Dappered

Affordable Men's Style

2011 watch 1

Best Affordable Style of 2011 – The Watch

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Seiko Automatic SNZJ Stainless Series – $115 – $200

The end of the year means it’s time to hand out some awards.  But calling these “the dappys” would just sound terrible.  Instead, we’ll stick with a highly generalized “best of…” strategy, with the very best from the past year being highlighted all this week.
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The one drawback:  The crown that controls inner bezel is awfully touchy.  Other than that, it’s nails.

You can’t please everyone, especially when it comes to guys and their preference of watch style, but Seiko’s SNZJ series is as close to a universal crowd pleaser as it gets.  They’re automatic, they’re around $150, and the substantial but not enormous dial looks just as good with jeans and a t-shirt as it does with a suit.  Even leather band die-hards (my hand is raised) will be more than fine with the well proportioned brushed steel links.  Plus, it’s unique enough that it doesn’t look like just another Rolex Submariner wannabe.  If you could only wear one watch for the rest of your life, it’d be hard to do better for under $150 than the SNZJ.  (Full review here)

Comments

  5. I like some Skagen watches, but not that one. Most of the other Seiko 5s are around 37mm which makes them the perfect size for slimmer guys.

  6. The version of this watch with orange accents has been tempting me since you first showed them this summer (I think). I think with the stainless steel bezel, it would wear a little smaller on my tiny wrists than this all-black one, too. Must… resist… the urge… to buy….

  7. This band by Tissot would look great with the above with the orange accents.  The leather strap is grey leather with orange stitching.  Only issue could be width- the seiko band width is 21.5 and the tissot is lug width is 20mm.  not sure if those measurements are the same thing…

  8. Lug width is 21.5mm so you should look for 22mm straps. Hadley Roma makes good quality ones that are relatively inexpensive ($20-30), and sold on Amazon. I’ve got this one and it’s a nice quality strap once you break it in and soften it up a bit.