Founder, Head Watch Geek & Reviewer
Cameron’s love for watches began over a decade ago. His personal collection includes over 33 watches, ranging from $25 to $5,000 in value. WYCA was his way of appreciating the engineering and artistry that goes into affordable watches.
Cameron built his first website when he was 10 years old. When he was 12 he aced a social studies assignment by building a slick website biography on Bill Gates. At age 15 he sold his first website. The $400 he earned might as well have been a million because that sale kickstarted a lifelong passion for business and entrepreneurship.
In his early twenties he managed a team of 12 sales professionals at a national print and online marketing company. A few years later he was working with a talented & distributed team to create content on 15+ websites.
Cameron received a Bachelor’s degree from Fanshawe College, where he studied Business Administration, Leadership and Management.
EXPERTISE: Watches, Photography, Motorcycles, Cars, Entrepreneurship
EDUCATION: Fanshawe College
LOCATION: Calgary, Canada
TITLE: Head Watch Reviewer
WYCA stands as a testament to the charm and reliability of affordable watches. Reaching over 100,000 people each month, our website is a resource specially created for watch enthusiasts who value practicality without compromising on style. Watches You Can Afford features thorough reviews from people who not only write about the watches but also wear them, ensuring each review is rooted in authenticity.
Learn more about how we review watches and about us.
The 5600E is the definition of what I wanted to find when I started WYCA. It’s a great value, with excellent water resistance, enduring battery life, unparalleled visibility, and rugged build quality. It also managed to remain aesthetically relevant more than 22 years after its introduction. These types of qualities are what I appreciate most in a watch. Let’s check it out.
A fine chronograph but could be better, the Intelligent Quartz Flyback Chrono feels crowded and misses the mark in how its complications are displayed. I wanted to wear an IQ for a while and I’m glad I did, but this is one Timex that won’t remain a member of my collection. How about you- is the IQ a good fit for your collection?
The MDV106-1AV is handsome for a diver, and it’s absolutely as capable as its deep-water aesthetic suggests. I had to do a double-take on it, actually, as I’d have no idea this wasn’t a $200+ watch if I hadn’t bought it myself on Amazon and paid $45 for it. With that in mind, let’s make some waves with the Casio’s most affordable and ubiquitous diver.
Looking for a casual watch? A watch that won’t break the bank and will look good with a variety of outfits? This list – containing watches I’ve reviewed hands-on – will give you some great ideas. See in-depth reviews and the best prices currently available on Amazon. 17 watches so far (and growing)!
Justin Ng, owner of Gem by Carati and frequent WYCA benefactor, got in touch and asked if I was ready to check out another limited edition Hamilton. Who could say no to a line like that?
He sent me over the newish Intra-Matic 68, a limited-edition auto chrono powered by Hamilton’s H-31 automatic. Only 1968 of these were built, and of those, only 20 made their way to Canada. With that in mind, let’s check out this modern take on a vintage greatest hit.
In 2010, Seiko released the SARB065 Cocktail Time. A classic watch, and one that will enjoy decades of relevance, is a hard design to pen. Of course, the Cocktail Time is among those that get it right.
In my hands, I have the SARB065, aka the “Cocktail Time Cool”. Before I move on to the updated Presage Cocktail Time next month, I wanted to get hands-on with the aging SARB065 so that I had an accurate basis for comparison when I get hands-on with the new one.
A month or so back, CWT sent me four watches from their exclusive brand, Jones New York. JNY is a brand of inexpensive quartz timepieces with a focus on fashion and style. As such, watches themselves are fairly standard quartz timepieces: they are powered by Japanese-sourced quartz movements and are made of standard materials.
I put them behind my lens and started snapping. As you can see, they’re very photogenic and I got some really excellent shots. Check them out below, with Melissa’s opinion on them.
The Freelancer collection, released in 2007, is one of their mainstay lineups. With an MSRP just north of $3,000, the Freelancer Chronograph is more expensive than other chrono’s I’ve tested from Swiss brands.
In any case, as always, I was more than happy to get this chronograph around my wrist. Let’s check it out.
The Around the Clock – newly released in 2017 – takes a similar approach to its appearance the Irony, displaying its quartz movement visible through its open heart dial. Not quite a skeleton, but satisfying nonetheless.
It’s somewhat rare for quartz-powered watches to show off the movement, and that’s a shame: a quartz might have fewer gears to look at, but they’re still interesting in their own right. Clearly, the Around the Clock agrees with my sentiment
It’s true, though: you either love it or you hate it. More than one person that I asked about the AtC found its intensity off-putting, but just as many thought it was awesome. I suspect by now that you already know which camp you’re a part of.
In December, I had the unbelievable luxury of being able to pick any watch I wanted to photograph and review. So, I thought it’d be nice to check out another Frederique Constant and picked the FC-270SW4P5 Business Timer. This upscale quartz is packed with the usual trimmings (sappphire/etc.) and three subdials: day/date, and moonphase.
If your New Year’s resolution involves travel plans, you’re going to want a watch to come along for the ride. Frequent fliers will especially appreciate this Seiko Prospex World Time, both for its functionality (more on that below) and its build quality. Currently listed for just under $300 on Certified Watch Store ($278 actually), the Prospex Solar World Time is price competitive with most Citizens (in fact, it’s priced much better than most Citizen world time’s) and offers its wearer an assortment of functions/complications (including an alarm and chronograph function).
The Easy Reader series from Timex is quite popular. According to SEMRush, the keyword “Timex easy reader” is searched nearly 2,000 times per month in the USA on its own– nevermind all the permutations of it. When considering Canada and the UK, as well as variations of “Timex Easy Reader”, monthly search volume climbs to north of 12,000 searches per month. Suffice to say, it’s a popular piece.
Why it took me so long to order one off of Amazon (this one is a gift for my father in law) I don’t know, but here we are: Timex Easy Reader on the wrist, and with great things to say. Let’s check it out.
Check out this modular/interchangeable watch from Egard! On my wrist is the Vader, which is the name of the collection of parts used to build the watch as opposed to that of the watch itself. The dial is named the Dillishaw, and the other components (case, bezel, strap/bracelet) are given no name at all, so Vader it is (rolls off the tongue easier than Dillishaw).
The Luno I have here is the first Movado I’ve actually reviewed and worn hands-on. It’s funny how 100+ watches have come across my desk, and yet none from Movado. As one of the few Swiss watchmakers that is known and appreciated by “non watch people”, it’s about time I wore one and checked them out.
The Commander II is quite typical of an entry-level luxury watch from a Swatch-group manufacturer: it’s an automatic, made with upper-end materials, priced in the $600 range in the grey market ($1,000ish MSRP – like most of the Hamilton’s and Tissot’s of a similar caliber I’ve reviewed).
In any case, I was excited to get some hands-on time with the Mido Commander II (in gold, of course).