About time: chic and cheerful

It's taken a number of years for some people to realise but I'm not to be trusted with money. No, I'm not a kleptomaniac and, no, I don't have a gambling addiction. Instead, I impulse purchase the most stupid things.

Take grocery shopping, for example. If tasked with getting stuff in for dinner, more often than not I will come back with football stickers and, say, a single potato - a King Edward, of course, nothing but the best. If you gave me the family cow to sell at market, I would almost certainly come back with some non-magic beans. My biggest impulse purchase, unsurprisingly, is watches and this week we look at the timepieces on the market for less than HK$2,000 that will soon part a fool and his money.

We begin with Mondaine, a watchmaker I've not featured before but one with an interesting backstory, as well as quite striking and affordable timepieces. Mondaine Official Swiss Railways Watch, to give the company its full name, takes its design inspiration from, surprise surprise, Hans Hilfiker's 1944 clock design for Switzerland's railway system, which is still used today and has become a globally recognised design.

The Mondaine Evo (right) gives maximum focus to Hilfiker's design and remains faithful to it, keeping the large red seconds hand and even maintaining the Swiss Railway logos. The case is made of steel and inside is a quartz movement, all of which keeps the price down to a bargain HK$1,826. The construction and movement, however, are not really what this watch is about. The focus is solely the simplicity and distinctive nature of the design. The Mondaine Evo comes with either a black or red leather strap but, given its boldness, the red works the best.

Next up, we have an old faithful. Swatch probably attracts the most ravenous collectors of any watch brand, with some boasting tens of thousands of Swatches in their collections. The reason behind Swatch's collectability is not only the relatively affordable pricetag but the hundreds of styles, colours and special editions the brand puts out each year.

Luckily, I don't have the Swatch bug, otherwise I really would be in the poor house, but I do like the Crazy Square (below), which looks like it belongs on the wrist of Max Headroom. Priced at a barely consequential HK$480, the Crazy Square's case is black plastic, measures 39.2mm in diameter and houses your standard but utterly dependable quartz movement. Aside from the funky 1980s design, the shiny black silicone strap is another highlight. If you're expecting features beyond the time, then you might want to look elsewhere, but the watch is water resistant to 30 metres, making it ideal beachwear.