Looking for ideas - Swiss Watch

niamhzie

Hi,
I'm in the market for my first "big girl" watch.
My tastes are usually chronographs, or something a similar size, not a fan of the dainty ladies' watches, or too many jewels. Leather or metal straps, it doesn't matter.
This Summer I'll be working in Switzerland, so I'd like to invest my first payslip on a watch over there. My budget would be about 200, hopefully less, or maybe more for something absolutely beautiful.
My question is; are there any Swiss watchmakers within my price range, or am I better off finding something in Ireland?
Thanks!

Monty Burnz

niamhzie wrote: »

Hi,
I'm in the market for my first "big girl" watch.
My tastes are usually chronographs, or something a similar size, not a fan of the dainty ladies' watches, or too many jewels. Leather or metal straps, it doesn't matter.
This Summer I'll be working in Switzerland, so I'd like to invest my first payslip on a watch over there. My budget would be about 200, hopefully less, or maybe more for something absolutely beautiful.
My question is; are there any Swiss watchmakers within my price range, or am I better off finding something in Ireland?
Thanks!

Well, most of what you can find in Ireland will be Swiss brands or Japanese anyway. You won't save any money buying in Switzerland.

niamhzie

ok, but what I meant was, are there any mid-price brands to look for? All I've been able to find myself are the likes of Tag Heuer or Omega... Can't afford to spend thousands, sadly

Monty Burnz

niamhzie wrote: »

ok, but what I meant was, are there any mid-price brands to look for? All I've been able to find myself are the likes of Tag Heuer or Omega... Can't afford to spend thousands, sadly

You could try Tissot, maybe? Unfortunately, €200 doesn't go very far in watch terms these days unless you join the WIS community in appreciating Russian mechanicals...

Darwin

Yes, Tissot are a good bet if you are looking for a sporty chronograph, the T-Race versions are quite nice, but retail closer to 400 euro upwards. Here are few examples by way of illustration:

http://www.thewatchhut.co.uk/tissot-watches/tissot-t-race.htm
(this link also shows mens watches)

You would probably get the best prices on ebay, but will have no manufacturers warranty as most ebay sellers are not official dealers.

Bullseye1

Switzerland is extremely expensive. Might be cheaper to buy in duty free since your flying to a non-EU country. Tissot, Certina would fit your bill and budget.

Continent Simian

You can't go wrong with a Swatch. They've come a long way from their first plastic fashion watches and now seem to own most of the big Swiss brands.

Here is a selection of their chronos:
http://eu-shop.swatch.com/GB/EN/Watches/Irony/collection_Chrono-S36.aspx

Switzerland is expensive, but they do get some designs before everyone else. Might be best to buy in duty free on the way home, if you are sure you want to buy it there, rather than here.

Monty Burnz

Continent Simian wrote: »

You can't go wrong with a Swatch. They've come a long way from their first plastic fashion watches and now seem to own most of the big Swiss brands.

Well, as I understand it, a conglomerate that owned many of the large brands launched Swatch to compete with cheap quartz watches coming from Japan in the 80s. They are still pretty much the bottom of the heap in Swiss terms - but you don't have to buy a Swiss watch to get a good watch by any means. In fact, you'll probably get a better watch for the same money by buying from somewhere else due to the 'Swiss' premium...

CarltonBrowne

You might get something for your budget if you go vintage. My experience of watch-shopping in Switzerland usually involves window-licking the boutiques at the airport plus the occasional wander down Bahnhofstrasse in Zürich however I did spend a little time looking in a shop (can't remember whether it was a pawn-broker or one of those "we buy gold" places) in Neuengasse in Bern a few years ago. They had quite a few Omegas and Tissots in the CHF300-500 range and there might have been some wiggle room; can't comment on whether they needed a service or not. Now ten years ago (from a Euro or GBP) perspective these would probably have been quite reasonable as the Swiss franc was about 2.2 to the pound but at the current 1.5/1.6 it's an absolute killer.

Anyway, viel Spaß and all that. Remember it's your duty to visit as many Swiss watchmaking museums as possible, take pictures and post them here .

Bullseye1

You might also pick up a nice pre-owned Hamilton Kaki Chrongraph for around €350-€400. I'd be inclined to save alittle more and pick up a quality piece.