And I am in full agreement that luxury watches are totally unnecessary. However, my SO is buying me a (totally unnecessary) engagement ring. He is not as mustachian as me, so I am pushing my own limits in hopes of getting him a beautiful gift that can be a family heirloom.
Just because he's buying you an expensive gift, you feel you have to push your own limits in order to keep up? Why not set the example for being frugal, and have him push his own limits? That would be more in spirit with the forum.
I'm hoping that this will help us start things on an equal foot: ok, you bought me a ring that is beautiful and a special gift. I am buying you a watch. Neither of us may wear these things forever, but I believe they will be always be treasured.
This is a very slippery slope. So all he has to do to get an expensive gift, is buy you an expensive gift? That's double the expensiveness! And why does it have to be equal in money...why not equal in some other way? If you know him well enough to marry him, I'm guessing you can find some way to equal his gift in value (though perhaps not in monetary value); go with him to see his favorite football team, cook his favorite meal...I dunno what he'd like, but hopefully you do?
Also, I'm debt free soon - and very tempted to splurge on something that will give me many returns of happiness :) To each his/her own!
It sounds like an awfully big splurge for someone who just got out of debt (correction, will be debt free soon), though I guess it's all a matter of perspective. If you're making low five figures, that's pretty...silly. If you're making high six figures, sounds rather reasonable.
To answer your actual question...what does he wear now? Have you caught him eyeing certain watches (and if so, perhaps he's planting the idea of what he'd like in exchange for the ring...not sure how I'd feel about that, though I know it's awfully common)? What profession is he in? Etc. etc. I think it's rather hard to pick out something he'd definitely like (just as how it's hard for us guys to pick out a ring for you girls), but if you insist...we need more info. Or better yet, the people on watch-related forums would need more info.
Now that I think about it...perhaps this was the best forum to post this question in. I've been to various watch-related forums, and just like everyone else, they tend to try to stretch your budget a bit. Ooh, you're looking at $1,000 or less, well if you just up your budget a wee little bit to $1,500; ok now you're looking at watches for $1,500, so here's one for $2,200.... Oh, this is for a family heirloom? Well, we MIGHT be able to keep it under $10,000.
From what I've read, Seiko is rather good for the money. Looks like you can get a decent automatic watch for under $100, so surely you could find something good for under $1,000.
Oh, I'd go mechanical and not quartz (though a mechanical will need a service every 5-10 years, mine's in the shop now and it's costing $300, it went almost seven years). Get an automatic if it'll be for daily wear (and water-resistant; that should be a given but I've seen some that still aren't). And real-automatic, not the "it charges a battery" automatic. And of course, feel free to throw all those suggestions out the window; the watch ain't for me after all.
