I recently moved to Qatar and next year me and my wife will celebrate our 5 year anniversary of marriage.
We both were thinking of buying something special. She will get a nice ring and I am happy with my wedding band as it is and would rather spend a bit more on a nice watch. My collection consists of a Tissot Visodate(white dial), Casio Tiffany Blue(bought before the inflation on prices) and a Casio A158 brown.
I have eyed a couple of watches and have made a list of potential candidates and yesterday while browsing Chrono24 I found a very interesting watch and I wanted to see if this could maybe be the watch to buy.
The one I am talking about is a Louis Erard Atelier OI regulator. I find the design to be stunning. I wish it was slimmer but I am ok with 12mm since my Visodate has been a trusty companion for almost 10 years now.
I do wonder regarding the labeling of the limited edition. It says 1 of 178 on all the ones I have seen. Is this a common practice or should I be careful to not buy a fake?
Then again I was thinking...
Should I spend 3000 USD on a limited edition watch with a modified sellita SW200 movement or maybe go for something more sophisticated.
Since I am a leftie I have been eyeing on a Tudor Pelagos LHD. The design is nice and I like the tooly feeling it displays. But I have issues with the thickness...
Then we have the Cartier Santos Dumont in Black Lacquer that I can order without any clear indication as of when to get it. They say 3 months but I doubt it... this one is a bit more than Tudor Pelagos but still reasonable in my opinion and it is very unusual.
Lastly we have the L.U.C GMT ONE in titanium, limited edition. The most expensive of the ones but a watch that is very interesting and resonates with a lot of the grail attributes I have for a final watch or for a beginning of something bigger in the future.
I understand that each of these watches are very different to each other. My biggest issue to decide is this though. Inhouse movement or not and how thick can you go before it is too much for a suit?
I like the Louis Erard since it has a good value and is stunning, but it does not have a inhouse movement. Should this matter? I kinda want to say yes or am I being picky?
If I now require a inhouse movement then I should also skip on the Cartier which I love due to the Art Deco design. But the Piaget movement is a very good movement that is very slim.
Then we have the Tudor. Nice design, good price, inhouse movement the building is attached next to Tudors so in my opinion it is) and made for a leftie. But.... it is 14 something millimeters. Sure I have seen people using a Sea Dweller with a suit but I am not sure. Could you use the Pelagos for work with a suit?
Then we have the grail like Chopard. Amazing watch but for 10 000 USD. Quite a jump from the Louis Erard. But this one has the inhouse movement, is not thick and has titanium case and is also limited edition. Can I buy this watch? Yes but its borderline. I feel spending maximum the value of the Cartier is a bit more reasonable(6000 USD)
So what should I do? Should I just go with the Louis Erard as long as it is not a fake or should I go with something else?