Stauer is a catalog and online merchant for watches, jewelry, and other goods. Their stuff is cheap, the watch shown here is $80. Of course it’s cheap, because they’re selling in huge volumes, so nothing is going to be unique, if that bothers you. And perhaps it should, because the whole point of wearing jewelry, or watches for that matter, is a piece of personal decoration that distinguishes you in some way from everyone else. I mean, you can get the time from your phone, right? Timex watches are cheap and proud of it. Everything by Stauer is cheap but pretending to be expensive, and I think that’s what really bothers us.

On the other hand, Stauer stuff is undeniably well priced. We own one of their watches, and it came as advertised. Their items look nice, but they are just copying the designs of others. If you want cheap and nice looking, shop at Stauer. If you want something off the beaten path, J Peterman is your catalog of choice.