The best two-watch collection

200m with sapphire in a 41mm case at 46.9mm lug-to-lug — this is the watch that takes the pool, the rain, the garden and the airport, so the other one never has to.

The Alpinist reads as a field watch, which means the pair does not end up looking like two divers. 20mm lugs take any strap.

It is the expensive half. If the budget only stretches once, spend it here rather than on the dress watch.

This is where Seiko starts publishing an accuracy figure (+25/-15 seconds a day) and fits sapphire. A 6R35 overhaul is $296 against $176 for a 4R36 — a real difference, and one you can plan for.

A dress automatic rated 100m, which is unusual — most are 30m or 50m — so it tolerates the rain the tough watch would normally handle.

Same 6R family and the same published $296 overhaul, which keeps the whole collection on one known service path.

13mm thick, so it is a dress watch by dial rather than by profile. The Tissots below go under a cuff more easily.

This is the Presage with the Prospex specification sheet: dual-curved sapphire, 100m, 72 hours and a published +25 to -15 seconds a day, on the 6R family's published $296 service path. It is 13mm thick, which is the price of all that on a dress watch.

Sapphire, 200m and a screw-down crown for a fraction of the Seiko — the cheapest honest way to fill the workhorse slot.

41.8mm and 46.8mm lug-to-lug on a 22mm strap, so it takes anything and fits most wrists.

40 hours of reserve means it stops over a weekend, which matters more in a two-watch rotation than it does on an only watch. Orient publishes no service price.

On paper this is the best value in the category and it is not close: sapphire and a hacking, hand-windable in-house caliber at a price where Seiko still fits Hardlex. Orient's three-year warranty is longer than Hamilton's or Tissot's.

10.93mm thick with an 80-hour reserve — so it is still running when you reach for it after a fortnight in the drawer, which is exactly how a second watch gets worn.

100m and sapphire, with Tissot's published $210 service and 24 months of warranty on the work.

The integrated bracelet takes no standard strap, so this half of the pair is locked to one look. If you want to restrap it, the Tissot Gentleman is the alternative.

Tissot publishes a US complete-service price of $210 for a mechanical two-or-three-hand watch, which makes this the most predictable Swiss automatic here to own. The 12mm lug width is not a strap size — the bracelet is part of the case.