Feature: The BARGAIN Dream Watch Collection

There’s probably not a soul amongst us who doesn’t dream of having the ultimate watch collection. A Rolex Submariner, an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, an Omega Speedmaster, a Patek Philippe Calatrava and an IWC Pilot’s Watch. I can’t imagine there are too many that would turn their noses up at such an iconic line-up. At least, until it came to cracking open the wallet, because that little lot’s not going to give much change for a $100,000. Well how about a collection that does almost the same for less than the price of the cheapest watch in that list?

Halios Seaforth

When it comes to finding an affordable Submariner replacement, there are some things you just can’t compromise on. First, it needs to be decently water-resistant; second it needs to have a Swiss movement; and third it needs to be hardy. Because of course, if you were ever actually going to one day like you always said you would take it to a real sea and submerge it a bit, those things are important.

Whether you will or you won’t, it’s nice to have. It’s like the Nürburgring time for your car. You can’t do it in rush hour traffic, but, well, it’s something to think about when you’re crawling along. I call it smug factor, and the Halios Seaforth is brimming with it.

First off, 200m of water-resistance is more than enough. It’s twice that of the debut Submariner and it’ll take you way down to depths you probably should talk to someone about first to avoid killing yourself. And if you do make it down that far, you want the timing to be reliable, so the Seaforth gets a Swiss Sellita SW-200, a design that’s been keeping good time for decades. You’ll also get materials like stainless steel for the 41mm case, sapphire for the 120-click bezel and anti-reflective crystal. It’s also just $690, pretty much 10% the cost of a Submariner.

Atelier Wen Perception

Disco fever has set in hard in the watch game, perhaps now even more so than the first time around. The word “integrated” is used so much in watch talk these days it’s basically redefined the word to mean “any watch that looks like an Audemars Piguet”. Truth be told, the first time the fever set in back during the latter half of the last century, it spread far further than just the Royal Oak.

It’s no wonder that the craze has spread from Switzerland around to the other side of the world in China, and whilst you might gasp in shock and horror at the idea of taking a Chinese watch seriously, hold that gasp, because this one costs $2,500. Now you may gasp.

What on Earth are they thinking pricing a Chinese-made watch like that and what on Earth am I thinking showing it to you? Well, that reaction is exactly the reason Atelier Wen exists: to show you that there are people in China who care about doing watchmaking properly, because not only is this watch not a piece of rubbish, it also features a very traditional piece of watchmaking skill that’s all but died out in Switzerland: engine turning. The hand-powered rose engine is used by Atelier Wen to inscribe a concentric pattern in the dial whose wavering imperfections are hallmarks of this ancient process. You’ll pay a lot more to get that from Switzerland—if you can even find it.

Maen Skymaster 38 Thunder Grey

But before everyone went insane for integrated—the first time I mean—watchmakers were competing to make the best and most interesting chronographs. The automatic chronograph movement was going to be the next big thing, keeping the industry distracted whilst the Japanese quietly went about its business making the mechanical movement completely obsolete.

These days, we can afford to don a slick pair of rose-tinted Persols and reminisce about the good ole’ days when the Moonwatch was king and the Daytona was—well, back then nobody really cared much about the Daytona. Funny how things change. Nevertheless, we started seeing chronograph variants with ever more colourful dials, a charming aesthetic this Maen Skymaster recreates in 38mm steel.

Packing a chronograph movement made by the same manufacturer powering pretty much every chronograph of the period, the Maen Skymaster is less about cutting edge performance and more about that wistful feeling you get when you watch footage of Neil Armstrong blatting about in his Corvette Sting Ray. It was a simpler time and the Maen is a simpler watch with, for a Swiss chronograph, a simpler price: $1,150.

Baltic MR01 $650

When you think of wristwatches in their purest sense, you’re probably thinking of a Patek Philippe Calatrava. It is the Mercedes S-Class of watches, entirely dedicated to doing one thing very well and very discreetly: offering incredible luxury. Of course, both those things also come with an incredible cost, something we’re all quite keen to avoid here.

So how about, instead of $65,000 or even $6,500, we offer up just $650 instead? Surely, it’s not possible to pull together anything even half resembling one of history’s greatest watches for such a sum? Well, thanks perhaps ironically to the miracle of modern interconnectivity, we can, because French company Baltic has made it their sole directive to do so.

By sourcing parts from Hong Kong and assembling them in France, Baltic is able to get the best of both worlds. So here you have a very traditional 36mm steel watch that’s just 9.9mm thick in true Calatrava fashion. How does it achieve such elegant proportions? Thanks to a rather nifty micro-rotor movement. It’s how the best watchmakers in the world make their automatic watches slim, so it’s more than ideal for the job.

But where the Baltic really earns its $650 is with the dial. Beautifully finished and achingly good looking, it combines texture with depth and asymmetry to suggest something far more expensive than it really is. Vintage good looks with vintage pricing. Vive la France!

Hamilton Khaki Aviation Pilot Pioneer

We’ve got a diver, a driver, a dress and a whatever you want call integrated watches—but no collection would be complete without something for the air. Especially if you’re like me and you think flying is the coolest thing ever. And where better to source that pilot’s watch than the home of the Wright Flyer, the good old U.S. of A.

But wait! Hamilton is Swiss? It says Swiss on the dial and everything. Yeah it is, now—but it used to be American. Not many people know that America was once the hub of international watchmaking. British and French watchmaking used to be the bees knees but it all got too expensive, and with the expansion of the U.S. railroad system, the Americans quickly realised they needed to produce watches at the quality of the Brits but in greater number and much lower cost.

It was, in fact, the processes established by companies like Hamilton that were pinched and taken to Switzerland to take advantage of tax incentives and cheaper labour, so you can very much say that without American watchmaking, Swiss wouldn’t exist. Nevertheless, Hamilton is now based in Switzerland for the kudos, and this is a reissue of a fantastic pilot’s watch it made a long time ago. Yours for the sum of $845.

You don’t need $100,000 to have a fantastic watch collection. You don’t even need $10,000, and I’m pretty sure you can push that even harder still. What’s your ultimate collection and what would be your budget version?

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