Help me decide between watches

[radix]

First of all, as a general rule, don't buy watches by fashion designers. They have cheap movements, or are quartz. I'd buy a watch that was either automatic or manual, and stay away from the quartz movements. Try an Omega speedy. For most watch enthusiasts it'll get more respect than the Tag's will, and it be more unique, with more history. Tags can be considered a high end fashion watch, IMO, akin to Movado. There are exceptions of course.

[xrayos]

#3 looks like a Omega Speedmaster.

[RonJon]

Originally Posted by anmcguire

First of all, as a general rule, don't but watches by fashion designers. They have cheap movements, or are quartz. I'd buy a watch that was either automatic or manual, and stay away from the quartz movements. Try an Omega speedy. For most watch enthusiasts it'll get more respect than the Tag's will, and it be more unique, with more history. Tags can be considered a high end fashion watch, IMO, akin to Movado. There are exceptions of course.

I am not a watch aficionado but I dont think anyone that has a little bit of knowledge of watches will compare a Tag to a Movado. To me the Tag is a BMW and Movado is a Benz.

I do agree with your rule of staying away from designer watches.

From your knowledge/experience does Omega keep better time then the Tag? Most sites that I've looked at always praise both and non really say anything bad about either. (not talking about quartz of course).

I think Tag gets the main-stream image because of their advertising, which doesn't necessarily make it a lesser quality, or fashion watch.

[radix]

BTW, I'm not saying all Heuers are bad. Here's some quick history on the speedy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonwatch

As a former speedy owner, I'd recommend getting a NASA strap and taking the bracelet off the watch and setting it aside. Because of the different finishes for the different parts of the bracelet it's extremely difficult to buff out scratches/refurbish. Given the history of the watch, a NASA strap would be entirely appropriate. The bracelet itself runs $600 - $700 to replace.

If you have a speedy, and don't follow this advice the brushed metal on the clasp can be cheaply refurbished using a green scotch-brite pad. The crystal is made of hesalite plastic, and although it scratches more easily than sapphire, it's far easier to repair. Scratches in the crystal can be gently polished out using Maas metal polish.

[radix]

Originally Posted by RonJon

I am not a watch aficionado but I dont think anyone that has a little bit of knowledge of watches will compare a Tag to a Movado. To me the Tag is a BMW and Movado is a Benz.

I do agree with your rule of staying away from designer watches.

From your knowledge/experience does Omega keep better time then the Tag? Most sites that I've looked at always praise both and non really say anything bad about either. (not talking about quartz of course).

I think Tag gets the main-stream image because of their advertising, which doesn't necessarily make it a lesser quality, or fashion watch.

The Heuer = BMW/ Movado = Benz analogy really doesn't work. The Heuer F1 has a quartz movement. Any quartz will keep better time that an automatic or manual, all day, every day. I'd argue that really is not the issue when buying such a watch. The automatic/manual will drift a couple of seconds each day compared to the quartz, but the overall quality of the watch will generally not be as refined. If you want a quartz watch, by all means buy the F1.

The carrera uses an Heuer caliber 16 movement, based off of the Valjoux 7750 movement which is more common than the movement in the speedy.

The speedy uses the Lemania 1874/Omega 1861 movement.

http://www.ofrei.com/page624.html



Personally, although the speedy is a manual, I still consider it to be more watch for the money.

[Interlude]

I know a place that will sell a brand new Carrera for approximately $2K.



edit: no tax if you pay cash. Authorized Tag Heuer dealer.

[radix]

Gray market speedies you can get for $1800-$2000. White market speedies will go for $2200-$2400 IIRC. The difference between the two is a two year warranty. Personally, I've always bought gray market where possible, these watches were built to last. YMMV, and there's a risk buying gray market of course.

[RonJon]

Originally Posted by anmcguire

Gray market speedies you can get for $1800-$2000. White market speedies will go for $2200-$2400 IIRC. The difference between the two is a two year warranty. Personally, I've always bought gray market where possible, these watches were built to last. YMMV, and there's a risk buying gray market of course.

You seem like you know a thing or two about watches.

What makes the Speedy movement superior to the Carrera?

I've been looking in the for sale forum @ watchuseek.com and some people are mentioning percentages, I think they are refering to how well the watch keeps time. I mite be wrong on this but some of them are only rated 95%-87% which is bad in my opnion for a $2000 watch. I have a feeling that I am wrong / misinformed so please shed some light on this.

Thanks

[easyman]

Tag carrera

[chicagolab]

Omega Seamaster , Quartz model if you want to save money. Get tons of compliments from friends with more expensive watches. Buy from an authorized dealer

[DP8]

try timezone.com
more information than you will ever need. they have forums for pretty much every brand and people there are very knowledgeable/informative. They love watches like we love BMWs. anyways Omegas are a classic watch and that would definitely be my vote! the Speedmaster in the picture is a manual wind though so you may want to check out a Seamaster. Also just a a funny tid bit of info the Speedmaster was the watch Nasa issued to their astronauts and went to the moon!

[clickclickboom]

Grande Carrera. If that is out of the price range, check out the Hamilton Khaki's.

[zaxjax]

Anything made by Tag

I have three and love all of them

[etmathews]

I wear the Rolex Submariner.

If you don't like Rolex checkout the Breitling Navitimer. That will be my next purchase.

[PeteW84]

I own #2 and love it.

[radix]

Originally Posted by etmathews

Check out the Breitling Navitimer.

Great watch, and I would have suggested it, but it's probably a bit out of the OPs price range if he's considering the Carrera.

To the OP, As regards the Omega Caliber 1861 (Lemania 1873) vs. the Heuer caliber 16 (Valjoux 7750). From a practical/functional perspective, both will keep similar time with a certain amount of drift every day (~2-4 seconds). The Heuer is an automatic, which means it will wind itself as you wear it. The speedy movement is a manual, you will have to wind it every 2 days as it has a 48 power reserve IIRC. The real differences are 1) fit and finish (workmanship), 2) history, and 3) exclusivity. The speedy wins in all categories IMO. The valjoux is one of the most common movements out there in low end automatic watches, the Omega movement is not as common (although still not rare). To go back to your analogy, think of it as having an unmodified Toyota engine in your BMW. It's a great engine, works well, get's great gas mileage, but there's nothing particularly special about it.

BTW OP, I'm not trying to sell you on anything, just present options and information. E.g. a manual watch isn't for everyone. I just think if your spending $2000 for a watch, you should really shop around and try to get the most for your money, whatever brand that ends up being.

[RonJon]

Originally Posted by anmcguire

Great watch, and I would have suggested it, but it's probably a bit out of the OPs price range if he's considering the Carrera.

To the OP, As regards the Omega Caliber 1861 (Lemania 1873) vs. the Heuer caliber 16 (Valjoux 7750). From a practical/functional perspective, both will keep similar time with a certain amount of drift every day (~2-4 seconds). The Heuer is an automatic, which means it will wind itself as you wear it. The speedy movement is a manual, you will have to wind it every 2 days as it has a 48 power reserve IIRC. The real differences are 1) fit and finish (workmanship), 2) history, and 3) exclusivity. The speedy wins in all categories IMO. The valjoux is one of the most common movements out there in low end automatic watches, the Omega movement is not as common (although still not rare). To go back to your analogy, think of it as having an unmodified Toyota engine in your BMW. It's a great engine, works well, get's great gas mileage, but there's nothing particularly special about it.

Cool, I appreciate the explanation.

Well I just came back from the mall and there is no way I am going to spend $1000 on the F1, its just not worth it in my opnion.

The Carrera I love but they wouldn't go lower then $2900 which is well above my budget. I also tried a Hamilton (Cant find a pic for it) and I really liked how it looks, but in my opinion its not worth $1100.

The Only Omega's they had were all non-chronograph, and I really want a chronograph. My plan is to head down to Michigan or NY on Friday and see if I can get a good Omeag or Carrera for about $2000.

I was going to try on the Oris's but I am just not drawn to them.

If you guys have any more recommendation on other models, stores, brands pelase share!!

[RonJon]

By the way has anyone on here dealt with retailers in either Michigan, NY, or Ohio?? Those will be my top 3 destinations for Friday.

[MTV]

#3

[flyinbrian]

[QUOTE=The_Blob;3690834]You can buy inexpensive high quality replicas that look exactly like the real thing. When I see someone with an expensive looking watch, I will always assume that it's fake.

You can usually tell if the watch is a fake by looking at the person not the watch.

[TK-421]

Go with the Carrera. I had it for about 2 1/2 years old and it was perfect. I think the face size is perfect and it looks very clean and sophisticated without drawing too much attention to itself. Mine was the white face and silver band, but I sold it about a month ago. I paid $1400 for it new at Avant Gold in Tampa. I'm in the process of aquiring this as its replacement:

[RonJon]

Well I called a few places in the Clevland area and this is what I got,

the ML is listed @ $2900 and I was able to get 20% off over the phone, so maybe in person I can get a little more. This was an indipendant retailer by the way.

Jared's had the Tag Carrera listed for $2700 and the sales guy reassured me that their prices are the best amongst their comptators and he wouldn't budge, he also went on tell me that they've sold 7 Carreras over the weekend. I doubt they will go down to the $2000 region.

By the looks of it the small mom & pop shops are more flexable on pricing then the larger chains.