Parnis - opinions please
Discussion
sparkyhx said:
i'm currently wearing my Portuguese 'looky like' with sub seconds and power reserve dials. runs about 5 secs per day fast - really I can't fault it appart from the rather 'industrial' decoration on the movement. for under £40 It really is a bargain.
Wearing mine today as well - power reserve at 12 and the seconds at 6 - with the blue hands and numerics. Love the look of the watch and for the price you can't fault it. Mine was about £40 as well from bluesky537 on the bay - although on mine the second hand sticks occasionally but keeps pretty good time.
Kul
the quality control of these things is probably poor so there will be far more 'variation' than a swiss movement, so take accuracy reports as 'what is possible' not 'what is a probably'. Having said that my watch is apparently a Seagull movement which have a fairly good track record. If you go with a recognised supplier with a track rexcord then they appear to be fairly good at resolving issues albeit quite time consuming sending back to china/HK etc.
ShadownINja said:
I found a site with loads of them and started thinking, "What's the point in saving up for a £2k IWC?" And the answer is...
I tend to agree. Do you need a Chronometer, and do you need better thasn +-30 secs per day? You can buy an awful lot of Parnises (Parni?) for the cost of a proper Portuguese, if it breaks after a while, you've not lost much.As with cars, clothes and women, my attitude is that if you like it, go for it, and bugger what other people say.
I've just ordered a Parnis Venezuelan, by the way
Doofus said:
ShadownINja said:
I found a site with loads of them and started thinking, "What's the point in saving up for a £2k IWC?" And the answer is...
I tend to agree. Do you need a Chronometer, and do you need better thasn +-30 secs per day? You can buy an awful lot of Parnises (Parni?) for the cost of a proper Portuguese, if it breaks after a while, you've not lost much.As with cars, clothes and women, my attitude is that if you like it, go for it, and bugger what other people say.
I've just ordered a Parnis Venezuelan, by the way
). The only let down was the strap which felt too cheap so I put a chunky one on instead. I am now finding it hard to justify bothering to save for the IWC.ShadownINja said:
Well, I wanted an IWC Vintage Aviator (white faced). I think it's about £7k which is way out of my league. So I got an Aeromatic instead. Now, I don't know if the IWC is COSC and I'm certain the Aeromatic is not COSC but the Aeromatic gains +/-3s a day at the moment and feels suitably heavy (heavy means quality, right? ). The only let down was the strap which felt too cheap so I put a chunky one on instead. I am now finding it hard to justify bothering to save for the IWC.
Likewise. I had an IWC on my wishlist (and I very nearly bought one), but I've gone for quantity over quality, style over substance. I have a couple of Aeromatics, a Tauchmeister, a Parnis on the way, a Russian 24 hour, something I'm probably not allowed to mention, and a Citizen EcoDrive. My intended purchase of a Hamilton Air Race has been supplanted by a pergola and grape vine. ). The only let down was the strap which felt too cheap so I put a chunky one on instead. I am now finding it hard to justify bothering to save for the IWC.Everything but the Citizen is/will be on an aftermarket strap. Shoes maketh the man. Strap maketh the watch
Edited by Doofus on Thursday 4th March 16:25
Ikemi said:
Yep (he says quoting you on that ) if you go to the website there's a link to an eBay shop. Shipping from HK and quite promptly too...The similarity of many of their designs to well-known Swiss brands is enough to put me off, to be honest. I have a bunch of friends who are watch geeks and they'll see it just like me - initially from a distance I'll think you're wearing an IWC / Panerai but when you get closer and I see the 'Parnis' logo I'll realise it's a cheapo Chinese knock-off. And be a bit disappointed.
Weirdly enough I'd rather buy a replica (they're made with the same components from the same factories, largely) if I wanted the look of a particular well-known Swiss brand but didn't want to pay the money (e.g. if I actually really liked the design of a particular watch but hated that brand's business practices or some other 'ethical' issue) - not defensible in any way, but hey-ho the world isn't black and white.
However, if Parnis are using Sea-Gull movements then you *should* be OK with the quality of the movement. Sea-Gull are in the top three of the Chinese mechanical movement manufacturers and make some expensive watches of their own (and a couple of home-grown proper tourbillons, which are rather nice, even though they end up in expensive replicas, sadly). A properly serviced and regulated Sea-Gull movement should be as accurate as any non-chronometer grade Swiss or Japanese movement, in general. If Parnis have just chucked the movement into their cases without any QC then there'll be trouble down the line, but as with replicas, I always advise that you take the back off these Chinese watches, inspect the movement and at least lubricate the automatic rotor (a usual weak spot).
There are a lot of other Chinese factories making movements which are utter rubbish, there are even clone factories making cheap knock-offs of Sea-Gull movements. I'd expect Parnis are using real Sea-Gull movements, and they're well known so if you get attached to a particular piece and it breaks down, you can get it serviced and fixed easily enough. At the price point it's expected to be just chucked away but as I said, sometimes you get attached to a watch and don't want a replacement.
If you're lucky you'll get one with Sea-Gull's clone of the ETA 2892 or 2836 movement - Sea-Gull do a copy of the ETA, and it's pretty much parts-interchangable and good quality. There's a Swiss company that imports Sea-Gull movements, puts on their own rotor, polishes the plates a bit and re-sells them as 'Swiss Made' movements... it's dodgy business but the quality of the movement isn't really in doubt.
Weirdly enough I'd rather buy a replica (they're made with the same components from the same factories, largely) if I wanted the look of a particular well-known Swiss brand but didn't want to pay the money (e.g. if I actually really liked the design of a particular watch but hated that brand's business practices or some other 'ethical' issue) - not defensible in any way, but hey-ho the world isn't black and white.
However, if Parnis are using Sea-Gull movements then you *should* be OK with the quality of the movement. Sea-Gull are in the top three of the Chinese mechanical movement manufacturers and make some expensive watches of their own (and a couple of home-grown proper tourbillons, which are rather nice, even though they end up in expensive replicas, sadly). A properly serviced and regulated Sea-Gull movement should be as accurate as any non-chronometer grade Swiss or Japanese movement, in general. If Parnis have just chucked the movement into their cases without any QC then there'll be trouble down the line, but as with replicas, I always advise that you take the back off these Chinese watches, inspect the movement and at least lubricate the automatic rotor (a usual weak spot).
There are a lot of other Chinese factories making movements which are utter rubbish, there are even clone factories making cheap knock-offs of Sea-Gull movements. I'd expect Parnis are using real Sea-Gull movements, and they're well known so if you get attached to a particular piece and it breaks down, you can get it serviced and fixed easily enough. At the price point it's expected to be just chucked away but as I said, sometimes you get attached to a watch and don't want a replacement.
If you're lucky you'll get one with Sea-Gull's clone of the ETA 2892 or 2836 movement - Sea-Gull do a copy of the ETA, and it's pretty much parts-interchangable and good quality. There's a Swiss company that imports Sea-Gull movements, puts on their own rotor, polishes the plates a bit and re-sells them as 'Swiss Made' movements... it's dodgy business but the quality of the movement isn't really in doubt.
ShadownINja said:
Doofus said:
ShadownINja said:
I found a site with loads of them and started thinking, "What's the point in saving up for a £2k IWC?" And the answer is...
I tend to agree. Do you need a Chronometer, and do you need better thasn +-30 secs per day? You can buy an awful lot of Parnises (Parni?) for the cost of a proper Portuguese, if it breaks after a while, you've not lost much.As with cars, clothes and women, my attitude is that if you like it, go for it, and bugger what other people say.
I've just ordered a Parnis Venezuelan, by the way
). The only let down was the strap which felt too cheap so I put a chunky one on instead. I am now finding it hard to justify bothering to save for the IWC.I've had 3 watches off this guy - one broke after 3 weeks and was replaced with no arguements
http://www.jacksontse.com/homagehome.html (photos on the website are terrible)
They even custome build - e.g. my daughter wanted a Pan lookalike but the one she wanted was only in SS, but I wanted it in Titanium case (she's only 10 so SS would have been a bit heavy. They did it no problem). I also wanted one of mine with sapphire crystal and they did that as well.
hers but in titanium and now with pink croc strap. the carbon fibre look face is really good.
Edited by sparkyhx on Friday 5th March 11:10
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