Our Editors’ Christmas Picks up to €500
With Christmas day approaching and with many people still looking for the best gifts to buy, we decided to roll up our sleeves and give a little help, so we challenged our editors to choose three watches for three different budgets, the first one that we will now present up to €500, the second one that we will present tomorrow from €501 to €2,000 and the last one that we will present on the 23rd from €2,001 to €5,000. We just established two rules, the first is that watches have to be new and the second rule is that editors for each budget cannot repeat brands, so, let’s go to the business.
Q Timex 36mm Stainless Steel, Blue Dial
Choosing the Q Timex turned out to be an easy choice, as I wanted to choose a watch that was quite versatile and could be used in different environments, while not an exclusively female watch and despite its 36mm it might seem too small for some men, more and more men are seen returning to reduced sizes. So the retro design of the watch case accompanied by the steel bracelet and blue dial with white accents seemed perfect and timeless, and even the fact that it comes with a quartz movement I like, as I don’t have to worry about the winding because I know that when I use it again it will be working as I left it.
€179
Inês Dias.
Seiko Prospex Padi Solar SNE575P1
The first real watch I bought was in the late ’90s, when I bought a Seiko Kinetic Arctura and it came with an integrated steel bracelet, the watch despite being quite simple without major complications except for the date window, it was quite innovative as it came with technology that did not need to change the battery, which I liked since then, in addition to its industrial design. Since that time I have been thinking about a new Seiko, I opted to choose a diver watch, because despite being a sports watch it is also versatile, for me it had to come with a steel bracelet, as I hardly change the strap. I also liked the black dial with the parallel and meridian lines as the motif and the small blue details, the quartz/solar movement and the medium size of the 38mm case, which pleases me because, for me who am quite active, a large watch becomes easily uncomfortable.
€ 550
Bruno Lopes
Casio G-Shock DW5600REC-9ER
Since I bought my Casio F91W, I confess that it is the watch I use the most, regardless of having more valuable watches like the two Omega’s that are part of my permanent collection and a few more from different brands. Using the F91W is natural for me, I don’t have to worry about hitting it, with the battery, nor be careful not to lose it, because it plays its role well, which is to provide me the time, in addition, its vintage design reminds me of my happy childhood days, so I’ve been coming up with the idea for some time to raise the bar a little more and buy a Casio G-Shock, I was looking for something more irreverent but at the same time that remembers my F91W and the DW5600 besides being known as the more muscular version of the F91W, now this new version in yellow, it seems perfect to pair with my old F91W and also to cheer me up on those sadder days.
€ 99,90
Nuno Sampaio
Baltic MR01
Baltic is one of those microbrands that has been surprising us and that aroused my curiosity early on, it was through the Aquascaphe model that it became famous for offering a midsize diver watch with a classic design at an incredible price, since then it has gradually expanded your offer with other models, however for me, it was this year through the unexpected MR01 that surprised me, with a design reminiscent of the old Patek Philippe with classic 36mm case, textured dial with Breguet numerals and micro-rotor movement, I believe it is the perfect watch to add to any collection without breaking the budget. Maybe next year and with the already promised restocking, venture me into one of this MR01.
€ 545
Ricardo Amaral
Apple Watch Series 7
Although I’ve always liked traditional watches, since the arrival of smartwatches I ended up surrendering to them because it makes my job a lot easier, in addition to allowing me to be connected to different devices, I currently use the Apple Watch Series 6 which is very similar to the Series 7 that came out this year and so, for now, I chose not to change it, however, if I didn’t have the Series 6 I would have no doubts in purchasing the latest version, as it offers some significant improvements, namely 20% more screen by reduction from the inner edges (or rather the bezel in our slang), 20% faster internal processor and faster loading up to 33% more. I hardly ever see myself today and in the future without a smartwatch on my wrist, luckily we have two and so I can always wear traditional watches on the other.
€ 399
Duarte Camacho
