The Three Watch Collection for $5,000: Reader Edition – Shantanu Agrawal

Editor’s Note: I hope you enjoy reader Shantanu Agrawal’s three watch collection for $5,000 submission as much as I did. It’s got a bit of everything, and that’s the point. There’s nothing basic about it, and the diversity on display oozes personality. Above all, it’s well under budget, leaving plenty of room to build on, or just to save for a lifetime of servicing. 

You can make your submission to the Three Watch Collection – Reader Edition by filling out the form right here.

I have three goals with this three watch collection: 1) to create as much diversity within the collection as possible along multiple dimensions, 2) to make sure you have something great to wear for whatever you are doing, and 3) to deconstruct the dial layout and explore different forms of time-keeping, just to keep things interesting. 

The collection starts with a watch bearing a traditional dial layout — hours, minutes, and seconds on a central axis — and gets to a watch in which all three are in different positions. I wanted to represent as many different countries in the manufacturing of the watches as possible; to make sure the collection included tool, dress, and travel watches; and to make sure each watch looked distinctive even as a collection. So here it is:

Farer Markham – $1405

This world timer is a British watch with a Swiss automatic movement. Hours, minutes, and sweep seconds are on the central axis. This watch is made to be on the move and to accommodate whatever you might do, including swimming and knowing the time back at home (or anywhere else).

Baltic MR01 Salmon – $650

This is a great dress watch from a French company sporting a Chinese automatic movement — and our first deconstruction of the dial layout. The seconds hand is off the central axis and moved to a guilloche decorated sub-dial at the 7 o’clock position. With the salmon dial color and constrained size, it’s a great watch for special events or the (home) office.

Dufa Aalto Slate Grey – $500

This watch represents the next level of deconstruction with only the minute hand left on the central axis and the hour and second hands in their own separate sub-dials. It’s a German-made (with a Japanese automatic movement) example of a regulator watch, the original tool watch. Regulators are for working people who prioritize minute hand accuracy, whether it is to time trains, to manufacture other watches, or to remember when to pick up the kids.

There you have it. Three watches with different dial arrangements fit for purpose: tool, dress, and travel. The dials alone are discussion worthy. All are automatic mechanicals with display backs so you can see them working. They represent six different countries and only one movement is Swiss. You’ll have something to wear no matter what you’re doing — and look good doing it. And despite the quality, form, and function, you still have nearly $2500 left in your budget to grab the Farer, get moving, and put some wear-and-tear on your collection.