I’ll probably move this post to the soon to be launched Manifesto blog when I get the chance.
At the moment it’s under construction so it’ll have to live here. The crazy few who read this blog know I’m obsessed with watches and clocks of all sorts. Quartz, mechanical, manual-wind or automatic.. I don’t discriminate against. However, when chatting about SSIA’s to my good friend Kristian Walsh, who’s a fellow watch enthusiast, I started thinking. Women get most of the fun in the shopping department. There are very few ways for guys to go mad and blow all their money in one fell swoop without consultation. I’m not advocating this, merely saying that men can’t shop with impunity whereas women are encouraged to do so. Even fewer ways if you consider that our other halves will guide or derail a purchase as they see fit based on their own taste.
Men are really only free to buy gadgets as women generally either odn’t have an opinion or wan’t to placate us. Mostly watches (which are complex gadgest we wear on our person) and electronics including computers, laptops, iPods and a whole bunch of other groovy things. I’m vaguely serious here 🙂
In part 2 I’ll focus on electronics but right now I’ll talk about watches. More precisely how do you spend between 5 and 15 thousand euro on a superlatively stylish gadget. Well at Manifesto we’re willing to help you out 🙂
Here’s my top 5 with discounted prices in Euro. Obviously authorised dealer prices will be higher and I’m not about to discuss the pros/cons of buying discounted swiss watches here.
- Jaeger LeCoultre Master Compressor Extreme World (9,000 euro) Classic sporty looks, patented shock resistance and one of the greatest Chronograph movements in existence. It reigns supreme.
- IWC Ingenieur AMG Chronograph (5000 euro) Well finished titanium case, wonderfully precise movement with patented pellaton winding mechanism. Discreet and stylish
- Seiko Spring Drive Chronograph (5500 euro) Another titanium chronograph but this time using Seiko’s amazing hyprid electromechanical Spring Drive. The mechanical perfection of one of Seiko’s best mechanical movements together with an electronic regulator give fantastic accuracy. I like the overall design and finish. Only 750 of these hand-assembled beauties will be produced and Seiko makes a loss on each one.
- Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 15300 ST (8000 euro) Simply one of the best known, most distincitve and highest-quality stainless steel sports watches available today. Some will complain the design hasn’t changed much in over 25 years but so what? It’s perfect. In the metal everything about this says quality including the trademark 18 kt white gold “screws” in the bezel and the brushed steel finish on all surfaces.
- Aquanautics King Cuda (2500 euro) This brand is just 2 years old but really making waves 🙂 Price is slightly misleading as most buyers will customise their CUDA with platinum, gold, diamonds and other precious stones. They could easily spend 20 times that. That’s the unique customisability of the aquanautics watches where bezel, strap and even case can be changed using a simple tool. Each watch is hand-made and is a real collector’s item
I know I haven’t included a single Rolex here and it’s just personal taste. For more information about the availability of each watch then contact me at manifesto.ie. No time-wasters please!