The Breitling Watch Source Forums

just curious when you guys think about watches what brands come to mind?

who do you acknoledge as good?

Who do you consider garbage?

who do you not even car about?

for me its mostly the obvious that i consider rolex, breitling, omega, AP, PP, JLC, Panerai. Sure there are other brands, but when i think watches these ones stick out the most for me. i know there are more niche brands that make some cool stuff but i dont tend to look at them.

anyone have any thoughts??

I'll admit that Pateks are incredible watches but I don't really think of them because there's no way I'm affording one anytime soon or ever. Two other brands that come to mind along with your list are IWC and Breguet. If I had a stupid amount of money I'd definitely have a BP and a XX.

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"Leave the gun, take the cannoli."

I see two distinct categories - the 'big names' (Swiss and German) that form the bulk of people's collections and / or aspirations and the different levels within there from Lange and PP at the top through Tags at the lower end and then the independent names that are much more appealing to me at the moment. There are tiers within there as well from the true artisans who do everything themselves through to the brands that use generic movements with their own case, dial, hand, etc designs.

Not sure that 'don't care about' is fair, but from a personal standpoint I only have an interest in lower end mass market brands from the perspective that they are part of the industry, not from a potential purchaser's standpoint.

If this was Family Feud and the question was...

Name a famous watch brand...

"I'm going with Rolex"...

"Survey says... *ding* Rolex!

I'm sure that's what most people would say...

or Bulova...

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"I don't got the bright watch I got the right watch" -Jay Z

thats a pretty cool classification. i never really thought about the two distinct categories. but it makes total sense.

keep your opinion coming guys.

To be perfectly honest I can't think of any genuine Swiss watch brand that I consider to be complete garbage. Complete garbage in my book are certain non-Swiss "brands" like Parnis, who sell *ahem* "hommage pieces" for peanuts, but they apparently have almost zero QC and tend to last a matter of weeks. That's gargage in my book.

With Swiss watches, for me it's more about brands I respect, and those that I'm generally indifferent about. Price doesn't really come into it.

For example, I'm totally and utterly indifferent to Tag Heuer. Apart from the interesting but utimately fairly pointless one-offs they produce from time to time, I find nothing that excites me about the brand..... plus I dislike their image.

Brands I personally respect but not always necessarily always like (although I do like a lot of these), include the likes of Rolex, Omega, Breitling, Patek, JLC, Blancpain, Breguet, AP, Roger Dubuis, etc, etc.... i.e. most of the big names....., but I also respect a lot of smaller "boutique" watch-makers like Parmigiani and Louis Moinet. On the less expensive side, I fully respect the likes of Oris, and at the even cheaper end of the scale, Steinhart because they provide great value by producing good watches for good money. Basically I tend to respect brands that either produce solid, quality goods for decent prices, or those who may charge a lot more, but actually advance the watch-makers art in some way - be that via aesthetic design, or movement design.

Outside of Swiss manufacturers I particularly respect Lange because they produce amazing pieces that truely advancing watchmaking, but I also respect the likes of Seiko and even Casio because they push the "technology envelope" forward and they also produce quality goods for appropriate money.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

What, womanizing millionaire golfers don't do it for you? Oh wait, that's Rolex.

True!

(I was actually thinking more of the chav wide-boy image that Tag watches can often conjure up in this country. Certainly not all the time, but often enough.)

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Driver8

Site Moderator

For the uninitiated Americans, see:

Chav
Wide boy

See also:

Spiv
Vladdy Daddy (perhaps the closest American equivalent)

My first "nicer" watch was a bulova. When I was looking to take a step up an did some research on different watches, I found a great independent website that charted them out in different tiers. I'll see if I can find it.

Some of the Grand Seiko line is pushing Rolex price territory, and is firmly in Omega territory. Granted, the watches appear to be excellent, but one isn't saving much for going with a less prestigious name. Then again, perhaps it shouldn't be less prestigious.

This one perhaps?

http://www.chronocentric.com/watches/br ... #breakdown

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Driver8

Site Moderator

I agree that some are very expensive, but some may argue that technically they are more than justied to be in the Rolex realm. At that stage it starts to come down to brand snobbery (which I am as guilty of as anybody). However Seiko also produce some very decent stuff for much less money. The Monster (Orange and Black versions) for example bring tough automatic watches down to extremely reasonable prices.

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Driver8

Site Moderator