My hypothesis about dress watches is that they serve two functions. First, they’re jewelry that’s socially acceptable for men to wear, even in conservative circles. Second, they project social status to other people who “know watches.”

I’m in a position where I want nice jewelry and don’t care about much else. New dress watches start at ~€200, such as the Citizen Tsuyosa. However, I like to reduce the amount of new stuff I’m buying, I like the feeling of something with a history, and - if we’re honest - I love a bargain. Enter used watches.

What watch to buy

When I started looking for a used watch, I didn’t know what to search for. I’d scroll through eBay endlessly without finding much I cared about. What helped me was narrowing in on one brand. In my case, I focused on Junghans, but there are plenty of brands to pick from: Omega, Seiko, Oris, Bulova, Tissot, to name a few. I created search alerts for “Junghans quarz” and “Junghans quartz” and watched the listings for a few days.

And yes, I decided to specifically look for quartz watches. A quartz movement is sturdy and precise, often even after decades without servicing. A mechanical movement, on the other hand, is a huge liability when buying used: a watch that loses or gains a couple of minutes per day is considered normal. I want as little hassle as possible, hence quartz.

My Junghans

I ended up finding a Junghans from the '70s for €60. The crystal has a few scratches, but the case is in great shape, and it’s in remarkable condition overall, considering it’s half a century old.

The vendor unfortunately inserted an alkaline manganese battery before sending it, and the watch lost an hour over the course of two days. A local watchmaker fixed this and replace the battery with a proper silver-oxide one for 10 bucks.

Looking at it from the front, the dial has a slight yellow stain, which turns into a richer, golden color at higher angles.

Doubling down on the wristband

A note on Hirsch: I was in contact with their customer support and found them rude and unhelpful. For a better customer experience, I recommend other brands, such as Delugs or Withings

The wristband is the secret sauce of wearing a used watch. If you think about it, the band takes up most space on your wrist, yet it’s typically orders of magnitudes cheaper than the watch itself. So doubling down on a high-quality wristband is a no-brainer for making a used watch pop.

I went with Hirsch (no affiliation), a company that manufactures their wristbands in Austria. I ordered four different 18mm straps and tried them on.

I went with the Duke because I found the color matched the dial best, and the croco texture of it plays well with the watch’s character. It costs €49, almost as much as the used watch, but I guess you can already tell from the picture why it’s worth it.

The result

Spending €119 (€60 watch, €49 wristband, €10 watchmaker), I got myself a dress watch that I’m truly proud of. When I wear it, I still surprise myself with how fancy it looks when I catch it out of the corner of my eye.