Affordable Mechanicals in a Store Near You!

In this day and age of affordable, reliable quarz watches, why would you want to wear a mechanical?  Because they are cool!  Before Seiko came out with the the Astron in 1969, nearly all watches were mechanical, with a few electrics and tuning fork watches.  Seiko and the quartz revolution changed everything.  Mechanical watches have made quite a comeback lately, as people realize no matter how neat quartz watches are, a mechanical has properties that an electronic watch does not have.  Sadly, most mechanical watches are only sold online or very expensive.  Here are a few you can go to the local mall and pick up without breaking the bank:

Tommy Hilfiger:

There about a dozen or so automatic models available from Hilfiger.  I have tried a few on.  Decent quality, they have a 10 year warranty.  They tend to run a little thick for my tastes, and the open front is something people love or hate.  I think it was pretty tastefully done, in this case.  About $125 5o $135.  Available only at Macy’s.

Swatch:

It may surprise some that Swatch makes automatics, but they do own many high end brands which do, and own ETA.   For this season, there are few for sale and they tend to be open faced like the one above.  It looks cool, but it makes it very hard to read the face.  It is Swiss made and should be reliable.  This steel cased one is $175, but I have seen them as low as $125.  I am sure the spring collection will have more.   Your best best is to visit a Swatch store, but other retailers do sell Swatch watches.

Fossil:

Fossil currently has 30 aut-o-matics for sale right now.  They tend to run very large, over 47mm in some cases.  If you like living large, they are the watch for you.  If you have small wrists, buy a Seiko online 🙂

Can be found at Fossil stores or many other retailers.  Prices are usually around $175 and they have a 11 year warranty.

That’s the roundup for now.  There are more out the and I will add to this list the next time I take a trip to the mall.

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3 Responses to Affordable Mechanicals in a Store Near You!

  1. fungus says:

    Have you seen this?

    http://www.buzzwatchs.com/

    I bought one of their skeleton watch models and it can be wound by hand or movement. Also hackable!

    Origins are dubious though

  2. Dave the watch phreak. says:

    Never seen those before. They look like decent quality, but by the dial layout, they look like Seagull based movements. My “Speedmaster” is a Seagull movement and hacks and handwinds as well. After I adjusted it, it keeps really good time. (Before, it lost 2 minutes a day).

  3. fungus says:

    You are right! The Buzz model I bought sports a Seagull movement with 38 jewels. Their website shows a similar model and it was spot on. From the stuff I read on the net, these are highly regarded watches.

    http://www.seagullwatch.eu/auto/M171S.php

    But I think the people behind the branding of Buzz watches are misleading buyers into thinking these are German made watches!

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