I had been looking at the Longines Dolce Vita and Oris Rectangular online. The dealers near me don’t stock those models as rectangular watches don’t sell well. If I was willing to put down a non-refundable deposit, they could order them but it would likely take many weeks. That’s a no-go for me as I am not about to commit to purchasing a watch I’ve never seen in person.

Therefore, I bought a couple of cheap “refurbished” Seikos on eBay from sellers in India. I was well aware of the “Mumbai special” terminology but I figured it would be worth a shot to see if I could pull off a rectangular or tonneau shaped dial, the size of the case and the colors of the dials. I figured these were throw away watches no matter what. The quality was appalling, as you might expect but it did help me come to the conclusion that rectangular watches aren’t my thing. Of course I might change my mind if I see the Longies or Oris in person someday.

Most brands had a price hike in the past year. However, Raymond Weil isn’t a super popular brand and you can usually get good discounts on them. Don’t pay MSRP.