[asingh1977]

Started to wear this after a long time:

[Biohazard]

Hey guys, as a fellow watch enthusiast, it's great to see all the love for watches here. My brother and I, both collect watches, however, he's recently elevated his collection - the advantages of not being married, I guess :P

Here's my current collection:

Omega Seamaster GMT


Tag Heuer F1


Edouard Lauziers Tuscany


Casio G-Shock GA-1000-9BDR

[spookey]

I don't wear watches but of late i have been quite intrigued with automatics. So just got a chinese automatic from ebay to get familiar with the working and insides . Will open it up soon

[AtheK]

just picked this, PRS516







and then saw this too-->

https://www.ethoswatches.com/the-wat...-kohli-tissot/

[Gausum]

Hi Guys,

I am in the market for an automatic watch. My budget is between 30 to 50 K. Went through this thread a bit and understood a bit about the various brands, technology etc. All suggestions are welcome.

Presently own a Tommy Hilfiger automatic watch, however the watch stopped working a few days back.

[Saanil]

Originally Posted by Gausum

Hi Guys,


Presently own a Tommy Hilfiger automatic watch, however the watch stopped working a few days back.

Tommy Hilfiger is basically a fashion brand. I spoke to one person who has more knowledge than me on watches and he told me to stay away from Tommy Hilfiger. This was because I was interested in one of its watches which was selling at Rs 11k. My friend told me that the watch was probably worth just Rs 1k. There are many small time watch manufacturers in India who strike deals with such brands wherein the company will make the watches and companies like Tommy Hilfiger will just provide their branding. As far as quality is concerned, while they are not of very bad quality, they are not long lasting.

Watches are all about brands hence it is very difficult for a new company to make a big name here in a short period of time especially when there are established old firms. So firms need a strong brand name in order to make sure that their watch manufacturing business remains viable.

Please note that I have not personally verified this information but I kind of agree with my friend.

As far as suggestions are concerned, I think I can recommend Tissot. For specific options, you can go to website of Ethos (a watch retailer in India) and see the options as per your requirement.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by AtheK

PRS516

Nice watch. How much did it cost? Managed to get any minor discount from Ethos?

[AtheK]

Originally Posted by PPS

Nice watch. How much did it cost? Managed to get any minor discount from Ethos?

Thanks, mrp is 38200, got it for around 34000.

I bought it from theprimewatches.com

[Biohazard]

Originally Posted by Gausum

Hi Guys,

I am in the market for an automatic watch. My budget is between 30 to 50 K. Went through this thread a bit and understood a bit about the various brands, technology etc. All suggestions are welcome.

I would highly recommend buying either a Tissot, Citizen or Seiko as they're proper watch companies. If you can get your hands on a Hamilton, that'll work as well, though I'm not too sure if they're still officially available in India anymore.

[Gausum]

Originally Posted by Saanil

Tommy Hilfiger is basically a fashion brand. I spoke to one person who has more knowledge than me on watches and he told me to stay away from Tommy Hilfiger. This was because I was interested in one of its watches which was selling at Rs 11k. My friend told me that the watch was probably worth just Rs 1k. There are many small time watch manufacturers in India who strike deals with such brands wherein the company will make the watches and companies like Tommy Hilfiger will just provide their branding. As far as quality is concerned, while they are not of very bad quality, they are not long lasting.

=====

Thanks for the detailed response Saanil. The Tommy was a wedding gift. But lesson learnt, i will stay away from fashion brands.

Originally Posted by Biohazard

I would highly recommend buying either a Tissot, Citizen or Seiko as they're proper watch companies. If you can get your hands on a Hamilton, that'll work as well, though I'm not too sure if they're still officially available in India anymore.

I like the collection from Tissot. Had a look at Hamilton too and liked a few watches. Links to a few watches i liked are below.

http://www.downunderwatches.com/prod...51-mens-watch/
http://www.downunderwatches.com/prod...54-mens-watch/

Will check in Ethos for the Tissot collection and then decide which one to go for.

[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by Gausum

I like the collection from Tissot. Had a look at Hamilton too and liked a few watches. Links to a few watches i liked are below.

At your budget I'd say Longines, its 2 levels above Tissot. A watch buying that crosses the 10k mark would mean only one thing - best provenance/heritage for the price, and for this price Longines is a no-brainer.

Here's how I see it, quartz or automatic, it doesn't matter in the <Rs.100,000/- range, movements and in-house reputation kicks into relevance only the in heavyweight league. A watch is a basic, time-telling accessory and a Longines quartz can do it better than anything else. All the hype of in-house and manual-wind or auto-wind are just gas. I'm a hobby-horologist so I'm not contradicting myself, its just that I believe that the finer details of whether its in-house or not, if it has rubines or rubies, or how the movement is finished or what its rankings in the snob scale are, are best left to the >Rs.500,000/- league.

Here's a video of Georges Kern, exposing the reality of the luxury watch industry. Why his words are relevant is because he's the current CEO of IWC, ex-head and visionary of Roger Dubuis and marketing mind behind Baume and Mercier. A marketing genius and someone who knows how to get away even by saying the truth, heck I watched this video and I still love IWC (mostly because style wise they blow every watch out of the water, Pateks included).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOGlRNrdHQs

[Biohazard]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

At your budget I'd say Longines, its 2 levels above Tissot. A watch buying that crosses the 10k mark would mean only one thing - best provenance/heritage for the price, and for this price Longines is a no-brainer.

Longimes is a fantastic brand, though the only reason I did not mention it is was because the OP has asked recommendations for an automatic

Originally Posted by dark.knight

Here's how I see it, quartz or automatic, it doesn't matter in the <Rs.100,000/- range, movements and in-house reputation kicks into relevance only the in heavyweight league. A watch is a basic, time-telling accessory and a Longines quartz can do it better than anything else. All the hype of in-house and manual-wind or auto-wind are just gas.

I have to say I disagree with you here. Seiko makes some fantastic automatics, and most of them are sub 1,00,000. In fact, even their budget 'Seiko 5' movement will likely outlive it's owners ! I don't look down on quartz watches, but if someone wants a watch that will last a long time, I always recommend going for an mechanocal/automatic. My mom had picked up a Longines back in 2001, and while it was the most she had ever spent on a watch, it stopped working after a few years. We got the battery changed and though, it lasted another few years after that, it began to fail around 2014 (and it never really worked after that). She could get it fixed, but it'll mean she'll have to get the movement replaced, which will cost more than what she originally paid for the watch. Even my dad, who's not into watches at all, had a lovely Citizen given to him by my grand dad years ago. It worked without a hitch for 20 years - and then it stopped. A battery change didn't work and there was no way to 'fix' the movement. He now wears an auto that my brother gave him.

I have a Tag F1 (quartz), which my wife bought me for our first anniversary. It cost around 50k at that time and if I need to get it serviced now, it'll cost upwards of 10k, which IMO is a ridiculous amount to spend on a quartz watch. F1s now cost well over 1L, and I know when the watch does finally start giving issues, it will cost me an arm and a leg. Now, if it was an automatic, I could take it to any reputable watch guy and get it serviced for about 4-5k and forget about getting it serviced again for the next 10+ years.

I'm not saying a quartz watch won't last, but for anyone who's not a watch enthusiast, or doesn't like to spend on buying more than one watch - but plans on buying one that'll last - I would recommend going for a mechanical/automatic. 50k is a lot of money to spend on a watch, and if they do, they should buy one that'll last them for a long time.

(Now if it's for a woman, I'd always recommend quartz, but that topic is best left for a different day!)

[asingh1977]

Originally Posted by Biohazard

I have to say I disagree with you here. Seiko makes some fantastic automatics, and most of them are sub 1,00,000. In fact, even their budget 'Seiko 5' movement will likely outlive it's owners ! I don't look down on quartz watches, but if someone wants a watch that will last a long time, I always recommend going for an mechanocal/automatic. My mom had picked up a Longines back in 2001, and while it was the most she had ever spent on a watch, it stopped working after a few years. We got the battery changed and though, it lasted another few years after that, it began to fail around 2014 (and it never really worked after that). She could get it fixed, but it'll mean she'll have to get the movement replaced, which will cost more than what she originally paid for the watch. Even my dad, who's not into watches at all, had a lovely Citizen given to him by my grand dad years ago. It worked without a hitch for 20 years - and then it stopped. A battery change didn't work and there was no way to 'fix' the movement. He now wears an auto that my brother gave him.

Ya, I have a Seiko Bell-Matic, and it still works and the alarms rings true. I think they were last made late 60's or early 70's. It was my grandfathers (who also knew how to repair mechanical watches). I think he last serviced it back in 2000 -- before he passed away. I wear it with a NATO band.

[Biohazard]

Originally Posted by asingh1977

Ya, I have a Seiko Bell-Matic, and it still works and the alarms rings true. I think they were last made late 60's or early 70's. It was my grandfathers (who also knew how to repair mechanical watches). I think he last serviced it back in 2000 -- before he passed away. I wear it with a NATO band.

I still have an Omega that someone gave my grandfather in the early 60s. It was kept in a locker for about 20+ years. I got it out and had it serviced at a local (though reputed) guy. It runs like a charm.

[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by Biohazard

I have to say I disagree with you here. Seiko makes some fantastic automatics, and most of them are sub 1,00,000. In fact, even their budget 'Seiko 5' movement will likely outlive it's owners

I understand that Seiko has its fans worldwide, so none of what I say now would contradict that. However, to me, automatics and Seiko are kind of a hypocrisy, Seiko being the brand that adopted quartz technology first. To me it isn't about longevity either, unlike cars most watches, quartz included can go 15 years easily, subject to being serviced correctly every 5 years or so. I don't think anyone will hold onto a cheaper watch (<Rs.100,000) for even 10 years, I'd get bored of it in 5. More expensive, haute horlogerie watches? Sure, one can retain them for as many years as possible, such brands can earn double in resale if the watch is 20+ years old.

I also feel that quartz is for those who need a watch strictly for telling time, you don't need to keep winding it and worry about it stopping and resetting it if not worn for 2-3 days. Battery operated is the way to go in those cases.

For pure function over form with a budget - Quartz any brand
For pure function over form at a higher budget - Seiko
For form, function and prestige value - Haute Manufacture brands (not including TAG Omega or Rolex because all 3 mass-produce and have no complications expertise)