Good Watches for Medical Students?

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Epinephreus

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We've recently begun taking vital signs on patients and I have realized how useful it would be to have a watch. Does anyone have any suggestions or recommendations for nice watches that look professional but do not break the bank? Some personal preferences include analog watches with nice, simple faces.

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1. I miss Drizzt
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LonginesPulsometerChronograph-1.jpg
 
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You guys are so clueless...

First off - you ALWAYS want a mechanical movement in a watch. The quartz/digital movements have a short life (10-20 years, change battery every 2 years or so) and overall just very simple and plain boring. A mechanical movement can lasts hundreds of years without you ever opening the watch case. The design is complex with hundreds of parts working in unity with each other.

I personally collect high-end watches and pocketwatches - some of my pocketwatches made by American Elgin and Waltham are from the 1850s and ticks accurate to this day!

For the best reliability, economy, and classy formal look, I recommend vintage Soviet or Chinese in-house watches. These were made to be cheap but extremely reliable and durable. I speak from experience that these watches are not inferior (in terms of durability and accuracy) to the much much more expensive swiss movements. Some of the famous Soviet Union brands are Poljot and Vostok. The most reliable Chinese brands are Shanghai, Seagull, and Zhongshan. You can get these off ebay.

If you want a brand new mainstream watch - I recommend you check out Orient and Seiko - both dress and diver watch. These are your best options.
 
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Something that counts seconds...
 
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You guys are so clueless...

First off - you ALWAYS want a mechanical movement in a watch. The quartz/digital movements have a short life (10-20 years, change battery every 2 years or so) and overall just very simple and plain boring. A mechanical movement can lasts hundreds of years without you ever opening the watch case. The design is complex with hundreds of parts working in unity with each other.

I personally collect high-end watches and pocketwatches - some of my pocketwatches made by American Elgin and Waltham are from the 1850s and ticks accurate to this day!

For the best reliability, economy, and classy formal look, I recommend vintage Soviet or Chinese in-house watches. These were made to be cheap but extremely reliable and durable. I speak from experience that these watches are not inferior (in terms of durability and accuracy) to the much much more expensive swiss movements. Some of the famous Soviet Union brands are Poljot and Vostok. The most reliable Chinese brands are Shanghai, Seagull, and Zhongshan. You can get these off ebay.

If you want a brand new mainstream watch - I recommend you check out Orient and Seiko - both dress and diver watch. These are your best options.

Troll post, right? Get a cheapo digital watch from Wal-Mart and Target. Something you don't mind getting covered with blood/pus/urine/whatever a patient can get on you, and something you don't mind dumping in a cup of disinfectant.
 
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Watches for medical students? It's easy. Do you like digital or analog watches? I like analog, so I got a cheap analog one. If you like digital, get a digital one.

There should be no reason to spend > $50 on a watch as a medical student unless you have a thing for expensive watches.
 
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for obvious reasons you dont want leather, get some surgical grade steel :
seiko-pc081-gents-watch-metal-strap.jpg


anything like this is classy as **** and not very expensive.
 
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that looks more like a watch for an attending.

but badass nonetheless.
 
Ed Hardy skull watch in steel. $250.
Richard Mille Skull watch in Titanium. $465,000.

Nobody said rich people couldnt be as tacky as a jersey shore meathead.
 
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OP, if you're looking for simple-faced analog watches, I'm a fan of Skagen. They're at a midrange price (usually $50-100 at Costco or Amazon), and the quality is excellent. I find that they're also excellent for clinic/rotations because they're fairly sturdy, and generally have a low profile (don't get caught on things, fit under gloves, etc.).

Some examples:

323_p581827a.jpg


Skagen%2B233LTMN%2BTitanium%2BBlack%2BMesh%2BMen's%2BWatch2.jpg


$(KGrHqJHJBYFHKY96gDPBR5Pcn63pg~~60_35.JPG
 
Anything that counts seconds will do...

While I'm not yet a medical student, I am an RN and have to take vitals, give IV pushes over time, and deal with bodily fluids all too often... Leather is a bad choice and so are plastic watches.

Good disinfectants dissolved the paint off of my cheapo plastic watch. Now I wear my citizen Eco drive with a steel band. It looks good, can be cleaned well, and I never have to worry about a battery.
 
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OP, if you're looking for simple-faced analog watches, I'm a fan of Skagen. They're at a midrange price (usually $50-100 at Costco or Amazon), and the quality is excellent. I find that they're also excellent for clinic/rotations because they're fairly sturdy, and generally have a low profile (don't get caught on things, fit under gloves, etc.).

Some examples:

323_p581827a.jpg


Skagen%2B233LTMN%2BTitanium%2BBlack%2BMesh%2BMen's%2BWatch2.jpg


$(KGrHqJHJBYFHKY96gDPBR5Pcn63pg~~60_35.JPG

I really like these - definitely checking some out this weekend! thanks
 
I really like these - definitely checking some out this weekend! thanks

I'll second both the fossil and skagen watches. I've had two fossil watches and only broke one because I dropped it on the concrete in my gym bag (whoops). I'm wearing the other one right now, wear it to the hospital every day and it's going steady after about 6-7 years.

I have one of those black skagen's too, although I don't wear it frequently, and the things are so lightweight you'll forget you have it on. Definitely low profile like the other poster said.

For the love of god don't get a digital watch. You're a grownup now, grownups wear real watches. You can wear a digital watch when you go workout.
 
Use loans to pay for Tag Heuer, get into better specialty due to your high class, get paid more. Like investing on margins, but better odds and more females.
 
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I am not sure if you're serious, but I'll bite. As an owner of several high-end mechanical watches, I can tell you they are definitely not any of the things you claim them to be. While I prefer to wear mechanical, they are less accurate than Quartz watches, and on the whole, break more often. They frequently run either fast or slow, and require delicate fine tuning to maintain accurate time-keeping. My lithium ion stopwatch (or just about any stopwatch) would destroy any of my mechanicals in terms of accuracy. Those "hundreds of parts working in unity" thing sounds great, until oh yea, something goes wrong and now you have a very expensive paperweight. I literally just got the bill for fixing one of my watches: >$400. Even with the very best watches, they will still need routine maintenance, which is pricy, and they are more likely to break than the Quartz. (My Rolex Submariner, which is one of the more reliable pieces I own, still needs routine maintenance and the company recommends they "break into the case" every few years.) It is clear you have no idea what you're talking about.

Agree. I have an Omega Speedmaster that is about 1.5 yrs old. I already had to get the date dial adjusted (under warranty, so free). But, it is a gorgeous watch, the mechanism/design aspects of quality mechanical watches are nifty, and the chronograph is really useful.

I had a Skagen 331XLSL1 watch in med school. They run about $140. I got a couple compliments around the hospital on it as being a normal but nice looking watch.
 
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Eff it, ball out. Get a Rolex Submariner. Dress for the job you want, not the one you have.

Haha kidding... Kinda.


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I bought an omega speedy pro in med school. It's not cheap by any means but I never plan on buying another watch for as long as I live. Fantastic timepiece.
 
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You guys are so clueless...

[...]

A mechanical movement can lasts hundreds of years without you ever opening the watch case.

Uh, no. Not unless you don't mind destroying the machinery within. Old lubricant dries up over time, causing the intricate parts to start grinding against one another. Mechanical watches should be serviced every 3-5 years as a general rule of thumb.

Back to the OP: not a simple face, but I have my eye on this Casio Edifice EF-503D-7AVDF, a design reminiscent of an Omega Speedmaster. It's around $150 on Amazon. It has a stopwatch function just like the Omega except it won't break the bank.

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I own quite a few watches, but when it comes to working on patients, I prefer quartz over mechanical movements. They are cheap to replace, do not lose or gain time as quickly as mechanical movements, and do not need to be wound or worn in order to keep their time.

I suggest the Seiko Chronograph SNN233 which retails for around $114. It can record time as a chronograph, and let you know how many minutes/seconds have passed since you've started timing something. On top of that, it is cheap!
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I bought an omega speedy pro in med school. It's not cheap by any means but I never plan on buying another watch for as long as I live. Fantastic timepiece.

Good choice, the Speedmaster is one of the most iconic watches in history in my opinion. Plus the speedy pro is a handwind right? Those things are a workhorse of a movement.


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If you're looking for a good mechanical watch that won't break the bank, the watch brand Hamilton makes solid time pieces. Also, I agree with the other posters above who said it's useful to have a chronograph function to keep track of how much time has passed down to the second. If you don't want a chrono, a watch with a rotating bezel (found on diver's watches) can help keep track of elapsed time.
Hope that helps OP


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Invicta has some very classy analog watches on Amazon at a very reasonable price. I recommend metal bands - easy to clean and can wear them with a blue, black or gray suit.
91iJsByBBiL._UY606_.jpg

Invicta Men's 9211 Speedway Collection Stainless Steel Chronograph
 
Invicta has some very classy analog watches on Amazon at a very reasonable price. I recommend metal bands - easy to clean and can wear them with a blue, black or gray suit.
91iJsByBBiL._UY606_.jpg

Invicta Men's 9211 Speedway Collection Stainless Steel Chronograph

Please tell me you're joking. Invicta is a well known brand that essentially copies mainstream watches (this one is supposed to look like a Rolex Daytona), inflates their retail prices and then claims that they're always 75% off.

I think a reasonable watch for a med student would be a citizen eco drive or a seiko quartz. I also agree that Skagen makes some nice, thin watches.
 
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Please tell me you're joking. Invicta is a well known brand that essentially copies mainstream watches (this one is supposed to look like a Rolex Daytona), inflates their retail prices and then claims that they're always 75% off.

I think a reasonable watch for a med student would be a citizen eco drive or a seiko quartz. I also agree that Skagen makes some nice, thin watches.
Lol...a rolex Daytona is a $1000+ watch. The one I showed is <$100 off amazon. You are essentially saying that because something is a rip-off of another, that it isn't worth buying. Please.
 
Please tell me you're joking. Invicta is a well known brand that essentially copies mainstream watches (this one is supposed to look like a Rolex Daytona), inflates their retail prices and then claims that they're always 75% off.

I think a reasonable watch for a med student would be a citizen eco drive or a seiko quartz. I also agree that Skagen makes some nice, thin watches.

True, Invicta are notorious for their inflated MSRPs, but I don't think they purposefully try to pass themselves off as Rolex. Their watches are homages to the classics with enough differences for the discerning eye to see. But I do understand people have strong opinions about homages.
 
Please tell me you're joking. Invicta is a well known brand that essentially copies mainstream watches (this one is supposed to look like a Rolex Daytona), inflates their retail prices and then claims that they're always 75% off.

I think a reasonable watch for a med student would be a citizen eco drive or a seiko quartz. I also agree that Skagen makes some nice, thin watches.

Please, please, don't buy the garbage that invicta is pushing. A Seiko or Citizen, even a Timex would likely be a better choice.
I was off today and found myself in one of the local high end boutiques. Grand Seiko, Piaget, PP, JLC, IWC, Omega, Breitling, Zenith, etc. Such fun. I want this one next.
Omega-Speedmaster-Moonwatch-First-Omega-In-Space-Numbered-Edition-aBlogtoWatch-2.jpg



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Il Destriero
 
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What do you guys think of the Shinolas?
 
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Seiko or Citizen for their longevity, price, and build. Everything else <$300 is not even in the same league. Stay away from all that other crap, especially Invicta.
 
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Get one that screams "I'm a future department chair," like this one:

A.-Lange-Sohne-Richard-Lange-Tourbillon-pour-le-merite-white-gold_front_560.jpg


In all seriousness though, I want this watch. Bad.
 
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I want this one, but I think I'll get the Omega first. It's a lot more affordable.
Laurent Ferrier. Maybe a retirement present, though I bet the price is significantly more by then.
It flys under the radar, and I appreciate that stealth ultra lux angle.
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Il Destriero
 
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Haha I love how this thread has blown up in the last few days.

Hey man. Just forget it all. Go big or go home, Audemars Piguet, make sure it has a celestial calendar function or its too weak to be worn. Haha


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I've noticed a ton of my attendings wear Iwatches. I think it's so you can glance at your watch to make sure an important text or phone call doesn't come through or something. @lldestriero I love that Laurent Ferrier!!! How much are they?? Lol


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Timex t49905. $45.

Great watch for medical students imo.

Amazon product
 
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On a student budget:

Seiko, Hamilton, Orient, and Tissot have good options, especially on the used market.
 
We've recently begun taking vital signs on patients and I have realized how useful it would be to have a watch. Does anyone have any suggestions or recommendations for nice watches that look professional but do not break the bank? Some personal preferences include analog watches with nice, simple faces.
From the perspective of a former paramedic/current med student: anything with seconds is the best. Also, 511 watches are expensive but just like everything they make, they last forever
 
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