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| Venezianico Redentore Bronzo (Venezianico website image) |
It's just an amazing looking 40mm watch with a hand-aged antique bronze finish. It's powered by a Miyota 9039 Automatic movement and it has sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective coating. The front of this watch is enough to earn it an instant sharp watch shout out! But, wait until you see the etched caseback!
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| The Horses of St. Mark captured on a Venezianico Redentore Bronzo Caseback (Venezianico website image) |
For this watch wearing Wednesday, my LaCoste 12:12 Silicone Strap watch is still going strong. That's probably a good thing because basic black LaCoste watches are hard to find on Amazon right now. They've got LaCoste watches in every other shape and color right here on Amazon.
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| LaCoste 12:12 watch |
This watch is a wonderful representative of minimalist watch style from a fashion brand. You can read my full review here on this blog! I continue to like this watch due to its grab and go simplicity and ease of wear.
Most of the time, this watch blog revels in the glories of all kinds of cheap watches. Ahem...inexpensive watches. Cheap watches fit into any budget. They strip away snobbery and distill the hobby down to "cool watch, bro" vibes that are healthy for everyone. They don't attract muggers or burglars or signal wealth levels that would make you a target. Most of the time, I enjoy the variety of cool looks that come with inexpensive watches. But, I really need to note that cheap watches have their downsides, too! Here are some of the problems that may arise with cheap watches.
1. Lack of Time Setting Precision. Sometimes with a cheap watch you'll go to set it and, when you push in the crown, the minute hand will jump 2 to 3 minutes in some random direction. I used to have that problem with Target, Walmart, and Caribbean Joe watches from time to time. However, eventually, you'll develop a steady hand and guide the crown down without changing the time.
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| An Inexpensive Caribbean Joe Watch |
2. Short Straps. One of the easiest things manufacturers can do to save a little money is to shorten the watch straps by just a little bit. By the time the watch makes it to consumers home, the maker can be enjoying a beach in sunny Mexico.
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| A short watch strap on a Caribbean Joe watch |
The watches will fit the wrists of most younger purchasers and older purchasers can simply replace the strap. Few people will actually go through the hassle of replacing or returning the watch. It's not usually too hard to replace tight bracelets with a roomier strap, I really liked the look of this Armitron Quartz Date Function Watch, but the bracelet was too tight. Fortunately, it was easy to swap out for a Bisonstrap as covered in my initial watch review.
3. Small Diameter Cases and Dials. Some inexpensive watches have smaller diameter cases and dials. While a 40mm case might look a little better, a 38mm case will be just a little cheaper to manufacture.
4. Non-Replaceable Bracelets. Sometimes cheap watches have strange, non-standard, connections between the watch bracelet and the watch case. It can make replacing the watch bracelet with a longer replacement, very difficult. Look for unusual strap/case connections before making a purchase.
5. Quality Issues. Cheap watches sometimes have quality control issues. For example, the watch hands, the dial markings, and the bezel markings (particularly of a diver-style dial) may not align properly. It's frustrating to see that your minute markers don't line up with where the minute hand falls at the top of a minute. It's aggravating to see that you rotating bezel lines up half a degree off from 12 o'clock noon. I've also bought very cheap watches that look great until you realize that there is a misspelled word on the dial. Once you see it, you can't un-see it. You may not start out with an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) when you begin your watch collecting journey, but you may end up there.
6. No Lume or Low Quality Lume. If you are looking for lume, you won't find much on cheap watches. You might be able to get a Timex with Indiglo lighting. But, actual lume on cheap watches is either non-existent or doesn't last for very long.
7. Reduced water resistance. Very inexpensive wristwatches often have little or no water resistance. While some claim to be water resistant, this is minimal water resistance for hand washing or incidental water splashed. While most of the time this doesn't present a problem, a good dunking or soaking rain could spell the end of a cheap watch. I've also had a couple of cheap watches that would fog slightly with extreme temperature changes due to water vapor trapped inside the watch. Name brand watches even from inexpensive brands like Armitron, usually can give you a water resistance rating. Even 30 meters of water resistance can provide a little security against water intrusion.
8. Low Quality Metals. The metals used in low priced watches can be suspect. On decent watch brands, you usually get a stainless steel case-back and a base metal (zinc or brass) case. Usually clasps will and bracelets will be stainless steel or aluminum. But, with a really cheap watch, you may find yourself wondering if the case is made of tin or you might get a rash from a caseback or watch clasp that isn't stainless steel. It's definitely a case of caveat emptor or buyer beware.
9. Short Battery Life. Sometimes the batteries in cheap watches don't last very long. In some cases, the watches are running on the store shelves for an unknown amount of time. This seems particularly true for watches bought at Walmart or outlet stores like Ross or TJ Maxx. Very inexpensive watches from China on Amazon may have cheap batteries to start out. It's hard to know. Watches that die shortly after arrival can usually be revived with a fresh battery. But, it can be a pain.
Are you tired of my Caribbean Joe watches yet? I'm not. They are like horological potato chips to me. They are inexpensive. They have great looks and colors. And, dang it, I can't stop at just one! I recently had a chance to attend a small private gaming convention and it turned out to be the perfect opportunity to get my Horatio Hornblower on with a game called Black Sails. The game used miniatures rules and my Caribbean Joe watch was just perfect for ruling the waves of our table top.
If this watch looks familiar to you, it's probably because I have the same watch with a green dial and gold-toned case. Kohl's called it the Caribbean Joe Men's Degrade Green Sunburst Dial Strap Watch. That's a mouthful. Fortunately, Boscov's just calls it the Men's Caribbean Joe Silver-Tone Blue Dial Watch (CJ7127SL). I'm not an affiliate, but you can still find this cool watch on their website. If you'd like to read a review of this watch, read my original review of the green one here.
If you are looking for an impressive watch at an affordable price, check out the impressive 50mm Fossil Nate Chronograph. It's a very solid-looking stainless steel, quartz watch that with a matte black dial looks very good on the wrist.
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| Fossil Nate (Amazon photo) |
This watch reminds me of my similarly sized Fossil Brox multifunction watch, but Nate brings a larger size and chronometer functions to the party. I have a slightly smaller Fossil Nate from a decade ago packed away from a move, it's a good watch. Amazon has quite an array of Fossil Nate variants and you can often find one on sale. There are different dial textures and colors and different hand colors. Nowadays, these Fossil watches have a full retail in the $140 to $220 range. If you're interested, take a look at this Fossil Nate on Amazon. It's solid!
If you are looking for a great deal on a Swiss Made watch, you might like this Military Attitude quartz watch from Victorinox. It's a great Swiss quartz tool with a no-nonsense look. The watch itself has a 42mm diameter case and a 19mm wide bracelet. [Unfortunately, as of July 2025, it has disappeared off of Amazon and you'll have to hunt it down.]
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| Swiss Military Attitude Watch |
This watch design and model has been sold under the Wenger and Swiss Military brands over many years. But, is now being listed by Victorinox. You can read this next section for a bit of history to understand the evolution of all things Swiss Army
Victorinox was founded in 1884 in the German-speaking Swiss Canton of Schwyz in the municipality of Ibach-Schwyz. Wenger was founded in 1893 in the French-speaking Swiss Canton Jura in the municipality of Courtételle. Both companies got contracts from the Swiss government to produce knives for the Swiss Army. The companies had a strong rivalry for many years with Victorinox claiming to the the Original Swiss Army knife and Wenger claiming to be the Genuine Swiss Army knife. All of that rivalry came to an end when Victorinox bought Wenger in 2005.
While Wenger products continued to be sold for a time, the merged companies have consolidated all their production and marketing under the Victorinox product lines. Victorinox still uses Swiss Army branding on knives, but they seem to have dropped it on watches as they move more upscale. The Swiss Military brand has appeared in a variety of places throughout time including on some watches made by Wenger. You can read my review of a similar watch called the Wenger Swiss Military Grenadier. I think this Attitude timepiece may be a fading holdover from those days.
While most Victorinox watches are now moving upscale, this Swiss Military-branded watch is a holdover from when anything in the Swiss Army arena was expected to be tough, simple, utilitarian, and Made in Switzerland. If you're looking for a watch built with these philosophies, the Swiss Military Attitude Quartz Watch may be the watch for you! It was a deal at around $100 and may be available on online auction sites such as ebay.
Once upon a time, many, many, years ago in a living room far, far, away, my brother-in-law was incessantly bragging about a brand new Tag Heuer watch that he had just bought. Even worse he was obnoxiously sneering at everyone who was wearing a quartz watch that was common among mere mortals. It got old fast and everyone present was sick of it. Finally, I had enough.
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| A close up of the dial on my old Rumours watch |
"Hey, what time is it over there on your fancy Tag Heuer watch?"
"1:15."
I glanced at this Rumours watch and replied, "Same here."
The room burst into laughter and my brother-in-law ceased his bragging. It was an unforgettable moment and a victory for the common watch.
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| A Rumours Watch with a Silver-on-Silver design |
This Rumours watch has been in my collection for 26 or 27 years. I hope it persists for a very long time. You can read about my Rumours watch here on this blog.
Sometimes beauty and value come together in a sharp looking watch. This BERNY Automatic Diving watch recently caught my eye and looks like the perfect combination. The watch has a Miyota 8215 movement, an internal rotating inner bezel for timing, and 200 meters of water resistance. The bright, modern, and innovative look of this watch earn it a sharp watch shout out! The watch comes in black, blue, or green and has a silicone strap.
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| BERNY Automatic Diving Watch |
The specifications on this watch are worth looking at and you can find this BERNY watch here on Amazon.
BERNY is a Chinese company established in 1995 and is a respected brand in China. The watch gets 4.3 out of 5 stars on Amazon reviews with some buyers being concerned about durability. The Miyota 8215 movement is sometimes criticized for being noisy when winding at speed. Still, this is a great looking watch and might be worth taking a chance on.
My wife recently picked up a new Timex Expedition Metal for me at Walmart. Here it looks nice during an evening out on the town.
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| Timex Expedition Metal |
It's a nice solid watch with a brass case, simple field watch looks, and 50-meters of water resistance. The watch doesn't have a date feature so you never have to worry about setting the date. The watch has some lume on the hands and numbers which looks really great when exposed to the light for a short time and fully charged up. One thing that should be noted about this particular Timex watch is that it DOES NOT have indiglo lighting in this metal case version. I think Amazon has several similar watch versions under the same listing. The result is some mixed up or co-mingled reviews.
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| Timex Expedition Metal w/Fully Charged Lume |
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| My Timex before Take Off |
Nothing panics me more than the potentially losing a watch on a business trip. I was in a full panic when I thought I lost my Perry Ellis watch last time I went somewhere. That's why I recommend traveling with a cheap watch. Here I've just left this Timex out on a hotel room desk with no worries.
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| Timex Expedition on a Hotel Room Desk |
If you'd like to get this Timex, you can often find it at Walmart or you can just snag the Expedition Metal here off of Amazon. It's amazing how this watch can take on so many colors depending on the lighting conditions.
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| A Timex at sunset in the Airport |
I like this Timex Expedition very much. While the lume can be a little weak at times, you don't have to fuss with the indiglo lighting coming on an off as you flex your wrist. I also like the vintage feel of this classic watch style. It reminds me of my Timex Expedition Vintage Metal which also continues to soldier on. If you'd like to check out some of the other Timex Expedition watches in my collection, hit this site search result. Overall, this Timex is a winner. It's a versatile and affordable watch that looks good and is a great choice for most settings.
In the world of watches, skeleton watches are held in high regard because they expose the inner workings of a mechanical watch so that the wearer can enjoy watching the watch work. But, what if you wanted to see the gleam and shine of the machine with a quartz watch package? This Ed Hardy watch is a traditional quartz watch with a dial that renders watch-like mechanisms in relief on the surface of the dial. It's art instead of engineering.
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| An Ed Hardy Artistic Mechanism Design Watch |
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| This Ed Hardy Watch can reflect some light! |
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| The Ed Hardy Chrome Art Mechanism |
If you want to see how sharp a Swiss Quartz watch can look, check out the Victorinox Dive Pro Quartz Watch. It's a bona fide dive watch that offers 300 meters of water resistance. It has a sleek 43mm diameter case that is 13.5mm thick. Aimed at professional divers, it is a well-engineered no-nonsense dive watch. The sleek looks of the bezel and purposeful design earn this watch a well-deserved sharp watch shout out!
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| Victorinox Dive Pro 43mm Quartz Watch |
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| Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Diver |
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| Breitling Super Sports Watch (Amazon Photo) |
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| Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle Perpetual Calendar Chronograph (VC Photo) |
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| An RGM Pennsylvania Tourbillon (RGM Photo) |