First "good" watch ?

Russman

Hi,

Newbie to watch buying here etc, so apologies if this has been covered before or if it makes no sense at all ! I'm looking at getting my first "good" watch - I realise that "good" is totally subjective.

Backround: currently I have a Certina DS Action quartz, the lume is awful on it but its grand, its nice. However I have it 3 years now and last year l left it in for a new battery and service which cost €150 or something, and now, 12 months later the battery has gone already, so I left it in for a new one and was quoted €80 but then got a call to say that they couldn't get the watch to work with the new battery so it had to go back to Certina for another service @ €150 and it will be 8 weeks before I have it back !! Those two services are pretty much what the watch cost in the first place.

Leaving aside the possibility that a well known jewellers are taking the p1ss, I'm considering getting a "better" watch that hopefully won't be costing me as much over time.

So, I was in a jewellers and they were showing me a Longines Hydroconquest and speaking very highly of it. Its automatic, looks decent and the price isn't too bad @ €1k. That said, it didn't really look anything special or excite me. Apparently its amongst the best bang for buck watches out there in that style though.

The other watch that caught my eye was a Tag Heuer Aquaracer, the quartz model. Looks wise I think it kills the Longines, but obviously that's a personal thing. However its at the very top end of the budget at c€1,400 so I'm wondering if its madness to spend that amount on a quartz ?

I don't know a whole lot about the hierarchy of brands, would Tag be better than the Longines at that level, or is Tag a bit of an overpriced fashion brand ? I could get the Longines, but its automatic so part of me thinks "why would I get an automatic that won't even keep accurate time ? I'd be as well looking at the sun each day to get the time". Then again when I think of the Aquaracer quartz, I'm thinking "yes its gorgeous, but my 10 year old Citizen will keep time just as good as that, and €1,400 is a lot of money".

As an aside, are main street jewellers the best places to buy a watch like these, or can they be bought legit and with warranty etc. cheaper online ? Is there any haggle room built into the advertised price in shop windows ?

Opinions welcome !

Nonoperational

Personally the Longines wouldn't do it for me. I suppose the one thing to consider is that with a "good" mechanical watch it will need a service every 5 years or so which could cost €500 or more if you go back to the brand.

I think €1400 is a lot for a quartz myself.

Re Tag, I think they are really upping their game recently and their reputation is improving.

An automatic is essential to be a proper good watch in many peoples opinions. A good one will be approximately 2/3 seconds fast per day so still very accurate.

If there was any chance you could stretch a bit further, this is a cracking watch from a trusted site. https://www.premiumwatches.com/tag-heuer-aquaracer-calibre-5-automatic-43mm-way201b.ba0927.html?c=1775

Russman

Nonoperational wrote: »

Personally the Longines wouldn't do it for me. I suppose the one thing to consider is that with a "good" mechanical watch it will need a service every 5 years or so which could cost €500 or more if you go back to the brand.

I think €1400 is a lot for a quartz myself.

Re Tag, I think they are really upping their game recently and their reputation is improving.

An automatic is essential to be a proper good watch in many peoples opinions. A good one will be approximately 2/3 seconds fast per day so still very accurate.

If there was any chance you could stretch a bit further, this is a cracking watch from a trusted site.



Thanks for that, much appreciated and makes a lot of sense.

That watch is very nice alright. Is that site reputable and safe then ? Significantly cheaper than shops over here.....

blue5000

I had my heart set on a hydro conquest until I tried one on. I think keep looking would be my advice, with your budget of 1-1.4k the world is your oyster, and if you are prepared to buy a nearly new watch, then you could look even further up the budget. The swatch shop in Kildare village is a good place to look, but they could be busy, and it's pot luck as to what they have in stock.

http://www.chrono24.com/ good place to compare prices here too.

Take your time, be patient, buying a watch is a slippery slope, you could end up with an obsession :eek: a dive watch or 3, a dress watch, a few vintage watches.......a couple of chronos, a quartz watch to set the time on all the other watches, a watch box, ok I'll stop now.

Nonoperational

Russman wrote: »

Nonoperational wrote: »

Personally the Longines wouldn't do it for me. I suppose the one thing to consider is that with a "good" mechanical watch it will need a service every 5 years or so which could cost €500 or more if you go back to the brand.

I think €1400 is a lot for a quartz myself.

Re Tag, I think they are really upping their game recently and their reputation is improving.

An automatic is essential to be a proper good watch in many peoples opinions. A good one will be approximately 2/3 seconds fast per day so still very accurate.

If there was any chance you could stretch a bit further, this is a cracking watch from a trusted site.



Thanks for that, much appreciated and makes a lot of sense.

That watch is very nice alright. Is that site reputable and safe then ? Significantly cheaper than shops over here.....

I purchased from that site. Had watch in 3 days and no issue with Omega warranty.

Frankie5Angels

Don't have much to offer in the way of advice on merits of TH's, but 1k is a bit much for the HydroConquest, is it not? I tried this one on in Kildare Village a while back, priced at 720 (you can see it on the snap).

Frankie5Angels

blue5000 wrote: »

I had my heart set on a hydro conquest until I tried one on.

OT, but curious: what didn't you like about it?

Russman

Frankie5Angels wrote: »

Don't have much to offer in the way of advice on merits of TH's, but 1k is a bit much for the HydroConquest, is it not? I tried this one on in Kildare Village a while back, priced at 720 (you can see it on the snap).

Thanks for that. That's actually far nicer than the one I saw where the 12, 6 & 9 were big oversize numbers. I must check out Kildare Village for prices too, I was literally just passing a jewellers the other day and walked in to have a look so I've no idea if they were rip-off prices or not.

Frankie5Angels

Russman wrote: »

Thanks for that. That's actually far nicer than the one I saw where the 12, 6 & 9 were big oversize numbers. I must check out Kildare Village for prices too, I was literally just passing a jewellers the other day and walked in to have a look so I've no idea if they were rip-off prices or not.

Yeah, I liked it and I prefer the 'new' version with the numbers all around as well. I think it was the 41mm size, so it's not massive either. The quartz was there as well and I think it was about 600/620, if you prefer quartzezez. As said above, though, it's a bit of a lottery as to what they have. I've emailed them (Hour Passion) and they're pretty quick to reply to tell you what they have in stock if you ask about a particular model number.

Deep Thought

wasn't a lad selling Aquaracer here for 1K?

http://www.adverts.ie/sports/tag-heuer-aquaracer-500m-ceramic/11938914

blue5000

Frankie5Angels wrote: »

OT, but curious: what didn't you like about it?

The bracelet.

Nonoperational

I think Tag is a clear step above Longines all the same. The new Aquaracer is a different beast from the older ones. It's really impressive in the flesh.

I never once regretted spending money on a decent watch. It gives great pleasure just looking at it.

Russman

Nonoperational wrote: »

I think Tag is a clear step above Longines all the same. The new Aquaracer is a different beast from the older ones. It's really impressive in the flesh.

I never once regretted spending money on a decent watch. It gives great pleasure just looking at it.

Thanks for that. Might have to take a really good/closer look at the Tag. I gather the quartz is a bit overpriced and the auto is the way to go ?

Nonoperational

In my opinion yes.

DuckSlice

I'm in the same boat as the OP, the website mentioned above is a good 200 cheaper on most watches that i have saw on the high street. I was thinking of going for a automatic, but i probably only get to wear my watch few times a year, so would this be a problem with an automatic?

thelizardking1

Firstly, you'd be absolutely mad to pay €1k for a Hydroconquest, if you really want one have a look on Chrono24 and you'll pick one up a lot cheaper.

If you're complaining about your current Certina being unreliable and expensive to service I'm surprised you're even looking at a Hydroconquest as they're all part of the Swatch group and all go to their service centre in Southampton for repair so prices will be the same across all the Swatch brands for servicing and repair.

I personally would never buy a Tag Heuer as they use a lot of generic movements and in my opinion are really overpriced for what you get.

The average person in Ireland doesn't have a clue about watches so if you're buying a "good" moderate priced watch to impress other people then Tag, Tissot or Longines are probably they way to go as they're all well known.

If you're looking for a genuinely well made Swiss watch and you like the look of the Hydroconquest and Aquaracer I'd suggest having a look at the Steinhart Ocean series of watches. The prices are a lot more reasonable and they use the same automatic movements as Longines and Tag.

I have personally owned a Hydroconquest and many Steinhart Ocean watches and I can tell you that they are both great watches.

Quality wise there is nothing between them. The Steinhart edges it a little with a better quality bracelet. The Longines will come come in a nicer box.

If you want quartz accuracy you can't beat the higher end Satellite Wave Citizens, although you will probably end up paying more for them than either the Longines or Steinhart.

Russman

Thanks for that ^^^^
Honestly I'd never even heard of Steinhart before, but after looking at their website, they're very nice, easily nicer looking than the HC or Tag. Definitely one to consider strongly.

unkel

And the lower priced Steinharts keep their value exceptionally well. Something the realist in all us watch fans need to take heed of. We buy watches but we don't keep most of them forever! Should you end up selling it, you shouldn't lose much money on it.

thelizardking1

Russman wrote: »

Thanks for that ^^^^
Honestly I'd never even heard of Steinhart before, but after looking at their website, they're very nice, easily nicer looking than the HC or Tag. Definitely one to consider strongly.

No problem. Just keep in mind if you do happen to pull the trigger on a Steinhart that they can be a bit slow to ship, depending on the time of year etc.. they only have a small team of employees. Their customer service is really fantastic, again they can be slow to reply to emails but they're very obliging if you do happen to have any issues.

ahlookit

Sorry if I'm bringing the thread OT here, but how would Steinhart compare to Stowa?

Was looking at Stowa a few years back, but the price seemed to shoot up by the time I got money together to buy one, so I never made the purchase. I like the look of the Steinhart Fliegers, and they are about half the price of the Stowas now.

thelizardking1

I've never owned a Stowa so I can't compare for sure.

Steinhart in general are excellent quality so I'm sure they'd stack up well.

Deep Thought

Having had many of both, Stowa are prob a bit better quality wise.
Stowa Customer Service is excellent

But they are more expensive, so bag for buck I would say the Steinhart is better.

Am looking at another Steinhart my self ..

I bought an auto Hydroconquest chrono in Kildare Village for approx €1100 last April (had a 15% off voucher iirc).

The bracelet is a bit of a non event which I like tbh. I love the thick case of the HydroC'

Personally I wouldn't consider a quartz Tag & Steinhart are too much homage for my liking (very subjective of course)........... I didn't want anything that looked like a Rolex and to me the Steinhart is too much Rolex lookalike. The GMT-OCEAN 1 BLACK looks stunning though. I also was really keen on a chronograph.

The fact Stenihart are Swiss Made though does present huge value.

I don't see myself buying another watch tbh, the HydroC' has quenched my thirst, I was 12+ months thinking about buying it so for me I know I really wanted it

I suppose the thing is if you really know what you want than you should be delighted with it whatever it is

I'm not at all a watch flipper, just wanted to buy a nice ish watch that I will hopefully enjoy for years.

Deep Thought

there is a lovely Blue Aquaracer WAY111C on TZ for £800

Russman

Deep Thought wrote: »

there is a lovely Blue Aquaracer WAY111C on TZ for £800

TZ ??

Russman

Russman wrote: »

TZ ??

http://forum.tz-uk.com/forum.php?

You can view Sales Corner if your post count is 50 or more and you have been registered as a member for 60 days or more. You can post in Sales Corner if your post count is 250 or more and you have been registered as a member for 180 days or more.

SpannerMonkey

Deep Thought wrote: »

wasn't a lad selling Aquaracer here for 1K?

http://www.adverts.ie/sports/tag-heuer-aquaracer-500m-ceramic/11938914

sold now but thanks for the mention

Fireblade77

+1 for the Steinhart. I have an Ocean one ceramic for the last 18months and i love it. Well i love divers, I know it's a homage but 99% of people i know never heard of a submariner.

art

Russman wrote: »

Hi,

Backround: currently I have a Certina DS Action quartz, the lume is awful on it but its grand, its nice. However I have it 3 years now and last year l left it in for a new battery and service which cost €150 or something, and now, 12 months later the battery has gone already, so I left it in for a new one and was quoted €80 but then got a call to say that they couldn't get the watch to work with the new battery so it had to go back to Certina for another service @ €150 and it will be 8 weeks before I have it back !! Those two services are pretty much what the watch cost in the first place.

Leaving aside the possibility that a well known jewellers are taking the p1ss, I'm considering getting a "better" watch that hopefully won't be costing me as much over time.

Opinions welcome !

Just to go back to this for a sec, that's outlandish behaviour from the jeweller. First off Certina is an excellent brand and very good value generally (but obviously every make can have a lemon so, nevertheless, you may have been unfortunate). However, a battery dying is a minor matter: to get a pressure test and guaranteed five year replacement battery from, for example, fast-fix (who are no cheap option themselves), would have been in the thirty to forty bracket. To have paid 300 in two years is completely ridiculous for any watch from any brand.

So, another thing then to bear in mind, buying an automatic Longuines or Steinhart etc in contrast will mean paying the full service cost on the watch, every five to ten years, depending how risk adverse you feel (i.e. It's not going to stop working at that point but it may begin to degrade). Also, there's no-one here in Ireland doing reliable services on standard automatics so it's likely they'll be going abroad, raising costs unfortunately. So cost wise the quartz option is cheaper (when you're not being taken for a ride!).

Ultimately, the rule of thumb with all these decisions though, is go with the one you like!

Russman

art wrote: »

Just to go back to this for a sec, that's outlandish behaviour from the jeweller. First off Certina is an excellent brand and very good value generally (but obviously every make can have a lemon so, nevertheless, you may have been unfortunate). However, a battery dying is a minor matter: to get a pressure test and guaranteed five year replacement battery from, for example, fast-fix (who are no cheap option themselves), would have been in the thirty to forty bracket. To have paid 300 in two years is completely ridiculous for any watch from any brand.

Yeah I always assumed Certina was a decent make and sat somewhere in mid table so shouldn't really have any major issues. I guess in my ignorance/naivety I felt I'd be better using the jewellers I bought it from for servicing/battery rather than a watch repair place like the one above on the middle floor in Dundrum. Lesson learned, but I'll probably wait to hear what they say about the watch (ie is it dead, repairable, faulty etc) before deciding exactly what route I go with a new one - will it be a replacement or an additional watch.
Still struggling to get my head round the whole auto vs quartz thing tbh. It's been quite an eye opener doing the research into different brands & models !