Favorite Watch Purchase / Deal of 2021

[BostonCharlie]

Continuing the tradition from 2020 (here) and 2019 (here), please add your favorite watch purchases of 2021!

I'll start with my 36mm Wenger. It has a pleasant minimalist style, and its unusual dial texture makes it easy to read (for a white watch with polished hands). The lume is surprisingly good, although its applications are so small that after the initial bloom I can't see them in the dark without my glasses.


This dude has been getting the most wrist time, though. Somehow, picking it up for $11 makes this great watch even better.

[MoT]

For me, it's an easy one for favorite purchase:

[Boourns]

Gotta be my Ameico Max Bill for $497.


Runner up is the Amazon $150 Nighthawk. Such a versitle watch.

[AndroidIsAwesome]

Such a tough decision, I bought so many good ones this year. These three are probably my top picks though







Honorable mention to my Oris divers 65, Halios fairwind, Junghans Meister driver, monta, Maurice LaCroix reserve de marches, and Armand Nicolet GMT... Yeah it was not a good year for my wallet.

[baldrick]

My 40th present from me to me. Such a beautiful watch and a strong contender for "the only watch I'll ever need" (sacrilege!).



Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

[TheJohnP]

Favorite purchase of 2021 is the Second Hour Mandala.





HOWEVER, my favorite watch of 2021 is the Vostok Classica which was gifted by some very kind and generous members.

[Stretch44]

Favorite purchase of the year is by far my JLC Reverso Duo. I still can't believe I own it.


Best deal was my cigar smelling G-Shock. No longer smells like cigars.

[Sussa]

Have you ever chased something for awhile only to finally get it and it's a let down? The Zodiac Olympos was the opposite of that. Even better than expected.

It's a tie for runner-up - two vintage purchases that have made me very happy. The Mido is in excellent condition, especially considering it's 75 years old. It's much smaller than what I usually wear, but still fits just right and is very readable. The Oris is a new arrival and may be benefitting from a honeymoon boost, but I'm very smitten with it as well.

Honorable mention: Farer Bradfield. Bold color, mile high indices, and anti-magnetic too!

[Boourns]

^ If the honeymoon ends on that Oris, ping me.

[recapt]

I made a concerted effort to consolidate and move a bit upmarket in 2021. I’m thrilled with several of the purchases I made while working this plan but the BB58 stands out as my favorite of the year.

[vta_watch]

I actually slowed down a bit in the first half of 2021, and mostly abstained from buying anything except for a STO Turtle with such bad QC it turned me off of buying Seikos online.

The second half of the year picked up, though, and there are a couple that stand out. First, this Vostok Komandirskie GMT that I've wanted for a while. It's built like a Russian tank, but I love it.



The next one is a bit of a sentimental thing. I'd planned to buy this for my brother to mark the purchase of his first sailboat, but he passed before I could do it. I decided to get it anyway and wear it in his memory.



Finally, this one was technically purchased in 2020, but I didn't get it officially until 2021 as a 20th anniversary gift from my wife. It's my own modest grail, and I will keep this one forever.



Tap. Talk. Buy another watch. Repeat.

[cortman]

My favorite purchase of 2021 is a little tough, I got some really great stuff! But it's probably my Christopher Ward Trident 40mm. For me it really is the perfect dive watch. No exceptions or reservations.

My favorite deal was probably this beautiful vintage Harvel I got on ebay for $36. Came with the original box and paperwork, and I found that the 10k gold plated case is actually vermeil- that is, solid sterling silver plated with gold.

I took it apart, replaced the crystal, gently shined up the case, and did a full service on the movement. That turned out to be way more than I had bargained for. The main bridge had a cracked jewel, and it took a series of donor movements until a fully functional one presented itself. Although they were all the same 17 jewel movement, some had different sized cannon pinion and fourth wheels, which led to me learning how to enlarge or shrink the holes on the handset.
I finally finished the service and it's running between +2 and +6 spd at the moment, with not stellar but acceptable amplitude and beat error. It's quite small, but I am enjoying it immensely, probably all the more from all the frustration and time I have in it, lol.

[Ironman_KL]

My turn to chip in. Love reading about the details behind the deals.

My favourite was the deal I got on this glycine $276 AUD about $200 USD at current rate.
Fast becoming my go to watch. Somehow this thing 41mm & 20mm lugs just fits sweet.



Then went and tried on a Samurai, and new Seiko 5, a street tuna and dress SKX. My lovely wife comments that the street tuna looks good, and different to my entire collection.
Who could deny her logic? So this turned up shortly after.



But I also had this fully rebuilt. At around $600 AUD - ouch. But after 50 years in the family it lives again - with original parts.



Has been a good year.

[TheJohnP]

But I also had this fully rebuilt. At around $600 AUD - ouch. But after 50 years in the family it lives again - with original parts.



Has been a good year.

You can't put a price on a family heirloom.
Obviously, a watchmaker can....

But seriously, that's fantastic you got that Bell-matic back up and running!