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
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Look at fortis cosmonaut chronograph! Mechanical spacerelated historical and Swiss. Models from the 90s can be found around that price and every watchmaker on the planet can repair that 7700.
a vostok amphibia would be perfect in my opinion.
they’re incredibly cheap
you can get models that look dressier, but they’re still tough
they’re automatic / mechanical
they’re very durable
the movement is in house and the design is unique among dive watches, the soviets who invented it had to work with what they had, they couldn’t use swiss designs because the soviets didn’t want to pay royalties and so they had to engineer it well. the acrylic instead of glass is cheap, but it’s also necessary to make it as waterproof as it is; it flattens as it experiences pressure, pushing it in and getting more waterproof. even the case back is different, instead of a standard screw back, it has a ring that screws in while the case back itself just sits under the ring, so that it doesn’t ruin the gasket when returning from extreme pressure.
Poljot Strela 3133? Go the cosmonaut route.
I am a chemical engineer who has always been interested in space/astronomy, so honestly somewhat similar mindset as your brother since all of my owned/wanted watches are somewhat space themed.
I feel like the “Easy” answer is the Hamilton Murph like others have said. Interstellar is my favorite movie and I’m sure as an aero engineer your brother might share a fondness for the movie.
My last purchase was the new white Casio NASA collab. Super cheap but not sure if it was a limited run or not.
In addition I think a moon phase watch would be a nice little “space” feature, and one that I’ve had my eye on is the Engineer II moon phase from Ball. Pretty pricy but a step up from the Murph.
Most baller would be a speedmaster, but that’s too expensive. I’d consider some other space watch to be on theme!
Bulova Accutron Spaceview. Again, like the Lunar Pilot (which I love), it is a quartz, but with the tuning fork movement it’s about as “engineery” and “spacey” as you’re likely to find. That, and they’re just cool watches.
Zeppelin automatic would be my suggestion just for their logo and history.
Used Breitling aerospace (or new if you can find in price range)
a Laco or Sinn mechanical flieger watch? Checks all the boxes. Laco automatic fliegers run $400 to $500-ish whilst the Sinn 556 is around $1200 to $1500 IIRC
I think Sinn 104 is a fantastic fit for this. Full of cool engineer-y stuff and history. Bezel spins both ways, unusually good water resistance for a pilots watch, has both day and date on the dial (with both english and German options), and there’s an open case back so you can see the movement. Right in your price range too. I have one and have been very happy.
Lorier Astra, it captures the style of the space age and it’s in the name. If you can stomach ~2.4k CW just released an aventurine dial moonphase
Wow that astra is really cool! Thanks for bringing my attention to it.
Second-hand Breitling Aerospace.
Not as a gift
Don’t think anyone had said this yet. Does he even like watches? Something to consider… Maybe hint around to see what he likes first.
Good point. I recently got into watches in the last year or two. The last few times I’ve visited him he’s asked me what watch I’m wearing and will give a quick compliment. I have a hunch he wants one but just hasn’t had the funds to get into it
If I were you I would straight up ask him what watch he wants if he wants any, idk but the whole concept of surprise gifting someone a watch is weird to me. Especially since everyone has different tastes.
Longines Hydroconquest or the old Conquest
Casio calculator watch