Another watch thread

Im starting to get an itchy wrist, wanting to get a new watch, even though I got my current one on the grounds of it being a "keeper" that would last years, Ive only had it for 2 years or so.

Tiny bit of background: I used to have a Citizen diving watch, which I loved, it was durable and never got scratched. Analogue/digital. Only down sides were lack of a backlight, and £60 battery replacements.

The battery replacements made me swap to an ecodrive:


I quite like the watch, but its not "tough enough". The watch face is flush with the bezel resulting in loads of scratches. Every time I knock it I dread seeing it being shattered (it got shattered the first week I had it, resulting in 4 trips to citizen to get the glass cleaned out).

I finally sold a gold bracelet my grandmother gave me a few years ago, for £450 It was hideous and was never going to be worn, but itd be nice to put the money towards something that WILL be worn.

So, any recommendations on the following criteria:

Budget - £450
Solar powered (or at least doesnt need battery changes)
"Tough" (as in not prone to scratching or breaking, a-la G-shock watches.
Stylish (to be my every day watch, I dont have different ones for different occasions)
Backlight (optional, would be nice)
Not HUGE (I have small wrists)
Other features (Being a gadget lover, the more crammed into it the better)

Ive been tempted by this:

But Im not sure on the grounds of it being big (Ive yet to find one in a shop to see just how big) and the fact its casio. I dont think Ill ever shake the imagery of being back at school and everyone having casio calculators and g-shock watches. So paying between £300 and £450 for a casio watch isnt ideal. Things tempting me is other than the size, it has everything I want, as well as compass, barometer and thermometer!

Ok first up Im not a huge watch person. I own 4 watches but could only tell you where 2 of them are right now and I think only 1 of them works :s

The watch Ive always fancied (over and above the uber expensive obvious ones) is a Seiko Kinetic watch.

I have a seiko kinetic from http://www.skywatches.com.sg for 8 years, and wear it every day  :wub:

Seiko Kinetic here as well.

Had it going on 6 years now and love it. Beginning to look a bit worse for wear unfortunately but still looks better than most watches I see on people.

Care to take some pictures of your watches? Ive not been that drawn to any of the seiko watches Ive seen, bar the ones that are ££££.

From what you have said, mine is nothing like what you want, mine is a brushed alu stylish job rather than a rugged one.

Another vote for Seiko I have mine since Christmas 2004 and wear it daily, it wasn't a mega expensive model about 300 quid IIRC,  but the glass seems to be a lot more scratch resistant than any other watches I have had, there is a few small scratches on the bezel and the strap is starting to feel a bit loose but that's about it.

Seiko Titanium for the win tbh.

Everyone Ive ever shown mine to, and compared it to their fat omega, breitling, tag, whatever immediately goes oh, erm, sh*t - actually quite nice to have two arms the same length isnt it.

If you want a watch face that wont get scratched you want one with a proper sapphire crystal face, like my 12 year old seamaster:



This one is a mid size quartz so its not big and blingy. You might pick one up used for your budget. Its not got any features beyond the deep dive rating and the helium valve

And yes it needs a bath.

Ive read that the sapphire crystals may be stronger, but are more brittle? (and more expensive).

If it comes down to having a watch where I can knock it, and shrug it off thinking "Itll only have a scratch, if that" as opposed to stopping dead in my tracks and grimacing as I check to see if Ive crushed the crystal, I think Id take the scratch!

Id never shattered a crystal until my current watch, and its enough to put me off said watch as well as wanting to go more rugged.

Well its basically rock. Mine has been bashed a fair bit, I dont worry about it because it seems not to be fragile. I think the word crystal is misleading If you read up on sapphire at wikipedia youll see how hard it is; certainly not brittle.

Hehe this thread has prompted me to buy myself a new watch!  Picked up a cheap Seiko Premier Kinetic of Ebay and should be with me Tuesday.

Was looking at watch reviews and spotted this: http://ablogtoread.com/watch-reviews/tissot-t-touch-expert-watch-review-the-king-of-quartz/
Looks right up your street with all the gadgets and touch screen, looks a lot better than that Casio you posted a pic of, which looks something a 10 year old designed IMO

Quote from: zpyderIve been tempted by this:

But Im not sure on the grounds of it being big (Ive yet to find one in a shop to see just how big) and the fact its casio. I dont think Ill ever shake the imagery of being back at school and everyone having casio calculators and g-shock watches. So paying between £300 and £450 for a casio watch isnt ideal. Things tempting me is other than the size, it has everything I want, as well as compass, barometer and thermometer!

How about?    

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Casio-Sport-PRG-40-3VUR-Triple-Sensor/dp/B000HZUW5G/ref=sr_1_42?ie=UTF8&s=watch&qid=1277087972&sr=8-42

Digital. Cant stand digital displays. Dont mind both, quite like both, but to me theres something about watches needing hour and minutes hands etc!

To be brutally honest I have dropped Casio. I used to wear them constantly but the last one the metallic areas were just sprayed onto plastic and rubbed off very quickly.

Last couple of years Ive used a Xonix, which I liked simply because it added memory storage. Strap finally went and you cant get replacements . Ive now bought a Timex T44642PF Expedition Combo Watch.