Affordable Alternatives To Luxury Watches | Teddy Baldassarre

Oh my goodness! I mean, come on! I think you said there needs to be some litigation. There should be some litigation. Just look at that! People have stopped me saying, "Would you want to sell that watch?" No, pretty good knockoff. Teddy, totally [Music].

Mr. Wonderful here in another episode of what I'm calling "Wine and Watches." Why? Because wine making is art. And just for shameless promotion, this is O'Leary Fine Wines. We're trying my Pinot Noir, which is very, very hard to make. Teddy's loving it! I can tell you right now. But also, we're talking about physical art: that's watches.

Now, I wanted to challenge Teddy because he's been so good at finding great value. One of the challenges in watch collecting is, if you're getting into the higher-end pieces, you're spending $100,000, $200,000, or $250,000, and the aftermarket is up to half a million. And that's not affordability whatsoever! But I want to encourage people to start collecting.

So here's a really interesting idea: I said to Teddy, "Look, let me bring out some of my mega pieces—the monsters, the beasts, the ones that are impossible to get—that trade at crazy prices, and you find the equivalents at affordable prices." So if you can't afford a Rolex Submariner, is there something that's close to it that Teddy can find? I think we've nailed it.

So let's get at it! Teddy, you start! Show me something in, let's go with the classic, uh, Rolex Daytona.

Oh, it's Daytona! Yeah, there's—wait! Let me show you a Rolex Daytona—a crazy Rolex Daytona like the classic blackface Daytona. You can't even get this if you wanted it! So hard! It's a beautiful watch, and the secondary market's at a ridiculous price. That's the problem.

Yeah, it's approaching $40,000. Yeah, it's about $40,000, or $38,000 to $40,000. Obviously, this one has a red band. It's a Shark Tank watch. I don't think you should buy a forty-thousand-dollar watch in the aftermarket if you can get something equivalent.

What do you got, Teddy?

So this was a tough one because you could go really dead-on the Daytona, but then you could also look at the design attributes that make the Daytona the Daytona. And I'm going back more to, like, the maybe older reference Daytona—kind of yes, that's what I'm going for. Those old classic mid-20th century— that's where the brand got established. The big red, they call it now—all that.

Yes, exactly! And the brand here, I would say, on anything on the table, is a brand with a ton of cachet in the arena of chronographs, and that's Hamilton.

I believe that it's a Hamilton. This is a Hamilton.

What's the price point?

Two thousand dollars—just over two thousand dollars.

So this is a watch that takes a lot of influence from the chronomatics from Hamilton. Now, Hamilton was involved in the auction, suggesting that Rolex ripped off Hamilton. I'm not saying somebody ripped somebody off.

Well, here, I'll—let's get the hit—looks a lot like... if I were looking back 20 feet from that, I'd say, "Oh, that's a Rolex big red!"

Let's get the history right. So back in 1969, all the brands were scrambling to make the first automatic chronograph. You had the likes of Breitling, you had the likes of Hoyer, you had the likes of Zenith with the El Primero—all were going after it. Also, Seiko with the 6139. Hamilton was also involved with Hoyer as well as Breitling in making the first automatic chronograph movement.

So they all collaborated their own technologies, their own minds, to allow them to actually create the first automatic chronograph movement in 1969. So this watch stems from those creations, and this is known as the Intramatic.

It's two thousand dollars, Swiss made. The design attribute that I like about this is so many people talk about panda dials, right? You've got the sub-registers. I think it's one of the best executions that you're gonna find, and it also does have true history.

I didn't want to go for a complete knockoff here. This is the brand: it's pretty close. It's got its own history, no question about it. I don't think anybody gets street cred for having its own history, but clearly these makers started to really groove off each other. It reminds me—I see more Breitling and Hoyer in that design than I do... It reminds me of certain blues riffs and guitars. They've been around since the 50s; everybody rips from everybody.

Sure! You know, got Zeppelin playing the blues riffs and then you give a little riff to change a little bit. But this is a classic chronograph made very famous by early Rolexes back in the 60s.

I mean, this is—it's a great piece at that price! It's fantastic. Can't go wrong! 2,000 bucks! Love the band too! It's a great bracelet!

Okay, that's good! I'm going to throw something at you.

All right! This is perhaps one of the most coveted watches in the world: the AP Jumbo Royal Oak.

Okay! Now, of course, made with a red band for Mr. Wonderful. This is a Shark Tank watch, and this is a beautiful red band that's integrated right to the case in a gorgeous way. That blue dial—that classic design—um, not approachable in price anymore.

No, it's gone bonkers! It's gone bonkers! But what do you got that's even closing in on that? I'm interested to see what you think about this one, because this is where I would start.

You're getting almost into the homage territory, and this is a Maurice Lacroix Icon.

Oh my goodness! I mean, come on! I think you said there needs to be some litigation. There should be some litigation! Just look at that! Look at that!

So, I mean, if you can't get that, you gotta get this! This is crazy! The only thing's on this—what would you say it is?

I don't know, 5,000?

2 thousand bucks—less than two thousand!

Wow! Finishing on the bracelet—it doesn't have the screws; it has kind of more of those grip clips. It's right there! It is definitely off the theme!

That's a nice piece from a finishing perspective.

That is, when people talk about the AP Royal Oak: "What can I get? I don't have the money for it." I got two grand to spend! Or maybe Maurice Lacroix—Smith brand! Put those two together!

Just look at that! I mean, it's... I mean, you can never make! It should be—never make a shortcut for the real thing if you can't afford it responsibly. But if you can't, I mean, this is... they’ve created— I cannot endorse the secondary market on the Jumbo anymore; it's gone too crazy.

It's nice, and I can't tell you how many people have stopped me saying, "Would you want to sell that watch?" No, because I can never replace it! And I am a huge proponent of go save for the real thing—do it responsibly. But they've made it so you can't do it responsibly, so you have to look elsewhere now. That just is what it is.

But I got—I mean, this is one of my go-to pieces. I wear it all the time. It just looks timeless. It's timeless! It's a great design but this is a great—it's inspired movement, or should I say dial?

It's sort of really... uh... okay, that's good! That's a pretty good knockoff, Teddy. That's pretty good! Right around the... okay, where are we gonna go next? Where do you want to go next? You tell me.

Well, let's go, um... I don't know! Let me try something on you here. Um, let's go Patek. You know this piece, right? 57-26.

The 26—crazy piece to get!

I do not have a red band on this; I cannot wear it on television, but I do wear it for dinner all the time, and people love it. I like the symmetry of the 26. I really do! It's class with the moon phase. The moon phase looks great on the Nautilus; it really works.

What do you got to even come close to this?

Well, I don't have a moon phase because that's going to cost us a little extra. But I think from the silhouette of the case, you've got the bracelet. You have these kind of central polish links to kind of go with that design—I want to look at this. This is Frederique Constant—the High Life.

That is not inexpensive, though, is it?

What do you think it is—four thousand?

Two thousand dollars.

You're kidding! I mean, these are nailing me on price! I mean, they're still expensive! These are aspirational pieces for many people out there.

Oh, nice style! Whoa! Look at the etching on that! The globe! Eh? COSC—chronometer? I mean, there’s a chance it could be even more accurate than your Patek!

I bet if we put in a timeline—

Yeah, it could be! It could be! It's not a Patek, but it is pretty damn nice, and it's kind of got that blue thing going on. Winner, winner, chicken dinner! The bracelet's very nice too! I was impressed with that one.

And it's—the one I will say about that is it's not so much on the nose compared to some of the other designs here, like the Maurice Lacroix. You know, it's getting a little—you know, careful there with how they're encroaching on the design of the AP; that's a little bit more of its own thing.

Let me throw another challenge at you! I like it! The most coveted watch for many, many sports enthusiasts is the Rolex Submariner—not approachable anymore in the secondary market—not even available in the primary market! The classic steel blackface—impossible to get! It doesn't matter who you are! Now, that watch has just gone into the stratosphere!

And I don't know why—nobody can really say why— because it's a production model, but it has become, after the Daytona, the go-to Rolex. What do you got that could satisfy demand there?

So I struggled with this one a little bit because there's probably a number of suitable options here. Everybody knocks it off, yes. But I wanted to go for something that I think represents the same level of this design—its contemporaneous approach. It's well built, ceramic bezel, nice bracelet, and it's still a nice dive watch.

It's a little more unaffordable, relatively: a true dive watch you can get, and a true dive watch!

I wouldn't say this is the most affordable option, but I think it's a definitive dive watch in its price range. Can I say? Would you agree with me?

Sure! That pretty well every brand makes a knockoff Submariner? Somebody mentioned to me, they said the most overrated watch is the Rolex Submariner, and I agreed, but I kind of disagreed because the thing that makes people fatigued about the Submariner is because they see it from Rolex all the time. They hear about it all the time, but they also see it almost everywhere else. It's probably one of the most successful designs in history!

It's coveted as a sports piece, it's coveted as a dive watch, it's coveted as a collector's item, and it looks great in formal wear! I mean, it really really covers the bases. Just because something's so great, I mean, is that a knock on it? You know, I always think about that.

I use an example: it's tiring to see it on everything, there's a wrist in one iteration or another, but I think it is the most knocked-off look in all of watch history! You see it everywhere—it's ubiquitous!

Yeah, but this is... now I'm seeing it again! See, I don't think so!

Well, it's slightly different! It's got more of a cylindrical look to it—the shape! Something's pretty different! You have the oyster case; the oyster silhouette is maybe, one outside of maybe Panerai, perhaps the most recognizable silhouette you're gonna find.

It's the Aorus Aquis. Now, Aorus is a brand—they're—I know they’re overspread—but I mean, they're probably one of the largest independently-run brands. From more of a mass-market perspective—not a huge mass market, but they're in the hundreds of millions in sales, I would imagine. They do quite well!

So it's made timepieces—I say the Aquis is the definitive choice for two thousand dollars. Now that one there, you can get available with a manufactured caliber movement, which is a little bit more expensive—it's just over three. Yeah, when you get it with the Salina movement on the inside, you can get it for just around two.

What do you recommend?

You know, they've been on the market for enough time, I think, if you buy it from an authorized dealer, I would go for the 10-year warranty that comes with the Aorus Aquis. If you like the Aorus Aquis design—for $2,000 to spend—I think you're not really sacrificing the theme of a dive watch.

Here it is! It's got some Seiko-esque elements too! We could definitely pull out a Seiko and say that as the definitive choice, but I just liked how this had more of a contemporary modern feel to it.

It just felt more subtle, but it's not right there—black on black with the popping white. You know, I mean, it gives it that Rolex-y vibe, but at the same time, it's got heritage with Seiko, if you'll ask me. I mean, it's got a combo of the two brands here.

It's different, and it's different, and it's standing on its own! Screwdriver—screw-down crown—300 meters of water resistance—sapphire crystal! Now that is a manufactured movement—that's the caliber 400 in there!

Exactly! It has a... I mean, it has a five-day power reserve! Teddy, you're bringing great value here!

So, I mean, clearly you know—um, I can’t tell you how many people say, "Can you get me a Submariner? Can you give me a steel Submariner with a black dial?" I mean, come on! It's just—it's never-ending!

Let's go to a dress watch—a classic Cartier—which is no longer affordable either, whether you're going into the gold or—you mean the trouble is, the watch market has left millions of people behind.

Yeah! And it's—it's wrong! And it’s, you know, celebrating the art of mechanical watches—um, taking away affordability is done! What do you got that could emulate Cartier?

So for Cartier, I think the best option here—and this is not, I would say, a direct kind of knockoff in any way. I think this has its own design DNA, and that's from Longines! It's a brand that we really enjoy. This is known as the La Grande Classique.

She's been around long enough! Did they emulate that design? They have in their own archive!

I mean, there's a lot of people making this rectangular design, because Cartier's Johnny-come-lately on the watch scene, if you think about it. I mean, outside of the Tank and the Santos—I mean, the Santos has history next to pretty much every... I mean, every single wristwatch could fall behind the scenes.

The rest of the designs are relatively new. Yes, the Blanchauds of the world, the Roses—it's more considered jewelry than collectibility. Although I have many Cartiers because they're oftentimes gifted and inscribed on, et cetera, et cetera—I have many for that.

But the Tank is classic. This is more Cartier Tank American, so it has that kind of more rectangular case than square, so it's a curve that Cartier doesn't have. Yeah, which it has the curve back as well, so it's going to really sit on the wrist well.

Take a look at that! I mean, I just think that... I mean, also—oh, that's so... take a look! I thought it was a car shape right out of the way.

But also, can you see where they can maybe get some of the inspiration from their own archive?

Let me take a look at the second—see what I mean? Like, look at that sector dial—they kind of adapted that!

Yeah, I see it! Beautiful piece! Beautiful! And what I like about this is the price point—1500 bucks! Longines: not a jewelry brand. They're true watchmakers. They have one of the richest archives of any brand out there.

People don't know that about Longines. They really don't! To me, Seiko and Longines are the best value in the industry in terms of getting great pieces. Longines is huge in Asia! It's a massive, massive brand globally! But not so much yet in North America—left behind a little bit.

But that's a great piece! It really is class! They're class! And it has street cred in that they had that design in their own archives!

Right—exactly! All right, what else you got?

So we have two left on the table. Now you mentioned the Submariner, but you could argue that maybe number two, if not number one, another one that you see everywhere from a design perspective from Rolex: the Datejust!

Yeah, Datejust is probably the most classic go-to. And of late, which really surprises me, my daughter and my wife, they want to wear these larger-sized Datejusts, and as a result, it's found its way into the unisex market—like where girlfriend-boyfriend kind of thing—and made it very popular.

Obviously, it's so Rolexy, it's insane! And there should be litigation!

So the bezels absolutely were—okay, are you kidding? Like, are you kidding? They call it what it is—it's a fluted bezel! It's a ripoff!

It's a fluted bezel! This is probably not the best representation of Tissot because they originally had, like, a hobnail bezel on this watch, and then they switched it over to this diluted battery to rip off the vibe!

Oh, it's a Datejust, no question about it! In many ways!

But first of all, I will say, you know, take a look at it though! Just to backtrack a little bit.

So is it high quality? I would—you mentioned Longines, I would throw in a Seiko; I would throw Tissot; and Hamilton also, but they put the 1853 on this.

Look at that dial, by the way! I don't know—you want to backtrack a little bit?

Oh my goodness! That's a nice piece! But COSC-certified, so you're getting accuracy here!

Yeah, I mean, look, this is playing off another brand in some ways, but—so there’s one of my very first watches when I was gifted when I was 16 years old was the Tissot—bought in Geneva! And at that time, it was considered a very credible piece, as it is today if you're looking at value at a premium brand—if you're looking at value.

And they understand that they're the entry door—entry door for Swiss watchmaking.

It's nice! I got to tell you, Teddy! That's—what's the price out of this together? What do you think it is?

$3,000.

$995 bucks! Pretty good, right?

Overpricing everything, you are!

Yeah, because they're really good! These are good! That's a great classic dress piece! Great bracelet, beautiful dial, clean, good contrast! Great deal!

And they drop the fluted bezel, you wouldn't be saying the same things about pulling from Rolex as much, but that's what makes it a good inclusion for a video like this! It looks like the Datejust—that's a total rip-off!

You got one more?

I do have one more!

Okay, I think we know where this one's pulling inspiration from—can you tell me?

It's a rip-off of Omega Speedmaster!

All right! So let's... a complete rip-off!

Okay! All right, well, I'm going to answer that. So, 1971, astronaut David Scott—yeah—mission went to this, went to the moon. There's Omega Speedmaster—failed him! He brought his own personal belief!

I prefer that story not get out!

This watch is a direct creation from that David Scott worn watch on the moon, where he actually did his moonwalk. That's known as the Bulova Lunar Pilot.

We actually showed you this one before—how much do you think that one is?

Well, I'm going to start going down the feeding chain. How about 2,500?

Still overshot it!

I'm kidding! Like 500 to 600 depending on the strap option you go for.

And where's the movement from?

So that is—so they're owned by Citizen Group, so Japan is who's making those movements!

Yeah, so it's really a Japanese movie. It's a Japanese movement, and that's a high-performance quartz movement. So it's going to have the oscillation rate; it's going to just absolutely dwarf traditional quartz in terms of accuracy!

It's beautiful! I mean, look—it’s a great—it’s if you're not going to step up and buy the Omega Speedmaster, which has become very popular of late!

Absolutely! I'm a huge Speedmaster fan!

Yeah, so Speedmaster was in the doldrums for a while, and I don't know what happened, but maybe the Snoopy or whatever it is occurred—it exploded to the upside now! And also that affiliation with James Bond—he could help them—yeah, with the Seamaster!

I think what happened was they updated the Speedmaster! I think they totally redefined the design, had some good limited edition releases, and Omega was getting lost in the early 80s!

Yes, they were! They fell in hard times! I think what actually happens is they're reaping a lot of the benefits of Rolex pissing off their consumer base as well.

I think people are like, "Wait! Omega—they make superb watches! What am I paying all this extra money for? What am I waiting around?" Also, about availability—go into a Rolex boutique anywhere.

Absolutely! There's nothing there! You're just whistling in the wind! I mean, there's no inventory, and so… and that's a problem! That's a problem! You're going to piss off a lot of consumers!

Yeah! Rolex makes millions of watches!

They do!

Yeah! Well, they haven't—they—people are saying 800,000 to a million a year; that's what they say the outfit is. Nobody knows!

I wouldn't— I wouldn't doubt it! The demand is nuts right now for them!

Well, look, I'm gonna—this is actually a very, very good buy for what it is! I think it's a great piece! So you've really delivered today, Teddy!

We went really high-end, crazy prices, and you've come up with iterations at affordable entry levels, which is really important! That's... you're delivering value there! There's no question about it!

And I will say one thing—I just want to show you something! I don't think that you've seen—new to my collection. Has not been adopted yet with a red band, but do you know the Minerva movement?

It's—it's actually its heritage comes from a stopwatch, and you see the top plunger—this measures actually a hundredth of a second!

Yeah, I have to wind it; it's lost its power! But I'll tell you something, I'm going to convert this to a red band, and I think it's going to be just absolutely fantastic! No question about it!

On the other hand, look how big it is—it's huge! I just wanted your comments on it—just while we're missing.

I mean, the one thing that I'll say about— I think I mentioned this to you—is like 100th of a second on a larger display like that—that's when it becomes useful! I think this is some—you have your centigraph, which is cool, but just seeing that visual of the scene you have to fly around—it's amazing!

Yeah, that's just new to my collection! Um, Moinho now owns it, which is a, you know, a company that makes pens! I collect their pens, but they're keeping the heritage of the making of the Minerva the same!

Sounds like a swarm of locusts!

I know, I know! But look at the movement! And it's beautiful!

It is crazy! So, you know, value-wise, unfortunately these watches' price points are 50, 60, 70 thousand! But it's hard to find a centigraph at a low price—that's the problem!

Sure! That's your next challenge! That's why I brought it out! Next time we meet, you find me something in the centigraph at a price you can be an entry-level!

That's a challenge! But that's—that is the challenge! Because centigraphs are rare; they're hard to make—they're complex movements!

But if you'll do your work, maybe you can come up with something!

My homework to do! It's never-ending!

Teddy, thank you very much for the final job today!

Absolutely! Now you know what you can get at entry level to emulate crazy watch prices. Do not buy these! Do not buy them in the secondary market! I forbid you!

Take care!