Watch Gang Review 2024 (Is It Worth Your Money?)7 min read

There really is a subscription service out there for everyone. When it comes to watch enthusiasts and straight up watch lovers, there’s a subscription box called Watch Gang.

If you consider yourself a horology nerd or if you just want to experiment with watches, then this Watch Gang review is for you.

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What is Watch Gang?

Watch Gang is a subscription club similar to other beauty boxes or sport related monthly subscription boxes. There’s literally a box for everything these days. But as you might have guessed, Watch Gang is all about watches.

As a timepiece enthusiast I was happy to get my hands on a new watch to build up my growing watch collection. In addition, a colleague of mine got his hands on 2 Watch Gang watches from the Platinum tier which will be covered in this review.

How Watch Gang Works

Watch Gang partners with watch makers from all over the world to bring its subscribers new brands and unique styles every month.

And what watch nerd or enthusiast wouldn’t want a brand spankin’ new watch every month?

Getting started with Watch Gang is super easy. The first thing before signing up, they show you a gallery of over a dozen different watches from which you select 3 styles. These three choices are going to determine the types of watches Watch Gang ultimately sends you.

And then, before you subscribe to become a member of this gang of watch enthusiasts, you must select one of three tiers:

1. Original: Stylish & Fashionable—$29/watch (watches worth $50-$150)
2. Black: Affordable Luxury—$99/watch (watches worth $150-$500)
3. Platinum: Super Luxury—$299/watch (watches worth $500-$1,500)

There’s also an ultra-exclusive tier called Centum, which is a $1000 monthly subscription I believe, where you’re required to sign up to be placed on a waiting list. Essentially, you get a quality-made watch that’s worth more than what you’ll pay for the subscription. 

It’s great for those who are budding watch enthusiasts or simply want to expand their watch collection while saving money along the way.

What’s cool is that you can participate in a giveaway on their website every month where you spin a watch wheel for a small fee with the chance to win a luxury brand watch like Omega, Seiko or even Rolex. I wasn’t able to try it out myself, but if you are in a  gambling mood, you could try your luck and potentially win big.

Related: You might like this article on the The Watches All Meen Need.

Watch Gang Black & Platinum Tier Review

The black box is Watch Gang’s middle tier, where for $99, you get watches worth $150-$500.

The watch I received was a black face, black dial, silver accented piece called Fortuna Chronometrie. It’s a German based company that creates handcrafted timepieces.

In terms of the style of the watch, Watch Gang did a good job with the selection based on my initial preferences. However, there’s one huge problem which I totally expected. The watch face is too big for my wrist at 42mm. These days I prefer 36mm-38mm. Not only is the face too big, but the watch strap, even when adjusted to the smallest size, is still too loose. This makes the watch practically unwearable, regardless of how good it looks.

As for the packaging, it’s double boxed and clean, no complaints there.

Fortuna Chronometrie Aesthetic

The Fortuna Chronometrie is made in Germany. It is clean and fairly minimal, which is was what I was going for. The black face and supple, black leather strap, along with the silver accents makes for a really slick timepiece. It was nice to get a black watch because I don’t have one in my collection yet.

For the metal, it’s all stainless steel and the watch face is a domed sapphire crystal glass, which gives it an air of elegance.

Related: Vincero Watches Review

And now here are my colleague’s thoughts on the 2 watches he received.

Chronofixe Aviator Flight 1952

Quality & Construction:

The watches are good quality overall and well worth the price. I got my hands on two units so I might share my feelings about those.

First I received a Chronofixe light 1952, an automatic pilot watch. It has some Breitling Navitimer vibes with its side rule  bezel. That bezel was used by aviation pioneer to make calculations about their ETA and fuel consumption.

The watch is sturdy, very elegant and yet pretty big and manly with its stainless steel finish and big dial. The lume on the watch is quite impressive and it’s water  resistant.

The watch retails for $850 so it’s a bargain. It quickly entered my watches rotation with its white dial which can be paired with a lot of outfits. 

Features & Specs:

Chronofixe Aviator Flight 1952

Cortebert 1790 Harvest Black Quartz Chronometer Watch

Quality & Construction:

The second watch I got is a Cortebert 1790 Harvest Black, a quartz chronometer. The watch  looks a lot like a Seiko Prospex turtle mixed with the classical 3 dials Rolex Cosmograph style.

The colorway is very well thought with orange details on a black background. Once again the  retail price is more than twice the subscription fee, quite impressive. Worth mentioning is  the fact that Cortebert has been crafting watches for centuries as it used to make clocktowers for buildings and, at the beginning of the century, pocket watches. The  timepiece works very well, the colors matches a lot of different outfits, overall I’d say it’s a  nice pick.  

I scrolled through the previous watches the site offered to their members and a lot of them  are some very good items both in the making and style wary. Looks like Watch Gang owners really know the watchmaking trade and are pretty sharp in terms of design and styling. Most  of the watches offered will match any style, may you be very casual or a proper bespoke  dandy.

Features & Specs:

• Movement: Japanese Quartz Chronograph
• Case Material: Stainless Steel
• Case Size: 42.0 mm
• Case Thickness: 13.0 mm
• Lug-to-Lug: 50.0 mm
• Index & Luminous: Applied Index With Japan
• Lens: Sapphire Coated Mineral Lens
• Crown Type: Pull Out
• Band: 20mm Brown Genuine Leather Strap
• Water Resistance: 20 ATM
• Watch Weight: 150 g

Cortebert 1970 Harvest Black Quartz

Can You Really Win a Rolex?

Yup. Every week, Watch Gang sends out one Rolex to a random subscriber. In fact they give away a TAG Heuer, Rolex and Seiko watches on different days of the week. Not sure how they’re able to do this, but they do and it’s pretty awesome.

Is Watch Gang For You?

Okay, I’m going to give it to you straight. In my opinion, if you are a new watch enthusiast, I think you will love Watch Gang. If you’re looking to experiment with unique timepieces, then Watch Gang is for you.

If you have a smaller wrist size like me, then it’s not ideal. Until they allow for you to select your exact size preference, I think you’ll be getting a watch 40mm+ every month, which isn’t the most flattering watch size for smaller wrists.

Is Watch Gang Worth It?

To sum it up the Watch Gang club is quite an interesting way to discover new brands and grow your watch collection. If you’re saving for a particular model it’s not going to work for you, same thing if you are expecting a blue dial watch dial to pair with your new blue suit. 

But if you like surprises, if you are thrilled by parcel deliveries and if you want to try new things then Watch Gang is worth trying. Since watches never really lose value, you’ll still be able to sell the watches you don’t like or even offer them as a gift since you got them for a fraction of the retail price.

The service is very well thought with 3 price ranges, known as “tiers” on the website, and the possibility to stop the subscription anytime. You can explore the previously sent watches to get an idea of what kind of timepiece you can get. There is also a very comprehensive FAQ on their website and you can easily reach them through social networks, they are keen on answering any question. 

While I don’t like that you can’t choose the watches you get, ultimately I was pleased with the two watches that they sent me. I find that the concept of mystery gift boxes builds up the excitement and so you’ll likely find yourself looking forward to receiving a new watch each month.

In Closing

To me, subscription box services are great for introducing you to new brands and helping guide you during your experimental phase.

Watch Gang seems to offer great value and is surely worth a look for those looking to experiment with new watches on a monthly basis.

What are your thoughts about Watch Gang and subscription box services?

Let’s continue the discussion over in the Gentlemen Within Private Facebook Community.

Looking forward to seeing you in there.