It seems like the rule of thumb in that case would be ‘loudness’ of watch rather than actual cost. So blingy, high polished pieces, two-tone, attention-drawing pieces, and of course Rolex.

E.g. I don’t think they’d bat an eye at a moonwatch on leather or a reverso. Or my favorite, on an Erika’s originals

For me, it’s not about out-wearing my pay grade but about out-wearing my lifestyle.

Rolex, trinity, and above can put a target on your back in most metros. I make good money but live a regular life. Sure, social-awareness, insurance, etc and you can mitigate some of the risk, but needing to do all that is a bit antithetical to a luxury experience.

(Caveat: I don’t work in finance but do work a desk job. Most people here aren’t watch people and couldn’t care less about one stainless steel vs another. They’d likely notice and comment on two-tone or gold).

I bought one on Amazon around the same time. Objectively poor value, but in retrospect I love it for what it is.

It’s fashionable, super wearable, got plenty of compliments (for whatever that’s worth), normalized having a watch on my wrist for me, and got me into natos and strap swapping. It’s so thin it wore like skin and I never cared that it got dinged.

Like many, I got pulled in by the sexiness of chronos – the subdials are distinctly sporty and chronos are the epitomy of aerospace and racing stories.

But there are much fewer options, especially on the lower end, they’re chunkier, more prone to breaking, and cost more to service. And their primary function is a lot less user friendly than a phone. So I churned through several, just thinking I couldn’t find the right one and feeling like I needed one in my collection

Hamilton Khaki Field Auto - touted and well respected by enthusiasts, but it was a huge miss for me. Busy dial, very reflective glass, poor lume, polished bezel for a field watch, and the H-10 movement doesn’t take well to being manually wound (which I learned the hard way and it took 9 weeks for swatch to warranty).

‘Value’ watches - bought too many because they were a great watch at a great deal. Found myself just churning through them.

Overly ‘fun’ and striking dials - owned a few Zelos pieces that were well made for the price and I was drawn by the striking dials. Great honeymoon period but I eventually got bored and sold them.

Chronographs and GMTs - i kept buying them to check the boxes, but found them too thick, too busy, and/or found myself not using the complication

Tbh, I don’t truly ‘regret’ many purchases as in most cases I was able to sell them and recoup most of my funds, but I do appreciate your eagerness to learn from others’ mistakes. The one thing I’d say is that there’s a ton of value in going in person and trying watches on the wrist. It’s very different than staring at macro photos and scrutinizing spec sheets. You’ll find yourself liking otherwise boring watches (BB58), finding some pieces youd otherwise love not feel quite right (seamaster), and find the exceptions to your previous learnings (I adore the sbga413 Shunbun despite it arguably falling into that fun and striking dial comment above).

Enjoy and best of luck!

For chronos, a Lorier Gemini would be cool if the shipping to AU isn’t prohibitively expensive. Otherwise, chronos are pretty tough because so many are quite thick for your wrist at under $2k USD. The other thin one I can think of is the Mean Skymaster, which is above budget even used. Or a hammy intramatic.

For non-Chronos and brand new, I do think you should give the 35mm PRX a try. It’ll wear a bit bigger due to its integrated design. I don’t find many of the other big brands offerings that compelling at that price, and many microbrands will have a high shipping cost. There’s zelos, but you’re stuck waiting for a release for a field/sports watch.i like Traska and nodus, but they’re US based so a lot of the “value” is a bit negated by the high shipping.

Swiss: Longines Spirit (just starting to touch under $1k used)

German: Nomos Club

Japanese: SARX055

British (Swiss movement): CW C63