Recommend me a mechanical watch for under a monkey

[lowdrag]

Lovely watches, Marathon, but over the OP's budget it seems. Minimum about £600. See here:-

http://www.heinnie.com/brands/marathon/f/power_sou...

[RS404]

Variomatic said:

Same old advice, but it's worth repeating because it will effect future costs.

If you can find something you like outside the Swatch group brands then you'll be saving yourself a lot of headaches and cost on future repairs:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Swatch_Group#Wat...

Surely they're not going to try and charge £350 to service £500 watches are they? If say you bought a £500 Tissot with an ETA 2824 in it and it went wrong, could you just chuck out the movement and replace it with a Sellita?

[Jimmy Recard]

It's idiotic showering in a watch (and thinking that a watch without much waterproofing should resist water ingress).

But anyway....I'd probably buy Seiko at that price range (having had loads of other brands over the years)
There are some nice Seiko mechanicals under £500 (Sumo and some others that are coming out next year)

http://www.seiko.at/home/kollektionen/taucheruhren...

[lostkiwi]

Magrette do some nice pieces in budget.
They use Miyota movements so they should be reliable as well as easy to get parts for.
I'm quite partial to the Vantage Bronze:
http://www.magrette.eu/web-store/1000510--vantage-...

The Dual Times are quite nice too:
http://www.magrette.eu/web-store/1000813--dual-tim...
http://www.magrette.eu/web-store/1000812--dual-tim...
http://www.magrette.eu/web-store/1000810--dual-tim...
http://www.magrette.eu/web-store/1000811--dual-tim...

Full range here:
http://www.magrette.eu/web-store/

[djt100]

I've been looking at these recently, quite nice looking and within budget.

https://www.nitewatches.com/store/gb/

[13m]

pistonheadforum said:

Recommend me a mechanical watch for under a monkey

Can you clarify how heavy the monkey is please?

[Variomatic]

RS404 said:

Surely they're not going to try and charge £350 to service £500 watches are they? If say you bought a £500 Tissot with an ETA 2824 in it and it went wrong, could you just chuck out the movement and replace it with a Sellita?

No, I think the current Tissot rate is around £200.

But it's not the servicing itself that's a problem - parts are rarely needed as part of routine servicing. The problem is that they'll only fit case parts (damaged crowns and pushers are probably the most common) if you also have it serviced because it's been "compromised".

So, for example, a Tissot crown which I'd typically charge around £50* for at the moment, fitted, pressure tested and posted home, will become a "you need a service plus the crown and that'll be £250 please".

It's a bit like a burger bar telling you that you will have fries with that, whether you want them or not. Only a lot more expensive.

They already tend to apply that thinking through their service centres, which is why so many people turn to independents having been bent over once or twice.



(*) curiously, cost prices on Tissot crowns tend to be higher than Omega ones in a lot of cases - go figure!

[gvij]

I'd opt for an aftermarket crown of it was as good and looked the same excluding logo even on a Rolex.
I think most will on lower end stuff even if not on high end.

For 500 Junghans make some great watches.

[lostkiwi]

This looks pretty good value and I quite like the styling too! Again Miyota powered.
http://www.bablas.co.uk/bulova-mechanical-gents-wa...

[SVS]

How about Stowa?

High quality reputation, mechanical movement, great customer service, strong brand image in watch circles, low depreciation, etc. The Stowa Ikarus, for example, uses Superluminova and starts from 660 Euro.

[pistonheadforum]

What's the chances of a Hamilton appearing in the January sales?

Keeping my eye but not seen anything yet - all appears to be Seiko or Citizen with the discounts.

Or do the sales take a bit longer to start during the holidays?

[lostkiwi]

lostkiwi said:

This looks pretty good value and I quite like the styling too! Again Miyota powered.
http://www.bablas.co.uk/bulova-mechanical-gents-wa...

Lo and behold my lovely other half bought me one for Christmas....

[Variomatic]

lostkiwi said:

Lo and behold my lovely other half bought me one for Christmas....

You and your LOH clearly have taste

[lostkiwi]

Variomatic said:

lostkiwi said:

Lo and behold my lovely other half bought me one for Christmas....

You and your LOH clearly have taste

Thanks! Have to say I'm very pleased with it so far too.
Feels every bit as good to wear as my Omegas, Panerais and Grahams.
Seems well made and has some very nice details too!

[pistonheadforum]

Hi, sorry I meant to update this earlier...

In the end went for Hamilton Field Officer Mechanical Handwinding

http://www.hamiltonwatch.com/collection/khaki/fiel...

Not from these guys, but best video online:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSzPwxEk7jY

Quite small at 38mm but wears very light on the wrist (important for me), plus nice dial and decent movement. The strap is a bit of a disaster so looking for something better (or maybe a way to darken it with die that won't come out?). Lume is pretty rubbish for that kind of money thining of luming it myself if I can get hold of the paint.

In the end cost was around half a monkey which I thought was reasonable and leaves room for something else so still in the market for suggestions as there still money in the kitty!

[harleywilma]

andy tims said:

Plenty of choice sub £500

Seiko is obviously worth a look try Creation Watches and Christopher Ward

Have a look on the Page & Copper + Jura websites too.

Does it need to be brand new?

Beware Just bought a seiko from creation watches ,fast post and watch looked ok but was a complete Dud non working pile of st,Beware.If its a real Seiko shouldnt it work....

[Variomatic]

harleywilma said:

eware Just bought a seiko from creation watches ,fast post and watch looked ok but was a complete Dud non working pile of st,Beware.If its a real Seiko shouldnt it work....

It should but there's always the possibility of a faulty one from any maker.

The real problem with places like Creation is the extended chain when it comes to problems. Buy from the high street (or even a UK based web seller) and returns / repairs are relatively easy and backed by pretty robust consumer laws.

Deal with someone half-way round the world, operating under an entirely different legal system, and you're absolutely at their mercy if there's a problem.

Of course, if it's cheap enough that may be a risk worth taking - but it's a risk none the less.

[Hoover.]

For circa 500 Euro have a look at Steinhartt ..... Swiss movement sold via Germany .... Some good every day watches with reasonable respect from those in the know ..... I've just got an automatic aviation on metall braclet (see wrist check 2016 thread) for the above price

[aberdeeneuan]

pistonheadforum said:

Hi, sorry I meant to update this earlier...

In the end went for Hamilton Field Officer Mechanical Handwinding

http://www.hamiltonwatch.com/collection/khaki/fiel...

Not from these guys, but best video online:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSzPwxEk7jY

Quite small at 38mm but wears very light on the wrist (important for me), plus nice dial and decent movement. The strap is a bit of a disaster so looking for something better (or maybe a way to darken it with die that won't come out?). Lume is pretty rubbish for that kind of money thining of luming it myself if I can get hold of the paint.

In the end cost was around half a monkey which I thought was reasonable and leaves room for something else so still in the market for suggestions as there still money in the kitty!

I had a new strap made for my Hamilton (GMT 3t with red on the face) by Toshi. The guy makes them by hand to your spec. It's quite chunky which if you like the watch slim may not be for you, but suits the watch perfectly and Rich was great to deal with. Not cheap but changed my view on the watch from one I'd wear occasionally to one I wear nearly every day. (Mine is papaya with brown stitching).

[lowdrag]

Variomatic said:

It should but there's always the possibility of a faulty one from any maker.

The real problem with places like Creation is the extended chain when it comes to problems. Buy from the high street (or even a UK based web seller) and returns / repairs are relatively easy and backed by pretty robust consumer laws.

Deal with someone half-way round the world, operating under an entirely different legal system, and you're absolutely at their mercy if there's a problem.

Of course, if it's cheap enough that may be a risk worth taking - but it's a risk none the less.

One swallow does not make a summer. Many of us here have bought from Creation - I learned of them here - and both my Seikos have worked perfectly. There are loads of threads and references to them. Have you sent it back for a replacement? Try it and see. The problem was(don't know if it is now) that we all wanted a Monster and they weren't supplied to Europe, hence Creation as a source.