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Got a yearning for a nice watch. Want something practical that I can wear every day so not massively chunky or blingy, something like a Tag or Breitling. Metal bracelet strap, maybe titanium, preferably automatic rather than quartz.
Any thoughts on these brands ? any recommendations ?
Ta in advance
Just re-read your requirement and thought about Tudor. Prestigious brand, practical, not blingy, metal bracelet, titanium, automatic with an inhouse movement:
Tudor Pelagos.
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In my head in associate Omega as the Mercedes of the watch world. As I'm only 44 I'm 20 years away from considering wearing one.
What's your budget?
Patek Phillipe would be my choice of top end watches. The nautilus is on my wish list for a 40th present to myself
I've had my Seamaster for 15 years, wore it every day for 10 years and have put it away only to come out on special occasions, can't face the thought of the servicing costs! And was always disappointed with the time keeping on automatics, so quartz it is now, just got a Marathon TSAR proper tool watch and very cool tritium and unlikely to see anyone else with one servicing should just be a battery every few years. And managed to get it before the price went up, a lot of watches have rocketed in price lately, guess that's the brexit effect!
I went for an Oris ti divers watch with an auto movement. Looks nice and is worn daily. Starting to look a bit used now but then I do wear it to work or DIY/gardening/etc.
I went for Oris as all my colleagues were wearing omega, Rolex, tag etc. And I liked the look of it. Wasn't too expensive either
Quite like iwc pilots but in all honesty am tempted most by an aw2 at the mo //stone him!//
The chap on the previous page stating his tag is boxed pending a £300 service. Send it to http://www.chealwatch.com/index.php
Reasonable, does a decent job. Repaired mine when I dropped it...
[url= https://www.jurawatches.co.uk/collections/sinn-watches/products/sinn-instrument-856-utc-watch-856010-leather-strap-sn-154 ]Sinn 856 UTC [/url]
End of discussion
That's hideous and I quite like Sinn watches - I've a Yobokies Orient which is a similar style but a damn sight nicer.
Each to their own.
Seiko with a Pepsi Bezel
My dad's old one, swapped the strap for something more understated. Poor photo.
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Suunto Core has way more features than all the jewellery listed on this thread. Plus, when it's on your wrist, it marks you out as someone who's seriously into their outdoor pursuits.
Random pic of my Yobokies Orient which is a similar style to some of the Sinns.
[img][url= https://c6.staticflickr.com/6/5741/22804659765_37ea7e8b91_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://c6.staticflickr.com/6/5741/22804659765_37ea7e8b91_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/AKaQR4 ]2015-11-05_03-11-21[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/136042423@N03/ ]Ivan Dobski[/url], on Flickr[/img]
Plus, when it's on your wrist, it marks you out as someone who's seriously into their outdoor pursuits.
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When I get food poisoning, what comes out my arse is better quality than what Bremont produce. I can't stand them.
Buy a used steel sports Rolex. You'll never lose money on it.
when it's on your wrist, it marks you out as someone who's seriously into their outdoor pursuits.
But an automatic marks you out as someone who can move their right wrist a LOT. Oh.
I have a Seiko Astron SSE005
It's titanium, chunky, a bit blingy but I press a button wherever I am in the world and it sets itself to the local time in a totally cool way. It's solar powered.
I bet everyone on here will hate it.
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😀
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My older model Junghans ceramic still looks like new at 10 years old.
My dad's old one, swapped the strap for something more understated. Poor photo.
Not too sure that it was the strap that needed understating. If the OP wants a cheap diving watch they could look at an Apeks.
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[/img]It appears that Bremont might be worth a punt as they're worthless tat and not worth nicking.
That's tame compared to some in this thread!
'Nice' watches are great until you need to fix the little gits for innocuous incidents. Speaking as someone with a Seamaster and Calibre 16.
When I get food poisoning, what comes out my arse is better quality than what Bremont produce. I can't stand them.
Perhaps you could just say you don't like them? Hardly much truth in that statement... Nicely finished cases and movements on par with omegas non in house calibres. I'd wear a bremont.
OP a budget? Oris hard to beat at the budget end of a decent watch if you like their styles. If you don't want to lose money look at second hand omega and Rolex. Avoid tag if resale value is a factor. Up from there just go and try loads on.
Willy Waving a watch around is not what you are worried about when you are wobbly legged out of docks or lake
Willy waving in any scenario makes you a bit of a tool, no?
Loving the debate about what's shite and what's good... when it's really just about brand snobbery and (horribly dull and I uninventive) looks.
When I get food poisoning, what comes out my arse is better quality than what Bremont produce. I can't stand them.
Many of Bremonts watches use a ETA 2892 base movement. The same base as used by the Omega planet oceans in fact........
MM300
Give us a style ffs, diver, pilot, office, haven't garde etc.
Personally I'd stay away from ETA movements, clowns are trying to strangle all the smaller players out.
The chap on the previous page stating his tag is boxed pending a £300 service. Send it to http://www.chealwatch.com/index.phpReasonable, does a decent job. Repaired mine when I dropped it...
Erm... [url= http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.php?228547-Chealwatch-quot-The-Butcher-of-Rye-quot ]Chealwatch - "The Butcher of Rye"[/url]
It's irrelevant anyway as I believe 'The Butcher' has closed up shop now.
If the chap with the Tag wants it sorted for a fraction of the quoted cost then drop me an email, I might just know a guy 😉
Orient Black Mako. Superb value and great looking bit of kit.
Surprised no one has mentioned Schofield watches. Very cool British brand. Looking forward to the imminent release of their bronze beater mark 2!
Loddrik, share your personal experiences and tell us why you dislike the brand so much rather than just make up un-informed slanderous statements, seemingly about a company you know little about.
So far you've recommended a Planet Ocean for no other reason than you bought one, and a Rolex because they hold their value well. Recommending two of the worlds most famous watch brands isn't particularly insightful.
haven't garde
😀
Ooh thanks Fudd. Wasn't aware of that. Got his recommendation off here too...
So....where does one send ones timepiece to be survived these days?
Omega Seaprof - daily wear and my favourite 😀 Expect £350+ every 4/5 years for service though.[url= https://c3.staticflickr.com/6/5698/30468982546_59b46f3f54_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://c3.staticflickr.com/6/5698/30468982546_59b46f3f54_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/NqruZh ]IMG_1764[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/145571820@N03/ ]Paul Tarrant[/url], on Flickr
I recently had my brietling serviced at [url= http://www.alsalwatches.com/ ]Alsal watches in Holborn[/url] I wanted somewhere localish and they have a good rep and weren't too expensive. It was its first service in 16 years so a positive for brietling automatics
Why do you need to get these expensive watches serviced? Surely they are just pieces of jewellery and you can use your mobile phone if you want to know the exact time?
+1 for Christopher Ward.
The Trident is the classic diver/sports watch if that's what you're after?
But there are lots of other styles to choose from.
[url= http://www.seiyajapan.com/ ]JDM - Japanese Domestic Market seller, Seiyajapan.[/url]
[url= http://www.creationwatches.com/ ]Creation watches for ideas[/url]
[url= http://www.bestproducts.com/mens-style/g1264/titanium-watches/ ]Titanium tool watch review[/url]
Enjoy researching.
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Oris Carl-Brashear diver has several variants.
Try Duncan at Genesis. Genuine professional and highly regarded.
[url= http://www.genesiswatchmaking.co.uk ]Genesis[/url]
PS CW are OK but watch out for their regular 50%off sales.
Christopher Ward - can't see why anyone would buy one of these now.
When setting up the 'brand' they sold rip offs style watches at decent prices for the quality they offered, but the their objective was to boost the price once they'd become a recognised brand.
The price is ridiculous now, with their 50% sales representing their true value.
In my opinion, the plant x of the watch world.
Liking these Seamasters a lot. That's the kind of thing I'm after, and those Christopher Wards are lovely too.
Max budget would be about £3.5k.
Interesting comment about titanium watches scratching easily - thanks for that.
Bit concerned about the perceived inaccuracy of automatics, is that a general view ? Is that likely because they need servicing ?
I've got an old Omega Geneva auto that I inherited back in the 70s and it was never accurate, maybe it just needed servicing.
I'm going to try and part-ex it for the new one.
Thanks all for the comments and the ideas, keep 'em coming
Good information on here [url= http://http://forums.watchuseek.com/forum.php ]Watchesuseek[/url]
I would stay away from battery movements on high end watches as collectors prefer automatic movements.
I almost bought a Pelagos as I'd been after it for years, but it just didn't seem "special" so I decided against it. I bought a Steinhart Ocean 500 instead, and I now wear it a lot more than my Seamaster - far lighter and I'm not scared of bashing it as it was so much cheaper (£490ish)
The Wrong Trousers - did you look at the IWC Portuguese ? At you budget you have a lot of choice. Also you should be able to get 10% discount by negotiating. My wife loves to haggle and has quite a few industry contacts and eventually got 25% off list for the IWC - it did take nearly a year to find though. Rolex can be got for similar
On a smaller budget I look at one of these from Seiya San. The Citizen use a coating to their TI which makes them much more hardwearing and with solar power they're long lived and accurate. Also being a ltd edition in the JDM you won't see many (any) about over here.
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http://www.seiyajapan.com/products/citizen-promaster-x-mont-bell-bn0111-54e
Or
Go second hand after doing some research and get what I think is the gold standard of TI dive watch, IWC 3536-01
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You'll struggle on a portugesier for 3.5k now, maybe second hand if your very lucky and it's not a desirable one. The baby brother the Portofino is a lovely watch though, that's on budget.
Op will you go second hand or does it have to be new? Second hand opens up load of options.
Mechanical watches aren't inaccurate per se but you have a lot of weighted and moving parts working on your wrist that have to work together in different planes of movement, positions, hot, cold etc so a few seconds a day out is possible when wearing under normal conditions. Think of it as wearing an engine rather than a computer. The 70s weren't great to mechanical watches but your old omega should keep time reasonably after a decent service but it's going to cost north of £150.
That bronze Carl brashear Oris up there is lovely in the flesh, not to everyone's taste - I thought it was horrible new but after a few months it's softens really nicely. Suspect Oris is going to be below your budget but if it does grab you drop me an email, it's in my profile.
If the Omegas take your fancy not a bad time to buy new as there is likely to be a price increase in the next couple of months, probably around 10%. The seamaster 300m is probably the best watch for a dressy diver in that price point all things considered, step up to a planet ocean for the same money if you go second hand but they are very bulky, especially the new ones. They're not very original though, so a bit of a boring choice.
I'd be looking at a Tudor black bay for that money, new model has an in house movement and is slightly bigger, and you get a nice range of options as you can have bracelet or leather strap, and both come with a NATO strap option to dress it down a bit. Not quite as common as omega or Rolex but being the baby brother of Rolex there's still a lot of kudos there.
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This is what I'm currently lusting after....
Autos are less accurate than quartz, more expensive to buy and service BUT they are miniature engineering marvels on your wrist and hold their value way better. You pays your money....
With £3.5k you could get a very nice quartz pick up and go day to day wearer and a high quality auto for social/special occasions. The perfect 2 watch combo but expect to have to reset your auto as it will run down after 40+ hrs unworn (or you could stop it but would then need to reset anyway).
The popular makes are popular for a reason but the value added for the more you spend is subjective.
Don't overlook autos 10yrs old, most can be finished at service to look mint and will probably appreciate to cancel out the service cost if you buy wisely.