MWC Yay or Nay? Cheap daily beater

[caelite]

Hey folks

Looking for a new daily beater after my old VERY tired Casio G-Shock is being retired, mainly due to its now dead battery. Being as I do spanner monkey work for a living I tend to ruin everything I wear so looking for something hardy, the old Casio lasted me a good decade, I've had it since I was in School, back when you could pick them up for £20,but to be honest the new 'upmarket' ones just don't appeal to me as much anymore.

Been looking at field watches, around 35mm sized under £150. I initially found with this budget I could JUST scrimp a base model CWC G10 which have a fairly good reputation for being tanks. However after browsing about I found its sister the MWC G10 which tend to sell widely lower than their RRPs meaning I can pick up a top of the line example with glass crystal, titanium casing and tritium lume within budget. (http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/MWC-G10-100m-GTLS-Titanium-Hybrid-Military-Watch-May-Need-Capacitor-Recharge-/112255244170?hash=item1a22ef178a%3Ag%3A0ckAAOSwiDFYMY0L&_trkparms=pageci%253Aca7fabc2-42e8-11e7-9427-74dbd1807e40%257Cparentrq%253A4a4f3b3615c0a888ac7383f0fffeaffd%257Ciid%253A)

I have been struggling to find honest reviews though, everything I read seems to come from either MWC owners who swear by them or CWC owners who absolutely slate the cheaper watch. Just wondering if anybody here has any experience with them.

Any other recommendations are welcome too, I have also been looking at Vostoks as I know they have a reputation for making cheap, but robust watches. Also Pulsars which are the Seiko subbrand which I believe now supplies the British army.

[Fallingup]

It's not the watches they sell. I'm sure they're fine for what they are (rubbish). It's the company behind them. They are the Walt of watch companies. Pretending to be something they are not. They claim to have millitary connections but don't and sell CWC lookalikes that are much inferior. I would avoid out of principal. If you want more info then look at the TZUK website and put MWC in the search box. Why not look at Seiko. They do some millitary style watches and would be much better quality. I could be wrong but I don't think there is any company that supplies watches to the British armed forces these days. People just buy their own. The CWC G10 is a great watch. I have several. But to be honest, I don't think it is robust enough for millitary use. Pulsar make good watches and they were supplied to the MOD for a while. Issued ones reach silly prices these days despite, I believe, there being a problem with the RAF issued ones. There were rumours of them coming apart during flight, leaving bits of watch floating about the cockpit. This may not be an issue for you. The MOD don't always buy the best equipment for the job. They're more likely to buy from the cheapest tendor. I would look at Seiko and Citizen watches. I'll shut up now.

Edited by Fallingup on Sunday 28th May 19:57

[caelite]

Yeah Fallingup.

I done a bit of reading after making this post and came to a similar conclusion, the MWCs are made to a pricepoint with skeptical quality. However I have found an army surplus store stocking 'Grade A used' and 'unissued' quality CWC G10s for £95-£145. With the all important Tritium lume (I love this!). I am strongly considering picking up one of the A grade £95 examples as I really wouldn't mind a few minor marks as I will probably do worse myself.

My only worry is if they are 20-30 years old (description on the unissued ones hints that they are Gulf war era) that the GLTS tubes will be knackered. EDIT: Its a tritium paint on the old CWC ones, which my friend has just said is easily replaced. Very tempted to order one!

This is the example cited if anyone knows anything about them: http://www.anchorsupplies.com/cwc-g10-quartz.html

Edited by caelite on Sunday 28th May 21:22

[Fallingup]

caelite said:

Yeah Fallingup.

I done a bit of reading after making this post and came to a similar conclusion, the MWCs are made to a pricepoint with skeptical quality. However I have found an army surplus store stocking 'Grade A used' and 'unissued' quality CWC G10s for £95-£145. With the all important Tritium lume (I love this!). I am strongly considering picking up one of the A grade £95 examples as I really wouldn't mind a few minor marks as I will probably do worse myself.

My only worry is if they are 20-30 years old (description on the unissued ones hints that they are Gulf war era) that the GLTS tubes will be knackered.

This is the example cited if anyone knows anything about them: http://www.anchorsupplies.com/cwc-g10-quartz.html

Edited by caelite on Sunday 28th May 20:26

If it's good lume youre after then forget the G10. Have a look at Traser watches.

[E91 Gaz]

I'm currently getting rid of a load of cwc g10, varying ages from 97 to 2004. All with brand new Phoenix straps and batteries fitted.

Feel free to pm me should you fancy one and we can discuss.
Obvisiouly this isn't a sales pitch 😉

[caelite]

E91 Gaz said:

I'm currently getting rid of a load of cwc g10, varying ages from 97 to 2004. All with brand new Phoenix straps and batteries fitted.

Feel free to pm me should you fancy one and we can discuss.
Obvisiouly this isn't a sales pitch ??

Was 30seconds away from ordering one when I spotted your message, sent you an email.

[Fallingup]

The G10 doesnt have Tritium tubes. But it seems your mind is made up. You can lead a horse to water ..........

[caelite]

Fallingup said:

The G10 doesnt have Tritium tubes. But it seems your mind is made up. You can lead a horse to water ..........

Yeah I edited it into my original post, I had just figured that since the higher end MWC G10 was GLTS that the CWC G10 was tubes, but it is paint, I just love the idea of the isotope base lumes. I am looking at Traser's as well but they do very few models sub £150 & there are not a huge amount of used ones on eBay.

Edited by caelite on Sunday 28th May 21:33

[AlexC1981]

Vostoks are durable considering they have mechanical movements, but a quartz watch is always going to be tougher.

If night time viability is important to you, you can't beat Timex Indiglo. What about one of their Ironman range?

[Jimmy Recard]

If you're looking for tritium tubes, save up for a Marathon GSAR or TSAR

[caelite]

Job jobbed.

Bought one of E91 Gaz's CWC's for a good price, fits my tiny, powerfully built, girly, director wrists perfectly

Edited by caelite on Wednesday 31st May 18:31