Not withstanding the beautiful and classy Bulova recently recommended for this category on this very forum, I have been thinking of something dress(y) for under £1,000. So far, this Stowa has turned my head most. I'm not sure the sub seconds fit the category perfectly, but I'm loving the dimensions (especially how thin it is) and the 'porcelain-style' dial (a polishing effect apparently). I think I prefer the hand wound Arabic numerals with sub-seconds, but would take it with Roman numerals if they did it with sub-seconds at 36mm (Stowa have no plans to do this). They do that in 41mm diameter, but that's too big for me. What do people think? Do they have a different recommendation? Must be below £1,000 (preferably substantially). https://www.stowa.de/en/Marine/
https://img.techpowerup.org/201116/s...t-16-05-01.png
I have the 41mm in the silver dial with arabics; a relative has the porcelain effect dial with romans. The romans and porcelain effect really dress it up; I would get that version over the arabics if looking for a pure dress watch (mine's more of an allrounder). Well made and the blued hands look sensational. The 36mm size wears well (not too small).
I was really into the ‘Marine deck watch’ look for a long time and bought a Melbourne Portsea, as a Souvenir when I was in Melbourne. It’s a 40mm triple calendar in that style with a Myota-based movement but they also do a time-only, I think. It was about £400. I got rid in the end as the thickness was a bit too much for what was meant to be a dressier watch.
The stowa marines are lovely, I’ve also contemplated them for a long time, alongside a Sinn 1736, I just wouldn’t get enough wear out of them to justify the purchase. Maybe one day though...
Raymond Weil do some nice dress watches that you can pick up for just under £1000. Ernest Jones have the moonphase for £980 if that floats your boat.
https://www.ernestjones.co.uk/websto...racelet+watch/
Or just get an Orient Bambino and stick £900 in your pocket.
Dekla's Deckwatch range is customisable at no extra charge - choice of indices, dial colours, case materials, red 12 (or not), hands, etc - means you can get exactly the look you want.
This is just one example:
Wild card: I'd not seen these until the other day but Zelos do a model called the Nova with some interesting dials, including meteorite, aventurine, etc.
38mm
8.5mm thick
ETA/Peseux 7001 top grade movement
100m WR
Around the $900 - $1,000 mark, so £700 - £750 (plus import)
https://zeloswatches.com/collections/nova-38mm
Teal whirlpool:
Last edited by gcleminson; 17th November 2020 at 15:36.