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March 26, 2008 10:29 AM   Subscribe

What watches work well with inscriptions?

My son will be graduating high school in a couple of months, and although my wife and I will be buying him a practical graduation gift (a laptop), I also wanted to get him something special from me. I have admittedly been tough with him, and he has risen to the challenge and become a great young man.

I plan on telling him how proud I am of him, but also want to give him something special before I send him off to college, something he will hopefully have for the rest of his life. I thought a watch would be nice, with an inscription.

So two questions: 1) Are there better ideas than the watch you can share? 2) What watches in the ~$300-500 range are good choices and have available real estate for inscriptions?

Thanks for the help.
posted by genefinder to Shopping (4 answers total)
 
Personally, had that been the sort of thing my family did, I would have preferred something like a nice knife or multitool - which would still allow for engraving, but maybe hold up better than an expensive watch (I wear cheap digital watches, because I tend to lose and/or destroy them). But the watch is sort of traditional, and only you know whether your son might prefer that.
posted by spaceman_spiff at 10:42 AM on March 26, 2008


I think it's a great idea -- my parents gave me an engraved watch for my college graduation, and I'm very fond of it. I'm a little confused about the second part of your question... many (probably most) watches will have ample room for engraving/inscription on the back of the case.
posted by Perplexity at 10:51 AM on March 26, 2008


The watch is a good idea, but I recommend letting your son pick it out himself. Taste in watches really varies. It made me feel like shit, but I exchanged the watch my parents gave me for my high school graduation. I just wasn't going to wear it. Thankfully they didn't engrave it. When they bought me an even nicer watch for college graduation, they let me pick it out ahead of time and it worked out much better.

I'd give him a price range and let him poke around online. I'd encourage him to look for something classic, as opposed to the latest fashion. Have him send you the brand/model, buy it and then get it engraved as a surprise.
posted by mullacc at 1:15 PM on March 26, 2008


I was given a watch from my parents as a gift for graduation from university last summer. They said ''we're buying you a gift, don't try to argue, what do you think about a watch?'

I was all over the idea, and told them to get me this one, because well y'know. They were a little down on the choice, and no engraving personally, but that's mainly due to the watch arriving in our home the day before I flew across the country to start my new job. It's a quality gift, and strongly Nth-ing the 'let him pick himself' vibe.

I do disagree with mullacc's statement about encouraging him one way or the other. The concept of being proud of him for graduating/becoming a real adult is linked, for me, with the idea of letting him have full control of the style.
posted by Lemurrhea at 3:44 PM on March 26, 2008


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