What’s a nice starter watch for a college grad?

This is a Rochefoucauld, the thinnest water-resistant watch in the world. Singularly unique, sculptured in design, hand-crafted in Switzerland, and water resistant to three atmospheres. This is the sports watch of the 1980s. Six thousand, nine hundred and fifty-five dollars retail! It tells time simultaneously in Monte Carlo, Beverly Hills, London, Paris, Rome, and Gstaad!!!

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Nautilus


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I'd do Timex, Seiko, etc.

At the Ritz suite last weekend my son walked down the hall to use the master-bathroom and I quickly head him off: "you have your own bathroom beside your bedroom, go use yours."
"Why?"
"This one is Mine and Mom's, go use yours."
"But why? Why do I have to use the other one?"
"Because you have no money!!!!"

Works for watches too.

 

Love the Ritz story. FUNNY!

 

Surprised nobody else mentioned Timex. They make some really nice looking automatics these days!

 

I got my son this for grade 8 grad:
https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/what-watch-are-you-wearing-today.166214/page-1637#post-147949195

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I have become a fan of the Longines Heritage collection watches. They have field/military styles you can pick up for between $1400 and $2K.

I have a number of watches, got one as a surprise gift last year, and it has become my daily wear (mostly because it is so damn easy to read.

This is the one I received, but there are others:

https://www.longines.com/landing/the-longines-heritage-military-1938

 

I think it's cool that your kid is even interested at all in watches. My son has no interest in watches, although he does wear one... maybe? He had a series of Pebble smart watches, before they were shut down, and I think he might still have one. But otherwise not interested.

He does own a manual transmission car, so there is that!

 

I'm partial to Glycine, a company with heritage although bought by Invicta I believe. They have new models but have also re-made their famous Airman which has a 24 hour hand like a GMT master and is waterproof. A campaign to get this on the wrists of airline pilots in the '50s was neck and neck with Rolex. This is a pretty nice "sport" watch with many features and was on the wrists (looking the same as this current version below) on many in Vietnam for example. The Airman comes in classic 36 mm as well as larger sizes up to 44 mm or so. Glycine originally produced in-house movements but have also used others'. Even though the company has changed there's a lot of respect to be given them despite their name dropping into obscurity in the U.S. I'm debating picking up one new vs a pre-Invicta 2000s model vs an original '60s version....
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I don’t know ... something about being able to buy my first Rolex was pretty cool and satisfying ( probably sounds shallow ) ....

MDS

 

Is that Bond? James Bond?
Well done!


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I just sold my Glycine Combat 36. Great watch. Worked well on both bracelet and leather strap. Only reason I got rid of it was to fund another watch. Great price point for a graduation watch. BTW, Never pay list for a Glycine. Most online retailers discount them by at least 40%

 

Citizen Eco-drive or a Seiko

 

What will he be doing for work, or is he going to grad school?

 

Might just be able to pick one of those up in Philly for around $50.

 

Hard to beat for the money for sure. I generally like mechanical watches but I have a few quartz too and it is nice to just grab it, throw it on and go. I recently picked up a titanium Eco drive. It is amazingly light. Amazon just had a something like 55% off sale. Got a $400+ watch for $200.

 

My dad paid off my car at graduation. $4,200 (12-14k in today’s $).

(However, I was also the only one to get a college degree in my mom’s, dad’s or my immediate (4 kids) family. So, there’s that. I’d never seen my dad so proud).

If your son likes watches, I don’t believe that’s too much to pay for one.

 

Apple watch... (I'll show myself out the door)

 

Most practical.

 

I'd disagree. A good mechanical watch will far outlive any Apple watch. That's being practical.

 

Well let me rephrase: "Your 22-24 year old will use the Apple Watch more." Honestly I'm torn because some days the messaging on the watch totally pisses me off and some days I feel like I want it to keep my phone in my pocket more.

 

Most days a phone is even more connected than I really want to be.

 

I still think it all depends on what field the boy is going into. I mean a Datejust is not the best choice for a field engineer.

 

I'm a big mechanical watch fan and my son always admired them. So when he graduated I bought him a Breitling. He loved it, for a year or two; but soon after he just used his cellphone to tell time. Then he got himself a smart watch, with alerts, reminders, voice queries, and health monitoring, and that's all he wears now.

A mechanical watch may last longer, but it's useless if it doesn't get worn.