Help me decide between three watches (or recommend a fourth) ?

[JohnTheNewbie]

It's been a while since I've had a watch, but I'm starting to need one. Two of the last five times I went hiking, my cell phone's battery died (it's also my camera) and that meant I didn't have a way to know what time it was; it's really good to get back to the car before dark when you're on a snowy mountain trail. It would be nice to have a nice(ish) watch in general, and this pushed me over the edge.

So, I'm looking for one with a sun/moon dial for am/pm (because they look nice, and cheerful), with a calendar and day-of-the-week function. Every now and then I get to take a week off and go camping, where I lose my what day it is frame of reference, and that would be a help when I'm wondering if I have time to do a particular hike. I need to be able to tell what time it is when I wake up in the middle of the night - my last one had tiny glow lines on the hands, but they were so small they weren't useable. Ideally I'd really like a mechanical, self-winding one, because I'm a hiker, cyclist, and kayaker, and, in generally, someone who's impressed by human power, and would like a human powered watch. Finally, it shouldn't be big enough to be gaudy.

Can you tell that I'm new at this and don't really know how to figure out if the ones I'm looking at are good or not? Anyway, the choices I've found are:

Stuhrling Original Men's 214L.3315K59 Classic Artemis Swiss Quartz Calendar Brown Watch


Men's Liverpool Moon Phase 1-1596A Black Leather


Breytenbach Men's BB77101W Swiss Ronda Moonphase Day Date Week Watch


The last one looks busier than I like, and I prefer dark (especially dark blue!) but choices are good, and the plain white background isn't bad, either.

[Andrew McGregor]

I can't comment on those... but don't you really need to put durability and water resistance a bit higher on the list? Leather straps are not going to like water, especially sea water...

Sounds like you want something with tritium illumination or really good lume, tough, and decent water resistance. But that normally comes along with a very, very different look to those.

[Martin.]

Agree with Andrew, it is a little bit hard to tell what you are really looking for.
Are you looking for a watch go out camping/hiking with?
Are you looking for a watch mechanical/automatic?
Our just a watch with the looks you mentioned?
All those watches are quartz.
I´ve only heard about Jaques Lemans And Sturhling, don´t own one, but they are from what I´ve heard decent watches.

There are a lot of watches out there... And I guess half the fun is finding the right one! :)

[Daboryder]

That last one seems to me to be the least cluttered of the lot. Is it the two extra buttons on the rim of the case that you don't like? They make it quicker and easier to set the calander functions, but it seems to be trying to look like a chronometer. A cleaner alternative from that same company is the Breytenbach Men's BB44152WW-G Automatic Moonphase Big Date Small Second Watch

by Breytenbach found on the same page on Amazon. It has the Moonphase and date function but doesn't tell you the day or month. It's automatic and has a minimal water resistance.

[JohnTheNewbie]

Agree with Andrew, it is a little bit hard to tell what you are really looking for.
Are you looking for a watch go out camping/hiking with?
Are you looking for a watch mechanical/automatic?
Our just a watch with the looks you mentioned?
All those watches are quartz.

I guess a little of all the above. Mostly I want something with the looks I mentioned, and one I'll go hiking and camping with. I'm not expecting it to take a whole lot of abuse. I'd prefer a band that isn't leather, if I can find one (like this), but that's probably not a deal breaker. Water resistance is a great thing, but I'll probably take it off before I go swimming (which is rare in this climate) and I try hard not to capsize when I go kayaking - if I do roll the boat, I have bigger problems to worry about than a watch.

Are these prices reasonable? Anything else I should think about or look at before I get one of them?

EDIT: What does it mean that they're quartz? (Yeah, I'm new.)

[ckot]

Quartz watches use electricity to tell time, while mechanical (often simply referred to as "automatic") use a combination of springs and gears. Many of us here are fans of mechanical watches, because we think it is cool that you can fit such a complicated mechanism into such a small package, and have it stand up to the abuse of wrist wear. That said, quartz is inherently better in just about every way; it is lighter, more durable, more accurate, cheaper, etc. If you don't care, go with quartz.

The watches you picked were all from brands that trade on Swiss/German sounding brand names, yet there is really nothing Swiss about them. They are marketing companies that have their watches made for them in China. There is nothing wrong with that, but you can get usually higher quality from companies like Seiko, Citizen or Tissot that have a history and make their own watches.

Of the three, I like the design of the Jaques Lemans best, but that is purely personal opinion.

If you are planning on doing things like kayaking, the watch will get wet frequently, and I'd agree with the others here that something a little more durable and dependable might be a good idea. Water resistance is a guarantee with some companies, and a general guide/made up marketing number with others. However, you could get something for that need by picking up a $40 Timex or Casio, both of which have great reputations for durability, and still get one of yours for the rest of the time. Casio do several moon phase and tide watches.

[Andrew McGregor]

See what I meant about a very different look?

BTW, the second and third of your original watches do actually have reasonable water resistance; not OK for diving, but should be fine for anything that stays on the surface. So all you'd need to do is change the strap to something that won't decay (rubber, nylon or metal... all are available separately).

Or you could get a basic dive watch, like this one (Deep Blue Watches | DayNight - T25 Tritium - Tubes- NEW MODEL). I have the previous version, with a slightly different bezel, and it's great value. Doesn't care about water at all, which is great for anything outdoor. Rubber strap, quartz movement so it'll be accurate and reliable, and very light for a steel dive watch. The rotating bezel is a basic timer, by the way, you rotate the pip next to the minute hand and a glance tells you how many minutes it is since then.