[Rachdanon]

Hi,

I'm looking for a watch for my wife. She is looking for a leather strap one and not too expensive. She says she is not the type that sticks to one watch so she doesn't want one with a 4-figure price tag and above.

But me being someone who appreciates quality, I don't want to get a cheap plasticky watch. I know Tag or Omega is out of range. How about Tissot, Longines, Seiko? We are not keen on used watches. It will be a sense of achievement for me if I get one that she wears a lot and really likes...

I'm hunting around the forum and the WWW for options, while hoping I can get recommendations in this thread.

Update 1 week later:
To summarize her preference :
- $2k max budget (yes we realize <$500 was not going to bag us something we had in mind)
- bigger face ( I would say about 38mm ideal)
- not too much diamonds /bling
- preferably leather strap
- preferably not a plain steel bezel (something Aquaracer-ish for bezel is preferred)
- round, not square face

 

[geoffbot]

Would be good if you gave us an idea of something she likes - dark/light dial, big/small, round/square etc. But...something like this Hamilton Jazzmaster Lady 34mm, maybe? £330 in the UK. There's also a 27mm no date version, bit cheaper.

 

[ari.seoul]

if not keen on pre-owned, then I strongly suggest grey market (thewatchery, jomashop, alan furman, etc) stick to the one you trust

choices:

1. Lucien Picard women's chronograph
2. Akribos XXIV Allura
3. Christian Bernard City Light
4. Stuhrling Park Avenue

 

[DCOmegafan]

Tissot has some good options.

If you're ok with quartz, I'd urge you to take a good look at Christopher Ward. Really attractive stuff, and CW has a reputation for really high quality for the price.

Of course, everything Seiko makes is good, and they make a number of autos for women in your price range, although I've yet to see any women's offerings that come anywhere close to Tissot or CW from a purely aesthetic point of view.

 

[Rachdanon]

I've come to a sense of price vs quality. After hunting around with my wife at almost all the common brands, I'm made to think that the quality I find in my Tag carrera and Aquaracer 500m cannot be had for anything below S$3000. (gut feeling estimate). Tissots have their place in the <S$1000 market but the quality difference was obvious to me.

Wife and I were quite dejected that we couldn't find something we liked. We tried a few of the Tag quartz Aquaracer 300m and the quality didn't shine through, maybe because of it's light weight and also the dial design and appearance lacked lustre that was suited to a $2k to $3k price range. Maybe it was because it was quartz.

The only watch that we felt we liked was out of her price range...the Omega Speedmaster Auto White dial and white aligather strap..retail was S$6k+....

So just to update my search....still no joy.

To summarize her preference again :
- $2k max budget (yes we realize <$500 was not going to bag us something we had in mind)
- bigger face ( I would say about 38mm ideal)
- not too much diamonds /bling
- preferably leather strap
- preferably not a plain steel bezel (something Aquaracer-ish for bezel is preferred)

Last thought...I just realized women have far far less choice and nice ones than men when it comes to watches. For now if I were a woman I would get an Omega, they seem to have the best ladies range.

 

[Chronos25]

It would help if you gave more details about what she is looking for. Size? Square or circular case? Color?

Regardless, in my experience, these two have received favorable remarks:

Hamilton H32251955 & H32251735



Or Christopher Ward S20-DEC-SKC

View attachment 631171