Editors Note: If you’re like us, you have a long list of watches you’d love to own. Watch companies maintain a continuous flow of tantalizing images of their new creations, the Web is rife with chronic watch flippers offering good deals on minty timepieces, and suddenly that watch you’re wearing is starting to look a little rough around the edges. Time for an upgrade. But reality steps in, along with bank accounts and eagle-eyed spouses, and your watch love remains unrequited. What’s a guy to do? Gear Patrol’s new series called “Want This, Get This” presents a lust-worthy timepiece along with a more affordable alternative that scratches the same itch.
Want This: Breitling Avenger Seawolf
The Breitling Avenger Seawolf ($4,000) is a formidable dive watch, boasting a whopping 3,000 meters of water resistance, bold styling and badass wrist presence. The trademark Breitling engraved bezel with raised rider tabs was designed for easy grip while wearing gloves, and the dial, with its luminous hash marks, is about as legible as you can find. All Breitling watches have chronometer-grade movements — and you’ll get the certificate to prove it. On its retro Ocean Racer rubber strap, the Avenger Seawolf makes for a go-anywhere, tough-as-nails sports watch backed up by the quality of one of the best watch companies around.
Get This: Victorinox Dive Master 500 Mechanical
Since they started selling watches back in 1989, Victorinox Swiss Army has consistently made high-quality timepieces at accessible prices. Their first watches were all quartz and fairly simple. As the years passed, though, the company started making watches that made even watch snobs sit up and take notice, sporting mechanical movements, well-finished cases and unique designs. The Dive Master 500 Mechanical ($1,250) is one of those impressive timepieces, rivaling higher-end dive watches with its impeccable fit and finish, a proven motor and standout design. Its three-dimensional engraved steel timing bezel bears a resemblance to the Breitling without being a copycat and adds luminosity to the 20-minute arc hash marks. The 43mm “Black Ice” pvd steel case is a hair smaller than the Avenger Seawolf, but that should only make it more wearable. As the watch’s name implies, its movement is a self-winding Swiss mechanical that should serve you well. And though the Dive Master 500’s water resistance is 1/6th that of the Breitling’s, its price is 1/4th of it as well. Anyway, 500 meters is far deeper than you’ll ever hope to be.
