# Just For Fun - How Would You Rank These Watch Brands?



## JustWatchMe

Hi all,

Since my wife said she will kindly buy me a nice watch for my birthday a few months ago, I have been fascinated with watches â€" especially mechanical watches. So muchg so that I have a stack of watch catalogues which I flick through on a daily basis and I am trying to spot the sub dial configurations of similar ETA movements!

I recently found a basic system of categorising watch brands according to their average model. I am aware that some brands have their higher quality â€˜masterpiece collectionsâ€™ and such but bear with me on this..

The system uses the rough categories of;

[1] High-End Luxury watches, e.g.

A Lange and Sohne

Ulysse Nardin

JLC

[2] Luxury watches, e.g.

Rolex

Breitling

Omega

[3] "Pseudo luxury" watches, e.g.

Tag Heuer

Raymond Weil

[4] Basic Luxury. e.g.

Fortis

Oris

Lets add a 5th category-

[5] â€œStandard but good qualityâ€ watches, e.g.

Seiko

Now, I feel that I am quite familiar with the â€˜high streetâ€™ brands and where they fit in the general scheme of things. I am not so familiar with the lesser known brands discussed on here by watch aficionados.

I know the answers will be personal and subjective, for my own benefit- *where would you place the following brands in the scale above?*

Maurice Lacroix

Longines

Sinn

Bulova

Glycine

Hamilton

Choppard

Bell and Ross

Nautica

Panerai

Stowa

[plus any other you care to mention]

Cheers,

JustWatchMe


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## VinceR

From your list (IMHO):

[1] High-End Luxury watches, e.g.

-

[2] Luxury watches, e.g.

Chopard

Panerai

Breitling

[3] "Pseudo luxury" watches, e.g.

Maurice Lacroix

Longines

Sinn

Glycine

Hamilton

Stowa

Bell and Ross

[4] Basic Luxury. e.g.

-

[5] â€œStandard but good qualityâ€ watches, e.g.

Bulova

Nautica

Although a few in cat [3] could cross-over into cat [2] .. an interesting task & I'm curious to how others will rate them ..


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## Stuart Davies

[1] High-End Luxury watches, e.g.

1.JLC

2.IWC

3.OP

4.LA L&S

5.PP

[2] Luxury watch e.g

1.IWC

2.Rolex

4.Breitling

3.Omega

[3] "Pseudo luxury" watches, e.g.

2.Tag Heuer

3.Raymond Weil

1.Longines

[4] Basic Luxury. e.g.

5.Fortis

4.Oris

1.Sinn

3.Stowa

2.Doxa

6.Certina

Lets add a 5th category-

[5] â€œStandard but good qualityâ€ watches, e.g.

1.Seiko

2.Citizen

3.Casio

4.Rotary

5.Bulova

6.Timex

7.Swatch

Hey...but what do I know?


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## Toshi

I don't know whether you should put Seiko as low as you have. They don't just make monsters and 007s you know, the Grand Seiko line is very high quality with in-house movements, certainly on a par with Omega and Rolex IMO


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## jasonm

Toshi said:


> I don't know whether you should put Seiko as low as you have. They don't just make monsters and 007s you know, the Grand Seiko line is very high quality with in-house movements, certainly on a par with Omega and Rolex IMO


Agreed, but wouldnt you say Grand Seiko is a separate brand?

The parallel is I guess the Swatch group with different brands under the same umbrella or dont you think Seiko distances itself enough from the GS line to be a separate sub-brand effectively?

They also have the Credor line which adds to the confusion....


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## JonW

yeah Jase it is confusing to lump Seiko in there... the MM and the SD600m are Seiko, not GS.... theyre easily on a par with Tag/B&M/Omega etc


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## JustWatchMe

JonW said:


> yeah Jase it is confusing to lump Seiko in there... the MM and the SD600m are Seiko, not GS.... theyre easily on a par with Tag/B&M/Omega etc


All good comments about Seiko...

I understand that they have a range of higher quality timepieces (spring drive, etc) but I was grouping them via their most common/popular models

i.e. Seiko Monster, Seiko 5. (I own a Seiko 5 which is a great watch and I am certainly not trying to knock the brand!)

As I said at the start, many of these brands have their masterpiece collections, where they punch above their weight but for this excercise I was thinking of their most popular models-

Omega (Seamaster, Speedmaster)

Breitling (Navitimer, Chronomat)

Seiko (Monster, Diver)

etc.


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## Vincero

In no particullar order for each category:

High End Luxury:

- Patek Philippe

- Audemars Piguet

- Breguet

- Jaeger Lecoultre (Modern revival)

- Chopard

- A lange and Sohne

- Girard Perregaux (Modern revival)

- Blancpain

- Montblanc

Luxury:

- IWC Schaffhausen

- Omega

- Rolex

- Grand Seiko (and of course the Marine Master)

- Panerai

- Breitling

Pesudo Luxury:

- Tag Heur

- Maurice Lacroix

- Longines

- Raymond Weil

- Ball

- Bell and Ross

Basic Luxury:

- Oris

- Hamilton

- Sinn

- Fortis

- Doxa

- Debaufre

- Archemide

- Stowa

- Certina

Standard but good quality watches:

- Casio

- Timex

- Swatch

- Seiko (standards)

- Rotary

- Citizen

- Fossil

- Bulova

- Nautica

That was a hard list, its arguable that many cross over. =)

Thanks,

Vincero


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## Parabola

I'm gonna do it a bit differently, I'll put it into where the brand sees itself and prices itself, and then the second number is where I see it and where it would be priced had it not been for marketing.

Patek Philippe (1, 1)

Audemars Piguet (1, 1)

Breguet (1, 1)

Jaeger Lecoultre (2, 2)

Chopard (1, 2)

A lange and Sohne (1, 1)

Girard Perregaux (1, 2)

Blancpain (2, 2)

Montblanc (1/2, 3)

IWC Schaffhausen (2, 2)

Omega (3, 3)

Rolex (2, 3)

Panerai (3, 2)

Breitling (3, 3)

Tag Heuer (3/4, 4)

Maurice Lacroix (3, 4)

Longines (3, 4)

Raymond Weil (3, 4/5)

Ball (3, 3)

Bell and Ross (3, 3/4)

Oris (4, 4)

Hamilton (4, 4)

Sinn (4, 3/4)

Fortis (4, 3/4)

Doxa (3/4, 3/4)

Debaufre (4. 5)

Archemide (4, 4)

Stowa (4, 3/4)

Certina (4/5, 4/5)

Casio (5, 5)

Timex (5, 5)

Swatch (5, 5)

Seiko (5, 4/5)

Rotary (5, 5)

Citizen (5, 5)

Fossil (5, 5)

Bulova (4/5, 4/5)

Nautica (5, 5)

Difficult that one clearly if the first number is higher than the second number then I think they make good watches for the money, hence for people who know me, its obvious I favour Sinn, Fortis, Seiko and Stowa, where as I'm not particularly impressed by Montblanc, Raymond Weil, Chopard, Bell & Ross, Maurice Lacroix and Tag Heuer.


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## tomshep

Oh what fun! Room for all sorts of controversy and squabbling so deal me in.

Top end:

Patek,

JlC

Good stuff:

Longines = Omega

Good but over priced:

Rolex

Worth considering:

IWC

Not worth considering:

Breitling, Tag, Chopard, Oris, Raymond Weil, Girard Perregaux, Corum Panerai, and all the other Johnny come lately bling brands.

Good value:

Seiko, Orient.


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## mjolnir

tomshep said:


> Not worth considering:
> 
> Breitling, Tag, Chopard, Oris, Raymond Weil, Girard Perregaux, Corum Panerai, and all the other Johnny come lately bling brands.


Don't go beating around the bush like that. Just come out and say what you really think :lol:


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## mattbeef

Sorry but i dont get the point of what your doing really.

I buy a watch based on a few things.

1) The design

2) Build quality

3) Purpose

4) Movement

5) Price

At the end of the day if you really like/want something but your put off because of the brand name then that makes you a snob doesnt it? I mean there are plenty of people on here who have some stunning high end watches but will quite happily slum it up with a Seiko every once in a while :tongue2:

Or maybe i just dont get it all


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## Ventura

[1] High-End Luxury watches

Patek Phillipe,

Audemars Piguet,

Vacheron Constantin,

Breguet,

George Daniels watches,

JLC,

BlancPain,

A. Lange..

[2] Luxury watches

IWC,

Rolex,

Panerai,

Omega,

Glashutte,

Breitling...


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## minkle

I hate these questions









And Oris a 'bling' brand :huh:


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## JustWatchMe

mjolnir said:


> tomshep said:
> 
> 
> 
> Not worth considering:
> 
> Breitling, Tag, Chopard, Oris, Raymond Weil, Girard Perregaux, Corum Panerai, and all the other Johnny come lately bling brands.
> 
> 
> 
> Don't go beating around the bush like that. Just come out and say what you really think :lol:
Click to expand...

Interesting this..

Since many brands just buy in the standard ETA movements and implant them into their own cases, it appears that the price differences is either down to-

a) R&D costs as to which case design is most water resistant etc (Breitling?)

B) Excess maeketing telling the world how special their watches are (Dare I say, Tag?)

c) Just profiteering, sticking a high price on to stick the uninformed into thinking their watches are somehow special (erm.. Raymond Weil? - please dont shoot me!)

I'm interested by the fact that many of you guys praise the lesser know brands. I see hardly any of you flashing Breitlings (I am still after a Navitimer though) and favour watches that you just dont see on the high street.

Any other suggestions for the brand rank?


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## jaslfc5

this is easy to catagorise :

anything in the gq watch suplement or international watch magazine is high end (have you seen some of the garbage in there worth 300k)

watches of switerland or shops of that ilk - is luxury (many variations around the country but if they look you up and down first and all they sell is omegas and rolex they are in this bracket)

and affordable or standard - h samuels etc (home of the beeters and good honest watches)

thinking about it seiko is probably the only brand that could cover the whole spectrum really from youre basic right up to the spring drive ,spacewatch grand seiko thats pretty awesome you have to agree.

jason.


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## wristwatch

I modify into three categories

[1] Luxury

Glycine

Choppard

Longines

[2] â€œWorkâ€

Panerai almost luxury

Sinn

Hamilton Old or New Old is US new is Suisse

Bell and Ross

Bulova

[3] Lame or expensive watches with no basis in reality

Maurice Lacroix

Stowa

Nautica


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## BondandBigM

> [1] High-End Luxury watches, e.g.
> 
> A Lange and Sohne
> 
> Ulysse Nardin
> 
> JLC


I think you need to have a bit of a re classification, I would have said the above are up there but not really proper high end stuff.

If you are ever fortunate enough to get a trip to Singapore or HK go to this shop and you will see some eye popping bit's of kit, I asked to have a look at one in this shop just out of curiousity, price tag $S700,000 about Â£225,000 these are the real high end stuff, I tried a Jacob's & Co (stop laughing :lol Â£100K sterling, one of the shops in the mall had an at that time brand new 612 Ferrari for sale along with various watches and phones. A 911 Turbo was getting on for Â£200K over there due to the taxation.

This is high end


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## mjolnir

There are so many different opinions about where certain watches/makes fit in. I don't think they need to be pigeonholed like that. They're all just watches really. I'm surprised to see such strong feeling about certain brands like Stowa, Sinn and Oris though.


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## complications

mattbeef said:


> Sorry but i dont get the point of what your doing really.
> 
> I buy a watch based on a few things.
> 
> 1) The design
> 
> 2) Build quality
> 
> 3) Purpose
> 
> 4) Movement
> 
> 5) Price
> 
> At the end of the day if you really like/want something but your put off because of the brand name then that makes you a snob doesnt it? I mean there are plenty of people on here who have some stunning high end watches but will quite happily slum it up with a Seiko every once in a while :tongue2:
> 
> Or maybe i just dont get it all


I agree whole heartedly, just like people who pay over the odds for a rebadged cortina (x type!) and convince themselves that they're driving around in a real jag


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## mjolnir

complications said:


> I agree whole heartedly, just like people who pay over the odds for a rebadged cortina (x type!) and convince themselves that they're driving around in a real jag


Lovely car the cortina










I wouldn't say no to an x-type either.

You sound quite bitter. I don't think we need to drag car snobbery into a thread that's already verging on watch snobbery.


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## minkle

x-type was/is mondeo, but i didnt think ford had carried anything over from the cortina! :lol:

Anyway, stupid topic


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## BondandBigM

mjolnir said:


>


Nice motor, wouldn't mind having one of those tucked away in the garage for a Sunday afternoon


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## mjolnir

BondandBigM said:


> Nice motor, wouldn't mind having one of those tucked away in the garage for a Sunday afternoon


Not mine unfortunately 

I knew a guy who had one but got rid of it eventually and replaced it with an elise. Nice but didn't have the same appeal for me.


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## BondandBigM

Interesting that another thread on watches has thrown up cars again and I do think there is a comparison, a lot of of watch companies have historical links with motor sport and cars over the years. Heuer now Tag and Rolex are two that spring to mind. I'm always amazed when Tag's are put down, as the out of all makers they have a very long history with motor racing and make some fine watches.

Who can argue with one of these Carrera's or a Monaco or call them jewellery or a johnnie come lately :blink:


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## break-3

Yeah, there's a lot of unnecessary TAG bashing. I don't own one, but I'm not going to look down my nose at someone who does. Feels kind of like when a band hits the mainstream and suddenly they're not as good, even though they're making the same music. No, in fact, forget I said anything - I can't face another debate on whether TAGs are just overpriced because of their marketing. h34r:


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## JustWatchMe

So considering all the evidence from the Watch Forum expertsâ€¦

Oris are bling.

Omega are Pseudo Luxury

Panerai are not worth considering

and X-Types are cortinas.

Case closed. :blink:


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## jobseeker

Let's face it - they're ALL overpriced and over-rated. We like to justify our own personal choices I guess.


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## complications

mjolnir said:


> You sound quite bitter. I don't think we need to drag car snobbery into a thread that's already verging on watch snobbery.


I wasn't being bitter, you've missed the humor which was just intended as a similie satirising the effect of cognitive dissonance around such purchases.

Obviously the xtype is not based on a thoroughbred car like the cortina!! (RWD) but just an old Mondeo floorpan!!.

BTW you sound quite condescending and narrow minded or maybe I'm just reading too much into your lack of comprehension of my original post.

PS as a newbie to the site, thanks for the welcome


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## mjolnir

I wouldn't say narrow minded, in fact quite open minded. Especially regarding the appreciation of watches. Which is really what the forum is all about. I just don't get snobbery, inverse or not, on any level referring to either cars or watches. I just don't see the need to be honest.

I'm sorry to say I didn't give you a welcome. I must have missed your post in the 'introduce yourself' forum. I'm sure you'll fit right in though.

Mr Bond, I don't know how people try and put down any company with that sort of history. Some people just like to slate things. Like I said in the Rolex thread, Each company make a lot of watches. It seems a shame to write them all off just because of the manufacturers name. I'd like to try a Monaco sometime.


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## Guest

I like to keep things nice and simple -no complications -see it -like it buy it with nothing else to worry about :lol:


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## PhilM

Timetraveller said:


> I like to keep things nice and simple -no complications -see it -like it buy it with nothing else to worry about :lol:


Are you sure about that :huh:

What about the 710 :hammer:


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## Stanford

complications said:


> ......cognitive dissonance........


Own up - how many of you Googled this :lol:


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## mmmara

I am affraid that our feelings about watches and in which category they belong to, are highly effected by the marketing and commercials. I think it is bit of snobbism in it. (hey look i totally do not like these, but Bond have those so everybody will recognise them) :blink: Anyway I think I am spendig a lot of money on watch just because I feel somehow special about them. I do not care if they do not have the modernest movement in it as long as they make me feel just right when I got them on my hand. Therefore I do not give a s..t if somebody is going to categorised my watch like a overpriced stuff. Well it is his(her) choise to not buy the same ones. I would not buy RLT, but I would be quite happy to have basec Seiko if they make me feel good.


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## JTW

potz said:


> Stanford said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> complications said:
> 
> 
> 
> ......cognitive dissonance........
> 
> 
> 
> Own up - how many of you Googled this :lol:
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Not I - polemics leave me cold.
Click to expand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polemic

h34r:


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## complications

potz said:


> Not I - polemics leave me cold.


yeah they get all the best jobs these days but I'd heard that they're not good at fixing boilers!


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## BondandBigM

mmmara said:


> ( but Bond have those so everybody will recognise them)


If I am catching the wrong drift here I will stand corrected 

Surprisingly you are wrong, in actual fact most people think they are fakes, only a few people that really know me know that they are not. I didn't buy them just so as I could say "Hey Look at Me I've got a Rolex" far from it. I'm an engineer that in the first instance appreciates a quality bit of kit and secondly work in an enviroment which can be harsh on watches and if you noticed in one of my earlier posts I said I had went through several cheaper ones that didn't last the distance and also based it on the fact I have a mate in a similar line of work who's only watch for the last 25+ years has been a Rolex Sub. The GMT thing came from traveling a lot, round the world twice and some in the last 15 or so years and also having to know what time it was in other countries so that I could make phone calls to people without getting them up in the middle of the night.

In my humble opinion up to a point you do get what you pay for, Big M is happy as larry to buy three tops for the price I would pay for a decent shirt, the tops are in the bin but I still have the shirt. Although if you just took the actual value of a watch in parts you are well short of the asking price, you do have to factor in all sorts of other things that add to the final price plus a bit of profit for all the handlers along the way to you.

I know that the pair I have now will barring accidents last me a life time and cover my needs accordingly and if by some misfortune things go to a no day week I can punt them for a bit of beer money untill I get sorted out again, so my purchase of them was nothing to do with snobbery or showing off and niether was my summing up of the rankings.

Arguably I could have added the money up I spent on these two watches and bought a second hand Jaguar/Mondeo but it would be worthless now :lol: :lol:

When I am out on a Friday/Saturday night and I want a bit of bling I wear this and almost never either of the my Rolex's, about twice the size and weight at less than a third of the price, surprisingly still tells the time and it's bigger than the barman's in my local boozer  :lol: :lol:


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## complications

in the famous words of mr Sinatra "have you got live fish in those toobs!!!"

(assault on a queen)

not quite the politically correct film title these days!!!


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## mmmara

BondandBigM said:


> If I am catching the wrong drift here I will stand corrected
> 
> Surprisingly you are wrong, in actual fact most people think they are fakes, only a few people that really know me know that they are not. I didn't buy them just so as I could say "Hey Look at Me I've got a Rolex" far from it.
> 
> Well at least it looks like you do not follow every movie, that comes with Bond. Anyway I did not ment to be personal and am not saying the old pieces are bad, but I am not sure if they are still precise enough. And one more think obviously Rolexes are now quite popular for being faked as you mentioned so it means they became victim of their own popularity. Everybody tries to copy them something like Elvis.


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## BondandBigM

mmmara said:


> Well at least it looks like you do not follow every movie, that comes with Bond.


Only the original Bond but that's because *I am* the original Bond 

They tried to get me to reprise my original role by trying to bride me with one of these, I turned them down but kept the watch

:lol: :lol:


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## complications

potz said:


> :rofl:


you really need to get some hydrocortisone cream for your wrist


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## Guest

PhilM said:


> Timetraveller said:
> 
> 
> 
> I like to keep things nice and simple -no complications -see it -like it buy it with nothing else to worry about :lol:
> 
> 
> 
> Are you sure about that :huh:
> 
> What about the 710 :hammer:
Click to expand...

Cheers mate for a moment a had full control :down:


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