Votes for Most Iconic / Best Value

[Omegamanic]

I have been thinking of which watches always come up as want to haves to collect - but trying to way this up against the expense of buying.

Don't know how to do the pole thing

But thoughts were along the lines of

Omega 2254 / 2531

Rolex Sub / SD (& Daytona - but that doesn't quite hit the value stake)

IWC Aquatimer

Too many individual Seiko / Casio models for me to pick one Icon

Anyway - I think I am concluding that the 2254 or the 2531, whatever your preference are probably hitting the best value for Most Iconic / Best Value for me - but would love to get some more opinions.

[GraniteQuarry]

Medium/long-term is Sub/SD all the way IMO. They cost a bit to get, but just move upwards in value :)

[Chris_in_the_UK]

Medium/long-term is Sub/SD all the way IMO. They cost a bit to get, but just move upwards in value :)

If iconic/best value also equates to 'safe' then I agree :)

[Seamaster73]

Too many individual Seiko / Casio models for me to pick one Icon

"Most iconic/best value?"

Seiko SKX-007

Casio G-SHOCK DW-5600E

[watchlovr]

Speedmaster....always Speedmaster IMO.
C.

[seikopath]

prs18

[dejjl]

PRS20 - great watch, great value....stick it on a Toshi and it fights above its weight.

[7Pines]

I'll have to break the rules here and pick two separate watches, only because I can't think of one watch that is both iconic and a terrific value.
So, I'd say the Rolex sub is the most iconic, but the best value out there, IMHO, HAS to be the Seiko SKX-007. If you can comfortably bet your life on a sub $200 watch, that watch then must surely be one of the best values out there.
Of course, value is a very subjective notion. I'd readily agree there are $1,000 values out there.
To a man of my means, the Seiko subs (to include a number of models) are pretty tough to beat. That 7Sx6 movement is a workhorse!
Dan

[Chinnock]

Speedmaster....always Speedmaster IMO.
C.

ditto..........iconic, historic, value for money and timeless!!

[dogpuf]

I hate to admit it but the Rolex Sub must be the most iconic

I don't own one but it must be the best value must have been the PRS 2 Dreadnought when bought new

Now I think the best value watch is the Deep Blue Master 2000m Diver currently on offer at $599

[GraniteQuarry]

I don't own one but it must be the PRS 2 Dreadnought

Certainly a contender for best value if you got one at the original price of £450 :lol:

[dogpuf]

I don't own one but it must be the PRS 2 Dreadnought

Certainly a contender for best value if you got one at the original price of £450 :lol:

I editted my post to qualify my statement

[Filterlab]

Don't forget the SKX007 - probably the best value watch on the planet. :)

[WORKSIMON]

Any orange faced Doxa for iconic and vintage for an investment :D

(Always remember investments may go down as well as up)

[Steve264]

Iconic certainly the Rolex Sub ND (possibly - certainly for me - followed by the Speedy Moon Watch)

Best value for money? I'd argue in favour of the PRS53 or PRS14. Or some of the less well known Seiko watches with the 7S26 movement (I have had several) that you can get for less than 50 quid and are outstanding watches in their own right.

Cheers,
Steve

[sunster]

How can you forget to put the Omega Speedmaster on your list???
This, the rolex sub and Zenith elprimero get my vote

[flyerboy]

Sea Dweller, Speedmaster Pro and Seamaster Pro for me :)

[walkerwek1958]

Amongst the usual culprits, I`d have to include th 50s/60s Omega Constellation with pie-pan dial. Nothing out here that's quite like them and they do steadily increase in value.

Paul

[docrwm]

Don't forget the SKX007 - probably the best value watch on the planet. :)

Or the 009 Pepsi version. Just got one for $107 shipped BNIB and its a screaming value :D

[Saibot7]

speedmaster !

For a classic Breitling Aeromarine, look no further than the Seawolf, but make sure it's the ti version.

[M4tt]

The Speedmaster, Sub and Explorer are the obvious choices, however I think that something like the 6b /346 (0r 159) (or 542) are actually the single most influential, iconic and best value watches out there. Almost all of the most popular manufactures made a version and everyone else, including the MOD has copied them ever since. Sometimes the homage is wholesale, sometimes just one or two styling cues are borrowed. I cannot imagine anything that more completely fulfils the definition of 'iconic'.

As for owning an original or a homage, your choices at every price range are remarkable.

Obviously, you could start off with a nice cheap homage to the Omega version of the 6b /542, or PRS53 as Eddie prefers to call it. Ironically the Smiths W10 is a re-imagining of their (somewhat rare) offering to the RAF of specification 6b /542 which Omega have largely made their own. Thus when the new W10 pops out of the gates of the Swanbourne road factory it will be a close cousin to the '53.

http://www.ninanet.net/watches/others11 ... ega6b.html

Alternatively you could go for a nice re-imagining of the 6b /346 which somehow looks quite like the Speedbird. Naturally you can get this in versions of varying ages all the way back to 1948. Everyone has had a go, from IWC to JLC, Hamilton to Poljot and pretty well everyone in between.

http://www.markeleven.com/

Then of course there is the 6b/159, less popular perhaps, especially in the gracile snapback cases and white dial / black hands combination, but still hugely influential, especially when re-cased in the post 1956 Dennison Aquatite cases with the bold black dial white hands combo. The second hand alone has been revisited more than Sales corner on a slow Wednesday, while the numerals are just a little familiar...

http://homepage.mac.com/marvin.smith/6BWebPage/TOC.html

http://www.timeworldservices.co.uk/Omeg ... Wristwatch

That's my call for most iconic /best value: these three RAF 6b watches from 1948 to 1956. If you want to be pedantic, pick your favourite.

As for best value, you can pick up a PRS 53 for about £100 on the SC with a bit of patience. At the other end you might pay a few grand for a genuine thin arrow 6b/542 or about the same for a new IWC MK XV. Apart from that, most of these are available with relative ease for less than a thousand pounds. For that you can get some of the finest handwind movements ever made (That's the best of manufactures like Omega, JLC, Smiths and Longines.) in cases that could be argued to have defined what a wristwatch looks like.

It is easy to forget that these watches were developed when an accurate, hacking shockproof, waterproof watch was state of the art tech. These are some of the first watches which really can be worn today as everyday watches with modern expectations and no disappointment. More to the point, they still look contemporary today, and that is simply because these watches set a standard which has proven very hard to beat and very easy to imitate.

*edit* and to perfectly elucidate my point: don't the numerals on that Brietling above look familiar...

[andrew]

Are there really people who go on watch sites and only buy "iconic" (whatever that means) watches?

Stap me, and these people can vote :)

I think the most "iconic" watch in the world is only worth buying if it suits you, not a load of other men on the internet who tell you it's iconic. As for best value, do you mean best-value popular watch or best bang-for-the-buck in general? As that also depends on your defininion of "value".

For those looking to start a new collection, happy collecting - assuming you're not buying for anybody else...

[Gurmot]

Speedmaster or Submariner / SD. It's already been said but that's the nature of popular appeal.

[nitram]

Speedmaster Moon