[Closed] A watch for my wife – not the usual “what watch” thread.

Buy a watch winder and get an automatic. Spending 1.5k on a quartz is daft IMO

umop3pisdn, by my logic you are correct. But I am buying for her not for me. And she won't like an auto.

lunge - are you me??
I'm looking for exactly the same thing, for exactly the same reason!

Actually she hasn't specified it needs to be quartz, but everything else is the same.

I popped into the Tag store at Cheshire Oaks a few weeks ago - they had a fairly good selection at 'discounted' prices. Apparently when designs are updated they sell the old models through these outlets - I think there are several around the country.

As I don't need mine until May I haven't done any thorough research so can't vouch for how genuine the discounts are vs any deal you might get in a regular shop, but might be worth a look.

Tag's have been suffering a bit of late with issues around reliability, and if something does go wrong, with the warranty/after sales care not being great. Of course, that's a bit of a sweeping generalisation and won't apply to every watch they make, but it might be enough to make you look at alternatives so you don't suffer that fate.

Lunge, a few suggestions that may meet your needs include the Zenith Medio or Omega Constelllation/ladies Seamaster, but it might be worth looking at a site like Chrono24.com and use the search facility to identify possible options that meet your criteria.

Good luck with the search, and I really hope you can talk her into an automatic watch instead 😉

How about this?

[img] [/img]

Under £900 too!

What about a second hand Cartier Tank? Timeless, elegant and the women's versions are quartz. Second hand prices are in budget too.

EDIT: They come in gold too.

[img] ?itok=q43OTJqA[/img]

£1500 is a tough price point

You are above the fashion brands but at the start of the premium brands

I would suggest, omega, tag, longines, Raymond Weil, 99% of ladies watches are quartz anyway so this should not be a problem for you

Cartier 21 could be an option, or plenty of quality secondhand options available for £1500-2000

Depending where you are in the country I may be able to help, feel free to PM me for help or info

j3w3ll3r, I'm well aware of that, I know all to well the £1-2k mark is not a brilliant price point for watches, sadly budget does not stretch to Patek levels. Appreciate the ideas though, I'm in Brum if that helps?

j3w3ll3r - sounds like you're in the know, is your experience of Tags similar to Straightliner's (above)?

edd - Member

What about a second hand Cartier Tank? Timeless...

That's not going to be much use, then.

[url= http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LADIES-STEEL-GOLD-OMEGA-CONSTELLATION-MY-CHOICE-MINI-QUARTZ-WRIS****CH-/360828415571?pt=UK_Jewelery_Watches_Watches_MensWatches_GL&hash=item54030cae53 ]Omega Constellation[/url]

There are a few different designs, so maybe have a look around.

EDIT - never mind, too small

Also watching with interest. The Raymond Weil is one the OH picked out herself; the Tank is what I'd like to get her. She's also muttered about secondhand Rolexes, which would be secondhand at that price

I was in a similar position and bought a vintage Omega the same age as her. That apparently was a nice touch!

Omega Seamaster automatic - my wife loves hers... Loads of brownie points earned that birthday.

lunge - Member
j3w3ll3r, I'm well aware of that, I know all to well the £1-2k mark is not a brilliant price point for watches, sadly budget does not stretch to Patek levels. Appreciate the ideas though, I'm in Brum if that helps?

Sorry if I offended you, I was not belittling your budget in any way, just stating facts

Any watch made by a recognisable watch house at that price will be of excellent quality, a general rule would be to avoid brands that are more famous for other items such as clothing or sports equipment

In my experience, Tags are ok, no real build problems that I'm aware of

My preferred brand at this price point would be Longines, good brand with solid heritage and the swatch group behind them to supply the backup should it be required

j3w3ll3r, no problem at all, no offense was taken at all, I think my reply read sharp which it was not meant at all!

I do like the look of the Longines stuff so that may be the way to go, thanks.

All the girls / younger women at work seem to wear the Michael Kors rolex knock offs. I know of one lady who wears a Chanel J12. It seems to that 99% of women aren't really bothered about watches, so if If she isn't into watches, I wouldn't bother spending a bomb. Get something that looks nice and spend £1k on a trip.

Okay so not a premium brand but as I was just looking at a watch for my wife.... Christopher ward has a 70% sale on its women's watches.....

Was just going to suggest the Christopher Ward site too, think there is a couple that meet your criteria.

Oris is another brand worth looking at, as too is Nomos although they don't have any Quartz watches they do have some good unisex style watches that are excellent imo all in house movements too.

I think non-quartz would be a show stopper in this case. "I know you really wanted a quartz movement but I plumped for automatic in the end." *fails to satisfy user requirement specification*

Any use?

Quartz, bang on budget with all papers/box etc & purchased from a Cartier dealer apparently.

[url= http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ladies-Cartier-Panthere-Watch-/161188523616?pt=UK_Jewelery_Watches_Watches_MensWatches_GL&hash=item258795ae60 ]Ebay Linky[/url]

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

The Cartier tanks are a really nice watch in the medium size or "boy" size.
My wife has one and it's a timeless design that just looks right for any occasion.

One big point to remember with the quartz is that a battery change from Cartier will be around £300 with a service and case re finish on top of that.

One big point to remember with the quartz is that a battery change from Cartier will be around £300 with a service and case re finish on top of that.

Or a battery change is £10-20 in a halfway competent jewellers

Cartier is a good call.

How about something a little more modern looking:

[img] [/img]

[url= http://www.jurawatches.co.uk/collections/rado-watches/products/rado-sintra-ladies-watch-r13780702-rdo-004 ]Rado[/url]

One big point to remember with the quartz is that a battery change from Cartier will be around £300 with a service and case re finish on top of that.
Or a battery change is £10-20 in a halfway competent jewellers

+1 for rado.

I bought my wife one 10 years ago and only needed one battery change and the ceramic looks like new. Feels lovely and smooth against the skin too (missus)

They are very nice watches in IMO. My wife's is like that in the picky above.

Has to be a rolex.
Cellini if she is a lady.
Oysterquartz if she a bit less lady, in a nice way.
Send me a pm, as a watch nut, happy to answer any questions..

It could be that i don't know the first thing about pleasing women, but surely the answer to this is:

£500 watch given to her during surprise romantic weekend in Paris?

Every time she looks at a £1.5k watch she'll see a nice watch. Every time she looks at the £500 one she'll be reminded of that time you surprised her with an amazing weekend in Paris

Women's watches are not about the movement inside, they're about the bling on the outside. Also, unusually in this case, size doesn't matter. Wifey bought a new one last year and had trouble choosing between a ceramic Tag and a Longines with diamonds down the sides.

I assume you'll be taking your wife along for the shopping trip? Could be an expensive mistake if not.

It could be that i don't know the first thing about pleasing women, but surely the answer to this is:

£500 watch given to her during surprise romantic weekend in Paris?

Every time she looks at a £1.5k watch she'll see a nice watch. Every time she looks at the £500 one she'll be reminded of that time you surprised her with an amazing weekend in Paris

Good answer!

I guess it depends how consumerism orientated the lady in question is I guess.

You can guarantee the watch but not the quality of the imagined Paris trip. Bad weather, delays, crap dinner etc. etc. Just this once I'd plough the lot into a cracking timepiece.

You can guarantee the watch but not the quality of the imagined Paris trip. Bad weather, delays, crap dinner etc. etc.

Paris was just an example, I meant just do something memorable and together. They're already married, so the aim isn't to impress with a flash and flawless trip, more show that you're still keen to think up stuff like this and woo her (if you don't then that's her lot, no one else can!).

I've learned the hard way in the past that no matter how much I think mrs file would like something, the reality is that she's just not into "things" in the same way.

As lunge has already acknowledged, the £1.5k bracket is a tricky one for a watch, so maybe it might be worth taking that out of the equation. I bought mrs file one of those casio terrorist watches for wearing at the weekend when we're away doing outdoors stuff, because she has a terrible habit of losing and breaking things. She never takes it off, says she loves it because I bought it for her. It was £6. That said, the same could not be said for my ex, who would have rather gone without than wear something cheap.

Funny creatures eh? 🙂