Reality check on watch interest, GQ pimping

So I got very interested in learning about watches recently, and have posted about several really cool, beautiful mechanical watches in previous few posts. But the reality is that even some of the less-expensive Swiss mechanical watches (such as the Omega Speedmaster), at $3500-$4000, are way out of my budget any time soon. And my personal favorite, the Speedmaster Broad Arrow GMT (link here), would be downright nutty to buy at > $6000.

A much more realistic choice would be something like this Seiko quartz watch below in stainless steel with a perpetual calendar (date shows correct # of days each month including Februarys, leap years, etc. without manual correction) for about $250. Even $250 is more than I would spend right now.


In one of the original articles / primers I read about buying nice watches (link here for the online GQ magazine article), they recommend against buying battery powered quartz watches because they're not a collectible item, etc. However, most sane adults realize that you must weigh this article's opinion against realities of a single-income middle-class family. After all, GQ's raison d'etre is to show men wearing really good looking--and very expensive--clothes and to try to get people to buy them. GQ is an influential advertising vehicle for the luxury goods business. You'll often see a man--thinner and much better-looking than me, of course--wearing a great suit, with labels showing you what he's wearing. For example ... Suit, Tom Ford, $4500. Shirt, Polo by Ralph Lauren, $290. Alligator shoes, Gucci, $900. Just because that magazine says you MUST buy something that expensive to look nice doesn't make it so!

While browsing other Seiko watches I ran across some other really nice-looking models (link here and image below, or here) that were more expensive (maybe $750-$850), but my personal feeling is that if I'm going to spend more than $200-300 I'd rather just wait and get something like the Omega Speedmaster I'd really want, instead of getting something "intermediate" that's still quite expensive yet not really what I want.