Something the OP may not have considered is the cost/schedule of maintence. Typically I take my pieces in every 3-5 years and service runs $300-500 for a good, proper cleaning and a polish. This period between servicings would be longer if say you get an omega co-axial or you can avoid this altogether by getting a quartz. Also if you plan on having multiple watches, you must consider you will do with them when they are not being worn. Are they in an autowinder? a box? Are you going to wind them every night if they are a manual?

Personally I keep the two watches I am going to wear for the week in an autowinder and the rest in a watchbox. I have a quartz beater(Omega x-33) I use as a reference to set unwound watches.

 

that's a huge price range.

what i am afraid of is that you don't really know what you want/are looking for and you jump head first with a lot of money out of your pocket.

if i were you, i would first think about what i want/need/looking for: auto vs quartz, dress vs sports, good value or luxury brand name, something unquie or most recognizeable brand, etc.

you can find a watch that you want for much less than your price range

but here's my $0.02

Kobold offers great military look but will cost you some pretty $$ (i personally think they don't worth the money but you have to pay for exclusivity as well.)

Seiko offers great mid to upper sports line and great top of the line Grand Seiko. they are a lot of watch for the money. Seiko also have their spring drive which is best of both auto and mechanical world. (think of it as a auto movement with quartz accuracy)

Sinn offers high tech (design and material) auto watches as well

 

you don't need to service a mechanical watch every 2-3 years, especially if you aren't wearing it every day. They really don't need servicing until they start to run slow or erratic, and that would be more than five years in most cases. You might bring it in to get polished more often, but in that case, everyone's mileage will vary.

And a service doesn't need to cost $300-500 either. It depends on who does the servicing and what they do. A simple disassemble and cleaning will be cheaper than service plus adjustment, and obviously polishing would add to the price. A person would do better to ask their local watch shop how much for routine servicing. Adjustment costs vary depending on many factors (how many positions, the person doing it, etc.).

It's a good bet that a more expensive watch can cost more for routine servicing, but I wouldn't expect to pay that more than once every five to ten years.

 

That was a typo on my part. I was meaning to say 3-5 years. I can see your point about longer intervals between servicing, but I've had problems with a few of my older watches needing more attention so I'd rather be more proactive in their upkeep. Price can be lower than the what I mentioned for more simple movements, but there are few watchmakers I trust after a few botched jobs. There is a good read at timezone about servicing - http://forums.timezone.com/index.php...oto=2181&rid=2

 

Razzle-dazzle!

 

Hey didn't realize the thread had gotten bigger...

Right now I'm strongly considering the Breitling Blackbird. Anyone have that one?

 

^ good watches, but i find them to look too "jewellery-ish"....

i buy my watches based on the criteria of:

can i wear it with jeans and a with a tux?? it needs to look "at home" in both situations....

 

You heard right. Their guts arent that great for their price. For that money, get a nice Omega.

 

buy one with an exchangeable strap to fit the mood.

 

^ i wasn't just referring to the strap.

for example, a friend has the brietling with the yellow face....i can't see that going with a nice tux....in my mind, it looks out of place.

yet it would look perfectly fine with jeans.

my daytona or sub or speedmaster looks comfortable in either sitch.