This post will be a bit more philosophical than my usual posts. I prefer watches on the budget end of the spectrum and I want to explain why. First, I can afford budget watches and I can't afford luxury watches. If I were to win the lottery, and money were not a consideration, I might have a change of philosophy, when it comes to watches. Even if that did happen, it wouldn't take away the joy I have already experienced with budget watches through out my life.
My childhood, shaped my likes and dislikes when it comes to watches. So did film, television, and advertisements. So let's unpack some of that. First, as a young child, I remember watches being important. Important people had nice watches. They said, timing was everything. Racing and sports came down to seconds. Time dragged slowly at school when waiting for the bell to ring for school to let out. Knowing what time it was, and having your watch synchronized with others could mean the difference of life and death in combat. Watches, marked important occasions, like marriage, birth of a child, and retirement.
Watches and timing often played a roll in adding drama to shows. Wait for it, wait for it, now, go, go, go! James Bond made me appreciate a solid diver. Plus James Bond added so many gadgets to watches it was amazing. Q branch even put a tracker in a watch to keep track of a Fabergé egg. Back to the Future helped make calculator watches cooler, although I was already jealous of my friends who had it. For me a watch was more than just knowing what time it was. It was a character. A hero. A protagonist. A innovator. A friend.
My Grandparents had some opinions on watches. They had grown up with mechanical watches and Swiss time keeping superiority. My father appreciated a good mechanical watch, and was hoping for a gold watch at retirement, but even he realized that quartz was the better technology when the quartz revolution happened. By the time I was able to get my first watch, the Casio digital reigned supreme for kids, and some adults too. Cheap, reliable, accurate, fun, new, and misunderstood by the older generation, everything a kid could want!
I went through a few watches as a kid and teen. I had several Casio, Timex, Armitron, Fossil watches and even a Swatch. Eventually, clocks in cars, on walls, computers and cell phones made the practical need for a watch go away. I went for a decade without wearing a watch. When I got interested in wearing a watch again, it wasn't to tell the time. Instead it was to complete my professional dress attire. I knew I didn't want to be the guy checking his phone in business settings. I also knew I didn't want a smart watch nagging me and distracting me with phone notifications all the time. So I decided I wanted a dress watch. I searched high and low. Learned about adult watches. Learned about mechanical watches. Learned about automatic watches. Learned about luxury watches. To be honest, the more I learned, the less I wanted one.
Then a watch caught my eye. A Seiko SRPB41J1 Cocktail Time Blue Moon. It reminded me of staring into my wife's blue eyes. I was totally infatuated with it. I tried to move on, but it was love at first sight. The more I looked at it, the more I liked it. I couldn't find anything wrong with it. It looked good on the factory bracelet. It looked great with just about any strap I saw it on. It looked great dressed up and dressed down. It was perfect. I bought it and was totally happy with it. Not cheap, in my mind, but not at all expensive in the world of watches. I have never felt out classed by a watch and I also didn't feel like it was pretentious. It just felt comfortable and nice. The dial on it is mesmerizing. Everything about makes me smile. The domed crystal reminds me of old school watches my Grandparents wore. The smooth movement of the mechanical second hand draws you into the dial. The outer edge of the dial has markings breaking down seconds into fractions of a second, evoke precision that is unnecessary but appreciated. The polished applied indices at the hour markers sparkle like swords of knights of the round table pointing in dauphine hands at the center. The date complication is nicely framed. The Seiko logo is applied and catches the light sometimes but not enough to be a distraction from the radiant textured sunburst blue dial that is a deep dark navy blue at the edges. The way this dial plays with the light is truly stunning.
After several years of happiness, I got interested in Casio digital watches. My Dad has worn one for a couple of decades. The nostalgia of it made me dig in and check them out. As I was taking a trip down memory lane with Casio, I came across the Casio MDV-106B-2AV Duro in blue a.k.a. the "Bluro". Again, it caught my eye and I couldn't stop thinking about it. I read reviews and realized that even though it is available on sale for a tenth of the price of the Seiko, it is still a good watch. Even though it is cheap, you will spend many times the amount of the watch on watch straps. I shopped around and before Christmas there was a sale and I bought it. Surely being a tenth of the price of the Seiko, I would not be as happy with it. Well, what surprised me, was that I was even more happy with it. Being so budget friendly meant I could buy a couple. I didn't have to worry about it. I could change straps to suit my mood. Eventually I spent two and half times the price of the watch to get a Strapcode Jubilee bracelet for it. No regrets, at all! It transformed it into my favorite watch. When I wash my hands, I don't worry about it getting wet, it's a diver. It looks good with a suit, works well as a desk diver, and it is great with whatever I wear.
I was so impressed with Casio, I bought a bunch for nostalgia's sake. Each one has impressed me in it's own way. The F-91W bring back memories and is creating memories for my kids. The Casio Duros in my collection keep multiplying. A Casio A171WE-1A joined the collection and makes me smile with it's combination of Vintage 1974 style and F-91W features. Each one brings me joy. From a $10 watch to a $400 watch, the joy is the same. How can that be?
This is the lesson I learned, it is the details, not the dollars, that decides my happiness with a watch. The detail of Indiglo on a budget friendly Timex lights up my eyes and takes me back to a simpler time. The way the light reflects on a Seiko dial brings a smile to my face. The Casio beep on a digital watch and trying to stop the timer on exactly one second makes me happy. Those little details are what brings joy. I know that expensive luxury watches nail those details and bring joy to their owners as well. But it is not about the dollars, it is about the details.