[F]Treat yourself to a watch at Christmas

Christmas and New Year are wonderful times for many people. The holiday season is often an opportunity to reconnect with family and celebrate and reflect on the past year. This is the perfect opportunity to treat yourself! Buying a watch for Christmas is always a good idea. So today, we’re going to introduce you to 5 available watches that you can also recommend as a gift to yourself.

Options are both used and new. Affordable used watches offer incredible value and come in a wide variety of styles and designs. As part of this exercise, I limited myself to options that I could really consider for my collection. Another important factor was recognizing that we live in economically challenging times, so we wanted to keep it relatively affordable. Let’s take a look right away.

buy a watch for christmas

The concept of taking care of yourself is nothing new. Today we call this self-care, but the concept of receiving a personal gift to commemorate an important date is a long-standing tradition for many. What better way to accomplish this than by looking for a watch? A reliable timekeeper seems like the perfect gift for the holiday season.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of other options. Fratello recently put together a gift guide for watch lovers looking to buy something else this time of year. You can find that guide here. However, I’m not good at watch hunting, so I’m going to give it a try. Mr. Fratelli, please let us know your recommendations in the comments section. I’m looking forward to reading it.

Omega Constellation Manhattan Ref. 398.0864 — Image: Zeitauktion

Omega Constellation Manhattan

The Constellation series offers some of the best value in vintage Omega watches. Named after the eight stars emblazoned on its caseback, the Constellation has been a staple of the brand’s catalog since its launch in 1952. Design has changed dramatically over the decades to reflect changing tastes. One of my favorite eras for vintage constellations is the 1950s, and shaved dial models like RJ’s CK2648-1 are especially nice. The best value, however, is the 1980s quartz Constellation Manhattan model, with its integrated bracelet and sleek design. You can usually find these in the range of 1,000 to 2,000 euros.

For that kind of money, you get a well-made watch with the great heritage of a famous brand. It’s easy to do that by adopting a sleek and sophisticated design. This Christmas, pick up one of these and live your best 1980s life. Omega’s Constellation series deserves more attention, but in the meantime, it’s a great value on the secondary market.

See Wittnauer. 4000 — Image: Analog:Shift

Vintage Longines, Wittnauer, etc.

Vintage Longines, especially those from before the quartz crisis, are a fascinating rabbit hole to go down. The challenge is to explore the vast array of options when starting your search. Do you want to pursue something with a square or rectangular case shape? Perhaps a classic Calatrava style dress watch? Or maybe you want something more whimsical or art deco. Even if you’re on a tight budget, Longines will satisfy you in every way. But this is actually where Wittnauer comes into play. Wittnauer was a leading American watch manufacturer in the 20th century. We have had a 125-year relationship with Longines. This means you can find many great vintage Wittnauer watches that share design language and components with Longines watches, but cost less.

Image: Analog: Shift

The particular watch you see in these photos has already been sold, while another watch is currently listed on Chrono24 for €1,050. A 38mm vintage Wittnauer skin diver with a timeless and attractive dial and luscious case profile. Exploring all the options available to you is half the fun, and this skin diver does it for you.

King Seiko 44-9990

I’m a big fan of vintage King Seiko watches. When considering watches for Christmas, one of these would be my top choice. We’ve covered this particular watch before, but it could be cheating since we already own it. For many new enthusiasts, the King Seiko name is better known in the context of the current Seiko brand. In its modern context, King Seiko is a product line that sits somewhere between Grand Seiko and Seiko. But from the 1960s to the mid-1970s, King Seiko represented some of the best that Seiko had to offer. King Seiko and Grand Seiko were essentially competitors, each with separate factories. The idea was that internal competition would produce better products and encourage ingenuity. The King Seiko 44-9990 offers Grand Seiko’s beautiful design language at a more affordable price.

The case size of the King Seiko 44-9990 is 36.5 x 43 x 11.5 mm, with lug spacing of 19 mm. Thankfully, it’s stainless steel rather than chrome-plated metal like its contemporaries. This King Seiko also features a 25-jewel 44A movement with hacking capabilities, running at an impressive 18,000 vibrations. It features a screw-down caseback decorated with a gold medallion, an attractive feature for vintage enthusiasts.

Bulova wrist alarm

The Bulova brand remains under the ownership of Citizen Group. But vintage Bulova watches really do come with a ton of amazing options. But of all the things you can explore today, I decided to focus on the Bulova Wrist Alarm. The Wrist Alarm is a great and affordable option for those looking for a mechanical alarm clock. Many models have been released, including date and no-date models with different dial and case designs.

Image: MoneyShopMXN (via Chrono24)

Rather than the cushion-cased wrist alarm option from the 1970s, my favorite version is from the previous decade. Some of these wrist alarms (at the time) featured a small whale on the dial, indicating a waterproof case. It’s this playfulness in design that makes the 1960s such a fun decade to hunt for vintage watches. For well under 1,000 euros you can get a Bulova wrist alarm in good condition. This gives you a well-made mechanical alarm clock that does the same job as more expensive and well-known ones such as the Vulcan Cricket, Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox, and Tudor Advisor. Buying a watch for Christmas should be fun. This Bulova list alarm is certainly fun.

citizen strength

This line is a great example of Citizen’s recent strength (its name means “strength” in Japanese, so this is fitting). A while back, I wrote an article about how Citizen might take over the title of best entry-level watch from rival Seiko. Support for Citizen was evident in the response to its ideas. This time, we recommend Tsuyosa, one of the brand’s most successful collections in recent years.

Tsuyosa’s various models are an affordable entry point into Citizen mechanical watches and are well-specced. Not only that, but it also looks great with its sporty design. I especially like the clean dial. If I were to buy one now, I would definitely buy the yellow dial NJ0150-81Z. It is a gorgeous color that suits Christmas in the summer of the southern hemisphere.

Nacho’s Festive Chronograph Switzerland is another brand that budget-minded collectors should check out

summary

There is an almost infinite amount of options that we can continue to explore. However, there is a unique pleasure in chasing watches that don’t cost a fortune. We also recognize that Christmas can be a time of financial stress for people. I hope I can provide some interesting examples for readers to consider.

But what do you think, Fratelli? What do you or will you splurge on for Christmas? I look forward to reading your suggestions in the comments section.

Header image: Vintage Masters