Buying one is well beyond my means, but I do love mechanical Swiss watches. Thankfully, companies like Timex, Seiko and Citizen are also making some excellent automatic watches these days that are vastly more affordable than those high-end Swiss watches, and are so much better value for money
I currently don’t own a watch and haven’t actually worn one for quite some time now. And yet, one of my favourite pastimes is looking at watches on the Internet; watch manufacturers’ websites, used watches websites, Amazon and Flipkart. In fact, I especially enjoy looking at watches on Amazon and Flipkart and my ‘process’ for this is always the same. I first search for ‘men’s watches’ or ‘watches for men,’ and then use the filters provided to fine-tune the results. The filters are everything, they help you separate the wheat from chaff. You can choose which brands you want to see. Band material and colour. Case size and shape, dial colour, display type, movement type. Price range. The permutations and combinations are practically endless.
Personally, I often search for watches with leather bands that are either black or brown. Case shapes? Both, round or rectangular are fine and vintage-style tonneau-shaped cases are particularly cool. Not too large. Anything between 36mm to 39mm is perfect. Analogue only, no digital displays or smart watches of any kind, though I'll make an exception for this Casio. I prefer relatively simple watches – they just need to tell me the time, and show the day and date at most. I don’t really want to squint and peer at three or four tiny, fussy sub-dials that are taking up space on the main dial, and make an effort to figure out what they’re showing. I definitely don't want flashy, giant-sized watches with multiple complications and half a dozen things going on, on the dial. Also, precious or semi-precious stones of any kind embedded on the case or on the dial are a big no-no. I mean, it’s perfectly fine for ladies’ watches to have precious stones and a bit of glitter and flash, but I think it looks affected and a bit silly on men’s watches.So, which watch brands do I like, you might ask. I mean, sure, I love to look at (buying is not on the cards right now) watches from Omega. Favre Leuba. Jaeger-LeCoultre. Bovet. IWC Schaffhausen. Nomos Glashütte and Glashütte Original. Cartier; the Tank watch and Santos de Cartier are spectacular. Vacheron Constantin. Franck Muller. Also Breguet, Bulgari, A. Lange & Söhne, Blancpain, Oris, Audemars Piguet, Tissot, Longines and Patek Philippe. So, yes, many of the usual suspects from the luxury watches universe. But from that same universe, there are also some brands that I don’t get. Rolex has become something of a cliché, a bit anticlimactic, too predictable. Hublot screams nouveau riche; if you’re wearing one, you’re trying too hard. Panerai is too large, shouty, brash. Tudor is a bit too ordinary. Richard Mille is way too flashy, trashy, blingy. And Chinese watch brands, some of whom are now, admittedly, making watches that are actually not too bad, are a no-no.
While I like many of those high-end Swiss and German watch brands mentioned above, I’m most certainly not a watch snob. I think more mainstream brands like Seiko, Timex, Citizen and Casio make some great watches that are also reasonably priced, watches that many of us can actually afford to buy rather than just look at and admire from a distance. In recent months, I’ve also become interested in HMT watches; their automatic watches are still available at low prices and some have a vintage/retro vibe that I quite like. The only stumbling block there is the build quality, which isn't up to the mark. The other question mark is, how is it that despite HMT having stopped making watches a few years ago, their watches are still available on Amazon and Flipkart etc.? Some say these are all 'frankenwatches,' made with leftover parts. But then who is assembling these? What about quality control and warranties? Many questions and no satisfactory answers. Other Indian watch brands? Titan makes some really nice watches but their case sizes are usually way too big for me. Another name that comes to mind is the Jaipur Watch Company, some of whose watches have truly spectacular watch faces that you won’t find anywhere else in the world. I don't know how good their watches are in the mechanical context, but some of them at least look quite good. For those who want an inexpensive automatic watch, there's also Argos, a micro-brand that has one or two watches that look nice, though I have no idea if they're actually any good or if they'll last.
On the subject of watches that are built to last, I don't even know if people even want their watches to last a really long time anymore. Given the throwaway, replace-don't-repair culture that's currently in vogue, watches are perhaps no longer as special, as precious, as they used to be a couple of decades ago. I'm 52 and have owned maybe 5-6 watches in my entire lifetime. My son, who is 16 years old and who likes watches, has already worked his way through at least 15-20 watches, if not more, in just the last 6-8 years. His watches have been misplaced, broken, lost, gone bust, been given away or simply discarded. Sure, those were, for the most part, cheap and cheerful watches, not at all expensive. But they were still working watches and that did what they were supposed to do – tell the time. But at long last, he seems to be more careful with his watches now and takes better care of the two watches he owns, both Casio, one analogue and the other digital. On special occasions, he even borrows my father's watch, a Tissot 1853, a simple but elegant piece that is well looked after. (BTW, I'd also bought a brand-new Tag Heuer automatic for my father about 10 years ago, but he somehow did not like it very much, so we sold it off after just a few months.)
My parents gave me my first watch when I was in school, I think when I was in the sixth standard. That was about 40-42 years ago but I remember that it was a proper analog watch with a steel case, black Velcro strap and a cheerful Mickey Mouse on the dial. I took good care of that watch and wore it for a few years, until I completed school and went to college. I stopped wearing a watch during my days in college and only started wearing one again sometime in the late-1990s, when I started working. At that time, my Tauji gave me a stunningly beautiful Omega Seamaster, which he had bought for himself sometime in the 1970s, on one of his first trips to the US. He had taken very good care of the watch and had stored it carefully when he stopped wearing it, and the watch was in excellent condition when he gave it to me. I really loved and treasured that Omega and wore it to office every day. However, things ended on a bad note. I had a massive car accident – sometime in 2001, I think – and the watch was completely smashed in that accident. It was irreparable and with a heavy heart, I had to part ways with it. I was definitely in no position (and still am not) to buy an Omega Seamaster for myself, with my own money. It's simply too expensive and hence I don’t think I’ll get to wear one again anytime in the foreseeable future.
Moving on, I did not buy another watch after losing that Seamaster in the car accident, but when I got married, in 2003, my wife gave me a nice new Citizen watch, with a rectangular stainless-steel case and bracelet, and a deep blue dial. I loved that watch and wore it for more than a decade, after which I got a new Casio, with a rose gold case and dark brown leather strap. Some people refuse to take Casio seriously but I think they make some excellent watches that look good, work flawlessly and are great value for money. I wore my Casio for 3-4 years and, since I stopped wearing a watch after that, passed it on to my son, who’s still using it. The watch doesn’t have even a single scratch on it and looks almost new, which I guess says something about Casio’s build quality.
I’ve not had a full-time job after the Covid pandemic and haven’t been going to a proper 'office' for the last few years. In all of this, I’ve stopped wearing a watch; I simply don’t feel the need to wear one these days, since I’m at home most of the time. But in anticipation of returning to full-time work someday in the near future, I hope to start wearing a watch again, soon. Nothing flashy, showy or shouty. Just a nice, simple watch, a high-quality, good looking and well-engineered piece, preferably with a tonneau-style vintage-inspired 36-37mm case. There are some really cool Q Timex watches on the Timex India website and I might just one of those. Or, if I decide to spend a bit more money, perhaps an open-heart Seiko Presage, or maybe the Citizen Tsuyosa. I want a watch that is reassuringly reliable, something that’s old-school, analogue, purely mechanical, which definitely doesn’t need to be charged via a USB cable. Something that, if you take good care of it, will keep ticking for an eternity. Soon, hopefully, I'll find a job, start going to work again and, yes, start wearing a watch once more... :-)
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