Little brother, best friend, and all around cool dude is graduating after selling his soul to 8 years in school in order to shoot stuff into space. Kid needs a graduation present from his big bro who is incredibly proud of him.
I love watches but am fairly new to the game. I need help.
Requirements
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Can’t break the bank. Getting him something expensive will make him resent the watch and feel guilty. The guys been making min wage to put food and cheep beer on the table for the last decade
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Versitle. The kid is going on dates now that he’s a free man, he loves the outdoors, and loves chilling with friends watching college football. The watch has to be appropriate for a hot date at a nice restaurant and a Saturday with the boys.
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No electricronics or quartz (idk if that makes sense I’m new to this). He’s an engineer. The idea of gears perfectly aligned, clicking and clocking on his wrist is the exciting part.
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Engineery. Vague and a made up word I know. But something to tie into that idea of him building and creating rockets and solid state fuels and things that go boom is a plus but not as necessary as 1-3.
What do you guys think? Do I go field watch for versatility? Slick dive watch for the extra clicks and clacks? Maybe a dressy watch that still looks ok while hanging with his friends? Sport watch for that clean finish all around?
I’m lost. Please advise
Without a price range frankly it’s a little difficult, I have seen people calling a 5k watch a “beater” and people considering spending more than 1k a bonkers move.
In any case…
Divers are king of versatility, Water resistance and construction quality let you use them everywhere, but they are still classy enough to be worn with suit and tie, so I would go for one of those.
Orient is the budget option, the new Kamasu simply kicks ass. The design is not for everyone, though.
Oris is the best bang for your buck in the low end spectrum, a Aquis would be my choice but the Sixtyfive is a great skin diver.
Sinn also have great offering and it’s the embodiement of engineering applied to watches, a 104 with a grey sunburst dial would be perfect for an everyday watch.
If you are willing to spend a little more, can’t go wrong with a Tudor in my opinion. Given the versatility restriction I would go for a 58, difficult to do better with 4k bucks.
I would stay clear from Seiko, especially on the higher end. QC issues are common and some of the calibers are atrocious.
Happy hunting!