Cheapest Watch Ever: 330 Japan Find & Ingersoll Yankee

DoctorEvil · Dec 27, 2025

Currently holidaying in Japan and came across this brand new watch in a ¥100 shop for ¥330. This equates to just US$2.11 at current exchange rates and it's the cheapest brand new watch I've ever seen. Would love to see someone beat this 😊

Canuck · Dec 27, 2025

This one sold for $1.00, 125 years ago. Ingersoll Yankee. I know, I know, someone will come along and tell me what that dollar would be today, with inflation.

DoctorEvil · Dec 27, 2025

Canuck
This one sold for $1.00, 125 years ago. Ingersoll Yankee. I know, I know, someone will come along and tell me what that dollar would be today, with inflation.

Love the guarantee on this watch. I find it interesting that the cost of a service is 25¢ (a quarter the cost of the watch). Imagine if this applied to the cost of servicing a modern Omega or Rolex 😮

Canuck · Dec 27, 2025

DoctorEvil
Love the guarantee on this watch. I find it interesting that the cost of a service is 25¢ (a quarter the cost of the watch). Imagine if this applied to the cost of servicing a modern Omega or Rolex 😮

The case paper also says that, during the year of the guarantee, if the watch is returned with a fault and the customer doesn’t wish to wait for the watch to be repaired, Ingersoll will send a new watch for a ten cent fee!

abush · Dec 28, 2025

That is a cool watch!!

DoctorEvil · Jan 29, 2026

Canuck
This one sold for $1.00, 125 years ago. Ingersoll Yankee. I know, I know, someone will come along and tell me what that dollar would be today, with inflation.

According to Rebecca Struthers' book "Hands of Time", in 1896 (the year that the Yankee was first released) $1.00 was worth a day's wages for the average working American. So, by that definition, would that make the Yankee the equivalent of a modern day Seiko 5 automatic?