Double Time: The Affordable Two Watch Collection – Under $250

About The Series: Double Time is for guys who like watches, but don’t necessarily want a big collection. What we’re going for here are two watches, at different affordable budgets, which as a team can fill just about any style need in every-day life. A casual watch and a dress watch. Those are basically the parameters. 

 

Timex Weekender Chronograph – $60ish

This is the leather strap, chronograph-equipped big brother to the cheap, base-line slip-thru weekender. 40mm case should be wearable by most. Blue dial contrasts nicely against the brown leather nato strap. Strap is a “genuine leather” that feels like something somewhere between cereal-box cardboard and store-brand beef jerky, but it looks fine and wears comfortably. Wouldn’t want to get it wet or too sweaty though. Overall would look great in pretty much any casual to smart casual situation. And while it does have the infamous Timex “tick”… it’s quieter than other Timex watches afflicted with the loud seconds hand ticking noise… simply because the seconds hand that does all the work on this watch is the tiny one on the sub dial at 6 o’clock. F = MA one can suppose. Oddly enough, activating the chronograph seconds hand (the big seconds hand) doesn’t result in a loud TICK. So… must be the standard non-chrono movement that Timex uses in their cheap watches that makes all that racket.

 

Orient Ray Automatic – $165ish

Yes, this is another Double Time combination where a dive watch (which is clearly and traditionally a sports watch) will be acting as your dress watch when necessary. But the Orient Ray does that job exceptionally well, at a bargain of a price. The 41mm case diameter wears a touch smaller, so it looks as good with a suit and tie as it does with swim trunks and sunglasses. In-house automatic movement. Bezel has nice, snappy action. Water resistance is 200m and the crown securely screws down. Date AND Day window is a nice bonus. While the bracelet does have some polished inset bits between the center track and outer links, it’s subtle enough to still wear casually. It’s not overly gleamy. Some other watch bracelets with polished links can carry too much shine, and the end result is something that looks like gaudy jewelry. And that can look funny… especially when worn with a t-shirt and jeans. Not here though. The Orient Ray can be dressed way up, or dressed way down. It does it all.

 

Total Cost: $225ish

Got a wristwatch duo you’d like to recommend for Double Time? Send those in to joe@dappered.com. 

Want to see the entire series? Head here for the growing archive of our Double Time posts. For those keeping track at home, this is now our second “round” of double time. First we did the hundreds ($100, $200, $300, etc…) This time we’ll be doing $150 and under, $250, $350, etc.