# Newbie, Thoughts On Value Swiss Watch



## Raz-jnr (Mar 1, 2010)

Afternoon everybody,

I have been a reader of this forum for ages, but have finally signed up and decided to buy my first swiss watch for my birthday.

Now after hours and hours of reading forums, i feel like my head is about explode and that im not getting any further in my quest for a new swiss watch.

I have always been a lover of watches, but not until my Grandad gave me his Garrard Automatic Watch, (cant get pic to attach) have a i appreciated the beauty and engineering involved in a nice automatic swiss watch.

I am looking for a good value watch upto Â£500, open to suggestions on style (Divers, chronograph, dress watch)now i know that im not going to get a Rolex, Omega, Breitling for this price, im after some advice from you guys who know there stuff from someone who is learning. I have been looking at Christopher Ward watches as well, thoughts on these are welcome as well

Many thanks in advance

Lee


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## PaulBoy (Dec 2, 2007)

Welcome Lee - You wont be suprised to know this question comes up alot - From the Swiss watches you mentioned you might just get a used Omega but it will be an older auto or newer quartz for Â£500 - There are other Swiss watches you could look at for that money though (probably used again but as long as you trust the seller - like here - you should be ok) - Two divers I would recommend you look at would be the Longines Hydroconquest and the Oris TT1 both of which I have owned recently - Both imho give the Omega Seamaster a good run for its money!

If you look away from Swiss there are lots of good German brands around like Stowa, Archimede & Steinhart who all do divers / pilots / chronos etc - Most of them use Swiss movements in their watches so if you like the look of them dont be put off by the fact its not a Swiss watch - The same can be said of the higher end Seiko watches (very well respected here)

HTH ... Paul :thumbsup:


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## Raz-jnr (Mar 1, 2010)

PaulBoy said:


> Welcome Lee - You wont be suprised to know this question comes up alot - From the Swiss watches you mentioned you might just get a used Omega but it will be an older auto or newer quartz for Â£500 - There are other Swiss watches you could look at for that money though (probably used again but as long as you trust the seller - like here - you should be ok) - Two divers I would recommend you look at would be the Longines Hydroconquest and the Oris TT1 both of which I have owned recently - Both imho give the Omega Seamaster a good run for its money!
> 
> If you look away from Swiss there are lots of good German brands around like Stowa, Archimede & Steinhart who all do divers / pilots / chronos etc - Most of them use Swiss movements in their watches so if you like the look of them dont be put off by the fact its not a Swiss watch - The same can be said of the higher end Seiko watches (very well respected here)
> 
> HTH ... Paul :thumbsup:


Thanks Paul,

I dont mind getting a pre-owned or vintage omega, i like the look of the Longines and the Oris ones, what do you think of the Christopher Ward watches?


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## mrteatime (Oct 25, 2006)

Raz-jnr said:


> what do you think of the Christopher Ward watches?


very well made, which i didnt realise until i actually handled one.....good variety of models, with some excellent movts and specs....also seem to be good value for money too


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## PaulBoy (Dec 2, 2007)

Raz-jnr said:


> PaulBoy said:
> 
> 
> > Welcome Lee - You wont be suprised to know this question comes up alot - From the Swiss watches you mentioned you might just get a used Omega but it will be an older auto or newer quartz for Â£500 - There are other Swiss watches you could look at for that money though (probably used again but as long as you trust the seller - like here - you should be ok) - Two divers I would recommend you look at would be the Longines Hydroconquest and the Oris TT1 both of which I have owned recently - Both imho give the Omega Seamaster a good run for its money!
> ...


Oops sorry I forgot to mention that







- Like MrTT I've had my hands on a few CW watches - Well made using good Swiss movements & customer service is excellent - If you find a style you like then they offer great value & when you get it & decide you don't really like it you've got 60 days to decide (great idea that) - You also get some bargain in their 'Nearly New' section which is presumably watches that have been returned by people who did so under this guarantee (?)

Paul


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## Guest (Mar 5, 2010)

Hello Lee,

I agree with Paul regarding Christopher Ward. The watches are made to a high standard, and as a customer you will be well looked after by the company.

In terms of new watches that will fit your budget, Victorinox offer an impressive range, most if not all with Swiss movements, some automatics. I have two and they are very nicely put together. You did say you were open minded as to style, so you could also have a look at Torgoen. They are pilots watches, with the flight computers etc. so have a rather busy dial but are nicely made and quite unusual of to your tastes (though I am not sure they offer an automatic).

There are a bewildering number of brands out there. If I can suggest that you narrow your choice down my deciding the following:

1) automatic or quartz

2) chronograph or not

3) any other features (e.g. date, day/date, second time zone, etc.)

Perhaps you have already made these decisions, but this process will greatly reduce the range of possible watches, and also ensure that you are comparing like with like.

Good luck and let us know what you choose.

Chris


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## Raz-jnr (Mar 1, 2010)

chrisb356 said:


> There are a bewildering number of brands out there. If I can suggest that you narrow your choice down my deciding the following:
> 
> 1) automatic or quartz
> 
> ...


Thanks for the replies guys,

1) Def want am automatic, im an engineer by trade so cant help but admire the work thats gone into the automatic watches.

2) Not Chronograph

3) Like date on it as a minimum, anything else is a bonus

off topic a little, im trying to post a pic of my Garrard Auotmatic watch i have, but cant seem to get it to work, once i pressed insert image, the box comes up but its half on page and half on, any ideas

Thanks


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## PaulBoy (Dec 2, 2007)

Raz-jnr said:


> chrisb356 said:
> 
> 
> > There are a bewildering number of brands out there. If I can suggest that you narrow your choice down my deciding the following:
> ...


Re the pic issue before you upload to whichever site is hosting your image make sure it is no bigger than 800 pixels on the longest side (sounds like yours is much bigger?) - You might also be able to edit the size of the pic online where your pic is hosted (look for an 'Edit' feature when viewing your image)

Paul


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## Raz-jnr (Mar 1, 2010)

Right this see if this works 

My Garrard Automatic, given to me by my grandad










What do you think?


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## Michael B (Mar 2, 2010)

Hi,

Based on your British lbs. amount, and their laws, (very strict about buying/selling), I would suggest that you may consider going to several pawn shops

to see what they offer! And ...Do not buy the first watch you like! Go have a cup of coffee and check out more pawn shops!

But at some point you will be compelled to buy a watch...just be slow, cool, they may offer you a discount!

Hope this helps,

Michael B.

PS. This is my first reply on this forum.


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## Phillionaire (Jan 23, 2010)

Nice Garrard there Raz. As Paul said there's some great watches that use swiss mvmt, that can be had cheaper than some of the bigger name swiss pieces. I'm saving my pennies for a Steinhart marine chronometer as we speak.

I'm always finding a new brand that interests me, or some quirky style that I want to buy. The more you learn, the more pieces you want to own. Get out now, while you still can... :derisive:


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## Andy the Squirrel (Aug 16, 2009)

Raz-jnr said:


> Right this see if this works
> 
> My Garrard Automatic, given to me by my grandad
> 
> ...


Nice watch, could do with a clean, have you had it serviced? would be worth doing.


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## MrBen (Jan 2, 2010)

Hi. Another newbie here  both myself and my other half got Christopher Ward watches in the new year - a C3 and a C5. Both from the nearly new section and they were as new when they arrived. We also had a Henley (Sorry, can remember the number) but it wasn't for us (my girlfriend wanted it but it was huge on her and I'm not in to gold) so sent it back on the 60/60 guarantee which was easy and the customer service was great.

With the 60/60 deal you can take a risk on some thing and try it for a while - you've nothing to lose  based.on your requirements, from memory you'll want to look at the c5, the Henley, the c8 (the pilot watch) or maybe have a look at the forum limited edition (you'll have to look on the cw forum for that one).

Hope that helps. I'm on my phone atm so its a bit difficult to check I got all the numbers right. Modern technology huh


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## msq (Feb 18, 2010)

Resell value on vintage watches is generally quite good, so you won't be losing too much if you change your mind after a couple weeks. Plus you don't need to be worried about scratching it the first time cuz it probably has a few already!


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## Damian (Jan 22, 2010)

One more vote for Christopher Ward. The C8 is what you would be after or maybe the C5 Aviator. There is a C8 Mrk2 coming out soonish, no actual release date yet though.


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## allaction (Jan 15, 2008)

I really like the Oris divers watches. Great quality and plenty of wrist presense. If you haggle hard enough you should get one for not far off your budget (I was quoted 55% off a Chronoris yesterday from an AD but have overspent recently!) or defo second hand off the forum or the bay.


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## Raz-jnr (Mar 1, 2010)

Thanks for all the replys guys,

My Garrard as far as i know has never had a service and its nearly 30 years old, ( i cant believe it either), going to get it done sorted next week.

Anyway back to the watches, as this watch business is totally confusing but constantly enthralling, i have looked more at the christopher ward watches, but the auto ones dont really jump out at me.

I think the style im leaning towards is more of a diver, (maybe chronograph if price is right) and steel bracelet.


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## Fatlemon (Mar 3, 2010)

Another Newbie, I've recently purchased a Christopher Ward C40 Speedhawk using a Swiss made Valjoux 7750 movement. It is a lovely watch and one I would recommend looking at. However, it is large and I would think hard about it if I had small wrists (one day after the diet?) The 60 day warrantee is great for piece of mind.


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## kc104 (May 1, 2009)

For 500 pounds, hmm -

Pre owned Omega seamaster quartz

Longines hydro auto (600 pounds rrp)

Oris formula 1 (pre owned)

Ball engineer (tritium dial - e.g. lumes for around 20 + yrs)

Tag forumula 1 (one of their basic models)


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## BGM (Jan 21, 2009)

TAG 2000 auto :thumbsup:


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## Raz-jnr (Mar 1, 2010)

I think i have nailed down what i want now, its going to be a Full size auto seamaster, i know i probably wont get one of those for Â£500 so my budget has increased to around Â£800, so fingers crossed one of you guys might want to get rid of one or i find one on the web.


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## flyingpigmy (Feb 6, 2010)

Haha love it!

I did exactly the same thing - decided I wanted a nice automatic watch for a certain price and when I got around to looking I ended up upping my limit twice! I'm still saving the pennies!

I looked at the CW watches, they seem unbelievable value for money considering they're swiss movements but for me don't really have the charm of some of the more prestigious makers.

I think you've made a good choice in the Omega inho.

Happy hunting!


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## Dunnster (Dec 28, 2009)

Good luck, let us know how you get on


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