Secret Entourage knows high end timepieces and from our monthly columns on Panerai, Audemars or Hublot, you would notice that we have outstanding taste in high line watches. After being exposed to LUM-TEC and their excellent watches for the money, we decided to seek out other great watches at unreal prices. We wanted to be able to identify some of the best watches under $300 as well as allow our readers of all levels to enjoy wearing watches and getting in that habit early on.
Wearing a watch can do a lot for you, it is ultimately a great accessory for any man or woman, and as you grow into society, one that often dictates the value of the deals you’ll make. The particular watch this time is the Aeromatic 1912 and here are our thoughts on it…
Design: Design is by far, in our opinion, the most important deciding factor when buying a watch under $500. If the watch doesn’t appeal to you or look good on your wrist then you might as well look elsewhere. Its design is also correlated to its use being business, casual, or just rugged. This would be classified as a suit watch or business casual wear. The design here is somewhat familiar as it does resemble IWC Pilot line but yet shares many differences, enough to not make it a copycat. Most watches will mimic a familiar look to a much more expensive counterpart, not necessarily because they attempt to copy it but rather because those designs are beautiful, familiar, and highly sought after. This watch’s dial has an IWC Pilot feel while its case holds elements of design from Chronoswiss and IWC. Despite that, it is a good looking watch and one of the best we have seen design wise under $500. It wears like a 40mm and is about 12mm thick in size similar to a Rolex Submariner.
Movement: The Aeromatic 1912 Aviator watch features an automatic self winding 22 jewels movement, however, despite not being as nice as some today’s much more sophisticated movements, it is a reliable and well put together movement which results in reliability. It is waterproof up to 50 meters and its dial provides a medium lume for night viewing.
Value: Here is the best part of the deal. We categorized this under our best watches under $500 but it only costs $129 which is scary as many would argue that its simply too cheap to be great but let us remind you that if you are seeking watches from Bulova, Fossil, or Guess, you are simply paying $200 for a name with no design value, and no quality movement. Here you are getting a great looking watch as you are earning your way to the higher luxury lifestyle brands you would want.
We rank the Aeromatic 1912: a 7 for design, a 8 for movement, and a 9 for value at just a tad over a $100 for a great looking, reliable watch. It’s a must try alternative to commercial clothing brand watches that offer nothing close in value for twice the money.
Make sure to check out more Aeromatic 1912 Watches by our good friends at Island Watch and take advantage of a nice 10% discount by using code: SEC-10.
