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Amazing and purposeful looking thing no doubt!
One could get Favre Leuba right up to the '70's at very nice prices.

Now they've relaunched themselves at eye watering prices after reinventing themselves.

Makes you want to don your jungle boots and hat and stomp off into the wide blue yonder to poke about in the desert or forest in search of some likely ruins or artefacts OR else wriggle into your diving suit, and waddle to your boat and leap into the shimmering seas in pursuit of some innocuous creature of the deep.

But playing Indiana Jones or Captain Ahab as the case may be, is not so easy for a desk pilot like myself, for sheer lack of time and consequently I would think twice. Moreover the colours too,( for my kind of use) are a bit 'flash'.

Prefer the slightly understated time pieces these days!

I suppose they are more subtle looking in reality. I do wonder why they are so secretive about the caliber underneath.

Most mainstream Swiss brands use generic movements for their less expensively priced products. Mostly these movements are from ETA.
Similar to the Fiat MJD engine being used across a variety of car brands.
ETA movement is owned by Longines.
Surprisingly Tag Heuer's Calibre 5 movement is constantly being compared to Seiko's Prospex as are both these watches as well; and no clear winner has emerged.

After a certain level, one would wish to enjoy one of those specialist movements in an automatic watch which is why one seeks some of these lesser known, quieter, understated prestige or luxury watch brands.

The pleasure of these is for one's own self mostly. What the world may think, is not necessarily a prime motivator.

I was looking for a smart watch and chanced upon Fossils Cory Richards Q Marshall. So far its working well .

ETA is under Swatch just like Longines. as per my understanding

Another interesting caliber would be from Eterna (chinese owned). Their chronograph 39 in Super Kontiki is much more efficient than Valjoux and Seiko ne88. (The two most popular chronograph calibers). ALso at one point ETA was part of Eterna.

What I will say is that my son got his Longines Quartz serviced and fixed by Swatch Delhi. Only this is that water proofing is not guaranteed, since the case could not be replaced. Thanks to SS_Traveller for putting us on to them.

My Speedmaster Pro of 1975 Vintage is still with them, and they have said it may even be two to three months till they get the spares. You may find it hard to believe that the Original Cash Memo (Kunz, Geneva) and warranty card are still with me. Fingers (and toes) crossed.

Why does on buy a Premium watch, quality, and a degree of snobbery. Today even a ₹200 digital quartz is equally or more accurate.

No worries, the waterproofing would probably be at par with the original, except it hasn't been tested after repair. The Omega should take lesser time than originally estimated, but some parts will come all the way from Switzerland.

Here's my very waterproof Longines!

Some more pics of my Raymond Weil Tango which i bought earlier this month.

There is a certain connection and feel with mechanical watches that watch collectors love compared to a Quartz. I do not believe that only SWISS ETA mechanicals are worthy for a collection. Just have a look at some fantastic calibers from Miyota (Citizen and also used in HMT's), TMI (Seiko), Orient (Seiko owned), Eterna (used to own ETA) and a few others.

To compare a complex Mechanical chronograph, a TMI NE88 movement beats the Valjoux 7750 black and blue in a competition and the Eterna (Chinese owned but Swiss) caliber 39 goes even further and beats NE88 black and blue.

We now have phones to keep time, who even needs quartz watches anymore?

I am a self confessed watch loony and searching for a burgundy or dark brown leather strap (no ultra fancy alligator/reptile bands) for my black Seiko Kinetic Perpetual SNP045P1. Link to photo:http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/iipcache/159095.jpg

The replacement should preferably be a strap with a curved end at the strap lug so it fits flush with the watch just like the black Seiko strap does.

Do any of you know where I can buy high quality leather straps in India? For e.g. from Hirsh, Hadley Roma etc.

Good brands, both of them. I do believe I noticed a couple of Hirsch bands on Amazon India, but of course, the choice was extremely limited. Hadley Roma is, as far as I know, not available in India, other than on a few sites like eBay India (not sure about their provenance though). eBay India does seem to have quite a few options for Hadley Roma.

However, do check out www.strapsco.com, which is a American retailer which ships worldwide. They have a neat and extensive collection and i just love their vintage style/disctressed straps. They charge a shipping fee, though.

Thanks, I'll check them out. At first glance I don't see any curved end straps. Maybe I need to dig a little deeper or contact them for information.

Hadley Roma and Hirsh are available on Amazon India/US and I am thinking of buying directly from Hirsh Austria via their e-commerce site. Let me take a look for the best option available.

If you're not so particular about branded leather straps, I strongly suggest that you check out aliexpress. Have bought a couple of leather straps from the same and they're very VFM.

I have brought a Hirsch strap from Titan earlier - not sure if they still sell them though, but worth a try.

--Anoop

Hey thanks chaps. :thumbs up

I'll check out Aliexpress & Titan too. And no, I am not too hung up about buying only branded US/European straps. As long as the strap quality is good I am fine and if it happens to be less expensive then that's a bonus.

For all I know the factory fitted calf leather strap was also made in China :D And it has a deployment clasp (AKA "deployant" by some) instead of a buckle. These are used with leather straps to make them last longer.