There are two questions that, as a watch critic, I hate being asked. The first comes with alarming frequency, and is this: “What’s your favourite watch?” Often, before my hand can hit my face, it’s caveated by, “I’m sure you get that question all the time…” Or, “you probably don’t have one, but…” And worst of all, “perhaps you can’t say…”, as if to suggest I’m somehow beholden to a brand, but bound to a false creed of professional journalistic impartiality, and might – just for them – let my guard down.
The second is almost as irritating: “How much do you think I should spend on a watch?” This is usually motivated by a form of hyper-inverted snobbery, and a trap, albeit not a very good one. It’s posed by someone who has already decided that I would only ever recommend buying a watch from the Argos catalogue if you are eight years old, and that I am one of a breed of pompous, out-of-touch elitists who thinks it could ever be right to spend more than £29.99 on something a smartphone can do much better.
Other times, the question is genuine, which is just as difficult to answer, but for different reasons. It assumes I know how much money you have, and that I know how much of that money you’d like to spend on building a watch wardrobe. Which patently I don’t. As a member of the middle class, I hope you have less money than me, but fear you will have more. All the same, you still want it answering. And there are, I suppose, some guidelines I can give you.
IWC Portugieser Chrono
It sounds obvious, I know, but there’s nothing sadder than hearing someone lament an impulse buy they later come to regret – a herpes watch. Scrutinise your purchase aesthetically.
If you like the case shape, but the date window irks you, don’t buy it. If you’re going to spend a decent amount of money on a watch, you’ll need to love it, because any slight hesitations will creep up on you with time. There are so many watches out there, why spend on something you aren’t into 100 per cent?
I know this makes me sound like a man who irons creases into the front of his trousers, but seriously, don’t get lumbered with a ball-and-chain watch. Remember that most watches are not an investment and are worth considerably less than you paid for them the moment you pay for them, and that you can still buy excellent mechanicals for a few hundred bucks.
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve told a friend to forget the dream of an IWC for now, and to buy a Hamilton Khaki or an Oris ProPilot instead. They’ve never regretted taking my advice.
It’s possible to buy a decent Hamilton automatic for just a few hundred quid
The other thing to remember is that at some point a few years down the line, your mechanical watch, and I assume you’re buying mechanical, is going to need a service that will cost you at least several hundred pounds. Forget to factor that in, and you’ll get a nasty surprise when your watch slows down and a man with colour-coded biros in his top pocket tells you that you have to pay him to make it work properly again.
If you have to have that spendy watch, there is a way to make it affordable. A number of retailers offer interest free credit for up to 60 months. Watches of Switzerland, for example, will ask you for a 10 per cent deposit and then to pay the rest off in monthly instalments.
On a £3,000 watch, over a three-year term, that means a £300 deposit and 36 monthly payments of £75. That’s a NOMOS Glashütte Ahoi or a Bell & Ross BR 126 Officer Silver for less than your monthly council tax bill. I’ve not done it myself, but I can see why someone who backs themselves to be in a job for the next three years would.
It’s just as possible though, that you already have the money and are aware of the pitfalls, but still want some sound advice on what to buy.
Let’s say I’ve got £10,000 to spend. I could do a number of things. I could go out and get myself a new steel Vacheron Quai de l’Ile. I’d have to haggle a bit, but at the end of it, I’d have a watch that made me feel like Thomas Crown (yes, yes, I know Steve McQueen and Pierce Brosnan wore Cartier and Jaeger-LeCoultre). That would be a smart thing to do. Or I could sink it into an IWC Portugieser Automatic, with the blue hands and blue Arabic numeral dial, and be happy for the rest of my life.
Probably. But I also know I’d get bored with one watch. So what I’d actually do would be to split the money in half, or even three ways. For that, I could get a Rolex Oyster Perpetual for £3,750, a Tudor Heritage Black Bay Black on a strap for £2,130, and a Zenith Elite 6150 for £5,200. OK, so I’m a grand over, but then I’m buying all three at once and banking on getting along with the sales assistant.
How would you spend £10,000?
The point is, for the money, I can get a luxury Swiss watch I can wear every day, another for when I need something sturdier, and something dressy that will impress my father-in-law. And from three brands with unquestionable pedigree. Yes. I think I’d do that.
But who am I trying to kid? It’s your money. Spend it how you will. Just please don’t ever ask me what my favourite watch is.
Figuring out how much you should spend when purchasing watches is something that we need to get out of the way as soon as possible, as our expectations of the watch will vary depending on our budget.
In short, you can expect to spend anywhere from $100 to $1,000 for entry-level watches, $1,000 to $5,000 for mid-range watches, and anywhere from $5,000 up to millions of dollars for high-end and very high-end mechanical watches.
But don’t go just yet! Let me walk you through everything you need to consider when determining a budget for your watch. Although I do have a business management degree, please note that the contents of this article are meant to be educational, and should not be taken as financial advice.
Factors to Consider When Determining a BudgetThese factors are important to keep in mind when budgeting.The Type of WatchThe type of watch matters as the amount of money you spend on it usually would vary. In this category, cost per wear is king and it makes sense to spend more on one watch that you’ll wear often. Cost per wear can be easily calculated by taking the cost of the watch and dividing it by the number of times you’ll wear it.
A dress watch might be worn once, maybe twice a year but an everyday watch will likely be on your wrist most of the time.
So let’s say you spend $1,000 on a dress watch and it gets worn twice a year, so the cost per wear would be $500 if we use the formula that I’ve mentioned. However, if you were to spend $1,000 on a watch that you’ll wear for maybe 350 days of the year, it’ll only cost $2.86 per wear!
Will Your Watch Be an Investment?If you are investing in watches, it would make sense to spend more money on watches that are likely to appreciate in value.
For example, if you want to invest in a Rolex Submariner (a watch that has historically appreciated over the years), it makes sense to spend more to buy it as compared to a Grand Seiko, which tends to go below its retail price.
Given that some Grand Seiko and Rolex models have similar retail prices, it may be a good decision to purchase the Rolex, even if it has a higher retail price when you are looking to invest in a watch. If you’re wondering why Rolexes appreciate so much, you can check out my article on why Rolex watches are so expensive.
For more information about watch investing in general, feel free to check out my other blog post on whether watches are a good investment!
Are Watch Brands Important to You?The brand value will likely affect your budget, and you may need to spend more than you expected, depending on the brand you’re eyeing.
Ultimately, watches are a status symbol, and there’s nothing wrong with wanting to spend more on a particular brand. A Rolex or Omega watch will have a different allure as compared to other more affordable Swiss watch brands.
The quality of these brands might not be that much better than some of the better quality mid-range offerings, but our perception of them is different because of how they market themselves.
Spending more money on a brand that you like, gives you so much more satisfaction when you know you’ve worked hard and deserve it!
MaintenanceJust like cars, the amount of money you pay for your watch is the minimum amount that you’ll have to spend. The price of maintenance varies from watch to watch, and brand to brand. So, luxury watches will cost more to service as compared to robust quartz watches.
Also, the watch movement is a very big factor in this category, as a watch with an in-house movement will likely cost more to service when compared to a watch with generic movements (Sellita, ETA, Ronda, etc.).
This is because many more watchmakers are skilled in repairing generic movements, as they are more abundant.
For in-house movements, you’ll likely have to bring your watch back to the brand’s authorized service centers, which might cost more than the watchmaker down the street. Some watchmakers might have the skills and experience required to service in-house movements, but ultimately they’ll still charge a premium for it.
InsuranceInsurance is another factor that you have to consider when purchasing a luxury watch. For watches under a certain amount, it wouldn’t make sense to buy insurance for them. However, if you want to buy a watch that is worth thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars, you should get insurance for it.
In general, watch insurance usually costs 1 to 2% per year to insure, but it will vary depending on certain models, and your location.
MaterialsDepending on the material, you might find yourself digging deeper into your pockets for certain models. Watches made out of precious metals such as rose gold and platinum cost more than stainless steel watches, most of the time (except for the case of most second-hand Rolexes). Other materials that might affect the price of certain models would be ceramic, tantalum, gold, bronze, etc.
Determining Your Watch BudgetAssessing Your Financial SituationYou should focus on priorities over any watch!You may think that the most important thing that contributes to your watch budget is your income. If you earn more, you get to buy a more expensive watch! Easy right? Well, it’s a little more complicated than that.
A high income isn’t really that high if you have tons of debt, or if you need money for something important such as having a kid on the way. What you’re looking for is disposable income, which is essentially income that you have to enjoy, after taxes and needs.
It’s easy to get lured into purchasing your dream watch, even if it clashes with other priorities. No matter how tempting it seems, priorities always come first and no watch is worth not being to pay rent or put food on the table, or be in financial trouble (learn from my mistakes).
I’ll go more into the numbers in the section below!
Setting a BudgetThis is just one of the many ways to calculate your watch budget!You see, many financial experts recommend the 50/30/20 rule, which splits up your net income (post-tax) into 3 different categories, which are:
This essentially means that you have up to 30% of your income to go into buying a watch that you like. However, if you’re looking to purchase an investment piece, it’s justifiable to eat into the “savings” category a little bit.
So in general, you can spend up to 30% of your income on a watch, and up to 50% if you’re looking to buy an investment watch. The exact amount of money you should spend is really up to how many months’ worth of disposable income you’re willing to invest in a watch.
So let’s say I have an income of $4,000 per month post-tax. I’m looking to buy a watch with a retail price of $8,000. Assuming that I use the formula above and spend 20% of my post-tax income to purchase the watch, it should take me 10 months to finish saving up on the watch.
You can play around with the numbers, as the more you’re willing to save towards your watch, the shorter the amount of time needed of saving you need to do. Of course, there are other ways to determine your watch budget, but I prefer this as it’s the easiest for most people to understand and utilize!
How Much You Should Spend on Watches of Different TiersIn this category, I’ll break down different watch tiers in terms of their price, quality, and brand value. Examples will also be included!
Entry-Level WatchesFor entry-level watches, you should spend anywhere from $100 to $1,000. Entry-level watches are great choices when getting into the watch-collecting hobby. You can expect decent watches at an affordable price point in this category.
However, we need to be realistic when dealing with entry-level watches, as you probably won’t get special features such as in-house movements or intricate complications (such as tourbillions and moon phases). Of course, it’s different from brand to brand.
Japanese watch brands dominate in this category, as you get immaculate quality for the price you pay. Seiko and Citizen are so efficient and large that they offer in-house movements (movements made by themselves) for nearly all their watches!
Many of these watches even have the extras such as 200 meters of water resistance, upgrades from the run-of-the-mill mineral glass crystal, as well as complications such as chronographs and GMTs!
My top pick would definitely be the Seiko 5 Sports SRPD55k, an awesome dive-inspired watch suitable for everyday wear and able to take whatever you throw at it. Check out my review of the Seiko SRPD55K to learn more about this stunning piece! Alternatively, you can check this watch out on Amazon if you’ve already made up your mind!
Mid-Range WatchesAn Oris Big Crown Complication – Tremendous Value for Money!The price range for mid-range watches differs from person to person, as a mid-range watch could be considered a luxury for many, and vice-versa. Nevertheless, in general, you should spend anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 for a good mid-range watch.
In this price range, you’ll see more complications, in-house movements, better-case materials, and other bells and whistles. In this price range, accuracy is important and that is why you can see quite a few COSC (chronometer-certified) movements in this category.
Sapphire crystals and quality watch bands should also be the norm in this category, which is a huge step up from entry-level watches. You can expect to see brands such as Longines, Oris, Rado, Tissot, etc. at this price point.
My favorite brand at this price point is Longines. I’ve owned the Hydroconquest for a couple of years and have just found it amazing. Here’s my full review of the Longines Hydroconquest to learn more!
High-End WatchesPanerai Luminor Flyback – Timeless & ClassicAgain, the price point for high-end watches varies based on who you ask. In general, you should consider spending anywhere from $5,000 to $30,000. High-end watches are grail watches for most people, and you can expect the following brands to be in this category:
In the high-end, you can expect fantastic things such as impeccable in-house movements, brand prestige, and special watches that might have features such as column-wheel chronographs, perpetual calendars, tourbillions, and more!
In this category, I’d recommend the Omega Railmaster, as a perfect everyday luxury watch.
Very High-End Watches (Haute Horology)An Amazing Vacheron Constantin Overseas – Handmade and FinishedYou should expect to spend $30,000 to millions of dollars in the Haute Horology category. These watches are next-level and some of the planet’s finest timepieces. In this category, everything in the watch is handmade and hand-finished by experienced artisans.
Every single screw, spring, and component takes hours and hours to perfect, even the ones you will never see. Some of these components are as small as half a grain of rice, but no detail is left out. Timepieces like these have similar features to the watches in the high-end category but are finished with a lot more detail and craftsmanship. It’s no stretch to say that these watches are pieces of art that you can wear!
You can expect these brands to be in this category:
Vintage watches are tough, as the price varies depending on condition, brand, and availability. Generally, a good price for good vintage watches could be anywhere from $200 to $5,000.
Of course, there will be outliers such as the Rolex Daytona owned by Paul Newman, which sold for a whopping $17.7 million back in 2017.
If you’re interested in more information about buying vintage watches, check out my vintage watch buying guide to know EXACTLY what to look out for!
ConclusionIn general, determining a budget for your watch depends on your personal financial situation and how much you are willing to spend. Some pieces are great for investing, and it might be worth putting down more money.
Many brands can charge a premium over others because of their brand image and marketing. However, if you can put that down for a second, you might find some quality hidden gems! If you’re looking for potentially better prices, but with less support and warranties for a luxury watch, you could consider buying the watch on the gray market.
If you’re looking for what type of watches to buy, I’ve laid out some of my articles if you’re interested in taking the next step in building your watch collection:
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