Watch Sighting: A Franck Muller Watch?

Back in 2015, I had a quick glance at an homage watch--or perhaps a replica--of a classic Franck Muller design. A co-worker was wearing an intriguing design with an elongated case and at six o'clock a window into the heart of the watch. An original, he said would cost $30,000 or more. Of course, I am philosophically opposed to any actual counterfeit watch. I believe that customers should buy the authentic watch or an homage that has its own branding and doesn't infringe on trademarks. However, the encounter was enough to pique my curiosity about the real thing.  

Franck Muller Watches On Amazon

On Amazon, I found several Franck Muller watches for sale.  The first one that caught my eye was this Franck Muller Vanguard watch.

Franck Muller Vanguard watch (photo on Amazon)

While it's not $35,000, it's not a watch that I can afford. As of 2024, most of the designs shown on Amazon have an elongated tonneau design, an automatic movement, and a price tag between $5,000 and $12,000.

Another popular design from Franck Muller is the Long Island watch which offers inimical designs, automatic movements, and a wide variety of price tags on various internet outlets.  That $30,000 figure quoted by my former co-worker is not out of the ballpark. 

A Franck Muller "Long Island" Watch

Low Price Alternatives to Franck Muller Watches

If these are out of your price range, Muller's design influence is felt throughout the horological world.  As of 2024 on Amazon, this Invicta Specialty Tonneau watch shows the influence of Franck Muller.  However, the Invicta logos and shapes are also quite evident.

Invicta Specialty Tonneau Watch (Amazon photo)

Beyond that, Frank Miura watches bear a resemblance to Muller's design, but with perhaps with a bit more funkiness to fit the sub-$100 price point.  The Chinese characters on the dial don't disguise that this isn't a Franck Muller design.  The watch below is less than $50 and can be found here on Amazon.

Franck Miura Watch

The most interesting Frank Miura design is this Macau Gambling Watch below that includes actual gambling dice in the bottom part of the dial.

Frank Miura Macau GamblingWatch

I like the diversity that this school of design adds to watch collecting.  I love that people can find unique watches that reflect their own style choices.

Top 10 Inexpensive Watches - Part 2

This week, let's continue our Top 10 Inexpensive watches list with some relatively inexpensive watches that bring unique capabilities to our wrists.

6. Casio G Shock.  Lots of premium watch companies advertise military-style watches.  But, when you actually see pictures of American military personnel in the field, they are actually wearing Casio G-Shock watches.  They are rugged, waterproof, and constructed to take a beating. The G Shock is mostly thought of as a digital watch, but Casio now offers some very attractive ana-digital versions.  You can find Casio G Shock watch on Amazon here.

A Casio G Shock Watch

7 & 8. ADNA and Modify.  There are a couple of companies that use interchangeable silicone watch straps:  ADNA and Modify Watches.  Both companies provided me with example watches.  ADNA watches appeal to the traditionalist with masculine diver-style dials, while Modify watches are focused more on artistic expression with square dials.  It is amazingly easy to change straps on either kind of watch.  If you hate dealing with watch strap pins, you'll value these watches much more than their low price points.

[As of 2024, I think both of these watch brands are pretty hard to find in the U.S.]

A Modify Watch

An Adna Watch

9. Citizen Eco Drive.  When it comes to harnessing the sun with attractive watches, Citizen is the leader.  Eco Drive watches allow wearers to almost completely leave the world of watch batteries behind.

A Citizen Eco-Drive Weekender Watch

10. Bulova Precisionist.  Finally, I have one expensive quartz watch on my list: the Bulova Precisionist.  It's reputed to be the most accurate quartz watch in the world.  It's hard not to be mesmerized by the graceful movement of the big yellow second hand across the dial.  At prices generally ranging from $400 to $700, the Precisionist is not cheap.  But, a watch with this level of accuracy also doesn't break the bank! You can also find some great deals from time to time! [In 2023, I bought the Bulova Precisionist below.  You can read my complete Bulova Bulova Precisionist review here.]

A Bulova Precisionist Watch for Men

With price points from $50 to $500, these inexpensive watches don't sell for chump change.  Instead, they confirm that the life of a watch collector can start well below $1000.

Horological Reading: A Book on Timex

If you collect Timex watches, you might want to buy this book:  Timex: A Company and its Community 1854-1998 It's one of the few books available on Timex watches and the history of the Timex company.


For road trippers, there is also a museum dedicated to Timex up in Waterbury, Connecticut: Timexpo Museum.

Timexpo Museum in Waterbury, CT, photo by Dtgriffith (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Top 10 Inexpensive Watches - Part 1

I recently read an interesting post on the WatchTime blog.  Watch industry insider, Alexander Linz listed the Watch Insider’s Top 10 Best-Value Chronographs of 2014.  These were all fine mechanical watches that he considered excellent affordable chronographs.  Unfortunately, with the exception of one Swatch, all of the watches listed were premium watches that cost thousands of dollars.

Like many mortal men, I am cursed with having taste without wealth.  I can admire the chosen watches for their style, engineering, craftsmanship, and brand history.  However, as a middle-aged, middle class, American man, I can only pray that I accumulate the wealth needed to comfortably acquire such a timepiece. If I ever earn the requisite fortune to acquire such a watch, I hope that I have the class to wear it without it being perceived as doing an end zone dance to show status over others.

For those of us in the 99-percent, I would propose an alternate top 10 list of best inexpensive watches.  I can't claim the level of horological expertise that belong to Alexander Linz and the staff at WatchTime Magazine. But, I believe their are many worthwhile timepieces at low price points. Some of these watches bring new and unique capabilities to watch collectors while others allow common people to emulate the looks of classic watches.  While high end watch aficionados embrace the tradition of mechanical watch making, the rest of us enjoy the accuracy of  quartz watch movements.

First, in this post, let's look at 5 inexpensive watches that give us classic looks or unique styles!  Companies like Invicta and Stuhrling Original have brought timeless styles to common folks.  While these companies also have innovative designs, we have to thank them for putting classic looks on our wrists.

1.  Invicta Pro Diver.  The Invicta Pro Diver is a classic dive watch inspired by the Rolex Sub.  There are many colors and all do a good job of channeling the classic Rolex Submariner.  You can read my review of my Invicta Specialty Pro Diver watch here.

2.  Stuhrling Original Concorse Raceway.  If you like the Rolex Speedmaster, the Concorso Raceway will give you the look at a fraction of the price.  It has chronograph features and looks great.

Beyond the classics, come the watches that bring unique style to our wrists.

3.  Skagen.  If any brand has a unique and immediately recognizable style, it is Skagen.  The Skagen brand brings Danish design to the wrist.   Skagen watches have a minimalist modern Scandinavian look.  They also have thin streamlined cases.  The Grenen by Skagen watch below really typifies the Skagen look.

A Grenen by Skagen watch

4.  AVI-8.  The AVI-8 brand of watches bring classic aviation icons to the wrist.  The AVI-8 Hawker Hurricane practically beckons you to spin the prop and take to the skies.  AVI-8 provided me with a sample watch and it is one of my favorites.

5.  Izod.  The Izod line of watches brings a preppy look to the wrist with class and panache.  For those of us old enough to remember the Izod craze of the early eighties.  If you want a real Izod on your wrist, it's the one to buy.  There are many affordable Izod watches in stores like Burlington today.

An Izod Watch

These watches show that you don't have to spend a lot of money to wear seriously stylish watches.  Next week, we'll look at 5 more watches that bring unique capabilities to our wrists!

[This post was updated with new photographs in May 2024.]

Kickstarter Watch Projects: Swaeon Swiss Made Chronographs

Kickstarter is becoming an incubator for interesting watch projects.  Small companies get off the ground by coming up with neat watch designs and getting the funding for a limited production run.

I recently learned about a new project from a new brand called Swaeon.  They hope to bring two Swiss-made watches to market with Ronda Startech 5040.D movements.

The first watch is called the Aeon 1 Chronograph:

The second watch is called the Aeon 2 Chronograph:

You can read all about these watches at the project page on Kickstarter:

SWAEON - Swiss Watch Aeon Swiss Made Watches

Whether you decide to back the project in hopes of getting a bargain priced Swiss watch, or you just read about it, you might find it interesting to see what prospective watch brands think is important and what they would like to bring to market.  It's always good reading.

[2024 update:  Unfortunately, this project failed to reach the required funding level by their February 2015 deadline.  It doesn't look like there was any further activity.]