead of function...YMMV

I have had this one a long time (photo below). Mine is in for a cleaning and a service as I type this. It is about 30 years old and just keeps running. I really like the Seiko Lassale watches because they are very thin and seem to be a step up in quality than other Seiko's of the same time period. As a bonus they are not all that expensive compared to a real Lassale. I hate the really thick watches of today.

Chronos tend to be a bit harder to read simply due to clutter, in my experience. Losing the rings around the secondary dials helps a lot.

If you want a real GRM watch thread, we need to start talking about Russian/Soviet stuff. You can have a lot of fun for very little money there.

Keith Tanner wrote: Chronos tend to be a bit harder to read simply due to clutter, in my experience. Losing the rings around the secondary dials helps a lot. If you want a real GRM watch thread, we need to start talking about Russian/Soviet stuff. You can have a lot of fun for very little money there.

I don’t know, I’ve heard the Russian stuff blows up pretty easily – too soon?

Keith Tanner wrote: If you want a real GRM watch thread, we need to start talking about Russian/Soviet stuff. You can have a lot of fun for very little money there.

No we don't. I have to wear a watch at work and normally wear a Duluth Trading one my wife got me with a canvas band I really like. Then someone posted about their Soviet watches. I checked out a store in NY that sold Russian stuff and found a railroad conductor's watch and some kind of space watch. I also have a snoopy watch where he flys around one the second hand chasing the Red Baron.

Zombie thread, canoe deleted 

I'm probably not the person to ask. My wristwatch is also a robot.

Suddenly nostalgic for my old transformer watch.  It only lasted for a few days on the wrist before it started falling off and I lost it.  It was pretty awesome for a cheap piece of junk.

You can still get them. I got Optimus at Toys-R-US and Bumblebee at Wallyworld. Cheap. Like $6-8.

(noticed this is zombie thread but what the heck...) I have a cousin who is *really* into watches. I mean seriously.  As in taking watchmaking classes and going to trade shows and looking to get into the business. He is also an opinionated PITA. One opinion is that Invicta is the devil and ruins every watchmaker they purchase. Another is that IWC is awesome. Which is true. Take a look for IWC Spitfire pilot watch to see what I'd buy if I had a spare couple grand laying around. Also Stowa and Ball for GMT watches that are very well made and easy to read. Some of this fellers' enthusiasm has rubbed off on me. Which has had the unfortunate effect of forcing me to realize that the watches I want cost ridiculous amounts of money. Sad, sad panda. I really did not need to know about Armin Strom, Zenith, Ulysses Nardin, or Gruebel Forsey. But back in the real world where watches don't cost house money, he showed me an ebay listing for a Tutima pilot watch that might be just the thing...

In reply to Jay_W :

What is his opinion on seven Friday watches? I am enamored with the retro future oversized ridiculousness of them. 

Christopher Ward

I have five now. Great design. Reasonable price. Good value. Look into it. (You're not going to find a great $100 watch without stupid bling. But with CW you will find a great watch that nobody else in your neighborhood, or state, will have, for under $1K).

I'm in love with some of the new stuff from Bell & Ross.

The designs remind me of what Braun was doing with small appliances in the early 80's.

In reply to Appleseed :

I kinda like this

In reply to Gary :

Do it! Roll out!

theenico said:

I have an older Concord Mariner that I really like. Here's a link to the newer version:

http://www.concord.ch/us/en/shop-watches/mariner-0320260.html#start=1&cgid=mariner-mens

You can find them cheaper else ware.

I have an old Concord Saratoga that is the worst, most undependable, needy, inaccurate watch I've ever owned.

In reply to Mndsm :

I will ask and report back...

So! Did I mention that he is a bit of an opinionated PITA? His assessment is "Invicta for the Asian market"

But I did a bit more research. The guts come from Japan and that is not a bad thing. So they prolly work just fine. I gotta figure if the thing is made from good parts assembled properly and you like it, then it's pretty hard to go wrong. To help you attempt to figure out if these hopeful attributes apply to these watches, well, I like this blog and here's a review.

www.ablogtowatch.com/sevenfriday-watches-review-p1-p2-p3-models/amp/

I was neck deep in the watch world about a decade ago, but then I had lots more kids and my pool of play money dried up.  These days I wonder what the heck was I thinking -- while I appreciate the micro-mechanical art of it all, aspiring to spend many, many thousands for a bauble that sits on the wrist seems really pointless in retrospect.  My daily wear these days is just an Apple watch that I was gifted ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I poke around on ablogtowatch and hodinkee when I need a watch fix.  I’ve got a nice little collection that I like but like nderwater the desire for more is lacking these days.  

I did tour the RGM facility in PA a while back. It was impressive seeing the facility and the watches they build.  I even took a turn in one of their engine turning machines on a watch face blank. That was pretty cool to me. 

The thread's back up, and I got pics so I might as well post em. :P  

I'm a sucker for clean, easy to read military-style watches but I didn't exactly have the budget for automatic watches a decade ago. Because of this, I purchased the obvious starter watch, a Citizen Eco-Drive.  

It definitely filled the void on my wrist and was extremely pleasant to wear, but it lacked in the "bulk n' bling" department. I was hooked on the solar aspect, though, and wanted to try out something radio-controlled too sooooo....  

...I snagged a Casio G-Shock MTG-1000. This watch was *awesome* for its time-keeping features and yes, it updated itself for daylight savings time! The downside, however, was you basically had to consult the manual anytime you wanted to manually force the watch to sync.  

This pair of watches kept me satisfied for the past ten years, but more and more I found myself just skipping the watch. However, I found one of my dream watches on Craigslist last week and brought it home, a Marathon GSAR.  

Forgive the EDC (survival-consumer-whore) distractions; it's the photo I had handy! The GSAR is a military-contract timepiece with a workhorse Swiss automatic movement, tritium tubes for glowing at night, and a delightfully durable stainless steel case. It's as easy to read as my Citizen and is nearly as durable as the G-Shock, all while being a much classier watch. My science nerdery is satisfied by the radioactive symbol and 26 mCi of tritium, my "bulk n' bling" are satisfied by the stainless bracelet (not pictured) so I can get away with wearing this with a suit, and my black military watch needs are satisfied because it's literally a black military watch. Yup! It's nice finally having a "grown up" watch.  

TLDR: I love my Marathon GSAR. You should buy one. If you don't, you should buy my other two watches. :P

Jay_W said:

In reply to Mndsm :

I will ask and report back...

So! Did I mention that he is a bit of an opinionated PITA? His assessment is "Invicta for the Asian market"

But I did a bit more research. The guts come from Japan and that is not a bad thing. So they prolly work just fine. I gotta figure if the thing is made from good parts assembled properly and you like it, then it's pretty hard to go wrong. To help you attempt to figure out if these hopeful attributes apply to these watches, well, I like this blog and here's a review.

www.ablogtowatch.com/sevenfriday-watches-review-p1-p2-p3-models/amp/

I had a feeling. I sorta like invictas too , but I cant fe past the untra cheeseball and E36 M3ty pricing tactics. 

I picked this up recently and really like it. Thin classy and simple. It has a great feel to it that I really like.  And again it costs a lot less than many people think. Just a bit over $100 at Costco.