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Hi Saanil,

First of all Happy birthday in advance !!

On topics of watches, I would suggest buy a watch from a watch brand rather than a fashion brand. Most of the fashion brands bank upon the packaging (& i mean dial designs, leather straps etc) whereas their movements are sourced from china or are quartz movements.

I would also suggest to buy yourself a mechanical (automatic/handwind, depending upon your preference) watch.I do not know what price band you are looking at or what style options (divers,pilot,casual,dress) you are looking at , however you mentioned Tissot, so I would suggest look from houses of Seiko, Orient, Citizen, Tissot etc. All these brands are reputed ones and you can have trouble free years with their watches. Ethos is niche store dealing only in watches and you can check their online platform too.

On point of leather straps, you can experiment a lot with the aftermarket options too. ZRC and Hirch are very good straps and can be found on retails watch shops in India. There are plenty of international sites as well to buy nice straps.

Wishing the best for your purchase !!

If Tissot is within your price range, get it. You may also check Seiko if they have leather straps.

In case you can stretch the budget, then Longines is an excellent brand. Here is a link. The prices will be lower in shops if you can bargain hard.
http://www.ethoswatches.com/brands/l..._source=Google

Before others come up with actual suggestions, let me give you a contrarian point of view. If you are not wearing a watch already, you should know by now that watches have become a relic in these days of cell phones. Watches are also not the luxury investment watch manufacturers would like you to believe.

I have a Rado Diastar Ceramica Jubile lying in my locker that my wife gifted to me some 15 years ago. Personally I might still consider buying a FitBit or something similar though.

Never buy a luxury brand online. Even if it is not fake, the authorized service center may not service it.

Unless you are wearing a genuine Rolex or something similar, I doubt you will get any bragging rights.

Hi Saanil,

First and the most important question - what is the budget?

Personally, I don't like to spend on fashion brands, and would always prefer a mechanical movement to Quartz, if I have a choice.

If you don't know this already, Michael Kors are Fossil watches in a different skin. Between MK and Tissot, I will buy Tissot any day and twice on Sunday.
If you looking for brand value, do take a look at Maserati, Claude Bernard, Jacques Lemans, Armani, Okley etc too.

Oh, you may get some models of Rado Diastar also for below 30K budget - it is a classic design from Rado.

Claude Bernard and Jacques Lemans are swiss brands, though watches at this price point (below 30K) will not be Swiss made.

Hope this helps.

--Anoop

In short, fashion brands are best avoided when you are thinking of spending 25k+ for a watch. Go with Tissot. Did you shortlist the PRS 516 by any chance?

BTW, Ethos will give you 10% on Tissot.

Advance wishes for the birthday mate.

If you do not like wearing a watch, would you be interested in wearing a smartwatch instead (Titan or Samsung or Fitbit or Samsung or something). It would double up as a watch but serve you well from a health perspective too, is quite trendy and good looking options available too.

Cheers,
S

Hi!

Thanks for your reply! The budget is below 30k. The only reason I may go go for Michael Kors is because it looks good and is cheaper than Tissot!

I did not know about Michael Kors being a sister brand of Fossil - thanks for informing me!

The brands which you have mentioned (Maserati, Claude Bernard, Jacques Lemans, Armani, Okley) were not available in the stores I visited (Lifestyle, Shoppers Stop and Ethos). Any other place where I can find these brands (in Mumbai)?

I am sorry but my knowledge about watches is minimal. You said you prefer mechanical movement to Quartz - Any specific advantages for that? I was not even aware of these terms till yesterday. I googled them and based on what I read, quartz basically means battery operated watches whereas mechanical movement has spring induced movement (please correct me if I am wrong here).

One of the reason I do not want to buy an expensive watch is that I am very new to watches. Does it make sense to buy an expensive watch for a person who is new to watches? Although my fiance is fine with spending money on a Tissot, my brain tells me that I am spending too much since I have never tried a watch before.

You can take a look at Casio Edifice series since they are value for money & most of them are below 25k, it may not be in the same league as a Tissot! Though there will be very few options when it comes to leather strap.

I dont remember posting anything here till date. Here is my new watch case got gifted today. Looking forward to kicking one of them out of the case with a Rolex very soon :)
From Left to Right in the order :
1. Timex
2. Guess
3. Tissot
4. Pierre Cardin
5. Tissot

Hi,

Fossil and Michael Kors are not sister brands, Fossil manufactures MK watches under license. You can find more details in the wiki page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_Group

To put it on very simple terms, Mechanical watches are like manual transmission cars :D

If you do not want to buy an expensive watch, there are many brands available at less price point - Casio, Titan,Timex etc. Do take a look at them too.

Most of the brands I mentioned are available in Ethos online stores.

--Anoop

Seiko has good range within 30K, however I strongly suggest to check if you can have someone buy it in the US for you. The price difference when compared.

What is your taste in watches? Do you like plain dials or Chronographs with clean looking dials or with busy dials? Or do you prefer tough watches like the G-shock. There is a lot of variety, surf and see what appeals to you.

If you are looking for a watch to last avoid Fossil or Michael Kross, stick to known brands like Seiko, Citizen, Tissot or Casio Series.

If you want a cheap watch with brown strap to see if you like wearing a watch every day, please take a look at this one - http://global.timex.com/watches/week...raph-tw2p62300


I love this - I have seen this in Amazon but can't find the link now :Frustrati

--Anoop

Longines has some really good designs but it is going out of budget.

Will keep this in mind!

Thanks! Ethos did not tell me about this!

I would like to start wearing the conventional watches first! Maybe few years later I will move on to the new generation!

Thanks everyone!

Below are some of the options I have shortlisted! Please let me know which one should I buy!

Tissot T Trend Couturier



Claude Bernard Classics (64005 3AIN)



Michael Kors



Skagen



Fossil

Three weeks ago, I never thought I'd finish my quest to collect watches. My watch case had two empty slots and I planned to buy myself an Omega and a Rolex in due course.

Getting married brought the due course ahead, much much ahead.

From relatively low end watches (think Seiko 5, Vostok, HMT and Tissot quartz), I suddenly graduated to the big boys table. And frankly, it's very very very scary.

Without much ado,



A wedding present from my dad

And,



A present from my wife.

Now, the pressure to buy an equivalent present for the missus and my dad (saving for a Patek for him, with a due date of 2030)

I may be wrong, but to me it seems to be a counterfeit product. Brands of repute usually make sure that their Logo and the Brand name are visible on the dial itself (Even if it is an LCD of yesteryears) without the need to look at any hidden places or the strap.

Fading away of makings clearly indicate a counterfeit product. Usually the manufacturers name and Logo are displayed on the dial itself. They are glued / printed on the dial plate (for analogue watches) and chemically inscribed on a layer sandwiched within the dial glass (for digital watches).
Information as the model code and the dial material are usually etched on the back plate. Some manufacturers also specify the ability for water resistance as well. The material for back plate is selected considering the effects of regular usage. The possibility of an etched logo and name being faded with usage, on a genuine product, is impossible, unless the back plate is subjected to hard filing or replaced with a counterfeit one.