So whats the best watch then?
Discussion
title says it all, whats the best made premium watch, as I understand things Rolex arn't considered to be all that good in the quality of mech dept.
So what is the best mechanical watch out there?
Alex its over to you
Edited to add, best does not mean most expensive btw, so those hidious diamond studded gold rolex etc wont count
So what is the best mechanical watch out there?
Alex its over to you
Edited to add, best does not mean most expensive btw, so those hidious diamond studded gold rolex etc wont count
Edited by smilerbaker on Tuesday 24th April 11:08
thegamekeeper said:
Consider anything with a Zenith El Primero movement.
Well, I'd agree that's probably the best chronograph movement, but there are some absolute shockers with an EP movement, including for example:
However, this ... I do like:
Smilerbaker are you asking what is the best watch maker or what is the best individual watch?
If the former then I stand by Jaeger LeCoultre - history, quality, beautiful watches, one of the few true manufactures who make almost every part of their watches ...
if the latter then more info required - what style, what purpose, etc..
Great question... but almost impossible to answer.
Best High street?
I would say that for normal range you are looking at a Seiko kenetic, followed by Tissot (i only say the Tissot follows the the price is a bit higher). Briel should not be discounted either as they are made by Seiko but for me are slightly higher quality/more individual. Tissot T-Touch is a very good watch. very stylish to look at but with enough gadgets to satisfy the biggest of the geeks amongst us
Upper high street range you cannot go wrong with a Steel backed Omega Speedmaster moon watch. Personally I think Oakley are very underrated as people tend to discount them as sunglass makers. Their watches really are quite good too and going by the construction seem to be pretty much unbreakable (I have 3)
Best?
Whilst the Zenith movement mentioned earlier is extremely good if I was asked to name the "best" I would be looking towards a Tourbillon movement watch. For me that is still the holy grail of watch movements.
A lot of watches claim to be the best in the world, funny thing is, although you can't usually pick which one is "best" the upper select group usually have Tourbillon movements fitted... funny that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourbill
If I had to choose a particular watch for me it would be something like a Richard Mille RM005 or the URWERK 210 Blackshark.....
www.professionalwatches.com/2007/02/urwerk_201_blackshark.html#more
some people consider that ugly but I absolutely love it.
The question really is done to personal preference though as I said, for example today I am wearing a Rosendahl Watch IV digital.. high street price and very stylish. Yet some will instantly discount it as being "just a digital watch" and fob it off as cheap. For me, I love it and would recommend one to anyone.
Best High street?
I would say that for normal range you are looking at a Seiko kenetic, followed by Tissot (i only say the Tissot follows the the price is a bit higher). Briel should not be discounted either as they are made by Seiko but for me are slightly higher quality/more individual. Tissot T-Touch is a very good watch. very stylish to look at but with enough gadgets to satisfy the biggest of the geeks amongst us
Upper high street range you cannot go wrong with a Steel backed Omega Speedmaster moon watch. Personally I think Oakley are very underrated as people tend to discount them as sunglass makers. Their watches really are quite good too and going by the construction seem to be pretty much unbreakable (I have 3)
Best?
Whilst the Zenith movement mentioned earlier is extremely good if I was asked to name the "best" I would be looking towards a Tourbillon movement watch. For me that is still the holy grail of watch movements.
A lot of watches claim to be the best in the world, funny thing is, although you can't usually pick which one is "best" the upper select group usually have Tourbillon movements fitted... funny that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourbill
If I had to choose a particular watch for me it would be something like a Richard Mille RM005 or the URWERK 210 Blackshark.....
www.professionalwatches.com/2007/02/urwerk_201_blackshark.html#more
some people consider that ugly but I absolutely love it.
The question really is done to personal preference though as I said, for example today I am wearing a Rosendahl Watch IV digital.. high street price and very stylish. Yet some will instantly discount it as being "just a digital watch" and fob it off as cheap. For me, I love it and would recommend one to anyone.
The holy trinity is Patek, Audemars and Vacheron.
My personal favourite being Patek.
You could almost consider them (very loosely - bear with me here)as being akin to Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati, in that they are the recognized elite, with heritage and tradition attached to the 'brand'
You then have the likes of Richard Mille, who although of superlative quality, are not mentioned in quite the same breath due to this lack of history. (Think Zonda, Koeniegessejjjhhggsh and the like)
You also have the high quality, but not quite haute such as Jaeger, IWC, Zenith, Girrard Perregaux etc. You could almost see these as being closer to the Porsche & BMW style of motoring - very good quality but perhaps a little mass market in the more basic offerings, but capable of making pieces to rival the exotics at the top end.
All very subjective, and I'm sure someone will come along and say the above is utter borrocks, but it's kind of how they sit in my mind at least.
ETA:
If you like Richard Mille, you should take a look at the Repossi Monaco :
Designed by Mille before he started his own house, and available now for under $1000 if you look. A watch of some heft, but beautifully finished.
My personal favourite being Patek.
You could almost consider them (very loosely - bear with me here)as being akin to Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati, in that they are the recognized elite, with heritage and tradition attached to the 'brand'
You then have the likes of Richard Mille, who although of superlative quality, are not mentioned in quite the same breath due to this lack of history. (Think Zonda, Koeniegessejjjhhggsh and the like)
You also have the high quality, but not quite haute such as Jaeger, IWC, Zenith, Girrard Perregaux etc. You could almost see these as being closer to the Porsche & BMW style of motoring - very good quality but perhaps a little mass market in the more basic offerings, but capable of making pieces to rival the exotics at the top end.
All very subjective, and I'm sure someone will come along and say the above is utter borrocks, but it's kind of how they sit in my mind at least.
ETA:
CivPilot said:
If I had to choose a particular watch for me it would be something like a Richard Mille RM005 or the URWERK 210 Blackshark.....
If you like Richard Mille, you should take a look at the Repossi Monaco :
Designed by Mille before he started his own house, and available now for under $1000 if you look. A watch of some heft, but beautifully finished.
Edited by justayellowbadge on Tuesday 24th April 17:10
justayellowbadge said:
The holy trinity is Patek, Audemars and Vacheron.
My personal favourite being Patek.
You could almost consider them (very loosely - bear with me here)as being akin to Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati, in that they are the recognized elite, with heritage and tradition attached to the 'brand'
My personal favourite being Patek.
You could almost consider them (very loosely - bear with me here)as being akin to Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati, in that they are the recognized elite, with heritage and tradition attached to the 'brand'
Patek to me is like a stagecoach made by the Queen's coachmaker (or maybe a Bristol
). Amazing to look at, full of history etc etc but there always seems to be something I'd sooner buy and own. But then I like sports watches I will have a Patek sometime though, maybe an annual calendar.
Panerai are not quite premier league. Only just started making their own movement but still love mine.
To be division one you have to have the heritage. some one mentioned the holy trinity above to which I would add Breguet.
I have to say though that I find the real classics a bit bland. They are old school and usually pretty small (less than 40mm).
The Richard Mille watches are VERY cool but £20k is a bit rich for my tastes
PS Anyone who owns a jacob & co watch needs help.
To be division one you have to have the heritage. some one mentioned the holy trinity above to which I would add Breguet.
I have to say though that I find the real classics a bit bland. They are old school and usually pretty small (less than 40mm).
The Richard Mille watches are VERY cool but £20k is a bit rich for my tastes
PS Anyone who owns a jacob & co watch needs help.
dbroughton said:
To be division one you have to have the heritage. some one mentioned the holy trinity above to which I would add Breguet.
I have to say though that I find the real classics a bit bland. They are old school and usually pretty small (less than 40mm).
.
Isn't Breguet the Blackburn Rovers of the watch world, they have existed longer than virtually anyone else but had been very quite for years until someone with money (Swatch) put them back in the big time?
Small is good for those of us who didn't drink our milk as children and now have scrawny wrists. This trend for faces the size of dinning plates can’t end soon enough for me.
not sure who owns them right now but most of the smaller highend brands are owned by one of the big luxury goods brand like LVMH. I know Richemont owns IWC, Panerai, JLC and a bunch of others
As for big watches! I must admit I feel like I am wearing a womans watch with anything less than 42mm. If you think panerai are big check out the U-boat brand. I think they are upto 55mm which is just plain silly
As for big watches! I must admit I feel like I am wearing a womans watch with anything less than 42mm. If you think panerai are big check out the U-boat brand. I think they are upto 55mm which is just plain silly
My two penn'orth:
Since the OP was asking about watches that the man in the street could go and buy (though perhaps not on the high street) I'm going to ignore the very high end. This is of course all my personal opinion but the watchmakers and watches that I would be looking at would be:
In the category of "watches that are better than their price suggests":
For a classic/dress style: Oris
For a chronograph: Sinn or Ollech & Wais (esp. if you like Breitlings since O&W bought up old stock when Breitling went bust in the 70s and still make "new old" watches using original Breitling parts; Sinn also own the rights to the Navitimer, and make a similar watch)
For a flieger: Glycine
WIth a bit more to spend:
Omega, a fairly complete range but their emphasis and name is made on dive and chronographs; personally I prefer the slightly older models to the current range.
Still more to spend:
A true manufacture that seems to be overlooked: Zenith - the current range is, almost without exception, vile but check out the Class Sport and some of the other Class and Port Royal models are worth a look. Older ones - very nice.
Girard Perregaux - really like some of their watches but they are hard to place.
IWC - fantastic classic chronographs and flieger style watches and of course the Portuguese, how.ever I struggle a little with the cost to value equation here
At the top:
One of the great manufactures and, in my (ignorant) view right up there with PP, AP and VC (and they are also not obscenely expensive though not by any measure cheap) is Jaeger LeCoultre. The history; the beauty; the craftsmanship and the revolutionary (e.g. Reverso) designs.
Picking three to cover "all" the bases: Oris, Zenith and JLC
Since the OP was asking about watches that the man in the street could go and buy (though perhaps not on the high street) I'm going to ignore the very high end. This is of course all my personal opinion but the watchmakers and watches that I would be looking at would be:
In the category of "watches that are better than their price suggests":
For a classic/dress style: Oris
For a chronograph: Sinn or Ollech & Wais (esp. if you like Breitlings since O&W bought up old stock when Breitling went bust in the 70s and still make "new old" watches using original Breitling parts; Sinn also own the rights to the Navitimer, and make a similar watch)
For a flieger: Glycine
WIth a bit more to spend:
Omega, a fairly complete range but their emphasis and name is made on dive and chronographs; personally I prefer the slightly older models to the current range.
Still more to spend:
A true manufacture that seems to be overlooked: Zenith - the current range is, almost without exception, vile but check out the Class Sport and some of the other Class and Port Royal models are worth a look. Older ones - very nice.
Girard Perregaux - really like some of their watches but they are hard to place.
IWC - fantastic classic chronographs and flieger style watches and of course the Portuguese, how.ever I struggle a little with the cost to value equation here
At the top:
One of the great manufactures and, in my (ignorant) view right up there with PP, AP and VC (and they are also not obscenely expensive though not by any measure cheap) is Jaeger LeCoultre. The history; the beauty; the craftsmanship and the revolutionary (e.g. Reverso) designs.
Picking three to cover "all" the bases: Oris, Zenith and JLC
frazer guest said:
blancpain?
Not sure if that was addressed to me, but a top manufacture certainly, but so are others we haven't mentioned, certainly: Glashutte Original, A Lange & Sohne, Ulysse Nardin, perhaps also: Chronoswiss and Dornbluth
My list was my personal list and even then substantially cut down.
Fittster said:
hosedoctor said:
PANERAI...........
Any particular reason why you think that?
I own one ha ha!! But i have to say i have just bought a Jaeger-le-Coultre master compressor memovox which i really love..
Have you had a look on the Panerai fan site i think its called Panerista?? It has all the models made and a lot if good info about the brand.
Had an Omega Seamaster - nice watch, but never quite did it for me. I now have a Rolex GMT II - probably not the best movement out there, but I really wanted a watch with a third hour hand to keep track of time in another time zone. I went for the Rolex as they just do have a certain appeal. I will soon try to get a Tag Carrera as I wanted a chrono for when I need to time stuff - and the Tag does look fantastic - better than the SPeedmaster, which I wanted to get for heritage (ie moon watch) reasons. As with cars & women, watches are a very personal subject!
and just like cars and women, we can all see the various attractions even if it not exactly to our individual taste.
that said, I have two rules with watches, must be mechanical and must be from a watch making brand. Mont Blanc make nice pens, Armani makes nice suits but dont buy the watches. Jewelry makes are right on the boundary of acceptability. Cant stand Gucci or Cartier but the sporty Chopards are nice.
that said, I have two rules with watches, must be mechanical and must be from a watch making brand. Mont Blanc make nice pens, Armani makes nice suits but dont buy the watches. Jewelry makes are right on the boundary of acceptability. Cant stand Gucci or Cartier but the sporty Chopards are nice.
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