Good "Automatic" watches?

I see the nice Marathon watches at CountyComm (drool!) but the only automatic that they have is a whopping $675!!! Can anyone point me to some nice, "manly & tactical" automatic watches?

Hi KDOG3
My first time here,Saw your post,
I've had some GREAT deals off a guy who sells remainder(end of model/end of line) watches on Ebay.
He's had something like 27000 deals so is a big time trader.
all his auctions start at $0.01 and generally go to a reasonable price.
I've brought 7 watches off him,No problems and very happy.
I'm in australia, Priced a watch here ($A479.95). and payed(shipped) $A131.90 for it off Premierworld (27138) on ebay
Here's a LINK
This may help,May not but good luck!
Cheers Lonfa

Sure! Try the Seiko 007s, big and manly, looks expensive, but actually affordable, dive rated to 200 meters running on Seiko's 7S26 automatic movement, known for its hardiness. If stock configuration doesn't appeals to you, then go for the MKII customisation, which could made them real military and tactical with stuff like bead blasting and dome crystals to reduce reflections. You probably spend less than a quarter of what the Marathon cost for a stock Seiko SKX007, and less than half the price of the Marathon for a customised one from Bill Yao. Link below.

www.mkiiwatches.com

Good luck.

Edited and added a picture of the Seiko SKX007 in stock configuration:



Picture is not mine, should be belonging to pmwf.com
I like the watch very much and I have one too.

Might check out this thread about Seiko 5 watches.

-LT

Definitely check out MKII watches and you may also want to look around "The Poor Man's Watch Forum" for some ideas.

http://www.pmwf.com/

Another source of inexpensive watches is West Coast Time:

http://www.westcoastime.com

If you stick with the Seiko 7s26 movement based watches (e.g. SX007, Seiko 5, etc) or the Swiss ETA2824/2836 series you can get a lot of bang for your buck.

Another brand you might want to check out is the Hamilton "Khaki" series - just google it and you'll find all sorts of dealers.

Here's my 007 with a beadblast job, AR crystal, blacked out chapter ring and a dial/hand set from MKII - this started out just like the watch in the picture above:



(The "extra" set of minute markers is the edge of the crystal reflecting the real ones from the dial. Just an artifact of the angle I took the photo from.)

Cheers,
Bob

Wow, I like that Seiko! Alot!

Fine example Bob!

Both Seiko and Hamilton make very good automatic sport watches in that price range. Other possibilities are Oris and Glycine which probably are more new but you can get them used for less.

A fantastic place to ask information about watches is a forum like this one but dedicated to watches rather than flashlights. One that I have found really useful is:

http://www.timezone.com/

If you go into the forums there you can either search or post what you are looking for and you will probably get a lot of suggestions. Just describe your price range and that you want an automatic sport, military or dive style watch. There are people there that can probably drop 3 or 4 good suggestions in any price range.

how about the vostok europe k3 submariner?

beautiful blue dial...31 jewels...automatic WITH manual stem wind...super luminova markings....@ $185.....swiss movement (old version) acquired from switzerland (aka "stolen" ) by communists in the 40's for use in vostok watches for russian officers.

Another vote for the Seiko automatics. I love my SKX007.

Yep - the Seiko dive series are about the best low-priced automatics out there. I like my 007, but I like the 'Black Monster' even better - SKX779

here's a photo of my personal watch (and hand) off my server:



and links to couple comprehensive reviews with more and better photos:

(includes movement photos and a detailed discussion of the 7S26 movement...) http://www.thepurists.com/watch/features/8ohms/7s26/

http://dgold.bravehost.com/BMReview.html

and a point-by-point comparison of a 007 vs. an Omega Seamaster Pro. Amazing how well the $175 Seiko fares vs. the $1750 Omega.

http://www.chronoguy.com/horology/svo/

it's hard to beat the Seiko and Citizen automatics for size, looks and price. If you buy them right you can get the bigger ones for $100-150. There are some Swiss automatics available with a Swiss movement for not that much more money. Tissot and Titoni both make big divers for around $300-350. Actually there are a lot of companies, both Swiss and other, that make watches using the ETA 2824 movement for $150-300.

Right now I have 7 automatics that I wear regularly, the most expensive of which I paid $103 for.

I have a Marathon SAR on the bracelet, and a Seiko 007 on a black NATO strap (as well as an Ollech $ Wajs dive watch and a Poljot Aviator alarm).

The Seiko gets worn more than all the others combined.

Another vote for a Seiko SKX007K from Mark II Watches.

Except for the bead blasting and band, mine is the same watch as BobVA's. I have had it for about a year and wear it six days a week. One thing to consider is that it is a diver and an automatic so it's kind of big and heavy.

Can you get Tritium hands installed on a 007?

KDOG3 said:

Can you get Tritium hands installed on a 007?

Click to expand...

I've seen it done, but it's a VERY custom job. But you can get a nice mechanical watch with tritium tubes. Check out West Coast Time's M-16

By tritium I'm assuming you mean the "Traser" gas light tubes, btw. Some watches still use tritium paint and are also referred to as having a "tritium dial" or "tritium hands".
If you see a little "T" on the dial, it means that the watch uses tritium paint; a typical example is a tiny "T Swiss T" below the "6" on the dial.

Cheers,
Bob

The Citizen Skyhawk comes in many flavors:
Stainless Steel
Titanium
Blue Angels Series

I went for the Titanium Blue Angel model. It is incredibly light.

It uses "Eco Drive" (solar power) so it never needs a battery. Water resistant to 100m.

The Titanium Blue Angels version retails for nearly $600 if you go to a jewelry store.

I got mine online for a steal at $280 or so:
Princeton Watches

They are an authorized distributor of Citizen, so now warranty honoring worries there.

I absolutely love this watch!

If you can swing a bit more cash, the Bulgari are great. Some quite good knockoffs to be had all over Asia, too. . .

PacketStorm said:

The Citizen Skyhawk comes in many flavors:
Stainless Steel
Titanium
Blue Angels Series

I went for the Titanium Blue Angel model. It is incredibly light.

It uses "Eco Drive" (solar power) so it never needs a battery. Water resistant to 100m.

The Titanium Blue Angels version retails for nearly $600 if you go to a jewelry store.

I got mine online for a steal at $280 or so:
Princeton Watches

They are an authorized distributor of Citizen, so now warranty honoring worries there.

I absolutely love this watch!

Click to expand...

Im a big fan of the Citizen Eco Drives also, but they are not automatic watches, they are quartz. I have a Calibre 8700, also from Princeton Watches and also a great price.

onthebeam said:

If you can swing a bit more cash, the Bulgari are great. Some quite good knockoffs to be had all over Asia, too. . .

Click to expand...

If I was going to go more in price than the Seikos I would go to something like Glycine, Oris, Sinn or Tutimi. But these will be in the price range of the Marathon mentioned above. I would probably prefer these to the Marathon also, however.