Get a Japanese watch
No need to go all-in with your first purchase. Pick a reasonably priced yet well-built piece from the Japanese. We’d rather you go here first than splashing out on a boutique “trendy” watch brand. Expect to spend in the low five digits for your first foray into timepieces with these but Japanese brands do have models that go above P100k too.
Something like Casio and its classic rectangular G-SHOCK (P7000~):
Or a clean Seiko diver’s watch (P30,000~):
Go Swiss
Step into the mid-tier and it’s already dominated by Swiss brands. While there can be a large spread in pricing, expect to start no lower than fifty grand and go up very (very) quickly into the hundreds of thousands. These watches are expensive, but aspirational enough to save up for in a couple of years–one does not simply rush into watches and it’s better to save than buy lots of cheaper “department store brand” watches quickly.
The Tag Heuer Formula 1 (P50,000~) is a classic choice:
Or James Bond’s Omega Seamaster (P150,000~):
Get a Rolly
It may sound like everyone has or wants a Rolex but at hundreds of thousands a piece you’d still be in relatively rarefied company. For most people, a luxury watch in the million plus range is endgame territory and something that’ll find it’s way from generation to generation. It may sound like a giant leap, but no one is forcing you to choose a timepiece over a car anyway.
The Rolex Day Date 40 in gold because why not? Yours for over P1.5 million.
