By T W Coombs
How many times have you been perusing your favourite magazine and they have a section on the new and must have watches and one has taken your eye, then you see the tag. Like many I would love to own a selection of watches worth thousands of pounds a piece. A collection full of Rolex, Tag and Patek Philippe, but against popular belief freelance writers do other things to sustain the writing part so paying loads of money on watches sadly is not something easily done.
The humble watch isn't really about not being late for meetings or dates or if that stranger asks you the time (which happens less these days than it used to) as we have the smart phone which tells you the time with global accuracy. So why wear one? Well because it is a very gentlemanly thing to wear a watch and because they look great. I am not one for jewellery these days, I used to wear rings, a bracelet and a chain but thankfully tastes change so the extra silvery bling was no more. I was a jeweller so I got discount, hence the bling. Now I think the watch is a must have, to make a statement but also it needs to be practical.
So what is worth buying if the must haves are hugely expensive? There are quite a few, but problem is getting something that has a quality about it but doesn't break your bank balance and just doesn’t break after a few days. I am huge fan of the automatic watch, it saves on paying for batteries and deciding you want to wear a certain watch in your collection and it has stopped. So I have selected a few fashion watches with different styles that are available under £100 (ish).
First up is IK Colouring/Alienware, I know it is an odd name but they do a range of skeleton automatic watches (pictured above) that look great, are a good size and weight and hold 24 to 35 hours worth of power for when you are not wearing it. It keeps great time and looks very classic but also very dressy. It is a large bulk of a watch so keeps a very manly look. And how much I hear you cry, well in a range 40 to 50 and are easily available through Amazon.
We now move onto Rotary, who are well established brand and make watches of all price ranges, and this automatic leather
If like me you do like snorkelling when travelling then you need a dive watch, but you don’t have to spend thousands. Invicta do a really nice classic automatic watch which you can get for around 80. With the looks of a classic Rolex and the dive capacity of 200 metres, with workable bezel and glow in the dark hands you won’t end up with a burnt back again. It is always vital to keep track of time when out in the ocean and it helps if you look awesome when getting out the ocean too. Mine has a rubber strap that I bought separately but you can get with rubber bracelet and also looks great with a leather strap.
The next watch of choice was one of my early purchases within my collection. My automatic Arbutus was a steal, with it being under 100 via Amazon, and even though there are rumours of fakes going through the store it has been verified. If you can get a deal on the watches then they are worth every penny. Some of the models do range over 150 but keep an eye out, I paid 85 for mine. With date and day dials and a 24 hour clock it is a classic looking beautiful piece of machinery and with the bonus of the gold inlaid hour markers and numbers.
I have mentioned automatics only so far but I wanted to finish with a quartz watch. If you are social media person you may have seen the onslaught of these watches with brand ambassadors with many bloggers (I am not one of them). I liked the look so I got one, these do go over the 100 range but are elegant and well made and come with an array of straps for most occasions. I actually own two because of this. Simple white faced, one with a black leather strap and one with fabric. The fabric straps are in at the moment with the likes of Omega even getting in on the game. They look great in the summer and because they are quite plain they just look simple and understated but cool none the less.T W Coombs has not been endorsed to mention these brands nor is the site or article sponsored by Amazon.
