# suggest inexpensive preppy style everyday watch



## Captain America (Aug 28, 2012)

I'm in the market for an everyday watch, and by this I mean a watch under $2-300 that I can literally bang into a wall or car door and not feel very much pain/regret/anxiety.

But what looks good? There are a ton of really large watches out there. I like autos since they don't suck up batteries. What really stands out in this crowded field? What watch brands work best?

Any thoughts would be helpful. If I could wave a want, I'd opt for an Omega Aqua Terra, but I just feel I'd harm the thing in the course of life and living, and don't want to deal with the anxiety.


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## FLMike (Sep 17, 2008)

Look at the Seiko 5 series of inexpensive automatics.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005NYLO08/


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## orange fury (Dec 8, 2013)

Timex weekender on a NATO strap, if you don't mind quartz movements


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## JohnAAG (May 20, 2016)

Can I ask what you mean by a "preppy" watch? To me, trad preppy would be something old and gold on a grosgrain band.


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## Palmer_Woodrow (May 24, 2007)

I've been a fan of the Timex watches.

Current choice is the Classics. I just swap out the band it comes with and replace it with a grosgrain band.

https://www.timex.com/watches/classics-t2m441

20% off and free shipping with code DADGRAD20


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## Dmontez (Dec 6, 2012)

I use an array of seiko/seiko 5 and Time Weekender, all of them are still in great condition, just yesterday I dropped my seiko 5 this one to be exact https://www.amazon.com/Seiko-SNK803...242&sr=1-3&nodeID=6358540011&keywords=seiko+5

I had removed it from my wrist and placed it in my lap while driving. I forgot I had done that I got out of my SUV and it landed right on the face from probably 4 feet, on the gravel, it didn't even scratch.


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## Charles Saturn (May 27, 2010)

I'm a fan of Seiko watches, either the Seiko 5, or their quartz movements. And I like Diver style watches with the large movable bezel. I have purchased several on Amazon, all with good results. It takes a while to sort through all they have to offer but worth it in the end I think. The key is not to go for the sub $200 watch as it usually comes with a subpar folded metal band, which are awful. They grab your arm hairs and are basically unusable. What you want are solid metal links. Some prefer the made in Japan models, but not really sure what that gets you.


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## TweedyDon (Aug 31, 2007)

Another vote for Seiko 5!


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## CSG (Nov 22, 2011)

The problem with the Seiko 5 series is a reputation for inaccuracy. If you're going to go cheap, get quartz and buy a battery every couple years. Cheap automatic watches are cheap automatic watches. You'd be ahead finding a serviced vintage Hamilton, Bulova or similar.


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## godan (Feb 10, 2010)

CSG said:


> The problem with the Seiko 5 series is a reputation for inaccuracy. If you're going to go cheap, get quartz and buy a battery every couple years. Cheap automatic watches are cheap automatic watches. You'd be ahead finding a serviced vintage Hamilton, Bulova or similar.


+1. Better an adequate quartz with easy, inexpensive service, than a cheap auto with no service or only very expensive service. The many here who love Seiko watches no doubt have their reasons. A Seiko failed on me once, and I hold a grudge - probably because I was about forty feet under the Pacific Ocean at the time.


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## richard warren (Dec 10, 2015)

For that price I would get a Hamilton Khaki and nylon strap.


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## 12345Michael54321 (Mar 6, 2008)

Captain America said:


> I like autos since they don't suck up batteries.


There are many quartz watches on the market which will go years between battery changes. And the typical watch battery is both readily available and highly affordable. (The local jewelry shop even replaces watch batteries for free, as a good will gesture.)

And unlike an automatic, a quartz watch won't need a moderately pricey clean & lube, every so often.

If you want an automatic simply because you want an automatic, that's fine. But the "sucking up batteries" excuse doesn't really fly.

Anyway, you haven't provided enough information as to what you want for anyone to give you specific recommendations. You want a $2-300 automatic, which looks good (a wildly subjective thing), is preppy, and works best (another highly subjective thing, and in any case the vast majority of watches work more than well enough to keep accurate time in ordinary use). Basically, half a zillion watches meet your qualifications.

So you ought to go spend a few hours or days sorting through what's available for purchase online, and what's recommended on various horological forums like watchuseek.com and timezone.com. Come up with a half dozen possibilities. Post them here, with pictures, and - this is important - with your own thoughts about each one.

But fwiw, in the inexpensive, non-quartz watch category, I tend to like vintage pieces. Vintage wristwatches have both their good points and bad, of course. Neither of the ones pictured below - the first a late 1960's Tissot Seastar and the second of a mid-century Waltham which even came with the original box - set me back as much as $100. While I'm happy with them, I wouldn't be traumatized if they somehow got damaged, destroyed, lost, etc. And I have them both on nylon straps (the same one, I think, but that's purely coincidental - I change watch straps frequently), which makes them, de facto, preppy.


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## Tempest (Aug 16, 2012)

I will admit that quartz watches become less efficient through the decades, and my 20+ year old ones can consume a battery in under a year. I'm not sure how that matters in the OP's context. Timex has like 5 year battery life, I think.
Anyway, I recently became aware of Daniel Wellington watches. They are probably a bit overpriced and the only thing that special about them is their sublime simplicity and elegance. Oh, they are thin and not chunky, which matters to me. For those seeking 34-36mm cases, their women's line is pretty much identical to men's.


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## Tom Buchanan (Nov 7, 2005)

I thought that this was a nice looking doctor-style watch.

They state that it has a miyota quartz motor, so probably average quality cheap quartz. It might be a bit big if the 42mm measurement is accurate. Not sure if that is the bezel diameter or from the lugs (bezel measurement is typical).

Something like this could also be interesting - a classic styled Seiko solar watch. No need to mess with batteries.

https://jet.com/product/detail/64a1...161681998380&gclid=CNe42sfa9cwCFYo2gQod9lAN6g


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## Bandit44 (Oct 1, 2010)

richard warren said:


> For that price I would get a Hamilton Khaki and nylon strap.


Sound advice. Hamilton offers options in either quartz or mechanical.


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## 12345Michael54321 (Mar 6, 2008)

Tom Buchanan said:


> They state that it has a miyota quartz motor, so probably average quality cheap quartz.


Probably. Although these days, I think Chinese quartz is average quality cheap quartz, with a Japanese movement actually representing a step up.

But realistically, even the cheapest quartz movement one is likely to find will still be more shock resistant than 99+% of the automatics out there. And more accurate than probably 99.9+% of them. Sure, it won't be beautiful to look at, but who buys a quartz watch with a display back?

I was reading a review once, of a watch with a cheap quartz movement. The reviewer was pointing out how for only an extra $500, one could buy a very similar watch, but with a premium quartz movement having much better accuracy.

Yeah, the cheap quartz gained, like, 4 seconds per week. The expensive quartz lost maybe 2 seconds per week. Since I've never been fired for showing up 11 seconds early for a business meeting, or lost friends due to having shown up 17 seconds late for a social engagement, I can't see how the accuracy difference would matter in my actual life.

> Something like this could also be interesting - a classic styled Seiko solar watch. No need to mess
> with batteries.

The solar watch likely has a capacitor which Seiko claims will last for at least 10 years without servicing. While a battery-driven watch can found which will last for 4-5 years without a battery change. 'Course, servicing the solar watch will likely be more of a pain than will the battery replacement for the non-solar watch.

And the battery-dependent watch won't stop working if it's kept in a drawer for a while.

Seems pretty much like a wash to me. No big advantage to either side.

And I say this as someone who does, in fact, own a solar watch - a Casio WVA470DJ-1ACF - which has given me no problems since I purchased it back in 2010. (It even manages to sync with the atomic clock signal, and I'm around 1700 miles from Boulder, CO.)


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## Tom Buchanan (Nov 7, 2005)

12345Michael54321 said:


> The solar watch likely has a capacitor which Seiko claims will last for at least 10 years without servicing. While a battery-driven watch can found which will last for 4-5 years without a battery change. 'Course, servicing the solar watch will likely be more of a pain than will the battery replacement for the non-solar watch.
> 
> And the battery-dependent watch won't stop working if it's kept in a drawer for a while.
> 
> Seems pretty much like a wash to me. No big advantage to either side.


As a fellow WIS, you are correct from a watch manufacturing standpoint, but the OP asked for an "inexpensive preppy" watch. I really suggested that Seiko because it had a classic dial with roman numerals (which even the Handbook recommended), and because it was $82. If an $82 were to last 10 years, I would call that a victory. I know that Timex's are cheaper and can run a long time also.

As an aside, I have a cheap Seiko solar dive watch as my beater waterproof watch. It can supposedly go 6 months between charges (though I have not tested it longer than a few days).


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## blue suede shoes (Mar 22, 2010)

trad and low priced:

https://www.timex.com/watches/timex-waterbury-tw2p58900

https://www.timex.com/watches/timex-waterbury-collection-tw2p58800

https://www.timex.com/watches/weekender-plaid-tw2p89600

for a few dollars more:


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## CSG (Nov 22, 2011)

Guess my idea of traditional/preppy/ivy is different than yours.


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## jimw (May 4, 2009)

I've had two Weekenders, and both have let me down in the end. Perhaps I've just had bad luck, but at this stage I don't think Timex is any more American trad than other watches. Likewise, when I see overmarketed brands like Shinola or Christopher Ward using garden-variety quartz movements and charging hundreds, then the 'trad' is lost along with any notion of thrift or value.

I have a couple of vintage watches - currently wearing a Gruen, but also keep this one in my drawer as a true weekend watch:

https://www.amazon.com/Casio-MTP-11...ref=owo_wa?_encoding=UTF8&smid=A10D84BM208DEW

Its plain and mean, and the Casio name hardly screams trad, but there again its never given me issue, is plain jane vanilla, subtle at 38mm, and cost me less than $20 - this is about as close as I can get to a point of form/function and cost that agreed with me.


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## CSG (Nov 22, 2011)

Jim, while I wouldn't buy it, that Casio has traditional, classic lines.

My view is if you can't afford a great watch like a Rolex or Omega (or Patek and some of the other WIS brands), you find a 40's, 50's, 60's vintage watch and have it restored if needed. You'll still spend some hundreds of dollars but in my collection, I have an early 1960's Omega Constellation that I had serviced and put on a croc strap and a 1956 Hamilton Dorsey on an alligator strap (like the original strap for that model). These are the kinds of watches men wore back in the day, not Timex's on grosgrain or NATO straps. Those are a wannabe affectation.


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## JohnAAG (May 20, 2016)

No comment about the watches you mentioned, but I would like to ask: you don't believe a grosgrain band is "preppy"? Isn't there a difference between "preppy traditional" and just "traditional"? Or, just to clarify, were you specifically commenting on the combination of a Timex or Casio with a grosgrain band? Just curious.


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## 12345Michael54321 (Mar 6, 2008)

JohnAAG said:


> you don't believe a grosgrain band is "preppy"?


At the risk of speaking for CSG (which I've no right to do), it struck me that what he suggested was that the kinds of watches men wore "back in the day" were Hamilton Dorseys or Omega Connies on croc or alligator straps, not Timexes on grosgrain or NATO straps.

While I wouldn't go so far as to call a Timex on a NATO strap a wannabe affectation, I would agree that it's not a style as "authentic," if you will, as the vintage watch on traditional strap option.

I suppose it's still a preppy style. At least more so than a 46mm dive watch, with multiple sub-dials, on a metal bracelet. Although I guess "preppy" can mean pretty much whatever a person wants it to mean. <shrug>

Certainly, I find it to be preppier than just checking the time on a cell phone, the cell phone having become the default timekeeping piece for a large and growing segment of the population.


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## JohnAAG (May 20, 2016)

Thank you for your response. I really do find it interesting where some draw the line between "trad preppy" and "trad". From my experience with people who definitely fell into the preppy category (because of their lifestyle more than their dress sense), the watch was the 3Gs: Grandfather's gold on grosgrain. Brands seemed much less important than the heritage of the piece. That's why I asked the OG if he could be clearer about what "preppy" meant to him. All the best!


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## CSG (Nov 22, 2011)

I don't recall anyone wearing grosgrain or NATO bands in the 50's, 60's, 70's. It's a recent phenom, much popularized in books on how to pretend to be preppy or forums like Andy's. Many here want the look of traditional ivy league clothing/style (which is great) but wearing a Timex on a grosgrain band isn't it. Nor is the giant dive watch.


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## FLMike (Sep 17, 2008)

CSG said:


> Guess my idea of traditional/preppy/ivy is different than yours.


Yes, it is different than a lot of ours....not just with regard to watches.


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## JohnAAG (May 20, 2016)

@CSG Fair enough. As I said in an earlier post, I have no comment to add to your statements about the actual watches (dive watches and Japanese makes) and I agree with you about the NATO strap. With regards to grosgrain straps, my experiences relate to the late 70s/early 80s, although I'm pretty sure the tradition predates that time (I have no concrete evidence other than personal recollections). Thanks for the conversation and have a great weekend.


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## CSG (Nov 22, 2011)

Thanks, John. You too!


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## 12345Michael54321 (Mar 6, 2008)

JohnAAG said:


> With regards to grosgrain straps, my experiences relate to the late 70s/early 80s, although I'm pretty sure the tradition predates that time


In "The Preppy Handbook," Lisa Birnbach includes grosgrain watchstraps as preppy men's accessories.

Now I realize full well that TPH is meant to be taken as satire. Just the same, the grosgrain strap's inclusion at least suggests that by the book's 1980 publication date the wearing of such watch straps was already a well established practice amongst at least some element of the preppy set.

I don't recall seeing such straps, but that doesn't mean nobody around me was wearing them. It's just that as a teenager, I seldom took notice of wristwear details.

Ah, just found a blog entry, over at Ivy-Style, touching upon this topic. "Solid Tie, Striped Watchband: GHWB & The Preppy Wrist" (July 17, 2013), https://www.ivy-style.com/solid-tie-striped-watchband-ghwb-the-preppy-wrist.html


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## JohnAAG (May 20, 2016)

@12345Michael54321 Thank you for the information. I guess what was throwing me was the grouping of NATO and grosgrain. Please anyone correct me if I'm wrong, but I view NATO as a strap style (usually using a nylon ribbon; not particularly "preppy") and grosgrain as a fabric (a silk weave; can be used on dinner jacket lapels and tuxedo pants; preppy). For me, grosgrain straps normally have a more traditional buckle configuration. So, while I could have a grosgrain ribbon NATO strap, I think that would still look a little "off" on a 38mm gold dress watch. Likewise, a "preppy trad" grosgrain strap on a 42mm dive watch. 

I did read the intro to this part of the forum so that I could (more or less) understand where the community is coming from before diving in. And the heritage behind the tradional style (for lack of a better word) as it's defined here honestly interests me just as much as "style" itself, particularly how the community is determing at what date "trad" ends and something else begins and to what articles of clothing or accessories that applies. I guess you could call it "research" before I post pics of my "trad" WIWT and risk wasting everyone's time ☺

Anyway, I feel like I'm hijacking the OP's thread and my sincere apologies for that. I hope some of this has helped Captain America find the right watch AND strap. All the best!
John


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## Captain America (Aug 28, 2012)

I can appreciate, and I think many do, the craftsmanship of an expensive Swiss piece. My life doesn't really favor wearing such an item: I just think I would leave it somewhere, or hit it against a brick wall, or drop it, etc. I don't like the idea of being held hostage to my possessions.

I'm thinking now an inexpensive Orient dress watch, at 38mm. There are plenty of very nice watches out there under $200, and if I harm it, it's water off the back of the duck.

With respect to straps, I'm kind of jewelry-allergic. So I have very long experience with the simple nylon strap, which can fit perfectly and feel like you're wearing nothing. It's excellent for the jewelry-averse! I have NATOs and they are comfortable and hold watches better, but still have more weight and bulk.


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## Yodan731 (Jan 23, 2011)

I have this Seiko 5 with a brown leather strap. It's served me well for the last five years or so.

https://www.amazon.com/Seiko-SNK789...92&sr=1-14&nodeID=7141123011&keywords=seiko+5


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## Guest (Apr 25, 2021)

CSG said:


> I don't recall anyone wearing grosgrain or NATO bands in the 50's, 60's, 70's. It's a recent phenom, much popularized in books on how to pretend to be preppy or forums like Andy's. Many here want the look of traditional ivy league clothing/style (which is great) but wearing a Timex on a grosgrain band isn't it. Nor is the giant dive watch.


The Editors of the OPH which came out in 79 or 80 refer to watches worn on colorful grosgrain ribbon straps. NATO straps didn't exist* before 1973. (*the Brits based the NATO on an earlier canvas one piece canvas strap that had been around since near the end of WWII, the AF 0210 strap. The one piece straps were much thinner than the NATO and did not lift the watch off the arm nor had excess fabric. The strap's length was adjustable using the metal buckle. You can refer to a digitized copy of the OPH under the drawing Prep Persona - the guy is wearing a gold dress watch on grosgrain ribbon. The Editors of the primer weren't creating fashion but were referring to things preppies did leading up to its publication. I vaguely remember a photo of GHW Bush wearing his watch on grosgrain. Esslinger carries these straps ($8). I wear them with an old gold Patek Calatrava (3919j). My watch is only 6.5 meters thick and would not look good with a bulky nato but on thin ribbon, it doesn't look odd at all. The straps come in a thin buckle, either gold tone or white metal.


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## Dr.Watson (Sep 25, 2008)

I know this was a necro-thread, but since it was revived, I'll use it as an opportunity to showcase some "in the wild" grosgrain straps I've seen over the years. I find the second picture (Buckley lecturing a class) the most interesting, as it appears to be (from the audience's clothes and Buckley's youthful appearance) from the 1960s, which would disprove the occasional assertion that grosgrain ribbons only started becoming preppy in the late 1970s.







1980s.


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## Vecchio Vespa (Dec 3, 2011)

I wore my watch on striped nylon straps in the 1960s, and so did my father. I still use the same straps. They are indestructible. I have recently lost enough weight that I can use the extra holes I punched when I was a scrawny student.


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## Beefeater (Jun 2, 2007)

Started with Seiko 5 and and highly recommend it. Then moved on to Hamilton, Tudor, Rolex and micro brands. It can become an obsession quickly. Good luck.


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