Please help me choose a birthday gift - HARD MODE

[eric9000k]

I am looking to purchase a watch for a woman who is in her late 30s and never really owned or worn a watch

she is interested only because I am interested, so basically I don't want her feeling left out as I buy myself watch after watch, tools for repairing them, etc.

 

I'm at a loss.  Please consider this list of basic requirements:

 

• Price point of 300$ (or much less)
• Colorful, fun, not necessarily small, not dressy or luxurious
• Automatic movement (or else I would just get a swatch quartz - too easy)
• Not really into the system51 they are damn expensive hard to get and have turned out to be a total flop
• Preferably not a Seiko 5 as I already have one of my own and she prefers blue and mine is already blue so... "reorder" seems too lazy

 

THANKS!

Eric

[spectre6000]

I did a similar thing a several years ago.  Neither small nor colorful were on the list, and elegant was more the order. I ended up with a nice white gold 30s vintage watch. Since you're looking for color and not small, you may look at some of the smaller sportier mens watches from the 60s and 70s. 

[FLwatchguy73]

1 hour ago, eric9000k said:

I am looking to purchase a watch for a woman who is in her late 30s and never really owned or worn a watch

she is interested only because I am interested, so basically I don't want her feeling left out as I buy myself watch after watch, tools for repairing them, etc.

 

I'm at a loss.  Please consider this list of basic requirements:

 

• Price point of 300$ (or much less)
• Colorful, fun, not necessarily small, not dressy or luxurious
• Automatic movement (or else I would just get a swatch quartz - too easy)
• Not really into the system51 they are damn expensive hard to get and have turned out to be a total flop
• Preferably not a Seiko 5 as I already have one of my own and she prefers blue and mine is already blue so... "reorder" seems too lazy

 

THANKS!

Eric

is she ok with a mens style watch, larger size, (not huge, less than 45mm)? What colors does she prefer? Does she like diver, Pilot, military, chronographs, vintage, gold, stainless steel? Does she prefer numbers or indices or a mix? is a Date function necessary?

[Nucejoe]

I ask a female friend of the lady to ask her for help to find a ladies watch for her friend.

She,the friend, will be speaking the truth because she indeed is a friend of the lady.

You can't go wrong because the lady chose the watch herself.

 

[VWatchie]

How about one of these? Something pretty "unique" that will last a lifetime if given a service every 10 years. It's an easy movement to service so you could teach her!

Anyway, please let us know when you've made your decision!

Edited June 14, 2020 by VWatchie

[eric9000k]

Hey, everyone, thanks for the help!

After I posted this I couldn't help but ask how she felt and I asked her to wear around my seiko snk for the day, which she loved.  She thought i was giving her mine at first because i said it was too small for me, but anyway she's chosen the black one.  it looks great on her.

On 6/14/2020 at 5:39 PM, VWatchie said:

How about one of these? Something pretty "unique" that will last a lifetime if given a service every 10 years. It's an easy movement to service so you could teach her!

Anyway, please let us know when you've made your decision!

Classic choice my friend.  I was even thinking about an amphibia.  Just wondering, what currency is that website in?  I'm seriously going to consider one of these over the SNK.  The white one is really cool.

I want to also laugh at your joke about me teaching someone how to service a watch movement!! haha I'd have better luck teaching our two year old daughter in ten years :P because that's how long it's going to take me to learn but thanks for the passing vote of confidence :D

[FLwatchguy73]

Seiko offers a slightly smaller size dive watch to the SNK. Look for the 7s26-0030 You can see the difference below.

not a massive difference, but may be something more comfortable for her. Both use the exact same movement, durable and reliable. Would make a perfect His & Hers set.

[VWatchie]

34 minutes ago, eric9000k said:

Just wondering, what currency is that website in?

Click where you see the "P" (topmost red arrow) and then you can select $ to get the prices in USD. The "P" is for Russian rubles. The guy Dmitry running the place is 100 % reliable and is unusually very service minded for being a Russian. On one occasion he even sent me a bunch of screws for caliber 24XX just charging me for the postage ($10). That's what I love about Vostok; reliable and robust movements and parts that are dirt cheap. They may not be the best performers in the world, but for the money they're unbeatable if you ask me.

[eric9000k]

12 hours ago, FLwatchguy73 said:

Seiko offers a slightly smaller size dive watch to the SNK. Look for the 7s26-0030 You can see the difference below.

not a massive difference, but may be something more comfortable for her. Both use the exact same movement, durable and reliable. Would make a perfect His & Hers set.

 

My friend that is the SKX

:) a few reasons why I would not buy the SKX but I know it was one of their most popular watches of all time.  It's too expensive for the lack of features, I feel it deserves a better movement, a job for later.

Here's the SNK I'm considering for her 

 

12 hours ago, VWatchie said:

The guy Dmitry running the place is 100 % reliable and is unusually very service minded for being a Russian. On one occasion he even sent me a bunch of screws for caliber 24XX just charging me for the postage ($10). That's what I love about Vostok; reliable and robust movements and parts that are dirt cheap. They may not be the best performers in the world, but for the money they're unbeatable if you ask me.

I'm going to be honest with you even if I don't get her an amphibia I'll probably get one for myself from this website, so it's a win either way.  I mean hell, maybe she wants two watches 

[FLwatchguy73]

Snk.....skx...... Whateva! Lol... Honestly, I'm happy when I can remember my own name!

[jdm]

11 hours ago, FLwatchguy73 said:

Snk.....skx...... Whateva! Lol... Honestly, I'm happy when I can remember my own name!

That is because (fortunately for you) you haven't become a real Seiko buff yet. Otherwise you will know and easily remember not only the sales model, but the case reference, years of production, remarkable elements, and approximate street price. 

That being said, an SKX "true diver" is and will be always the best purchase to make in Seiko. It is guaranteed to bring a wide smile to the face of any man receiving it and many ladies too. The "entry level" SNK is popular, but can't really compare.

[EDIT] Sorry I see now only that the gift is for a young lady.

Do not think, even for a moment, that, in general, a lady will appreciate a men's watch, mechanical watch, or a men's taste watch.

Women are (fortunately) created different. If you want to surprise her, consider her tasts in general, love for fashion brands, for colors, for lifestyle. Choose along these lines not because you think the watch "is good" or even worse because "you like it". If you do, she will smile and be thankful, but it won't be the watch she would have bought. Also being a quartz module is really preferable, because that will make it ready to be worn and changed around at anytime.
 

Edited June 19, 2020 by jdm

[FLwatchguy73]

3 hours ago, jdm said:

That is because (fortunately for you) you haven't become a real Seiko buff yet. 

I'm just getting started!

I've pretty much got the date codes sorted now, that's a plus.

Edited June 19, 2020 by FLwatchguy73

[eccentric59]

24 minutes ago, FLwatchguy73 said:

I'm just getting started!

 

I've pretty much got the date codes sorted now, that's a plus.

What, no SARB?

 

[eric9000k]

10 hours ago, jdm said:

[EDIT] Sorry I see now only that the gift is for a young lady.

Do not think, even for a moment, that, in general, a lady will appreciate a men's watch, mechanical watch, or a men's taste watch.

Women are (fortunately) created different. If you want to surprise her, consider her tasts in general, love for fashion brands, for colors, for lifestyle. Choose along these lines not because you think the watch "is good" or even worse because "you like it". If you do, she will smile and be thankful, but it won't be the watch she would have bought. Also being a quartz module is really preferable, because that will make it ready to be worn and changed around at anytime.
 

While I'm usually inclined to agree with statements like this... it's pretty much a moot point since I have already sat down and lectured on how the Europeans needed to navigate west so they required the time of day, but it's impossible on a ship rolling on the waves to use a pendulum swing to keep time so the marine chronometer was born then the whole program overhauled less than two hundred years later since technology advances so fast it's tripping over itself we bicker about leap seconds since our atomic time is supposedly more accurate than celestial time nowadays, to me, it's a shame that the mechanical movement could not have a more prominent place in our history before leaving it behind

She's cool with a mechanical watch precisely because I won't shut up about them, and she does like watching the rotor spin around.  You could say I have made her prejudiced against quartz watches now.

[eric9000k]

7 hours ago, FLwatchguy73 said:

I'm just getting started!

I've pretty much got the date codes sorted now, that's a plus.

Wow that's amazing 

what a great collection.

[JohnD]

Hi Eric, did you get her the SNK? I decided to make my one a bit 'different'........

'Make' was really the correct term as I didn't buy one and modify it, but built this one up around an empty SNK case bought on eBay....

[eric9000k]

Hey John,

That's a cool looking watch.  It's pretty sleek actually in orange, I'd say you did well with the design of that.  Is it for sale?? 
I have been off and on about wanting to get an empty SKX case and use the NH36 down the road.  I don't even have tools yet.

Yes, I ordered the SNK off eBay out of a store in Brooklyn called Jomashop watch or something like that.  For whatever reason there is a sudden scarcity of black SNKs from the normal Amazon sellers, the price went up so much in Canada that I had to get creative for the black one and order it out of the states.  83.99 USD plus shipping and customs etc.  It's going to be at least two weeks late for her birthday :/

[JohnD]

7 minutes ago, eric9000k said:

Hey John,

That's a cool looking watch.  It's pretty sleek actually in orange, I'd say you did well with the design of that.  Is it for sale?? 
I have been off and on about wanting to get an empty SKX case and use the NH36 down the road.  I don't even have tools yet.

Yes, I ordered the SNK off eBay out of a store in Brooklyn called Jomashop watch or something like that.  For whatever reason there is a sudden scarcity of black SNKs from the normal Amazon sellers, the price went up so much in Canada that I had to get creative for the black one and order it out of the states.  83.99 USD plus shipping and customs etc.  It's going to be at least two weeks late for her birthday :/

Hi Eric, I put a spare 7s26 movement in mine, which I had 'in stock' but I might well change it sometime to a NH35A and I I might even 'go black' with one of these spare Dagaz dials that came with a joblot of bits I got a year or so ago.....

You get a fabulous deal on your side of the pond, with the SNK, this is what Amazon are offering over here... My orange Dagaz dial cost me about half of what you are paying for a complete new watch!

Like you I fancied a SKX with a NH36A inside it, so put this one together......

Again out of 'bits' in a S/H SNK case that I traded for with someone from Australia.  Apologies to the 'purists'

[JohnD]

oops that should read 'SKX case'........

[jdm]

Seiko SKX, large size, tool watch, modded, all that seems great for a watch lover guy.

Try to show that to a lady and ask for her honest opinion. "what brand is this?" "does it come in gold color?", "it turns on my wrist no matter how I tighten the band", "oh. So it stops if not worn everyday". 

You can also try the opposite experiment. Give her a sum and ask to buy you a watch, zero input given. Then show it here.