Zip Watches

An inexpensive watch that provides substance over style. Relic is known for producing budget watches that are not intended to be collector’s items or designer pieces.

If you’re looking for a high-fashion watch, or one with a name with cachet, this probably isn’t the right watch for you. For something a bit more expensive, but with more style, check out a Movado or something similar.

This watch features an attractive brass case with silver dial and a two-tone stainless steel band. The ‘Wet’ in the name indicates that it is a sport watch — this watch is water-resistant to fifty meters and provides three subdials for alternative timings.

More info on this Relic Watch:

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• Click here to find this watch at Amazon.com

The Rado Diastar was first made over forty years ago, and was billed as the world’s first scratch resistant watch. Known for using unusual materials to achieve scratch-resistance and a unique style, Rado has always marched to the beat of a different drummer. See their Sintra Jubile for another watch featured on this site.

This watch is no exception to Rado’s philosophy — the name Ceramica reflects that case, band, and bezel material. This is industrial-strength ceramic, not the kind you’ve got in your kitchen. It provides extreme hardness and scratch resistance.

The crystal is anti-reflective and scratch-resistant sapphire. The movement is Swiss quartz. The look is pure Rado.

More info on this Rado Diastar Watch:

• Click here to find this watch at Amazon.com

You may find a new Elgin watch today, but it will bear no resemblance to the classic watches from Elgin National Watch Company. The company stopped producing watches in 1964 and sold the rights to its name to another watchmaker.

The classic Elgin Pocket Watches were produced for nearly one hundred years, from 1866 until 1964. Their factory was located in Elgin, Illinois and then relocated to a suburb of Columbia, South Carolina, which promptly renamed itself Elgin, South Carolina.

Elgin sold watches under the name Lord Elgin as well. They were best known for producing the only automatic movements in the USA.

Today, these antiques can be found only on the resale market, most notably on eBay. Their value varies greatly, depending on condition, age, and the model. While not the rarest or most-valuable collectible watch, they are well known as both classic and well-made pocket watches.

More info on this Elgin Pocket Watch:

• Click here to find all Elgin Pocket Watches on eBay

This is a stunningly gorgeous watch, but is intended for special occassions only. It is somewhat delicate, so probably wouldn’t stand up to the rough-and-tumble of everyday wear.

But if you’re okay with that, you’re in for a real treat. This is a reasonably priced, fourteen carat gold jewelry watch with diamond ensconced bezel.

The dial is shimmering mother-of-pearl with gold bullets at each number. The crown is a cabochon style with a distinctive black accent.

The glass is a scratch-resistant mineral glass that is “moisture resistant”, but not “water resistant”. That means don’t take it swimming!

This watch strikes a nice balance between the quality of Bulova and the style and cachet of a gold and diamond jewelry watch.

More info on this yellow gold jewelry watch:

• Click here to find this watch at Amazon.com

Perhaps the flagship of Omega’s lineup, the Constellation has been in production for more than fifty-five years.

Unlike the most of Omega’s men’s watches, which are bulkier and have intricate mechanical movements, this has a slim profile and a precise Swiss Quartz movement.

The bracelet is stainless steel with eighteen carat yellow gold bars between each link. The clasp is a locking, push-button style for extra security.

The bezel complements the mostly-steel band with a mostly-gold look. The bezel features engraved Roman Numerals that stand out against the gold bezel.

The crystal is scratch-resistant sapphire and is water resistant to thirty meters.

All in all, a beautiful and elegant watch from a premiere watchmaker.

More Info on this Women’s Omega Constellation:

• Click here to find this watch at Bacario.com
  
• Find this watch at Amazon.com

No name in watches evokes quite the image that Rolex does. Not only does it signify class and elegance, but durability, excellence, and practicality. Oh, and price!

The Yachtmaster is no exception. Its thirty-one jewel Oyster Perpetual movement is an automatic, mechanical movement, that has come to be known as one of the most sought-after movements among watch collectors.

While mechanical movements are slightly less accurate than quartz movements, they are symbols of the centuries old craft of watch-making. The movements are intricate works of art and many high-end mechanical watch makers have vowed never to produce quartz watches.

The jewelry-style Yachtmaster features water resistance to thirty meters, a platinum rotating bezel and a synthetic sapphire crystal for scratch resistance.

More info on this Rolex Jewelry Watch:

• Click here to view this Rolex on Amazon.com

This watch is stylish and elegant. It features bright pink accents and a highly-polished stainless steel bezel. If you’re looking for something subtle, this probably isn’t your watch.

The bezel is adorned with 0.32 carats total weight of genuine diamonds as well as additional “illusion” diamonds to add to the sparkle.

The dial is silver with three pink subdials for chronograph functions as well as a date dial. The movement is a Japanese-made quartz.

The crystal is scratch-resistant sapphire and is water resistant.

Extra bands are available as well and are interchangeable with the included pink band. JoJo watches are also known as “Joe Rodeo”

More info on this JoJo Watch:

• Click here to find this watch at Amazon.com

This men’s jewelry watch from Geneva Watches is classically styled. The fourteen carat yellow gold case and dial are elegant and simple. Geneva Watches, aka, Euro Geneve, has been known for its high-quality watches and low-profile brand for many years.

The roman numerals are distinctive — so many understated watches show no numbers at all. This is obviously a designer’s attempt to show you the numerals explicitly but do it in a distinctive way. I found it interesting that the number four is represented as “IIII” instead of “IV” — not sure why that’s the case.

The scalloped bezel is unique as well. This hints at the look of a chronograph diver’s watch, but is decorative only in this case.

Movement is Swiss Quartz, by ETA. The band is genuine leather.

More info on this Yellow Gold Jewelry Watch:

• Click here to find this watch at JewelBasket
  

Tiffany is perhaps the most well-known American retailer of luxury goods. Their name is synonymous with taste, class, and elegance.

Tiffany has been making watches for over one hundred and sixty years. While not known as their main line of jewelry, Tiffany has done quite well against other luxury watch makers such as Cartier.

You should expect nothing less than the ultimate in luxury from Tiffany, and the watch pictured at right is no exception. This is the Tiffany Atlas. It’s design was inspired by the Atlas clock, one of the iconic symbols of Tiffany and Co. The Atlas clock is showcased in each of the Tiffany stores throughout the world.

What makes this watch so special? To start, the bezel is host to forty-four diamonds. The diamonds have a 0.48 carat total weight and are rated G color, VS clarity. The watch casing is no slouch either — made of beautiful eighteen carat white gold. The movement is Swiss Quartz, which allows this watch to be both accurate and slim. The band is genuine leather.

More Info on Tiffany Jewelry Watches:

• Click here to find Tiffany Watches on eBay

Let’s take a break from writing about specific watches to talking about some great posts from other blogs in 2007. This is by no means a comprehensive review, but rather a selection of interesting posts from throughout the year, all relevant to the world of watches.

Chuck Maddox’s excellent blog is trying to track down the watch worn on the moon.

Here’s a nice summary of BaselWorld 2007 at Fratello Watches.

Jeweler’s Lounge looks forward to BaselWorld 2008, and offers a brief history of the show.

Wrist Fashion published an interesting interview with Felix Baumgartner, co-founder of Urwerk, maker of innovative pieces.

The Watchismo Times gave us the scoop on the Only Watch auction in Monaco. Several amazing pieces to check out there.

The venerable Watch Report gave us a fascinating article on manufacturing black watches.

I don’t spend much time talking about replica watches, but there are several prominent blogs out there that do. The Swiss Replica Watch Blog reported on trouble on the horizon for The Replica Collector.

The Breitling Watch Blog gave us a pretty detailed comparison of the Omega Seamaster Chronograph vs. Standard Chronometer.

And finally, though not strictly a watch blogger, The Life Tussle asked and answered a question that many newbies to the world of watches may be asking themselves.

If people like this type of summary post, maybe I’ll try to do a few more in the coming months.