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1. You don't need a watch, especially for the tech sector. If you want something in between an apple watch and a traditional looking timepiece, look at the Withings Activite.
2. There's no minimum, just buy a mechanical you like.
3. If you want to stay British, get a Bremont. They do produce a "range" of 3 co-branded watches.
Personally I'm a fan of Ball watches. Constant lume and history from conductor's pocket watches. My personal "daily driver" is a Spacemaster X-Lume. In the photo the luminescence is exaggerated.
the most important thing is the type of watch. You want an automatic or self winding Swiss watch. Nobody has bothered to even mention Swiss made. COSC is the next step up...It means the Swiss movements have passed rigorous tests and is the most accurate of the Swisses.
Set your budget, go on eBay and find something used thats say a mechanical Valjoux 7750 movement watch in the style that you like. The reason this same word keeps coming up (mechanical and or automatic (self winding)) is because the fact that it is say a Valjoux movement in the watch, it will always be worth what you paid on eBay. If you want a mechanical hand wind watch in a big face you can go ETA or Unitas movements. These are also Swiss made.
You can't go wrong that way, you've paid market price because you won the auction. You can always sell it on eBay and upgrade later. Just get your feet wet...heres your first random link...
Take a look at the chromo dial layout. 12, 6, and 9 o clock with day date at 3. This is the layout for all Valjoux 7750 movements. If you see this and the seller doesn't know whats inside, now you will have the keyl. Avoid chrono watches that have dials at 3, 6, 9. These are mostly battery operated quartz watches. Make sure the watch is "self winding", meaning the movement of your wrist makes the rotor spin, thus winding your watch. Dont worry about these brands, thats not whats important.
Last edited by polarisnavyxj; Jun 12, 2016 at 12:00 AM.
@ meefer, nice recommendation on the Bremont Jaguar.
@ OP, one of things I learned after buying some mechanicals watches is that you may want to pay attention to the watch specs, thickness, size, and weight, also what type of glass (crystal). The weight and thickness can be a nuisance if worn daily and may create a tight cuff under long sleeve shirts. If you can afford a sapphire crystal, it is more scratch resistant. Polaris has given good advice as well as others, but price is going to put you in a certain category.
P.S. OCD car guys that are OCD watch guys are an intense combination. If you don't spend over $500 it's just a watch.
I have a (auto/mechanical) G/SS Rolex Daytona that matches the F-Type S quite well. However my 4 Breitlings also beg to be along when the Jag goes out for a run.
As mentioned above, mechanical watches are a marvel; however they have no serious exhaust note, and it's hard to "experience" the watch movement. Quartz movements can be inexpensive but they can also deliver helpful features that mechanical watches will never achieve. Multi-function and high end quartz watches are electronic marvels. Let's face it, we don't experience those mechanical gears, levers, and springs working any more than we can experience those neat electrons zipping around in a quartz watch, doing our bidding.
Check out the Breitling Aerospace (quartz) series.
Since you're a gearhead, here is a panel of automotive-related watches that reflects different designs, materials, and cost. Click to expand image.
I've left out many watchmakers who create fine timepieces but who have not historically had an automotive connection with their models (e.g. Brietling...naval/aviation, Bell & Ross...maritime, Panerai...maritime).
These watches range enormously in prices and in design.
Personally, for the F-Type I would pick something with slightly restrained luxury, highly designed, performant, and a little unconventional because that seems reflective of the car's personality. To me that would be the Cartier Drive de Cartier. Purists will decry Cartier as an impure choice next to Rolex or Audemars....but that's exactly the kind of argument folks made when they thought Jaguar could not build a sports car anymore.
The nod to automotive design is well expressed in the Drive watch: the guilloché on the dial is inspired by old radiator grills, the crown by the bolts used to hold a car together. The movement is one of Cartier's new proprietary designs, and the mechanicals can be seen out the back of the watch.
BTW the argument that technology has made watches obsolete is one that's discussed a lot at happy hours here in Silicon Valley. In 15 years of serving on 8 different tech company boards and meeting hundreds of management teams, I would say that over 75-80% of technology execs, founders and directors today wear watches, and the vast majority of them are NOT smart watches. There is great admiration here for the craft of mechanical watches here, and it's common for CTO's to wear mechanical watches for that reason!
for me a Breitling navitimer with blue face and blue leather strap. Looks fantastic in my view
Flown with this for years, small white faces on the dial make the hands impossible to see in bright sun light......complete pain in the backside, but I love the watch
A Rolex Submariner would be a good all around watch. It's a classic. The Rolex Daytona is great as well. Rolex just announced a new version of the Daytona which has a ceramic bezel. It wont be available until the fall and it will be hard to get your hands on one. The Tag Heuer Carerra series is nice. Their value drops more than some of the other brands so you may want to consider buying one of those from grey market shops like Jomashop.com.
All good advice here, albeit skewed towards the 'traditional' brands...
Take a look at this brand (Sinn). German made to the highest standards, swiss movements, and a plethora of solid designs without the high end brand markup (but not 'cheap' in any way) - I'm sure you can find one to suit.
All good advice here, albeit skewed towards the 'traditional' brands...
Take a look at this brand (Sinn). German made to the highest standards, swiss movements, and a plethora of solid designs without the high end brand markup (but not 'cheap' in any way) - I'm sure you can find one to suit.
