As in wrist watch ;) I know some of the more expensive watches for pilots have E6Bs right on the ring! but I'm looking for a good metal-band watch for under $200 that's going to last! Don't need an altimeter or anything, and an E6B on the ring would be awesome, but mostly looking for something that looks good with at least the date if not multiple timezones or timer etc...

Thnx in advance!

'ow about one of these then?
http://www.upintheair.com/navihawk.htm

Note - they are probably available cheaper if you shop around.

There are a variety of Navihawks but all suffer from not having a sweep hand. The Ecodrive Skyhawk (which I think looks nicer) has a sweep hand but stops sweeping when in the dark and take a second or so to wake up.

Chase-Durer do a bunch of watches with E6Bs on the bezel.

Final comment: if I were to buy another watch, I wouldn't bother with having the E6B on the bezel. I've had my Skyhawk for a year or so and have used the E6B maybe four times... I certainly don't see myself using it whilst flying... way too fiddly! I'm sure it is personal taste though.

In the airport here, there are a couple of vendor's stands with nothing but watches - all $10.00. Lots of types and all work. (That's Can$10.00 - about four bits US.)

Really, I'm sure they would all work for at least a year so you could have a new watch every year for about thirty years.

I recently purchased a Citizen NaviHawk for ~ AUD$750. It was a compromise as it will not cope with the UTC +9.5 hrs of the Central Standard Time, without rendering the small UTC and 24 hr displays in error by half an hour. This also means that the analogue hands must be left on CST and the 'swap time zones' function is no longer useable.

I knew this when I purchased.

What I didn't know, was that two months later, the watch which is water resistant to 10 bar (100 metres) would fog up. Thinking this would be a warranty claim, the watch was returned to the purchase store for shipment to Citizen.

Well Citizen send a message back, via the store, that the watch has let moisture in because the crown is bent. Without asking have I dropped the watch, which I haven't, they advise that the repair won't be covered by warranty and I'll have to pay. No pay, no watch!!!! :mad:

As I'm over a barrel, I agreed. Half an hour after agreeing I rang the purchase store and said I wanted to see the damaged parts. They said sure. BUT phoned back a couple of days later saying the crown had already been discarded!!!! :mad: :mad:

How the hell one damages a watch crown in a couple of months when the watch has been well cared for is beyond me. Very convenient for Citizen to have thrown out the parts they claim, unilaterally that I've damaged.

I'll not buy another Citizen!

I have had this one for 4 years. Got 2 years out of the first battery, still running on second. Caveat: has locked up twice; stops and alarm tone sounds steadily - solution, press all 4 buttons at the same time and it 'reboots'.

Has time zones, countdown timer, etc, etc.

Mine (http://www.timex.com/bin/detail.tmx?item=048148158771)

Is this too commercial ??

IMHO Well worth the price. :)

Buy the cheapest, straightforward watch you can, and scrap it when it goes on the blink. That way you can have a change of face every so often, and not spend a fortune.

I spent best part of a month's pay, about 10 years ago, on a Breitling. It has an E6B round the edge, but I've never used that in anger. Nice gimmick, not needed. Hard to see anyway cos so small.

The stopwatch bit didn't work, out of the box. It went back to Breitling. Came back a week later, no different. Went back again, came back four months later, no different. Went back several more times. Still no stopwatch. I gave up on that.

The strap gave up after about six months (not covered by warranty). I bought a metal strap from Breitling - £175 plus VAT. No different in appearance from the metal strap on my Casio that cost me £100 all-up.

Metal strap let go two weeks later. Back to Breitling, returned after two weeks. Strap let go again a few months later. Breitling sent me the parts to fix it. Obvious from inspection they weren't up to the job of supporting a wristwatch on a busy wrist. Told 'em so.

Couple of months later, the "new release" parts arrived - much beefier. Not let go since.

Would I buy another Breitling? Guess!

Meanwhile, I have a cheapo Swatch that I bought for £25 in the LHR duty-free shop. It keeps perfect time, and does nothing else.

And I have the Omega I bought 30 years ago that still works perfectly but is too "nice" to wear for everyday.

Or what about a Russian made watch?. It is probably just as reliable and durable as any western made, and it is a lot cheaper.
Plus it looks good.

Russian watch (http://www.russia4u.co.uk/shop/qd000000.html?qd000012.html)

Citizen Promaster.

Cost about 125 quid and I use the E6B all the time - saves having to cart calculators around and much quicker too.

No problems at all reading the scale: it's small but I can see it just fine (Hey CAA: please can I have my Class 1 medical now :rolleyes: ).

Like CC though I've had trouble with Citizen so-called customer service: the watch has a back that needs a special tool to undo it: you can't just lever it off with a screwdriver to change the battery. Of course they don't tell you this when you are buying the watch.
Citizen wanted me to post the watch back to them together with about 20 quid !!! Just to have the battery changed !

Well s0d that: I'm now stuck with paying a jeweller 12 to 15 quid each time to replace a 60p battery. Citizen refused to provide me with the tool to take the back off myself so I guess I'm stuck with it <sigh>