BOSS Orange Nylon Strap Watch – $100 | American Eagle Military Style Watch – $24.50
Credit to Lance for sending in the styletip for the AE option
The military style NATO/Grosgrain/Nylon watch bandwagon is getting pretty crowded. But that also means you have options. Both of these can be considered incredibly inexpensive for very different reasons.
The BOSS watch is a looker. And even though it’s from the Hugo Boss stepdown brand “Orange”… $100 is a bargain. J. Crew? Still selling their Timex for $150. I’d take this Boss Orange any day over the ubiquitous J. Crew military Timex. It’s also available with a rubber band if you’re into that even sportier style.
The AE military style watch is dirt cheap. Twenty five bucks for a watch that’s shamelessly attempting to ride the wave of the style’s popularity. In this case, you do get what you pay for. It’s very light in your hands, feels kinda cheap (because it is) but once you put it on your wrist it doesn’t feel that awful. American Eagle was smart to replace their easily recognizable & worn by every teen on the planet soaring eagle logo with a more cryptic AEO on a few of the models.
So if you had to pick, knowing the extra cost of the BOSS, which one would you buy, and wear?
Not going to lie, I’m not a fan of AE at all, given that I’m a self respecting 33 year old. That being said, I really like these watches and would totally wear one! Good looking out, Dappered!
knowing the extra cost, i would go for the AEO, the boss orange does not seem to be worth 75 dollars more
i got the timex campler xl that was so big on gq and other places over the late summer. gotta say, i love it.
im going to cosign with MJS here, that camper is awesome. and at 18.99 on amazon
, its well worth it. also the timex is water resistant up to 99feet.
I wonder if there’s a way to get inside the case of the American Eagle watch so that you could cover up the “AEO” letters. Hmm . . .
Nice post Joe, although you may be missing one of the better deals at AE. The NATO straps they sell. I own 2 J. Crew straps and 2 AE straps and they seem to be identical quality wise. The J. Crew are $20(some are are sale right now) and the AE ones are a mere $6.50.
Here is a quick picture to one of the AE straps.
I wonder if there’s a way to get under the glass on that American Eagle watch so that you could cover up the “AEO” logo. Hmm…
None – all are cheap looking designer watches made in China. That picture with the military watch worn with a white shirt and a suit is wrong on so many levels. Military and Boss/American Eagle don’t really come together. Who can take it seriously?
Lance, I really like that Fossil watch. Which model is it?
@Peter
Are you referring to the watch or the strap? I actually prefer to wear my G10/Omega Planet Ocean 42mm combo with every article of clothing that I own because I can buy a strap that matches every outfit and I just prefer the feel over stainless steel.
@Peter: Calm down. I was in the store scouting these specifically for the site. I put it on to show the size of the dial relative to a normal sized wrist. And it’s not a suit, it’s my coat.
I would go with the white faced ae watch. At $25 bucks it is a no-brainer and the logo/aeo is probably barely noticable when on your wrist. I am also going to have to check out their straps, been getting them on ebay for a couple of years.
@Mickyo
It’s a Fossil Speedway, I’ve had it for years and can’t even remember where it came from.
I work at a restaurant in New Orleans and get compliments on my watch and strap everyday.
@BasicallyJah
I feel the same way. I prefer the canvas strap to stainless or leather.
I went with the Seiko 5 Automatic in blue based on one of your earlier posts. Very cheap (~$60 on ebay) for a quality automatic, and it’s got details that sets it apart from the pack
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_aLZ-DuRFKXU/SrFFRvvwQWI/AAAAAAAAGBU/gWplr4qYN3I/s912/P1070537.JPG
P.S. the Seiko’s sweep second hand is sweeeeet
@Lance F
Do you know what the width of those straps is?
@Solanum
Any chance we could get a pic of the Seiko on your wrist? I’ve been eyeing that one for a while.
@Joe – was the white face with silver case an in store option? I cannot find that on the website and would prefr to avoid the mall for a few days.
@JMG – in AE’s store there are two options not shown online: a white face with solid olive strap and a navy face with solid navy strap.
@Dave – I compared the width of the AE strap to my J.Crew one and they seemed to be the same width. J.Crew says it’s 3/4″ or about 19mm. There are several colors in the AE store too.