TGIF: What do you get with a fashion watch brand?

Sometimes watch enthusiasts treat fashion watch brands with disdain. With mass production and an emphasis on quartz movements, fashion watches just aren't the watches purists would choose with their appreciation for the artistry and mechanical wizardly of European timepieces. They view watches at collectibles and long term investments. This is all well and good, but you can't tell time with a fractional share of a Rolex.

This Izod covers the dive look

What is a Fashion Watch?

According to Grok, a fashion watch is a watch designed as a styling accessory and a status symbol rather than a serious precision timekeeping tool. Yet, a fashion watch with a quality quartz movement will keep time as well or better than many serious mechanical masterpieces. While a certain amount of status may be associated with fashion watches, most of them are simply not the wealth flexes that brands like Rolex or Patek Philippe have become. If you aren't buying an investment quality watch or a watch with a serious mission like diving, mountaineering, or aviation, you can focus on a watch that is visually pleasing to your eye and that has a good level of quality.

This Zoo York watch was on trend about ten or fifteen years ago!

Design Consistency in Fashion Watches

As I've accumulated a number of fashion watches from brands like Hilfiger, Izod, Lacoste, Nautica, and  Perry Ellis, I have noticed that they do have one thing in common: design consistency within the brand.  Watches from these fashion brands generally pair very well with clothing from these same brands. It makes sense.  After all, these sorts of watches are first, and foremost, a fashion accessory. The fashion brands also cover a variety of watch styles so that they always seem to have a watch that complements your clothing.

3 O'clock is Crocodile time with this Lacoste

Watches from fashion brands also tend to have a consistent look within the brand.  For example, Nautica watches usually have a boating or sailing theme and Lacoste generally has that crocodile somewhere on the watch. If you like the brand's style, you'll probably like most of their watches.

A Nautica Watch

Brand Quality in Fashion Watches

Finally, fashion watches generally uphold the quality standards of the brand. This means you get a predictable value proposition when you buy a fashion watch. While the watch may still be made in China, you should expect a good level of quality control from trusted brands that are household names.

Why Buy A Fashion Watches

Ultimately, when I look for watches, I look for watches that look cool and that fit my budget. Fashion watches usually fit that bill. In a time when young people are hard-pressed to get solid employment and older people worry about job security and retirement, there is no shame in a watch that you can afford and that brings you joy!

Watch Wearing Wednesday: Another Afternoon with the Kenneth Cole Reaction in Blue

For this watch wearing Wednesday, I'm strapping on my Kenneth Cole Reaction watch. Why a Reaction? Because I've finally gone through about 13 years of this blog and removed all of the dead links, all the spam comments, and other problem pages.

One of my Kenneth Cole Reaction watches

I like this Reaction watch because it is big and it really stands out on the wrist.

TGIF: Buy That Fashion Watch If You Want!

Watch experts and collectors all say, "Don't buy a fashion watch!" However, I disagree. When watch enthusiasts of a certain income level tell you not to buy a "fashion watch," they are trying to steer people away from spending hundreds, maybe thousands, of extra dollars on a watch based solely upon the name of the designer when the inside workings of the watch are quite common. This especially holds true for high end quartz watches. The designer name just doesn't justify the extra money. That might not be bad advice for high end watch buyers. But, then again, this Gucci Automatic that I saw at a runway TJ Maxx looks great!

This Gucci Automatic is Swiss Made and Looks Great

At the lower priced end of the watch buying world, fashion brands like Hilfiger, Nautica, Perry Ellis, Kenneth Cole, Fossil, and LaCoste deliver design consistency and good quality to middle class buyers for a fair price. I've been very happy with most of my fashion designer name watches.

My Hilfiger 3H Quartz Watch

When watches cost $50 to $300 or so, a well-known fashion brand name can act as a guarantor of some degree of quality control. My Hilfiger 3-Hand Quartz Watch was designed and manufactured by Movado Group. While the watch is made in China, it has Japanese movement and a very nice build quality. I've found that when prices drop below $50 and the brand name becomes generic, you really have to examine the watch to see if it is a decent buy. You can be subject to all the drawbacks of cheap watches.  

When it comes to fashion brands, you should also be aware that some brands are now aimed at very low price points and don't have the same standards that they had back in their peak popularity periods. Brands that were popularized during the 1980s or 90s and the shopping mall hay day sometimes disappoint today. For example, I have a diver-style Izod watch that has false subdials. It's a good looking watch, but only worth $30 or less. It's ok if a iconic mall name sells $20 or $30 watches today. Izod and LaCoste split because one company wanted to move down market and the other wanted to move up market. Just avoid overpaying and make sure the watch is worth $20 or $30. That said. I love my fashion watches from decent quality brands and I certainly don't feel bad about owning them.

An Izod diver-style watch with fake subdials

Perhaps, the advice becomes more relevant as you move upscale into brands like Versace, Ferragamo, or even quartz Movado watches? The fashion looks offered by the brands are strong, but are their quartz models getting to be more expensive than quartz watches should be? As I look at Amazon, I'm not sure that they are priced inappropriately. In fact, the prices for Swiss Quartz Versace multi-function watches are comparable to similar quartz multifunction watches from Bulova.

A Versace Quartz Watch

Ultimately, it all comes down to the value proposition offered by the brand in question and the watch that caught your eye. Middle class buyers can also flip that question back on the elite watch collectors. It's completely valid to ask when was the last time a watch collector dove down to 300 meters or orbited our planet. My advice: If you really like a watch and you can comfortably afford it, buy it!

Wristwatch Review: Marc Ecko Rhino Men's Analog Wrist Watch

 A Cool Looking, Affordable, Watch from America's Most Gifted Designers

Marc Ecko is one of America's most gifted designers. He demonstrated a flair for design with a modern hip-hop, skate rat, urban sensibility while he was enrolled in the pharmacy school of Rutgers University. His mentors there suggested he take a year off to pursue his passion. He started with graffiti-inspired art t-shirts and has grown into an amazing success as a fashion designer, artist, and philanthropist. Of course, I didn't know any of this when I found a Rhino by Marc Ecko watch at Kohl's for about $60.

My Marc Ecko Rhino Watch

If you name a watch after one of the world's toughest animals, you are making a bold statement. The Marc Ecko Unltd. brand uses the Rhino as a trademark symbol for its Rhino by Marc Ecko line of watches. The designer was actually inspired by the need to support the Rhinoceros-one of Africa's most endangered species. My Marc Ecko Rhino watch is a rugged looking men's casual watch. While many watches are engineered for extreme conditions, the Rhino is a fashion statement that is really about achieving a rugged look in an affordable package.

Watch Design. The rugged rhino look is achieved through a cross-hatched pattern that is repeated as a styling theme throughout the design. The rubber strap is about 24 millimeters wide and is encircled by three bands of raised cross hatch design. The cross hatching is repeated on the top of the watch case. It's reminiscent of the shiny chrome pattern that you might see on the truck-bed toolbox on a working man's pickup truck. The cross hatch pattern is repeated around the center of the rich blue dial. The center itself is occupied by the shiny chrome silhouette of a rhinoceros. It it outlined by a chrome oval with a cross-hair motif. The overall effect is just plain tough.

Watch Size. You might expect to a Rhino watch to be a behemoth. However, it is reasonably sized with a 38mm diameter dial, overall case width of 44mm, and a thickness of about 10mm. With a fairly thin profile, this Rhino can easily be concealed beneath the cuff of a long-sleeved dress shirt.

Construction. While a young designer may not know a lot about the internals of a wristwatch, Timex does and Timex is the maker of the Marc Ecko watch brand. It's a good union because these watches have a young sensibility and Timex excels at making affordable watches. My Marc Ecko watch has a reliable Japanese quartz movement. The Rhino by Marc Ecko has a stainless steel back and a base metal case. The strap is made of a supple rubber or silicone material. The watch is water resistant to 30 meters.

Overall. The Rhino by Marc Ecko delivers a lot of interesting watch designs at affordable prices. I found my Rhino watch to be a fresh, masculine, designer look in a practical and affordable quartz package.

Sources:
MarcEcko.com
"Marc Ecko," Wikipedia.org
ShopEcko.com