Opinions on Raymond Weil at the £1500-£2000 price range

[kmpowell]

After getting my Rolex DateJust stolen, I have been set on getting a Datejust II as a replacement, but the savvy side of me says why not save a lot of money and buy something around the £1500-£2k mark.

With that in mind I've looked around, but nothing has so far caught my eye or even remotely floated my boat.

Then this afternoon I stumbled across this by accident...

http://www.raymond-weil.com/EN/Mens-Watches/Freela...

The steel on steel black face and simplicity of the piece really makes it stand out from all the other brands in the same price range. I think it's gorgeous!

But, at near £2k it's on the top end of the Raymond Weil scale, so I wanted to ask here on their opinion of RW. Am I better off sticking with the ubiquitous Omega or Tag, or is this a worthy price tag?

Thanks in advance

[onlynik]

If you like it and can spare teh money, then why not. It's a nice enough watch, but is it worth 2K? I'm not a great fan of teh brand, however I like this watch, except for the screw on the LHS.

[RichTT]

IMHO I wouldn't be spending that sort of money on a RW. Just don't rate them that much.

[LordGrover]

Very nice looking watch IMO.
If you like it try a little negotiating with a couple of dealers - you may be pleasantly surprised.

[Ikemi]

RichTT said:

IMHO I wouldn't be spending that sort of money on a RW. Just don't rate them that much.

+1

I'm not hugely keen on the brand and I'd gawp at spending £2K on one! I'd be looking at the second hand market, which opens you up to a massive range of options. Blowers, Chronomaster and Chrono24 stock pre-owned, unworn watch, which gives you the best of both worlds; An unmarked watch with quite a saving.

The RW you've posted looks very nice though and if you like it, go for it The only aspects I'm not too keen on is the screw on the left hand side and the 3-date window, just 'cos those things would annoy me with time

ETA: Just as an example, this sold for £2K via Blowers ... http://www.blowers-jewellers.co.uk/steel_zenith_el...

Edited by Ikemi on Tuesday 27th March 20:49

[kmpowell]

Thanks all, I think you've confirmed my gut feeling. A lovely looking piece, but "special" enough to warrant the £1700-£2000 price tag.

In truth I know deep down I want the DJII, but for some reason I keep looking at cheaper alternatives which will allow me to bank the difference. Pre-owned seems a good bet.

[jonny70]

You have PM

[hilly10]

I think if you bought it then found you did not get on with it,come to flip it I would see heavy losses. It is nice though

[Miguel Alvarez]

Which DJ did you have before? Was it a smaller one or the newer 41mm version? I'm sure you could pick up a second hand one for the £2k range.

[DS3R]

I like it.

But having held the 38mm Auto Date shown below it on that page, I came away thinking.... it was not as substantial as I like. Now having owned Zenith where the same can be true, that's not necessarily a problem, however I couldn't help but feel it would be hard work to move it on.

If you're not in a rush, I'd just wait until Ernest Jones price it down- which they will do sooner or later, as they appear to do with RW/ Citizen/ Seiko pretty much on rotation, so somewhere in at least one of the displays there will be a red ticket suggesting anything from 20- 50% off the RRP.

Everyone will do it sooner or later:

http://www.chrono24.com/en/raymondweil/freelancer-...

[LordGrover]

DS3R said:

I like it.

But having held the 38mm Auto Date shown below it on that page, I came away thinking.... it was not as substantial as I like. Now having owned Zenith where the same can be true, that's not necessarily a problem, however I couldn't help but feel it would be hard work to move it on.

If you're not in a rush, I'd just wait until Ernest Jones price it down- which they will do sooner or later, as they appear to do with RW/ Citizen/ Seiko pretty much on rotation, so somewhere in at least one of the displays there will be a red ticket suggesting anything from 20- 50% off the RRP.

Everyone will do it sooner or later:

http://www.chrono24.com/en/raymondweil/freelancer-...

Link above in GBP ~ £1,024 click.

[DS3R]

LordGrover said:

Link above in GBP ~ £1,024 click.

Ickzackly why I posted it. I'd rather someone else took a bath on this myself, so it would either have to be heavily discounted (like this- but seriously, EJ will price it like that sooner or later), or pre-owned. And at 50% off RRP, why would you go pre-owned?

[kmpowell]

Miguel Alvarez said:

Which DJ did you have before? Was it a smaller one or the newer 41mm version? I'm sure you could pick up a second hand one for the £2k range.

I had a 2006 116200, but I wouldn't want another because I always felt it was slightly small (even for my skinny wrists), so I am happy there is the new DJ2 with larger face.

Having dismissed the RW idea, I am continuing my hunt.