I Reviewed 100 Watches Here Are the BEST

You know, through this weird, wonderful YouTube journey, I've reviewed hundreds upon hundreds of watches. And in today's video, what I did is I selected the best watches that I've ever reviewed, crammed them into this big list, and that is what we're going to be covering today. Honestly, the watches that I'm about to tell you about are absolutely perfect. So let's kick off with number one. Let's kick off with this. This is the Amiga Aqua Terra, or Black Aqua Terra, or Black Pearl. Honestly, I heard so many different names for these watches, but they are absolute bangers. They come in three different sizes. You have a 41 millimeters, a 38 millimeters, or a 34 millimeters, and they all have the signature black lacquered dial. Now, the interesting thing about these watches is that the Amiga Aqua Terra range is typically, it's typically a bit more bold in terms of dial detail. It typically has this tiki kind of texture dial, but this strips it back to simplicity and it does it really, really well. Now, in this video, I'm not going to dive too deep into the actual specs because I've already done that in the reviews that are currently on the channel. So you can just visit there if you want to see them. But what I will do is tell you why I think these watches are perfect. And I think this set, if you want to call it that, are perfect because one, it's a bunch of different sizes. And two, I oftentimes think boring is better. I think that boring is longer lasting. If a brand is feeding into a hype color, this was the Tiffany blue trend that we saw recently. Typically, that loses steam. It loses traction. It goes out of fashion. Whereas something like this, it will never lose any of its attractiveness because of the changing styles. It's always going to be pretty damn perfect. Next up, and these ones honestly took me so by surprise. This is the Longines Conquest 38 millimeters. It was released around about a year ago and Longines have been on such a massive banger trajectory. I mean, everything they release is kind of crazy, but this one in particular really stood out to me. I love the bolder colors that they've introduced. I mean, they've got blue, green, kind of black. Then they've got champagne gold color. They're all pretty awesome. They're very clean, very classy, and definitely very dressy. The 38 millimeters is perfect for any wrist, genuinely perfect for any wrists. And honestly, I would compare this to like an affordable Rolex Datejust. It truly, truly is. It has the quality. It has a banging price point. It has brilliant colors for a fraction of the price of a Rolex Datejust. And that is definitely why it made the list. I thought this watch was super, super cool. Next up is a watch that you're probably bored of hearing about specifically on this channel, but this is the best affordable dive watch that you can ever get, period. I'm sticking to my guns on this. This is the Certina DS Action Diver 40.5 millimeters with the Powermatic 80 variant. Now, something that I love to do on this channel, and you guys might have noticed this, is really test watches. Put them in the environment in which they're meant to be in, not just review them in a studio as most watch reviewers do. I literally took this to the Maldives, and we were swimming with manta rays. We were snorkeling with turtles. We were free diving, and it was just unbelievable. The sizing is perfect. The water resistance is perfect. The color combination is fantastic, but the double security concept is where it wins for me. So it has sapphire crystal or domed sapphire crystal glass, which is extremely scratch resistant. That is the start of the DS concept. Then it has an O-ring seal on the setting stem. Then it has a reinforced case back, an ultra-thin seal dial support, and a screwed movement holder. Now, this all plays in tandem. It all works in unison together to give this watch just unbelievable shock resistance. And something that I found really special about this watch is when they were... I'm going to try to put this into simple terms. When they were testing this watch for the amount of Gs that it could withstand, it broke the G machine before the watch broke. So they couldn't actually test it properly because it broke the machine in which was doing the testing before it broke the watch. Now, all of this for 790 quid is unbelievable, and I would argue against anyone that says this isn't the best affordable diver in the world right now. The Casio F91W, possibly the most popular watch in the world behind the Apple Watch. Actually, I say that. It is the most produced watch in the world behind the Apple Watch. And the reason that it's made this list is there's nothing not to love about this banging watch. It's cheap. It's cheerful. It works well. I've had about three or four iterations of this watch over the years, and normally what happens is I lose them traveling by accident. That's my fault, not the watch's fault. But the most recent version that I picked up, maybe for 15 pounds, it's still alive. And it's been three or four years, and this watch was 15 quid. It's kind of insane. Functionality is brilliant. Specs are brilliant. The simplicity is brilliant. This is where most watch collectors start, and I think that Casio, specifically the F91W, is one of the best watches I've ever reviewed. Period. The next watch I'm going to cover is an interesting one because it's not the watch that you would think that I would go for from the variety that there is to choose between. So most people would go for the khaki-fueled Murph, the original, the goat, the one with Eureka on the second hand in Morse code. But I haven't. I've gone for the much more wearable, much more palatable, and in my opinion, much more stylish Hamilton khaki-fueled Murph 38 millimeters. Now, everybody knows that the Murph was created for the movie Interstellar, and if you haven't seen that movie, it's definitely worth a watch. It's absolutely phenomenal. Christopher Nolan is a wizard. It's insane. One of the best movies I've ever seen. But I wouldn't say I have a sentimental attachment to that movie. I thought it was awesome, but because I didn't have a sentimental attachment, I wouldn't get a watch that has specifics from the movie on it. Does that make sense? So the Eureka on the dial is really, really cool, but it's just not really for me. Having said that, because they've slimmed this down to 38 millimeters, because they've added a white dial that's kind of a textured white dial, and it still has the tanned kind of off-white DNA in the hour markers and the minute and hour hands, plus the leather strap, I thought this watch all in all was just absolutely incredible. It has all the fuels functionality while giving you a little bit more dressiness, a little bit more stylishness, if you want to say that. And for 865 quid, if you aren't as in tune with the movie as maybe others were, I think this is a great alternative. I actually think they should just maybe get rid of the mirth and just call this a Hamilton khaki field, because it's not really directly related to the movie anymore. It's more of just a really cool watch. And it's not to say that I don't like watches that directly correlate to movies. I've literally got a James Bond Amiga Seamaster on at the moment, which directly correlates to a movie. It's just that this movie didn't have the same impact on me as James Bond did. But this watch, honestly, one of the best watches I've reviewed in the last three years. And on the subject of Amiga, one of the watches that I was going to include in this list, but I know that you guys will find boring, is the King. This is the Amiga Seamaster 300 meters white dial, but it's not the watch we're going to cover, because I thought that was just way too predictable. I think that whenever anyone clicks on one of our videos now, they're like, So instead, we've picked this. This is the Amiga Seamaster Diver 300 meters, no date, with the mesh bracelet. Now there's a good few differences here that made me love this watch. One is the tighter wave pattern on the dial. It's much more subtle, much more simplified, I would say, less bold, and it just works really, really well. You still get the depth, but it's not quite as in your face, shall we say. Secondly, I love the simplicity of having no date window there. Honestly, and I'm going to get killed for this because I am a watch guy. I can't remember the last time I've really used my date windows, even though I have one on this watch, on my Seamaster, on my Grand Seiko. I have a lot of date windows on my watches, and for some reason, I just don't really use them. And I think it's because I'm switching in between my watches so much, but I like the simplicity of not having the date window. And the next two points are a little bit weird, but hear me out. So this watch actually has an aluminium bezel. Now, this bezel gives it less of a kind of sheen and more of a matty kind of glow. It doesn't reflect the light half as much as the ceramics do, like I've got on right now. And also, over time, aluminium bezels kind of fade. They go a little bit dusty, and I like that feel. I like the way that they look over time. Then you get to the mesh bracelet, which is something a little bit different, and I actually really like it. Now, interestingly, a watch that we're going to move on to later has introduced this in their range, and it works really, really well. But actually, the mesh bracelet, it's really growing on me. Now, another watch that I absolutely love that also had the mesh bracelet, and we won't dwell on this too much because it's similar aesthetics, but it is the James Bond Edition Seamaster 300m Titanium. Now, this titanium gives it a really dark aesthetic. Now, obviously, you guys know me. I have a huge sentimental attachment to James Bond via Amiga. I used to watch it with my dad, and I think this is the most James Bond spy-esque Amiga that they've ever produced because it is muted down. The dial is kind of darker. It has a darker hue to it. It is lightweight being titanium. It is durable, and I hate to be all cliche and related to the movie, but it is kind of the doer's watch, and I think this is a really cool iteration to the James Bond line. Also, Daniel Craig was my James Bond, so the fact that that's his last watch that he's ever going to wear in a James Bond means a lot to me. But moving on to a watch that actually didn't steal the mesh bracelet, but perhaps used the idea. This is the brand new Longines Hydra Conquest. Now, interestingly, I've put two watches here. That's four. Two. I've put two watches here because they first released the Hydra Conquest GMT, which I thought was an unbelievable update, an upgrade to the Hydra Conquest. Now, when they released that, I think most of us in the industry, and you guys can let me know what you guys think here, but I think most of us in the industry knew that the Hydra Conquest was coming, an update to it anyway, and it would have probably used the same DNA that the Hydra Conquest GMT had, and it did. It did come eventually, and they released this. This is the brand new Longines Hydra Conquest. Now, it comes in at 42 or 39 millimeters. You have tons of different variants. You have a mesh bracelet. You also have a normal three-link bracelet, or in the Commonwealth Games one, you have a rubber strap. There's tons of different colors and variations you can get, but in terms of value proposition that this watch offers, it is honestly almost unbeatable. It's really funny, actually. When we were at Watches and Wonders, and I was reviewing tons of watches and saying, who do you think won Watches and Wonders? Longines weren't at Watches and Wonders, which is just, they won a show that they weren't even part of. The next watch on the list definitely got controversial opinions at Watches and Wonders, but the watch that was released, this watch that was released, wasn't at Watches and Wonders. It was before it. This is the Tudor Ranger 36 millimeters in dune white. This specific watch is the one that turned me away from the Tudor Black Bay Pro Opaline Dial. That was the watch I was going to get. Then I reviewed this and thought, actually, this is the one I want, and actually what happened is I got this watch and got it engraved with a Chisholm Hunter logo on the back to celebrate 100,000 subscribers. I just want to thank you guys so much for that. I appreciate you so much. You have no idea. I honestly don't know what I would be doing if it wasn't for this, and that's all because of you guys. Seriously, thank you. What won me over was, firstly, the dune white dial. Secondly, the proportions, coming in at 36 millimeters in diameter and also coming in at 11 millimeters in thickness. It is beautifully thin, not to mention it has the caliber MT5400 COSC certified movement with 70 hours of power. I love the fact that this was the fueled watch of Tudor, and I just love the dimensions. Weirdly, when I got this watch on the wrist and then went upwards again to the Seamaster, I felt like the Seamaster was too big. Honestly, the proportions on this, I would always dismiss as being too small before I got it. Then I got it and thought, oh my God, maybe I've been going too big. The Hamilton Khaki Fueled Expedition is a totally underrepresented and underrated line within Hamilton's lineup. It is the Fueled Watch's Fueled Watch. Actually, I went to Banff with Hamilton and subsequently got this watch, and I shoved the green NATO strap on it. I got the white dial version. I love the compass bezel. I love the Fueled-esque flares. I love the specs coming in at 37 millimeters. That's the one that I went for, or you get a 41 if you want to go bigger. Honestly, there was nothing about this watch that I didn't like. It was a Fueled Watch's Fueled Watch. I had such a great time with it. It had such a sentimental attachment to it that it was one of my favorite reviews that I've filmed, for sure, and because I loved it so much, I got the watch. The Grand Seiko Icefall is a weird one. I took this watch to Iceland to get photos with it on a glacier, a piece of glacier ice, because I thought icefall, glacier ice, really, really cool, and it totally changed my mind about Grand Seiko, because typically, they're known as dress watches, right? Everyone goes, you know, a Grand Seiko, it's really highly polished. You don't want to get it scratched. You want to get it scuffed, so it's a dress watch, but I took this one through a journey in Iceland, and it survived everything I threw at it, and it looked absolutely incredible while doing it. Honestly, I really have an attachment to this because of the journey I went with it, but also because of the dial. The depth on that dial is just unbelievable, and I know that I always say Grand Seiko is the king of dials, but this kind of proved the point to me. It really does look insane. With that said, the only thing that I had a gripe with on this watch is the thickness. So, it comes in at 37 millimeters in diameter, but the thickness is 13.3 millimeters, which, in my opinion, is just too big for that smaller watch. I mean, when you compare it to the Tudor Ranger coming in at 36 millimeters and 11 millimeters in thickness, it's much more wearable. So, I do love this watch, but the only gripe I had with it, I still made the list, but the only gripe I had with it was the thickness. The Tudor Monarch, that's an interesting one. Everyone went crazy about the Tudor Monarch at Watches and Wonders, but I feel like the reason that they went crazy about the Tudor Monarch is because they had expectations, prior expectations that they thought would come true. They wanted a Tudor Pelagos, wanted a new big block, and because their expectations weren't met, they dismissed a watch that's actually really incredible in person. And honestly, I was guilty of this as well. I almost did the same thing, but then I tried it on, then I filmed it, and I realized this watch is actually kind of insane. The reason that I like this watch specifically is because of the movement. So, when you flip this watch around, you have an open case back, and that reveals a beautiful movement in the caliber MT5662-2U. Remember that U at the end just means it's META certified. So, this is COSC and META certified. Now, in Rolex watches and also Tudor watches, they don't reveal the case back. They don't give an open case back unless it's like a really special watch. So, we've seen this in Rolex Daytonas in the past that are really special kind of hallmarks for Rolex, and we haven't often seen it in Tudor, but we do see it in this. And when you actually look through the case back, the movement is kind of insane. It's actually got high-grade and exceptional finishes, including the Cotes de Genive, Perlage, and an 18-karat gold inlay on the rotor. So, I really love the fact that this was so different to other Tudors that were produced. And I know that it's controversial. I know that people have different opinions about it, but I really liked it. My Grail watch, I think my new Grail watch was discovered this year at and it was this. This is the Vacheron Constantin dual-time cardinal points. Now, you do get a ton of different variations. You get four different variations. You get north, south, east, and west. My personal favorite, my new Grail, is the north. This has a beautiful white dial. It's made from full titanium, but unfortunately, it comes in at over £35,000. Yeah. But honestly, the reason that this appealed to me so much is because my previous Grail was the Corey Richards Mount Everest limited edition Vacheron Constantin over-seated dual-time. That was a mouthful, but I'll put it up on the screen at the moment. Now, I filmed with this, did some photography with this, and I instantly fell in love with it. But I knew it was unattainable. It was unachievable because it was limited edition. It sold out like that. Whereas, this isn't limited. It's still unattainable right now. Actually, probably for the foreseeable because of the price, but it's more in reach. So, this is my new Grail, specifically the north because I'm from the north. It's white. I love white dials. It just all kind of screams my language. Now, interestingly, for IWC, this year was the year of space, and they released that kind of weird... It was pretty awesome, but kind of weird space watch. Three years ago was all about time, and they released the Eternal Calendar. Two years ago was all about the Ingenieur, and I loved the Ingenieur, specifically this one. This was the Ingenieur Automatic 40, the Aqua dial. So, it's kind of like a greeny-blue hue-y dial, and I really, really loved it. I love the depth. I love the pattern. I love the bracelet. I love the Genta-inspired design. Honestly, I loved everything about this watch, but what made it more special is for my brother's birthday, his 30th, he actually bought one of these watches. Damn guy, he blooming beat me to it, which is kind of annoying because now I can't get one because he has one, but I still loved it, and I think it was a real significant milestone for IWC because this is the first time they'd reinvented the Ingenieur two or three years ago, and it definitely caught a lot of eyes. This watch for IWC gained them a huge amount of traction, and then they had the F1 film where it was worn in the F1 film by Brad Pitt, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So, I think it wasn't just that I loved it. It represented a historic point in IWC's trajectory that I really liked, and that's what I kind of connected with when I reviewed this watch. So, I think the Casio MRG range is just so underrepresented within Casio's arsenal, and I can kind of understand why because it's very expensive for a Casio, but the MRG range is essentially Casio proving the point that it can sit in the same conversation as Swiss luxury sports watches. Casio treats them totally differently, the MRG range totally differently to any other Casios. It's actually made in Japan. It has hand-finished components. It has extremely complex case construction, and also there's only a small batch production compared to the mainstream G-Shocks and, you know, cheaper watches. Within these watches, they use titanium alloys. They also use carburetion bezels, which is harder than standard titanium. They use DLC coating, sapphire crystal glass, and also Zaratsu-style polishing and mirroring finishes, but they also keep all the Casio toughness. So, essentially, what you're getting in the MRG range is almost, I know it's not Swiss, but it's almost like a high-end Swiss watch. Obviously, it's not made in Switzerland. It's made in Japan, but with all the ruggedness and toughness of, you know, Casios and G-Shocks. Honestly, I didn't expect to like these watches as much as I did, but I love them. The Amiga Planet Ocean Gen 4 was the most huge upgrade that I've seen from Amiga on a line for a very long time. They made it so much more palatable. They made it thinner. They made it more angular in design, more sporty. They also removed the helium escape valve. They kept the water resistance. They streamlined and made this a better product without killing any of the functionality, which is just unbelievable. Now, I have always been a fan of the helium escape valve on Seamasters, as you guys can probably tell, but I think that when it comes to the Planet Ocean or when it came to the Planet Ocean, it was just that little bit too bulky for me, personally, because of the water resistance, because of the amount of stuff that was in there, the amount of watchmaking goodness. But now, it's definitely wearable, and more than that, it's not just wearable, but it's still functional. I often see the Planet Ocean as like the doer's watch instead of the Seamaster, which is more of the kind of like, look, this is nice, but I'm probably never going to use it for the purposes that it's intended. This watch is kind of meant to be used for the purposes in which it's intended, and I just love the fact that they refined it so much that it can be palatable in everyday society, but also can still do all the stuff that it could previously do. So I think this was one of the best upgrades of the last two years, really. This is the Breitling Top Time B31, and it has a beautiful white dial. Around the outside, you have a blue accent, and the second hand is a beautiful orange color. Honestly, this was one of my favorite releases from Breitling ever. I prefer simplistic watches, maybe not as complicated, and I feel like this definitely fits into that category. It's more dressy, it's more fun, it's more casual than the, you know, more professional pilot's watches like the Navitimer that Breitling produce. And then we get to a Seiko. This is the SPB 381. This is a watch that I actually took to one of my favorite trips that I've ever been on, my favorite place in the world, which is Siloesi in Indonesia. I took this watch there to review it. After I reviewed it, I bought it because I absolutely loved it. I love the green, I love the Seiko DNA, I love the fact it was a GMT, I love the fact that it was a diver. I loved everything about this watch. Now, is it expensive for a Seiko? Yes, 100% it is, and if you aren't a true Seiko guy, then I wouldn't suggest spending the money here. But I am a true Seiko guy, and I've become a true Seiko guy, and I love Seiko, I love the brand, and subsequently, I love this watch. And also, not to say that it wasn't about the watch just being great, but I also have a sentimental attachment when it comes to my favorite place in the world, and I think the tropical vibes on this just match that trip perfectly. Let me know what your favorite watch that I've ever reviewed is in the comments below. Thank you guys so much for watching. I really appreciate you, really appreciate the time. Make sure you follow us on Instagram at Chisholm Hunter Watches, my Instagram at HB Lifelines, the podcast, The Info Mind Podcast. Hit that subscribe button, and I'll see you guys real soon.