Drinking The Seiko Kool-Aid

Seiko is many watch collectors first watch, and for most it is the brand people stick with because they believe it holds the best value and that no other brand can come close to beating it. However I believe that sometimes people can get tunnel vision with Seiko and therefore they are not open to other brands, and as a collector you should always be open.

Obviously these are just my opinions so take them with a grain of salt, but what I mean by tunnel vision is only focusing on buying Seiko's, and if you don’t already know Seiko's have tremendous value as far as bang for buck, and arguably even in Grand Seiko because they have better quality and better movements for the amount that you are paying. Many see no reason to even stray away from Seiko because of these reasons, however, I am going to challenge those collectors to broaden their horizons in the land of watches.

Instead of buying that next Seiko diver, maybe you should take a hard look at Hamilton, they have very similar prices and get you into the land of Swiss for not very much money. Not only are they well priced, but they have such a rich history, and for those who don’t know Hamilton used to be an American brand worn by the likes of Elvis Presley, but now they are currently part of the swatch group and were acquired in 1969. A great example of a bang for buck Hamilton would be the intra matic which is a 1960’s inspired dress watch with different size, case, and strap options. The Seiko only collector would have no idea about this watch, and there are so many other examples of great value watch brands like Swatch, Orient, Tissot, Citizen, and pretty much any micro brand.

As a collector having an open mind is important, and while having a niche collection is cool, you’ll never know what else is out there if you don’t go looking. Who knows, you might just get tunnel vision on the next brand.