How to Build a Watch Collection From Scratch Starting Under £200
Every Collection Starts With One Watch.
Most people overthink this. They wait for the perfect moment, the perfect budget, the perfect knowledge. And then they never start. The truth is simpler: a watch collection begins the moment you buy something worth keeping.
This guide is for anyone who wants to start. Whether you own zero watches or one you've been wearing for five years and are ready to add to it. Here's exactly how to build a collection that makes sense starting under £200.
Step One: Anchor With an Everyday Watch
Your first piece should be the one you reach for automatically. A watch that works with everything casual outfits, smart-casual, weekend wear. One you don't think about. You just put it on.
Under £200, the brief is clear: clean design, versatile colour, sapphire crystal (so it doesn't scratch in daily use), and a case size that sits right on the wrist.
365 Purple Ocean £195
Silver square case. Deep purple dial. A colour combination that sounds bold and wears surprisingly quietly. The purple dial reads as navy from a distance versatile enough for daily use, distinctive enough to notice up close. Square case silhouette, which is one of 2026's dominant watch trends. This is the everyday watch that doesn't look like an everyday watch.
365 Green Ruby £195
Gold square case. Deep green dial. If you've been paying attention to watch trends at all in 2026, you'll know that green is the colour of the moment and this piece lands exactly in that conversation at an everyday price. Wear it for two years and it will still feel current.
365 Rose Titan £195
Rose gold square case. Clean dial. The warmer, softer entry point. Rose gold is having its strongest revival since 2019 this piece catches that trend at a price that makes it a genuine everyday option rather than a special-occasion one.
Step Two: Add a Statement Piece
Once you have your everyday anchor, the collection needs something with more visual energy. A watch you reach for when you want the wrist to be noticed. This is where Tomell's frosted stardust range comes in.
The jump from under-£200 to the £340- £410 range is where collections get interesting. You're not replacing your everyday watch you're adding a second piece that does something completely different.
Emerald Shadow £340
Frosted silver case. Deep green stardust dial. This is what a statement piece looks like. The stardust dial shifts under different light. The frosted case catches everything. Wear it when you want the watch to start the conversation which is more often than you'd think once you own it.
Crimson Ray £340
Gold frosted case. Red stardust dial. Arabic numerals. Unisex. If the Emerald Shadow is subtle confidence, the Crimson Ray is declared confidence. Choose the one that matches how you want to be read.
Step Three: Add a Mechanical Watch
Every serious collection eventually includes an automatic. A mechanical watch that winds itself from the movement of your wrist. Not because it's more accurate than quartz it isn't. But because there's something genuinely different about wearing a machine that doesn't need a battery. That detail matters to people who collect.
365 Gold Skeleton £345
Square gold automatic. Open-worked skeleton dial showing the movement inside. Self-winding. This is the most technically impressive piece in the Tomell range and it sits at a price point where a Swiss equivalent would cost three to five times more. The square case aligns it with your 365 pieces. It becomes the crown of a collection that started under £200.
The Three-Watch Collection Formula
Start with this and you have everything:
- Watch 1 (under £200): Your everyday. Clean, versatile, daily wear. One of the 365 range.
- Watch 2 (£300–£350): Your statement. A frosted stardust piece you wear when the wrist matters. Emerald Shadow or Crimson Ray.
- Watch 3 (£345): Your mechanical. The 365 Gold Skeleton. The piece that makes the collection feel intentional.
Total spend: under £900 for three watches that cover every occasion, every outfit, and every conversation. That's a collection. Not a drawer of impulse purchases.
Why Start With Tomell?
Because the foundation matters. Every watch in the Tomell range is built to 316L stainless steel and sapphire crystal standard the same material specification used by Swiss houses charging three times the price. When you start with Tomell, you start with pieces worth keeping. Not placeholders you replace.
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