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Affordable watch purchases and musings
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Author:  groucho [ Thu Jul 31, 2014 12:16 am ]
Post subject:  Affordable watch purchases and musings
Hi, all

Recently I've bought a couple of timepieces in the more affordable segment.

The victorinox divemaster 500 quatz. I like this one and have owned one before. A good pick-up-and-go beater. The previous time I had one was before I caught the Breitling fever, and I remember being in awe of how biiiig and chuuuuunky and heeeefty it was. Now it seems kind of dainty :D

The other one is not really a watch, but can serve as one very nicely: the ScubaPro Meridian dive computer. I've been a casual freediver for a while and I'm going to get myself some decent kit so I don't have to leech off my dive-buddy all the time :wink:
It really has a quite nice design. Here's a pic:
Attachment:
meridian.jpg


I've also become a little curious about Margette watches. Anyone have any experience with these? The seem to be getting a lot of positive attention...
Author:  Roffensian [ Thu Jul 31, 2014 2:01 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Affordable watch purchases and musings
Magrette make some good watches. Obviously they take design cues from other brands, but so do many of these brands. For a company based in a minor market they have done very well, and the way that they handled the issue with their case supplier ripping them off on brass vs. bronze cases earned them a lot of respect.

One of the better brands for me at that price point if you like the designs.
Author:  Driver8 [ Thu Jul 31, 2014 5:06 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Affordable watch purchases and musings
Magrette's case designs are more than a little Panerai "inspired", although the Maori tribal art designs they use on some models do add a little extra spice into the mix. That said, their Maori design models are a little on the expensive side IMO. In contrast their other models are much more sensibly priced and represent good value for money IMO.

Movement-wise they use the Miyota 9015 quite liberally, a couple of other Miyota movements, Seagull hand-winders, and a couple of ETA's in some of their very expensive Maori art models. The 9015 is relatively new from Miyota (part of Citizen incidentally), having been introduced around 2009 if my memory serves. It was designed as a direct competitor to the ETA 2892, which is why you are now seeing it in a lot of smaller brands watches as ETA slow down the availability of their movements. My new Helberg uses the 9015 and while it's manual-wind "feel" isn't quite as smooth as a 2892, the second hand is very smooth, the timekeeping is pretty good, and it generally seems to be a very nice movement thus far. In this price range I certainly wouldn't insist on Swiss movements, and Miyota is a good enough alternative for sensible money.
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