Help: I need a list of good watch companies to look at

Well, the key factor for this purchase is going to be based on the overall quality of the internal functioning in relation to cost.

I have been looking at Seiko, they appear to have some nice ones and I hear their watches are pretty solid.

Can I get a list of other recommendations?

There's many reliable manufacturers, you should narrow a bit your search criteria:

- price range
- mechanical or quartz
- sporty or dressy
- special requirements (e.g. tritium)


Meanwhile have a look at Citizen

http://www.citizenwatch.com/COA/English/intro5.asp

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EsthetiX said:

I have been looking at Seiko, they appear to have some nice ones and I hear their watches are pretty solid.

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In the seiko price range. Nothing crazy like rolex. I thought citizen and seiko are the same company? $100-400 and more dressy (I dont like sporty)

Anyway, I like the idea of automatic or kinetic (I don't really understand if the difference is significant between the 2). I hate having to replace watch batterys though.

I was looking at the s5's... I also kinda like how the back of it is see-through. Its really neat. Is this one any good? Any other recommendations based off this?

Seiko and Citizen are both Japanese but they are competitors.

If you don't want to have the problem of replacing batteries there's three possibilities:

- automatic: a rotor driven by gravity recharges a steel spring (old and well proven solution)

- Kinetic by Seiko: a rotor driven by gravity turns a tiny generator that charges a condenser; the latter powers a quartz movement

- Eco Drive by Citizen: a solar panel under the dial charges a LiIon battery that in turn powers a quartz movement


Having said that, Seiko 5 is a timeless classic with an excellent reputation. I am sure that you would be very happy with one of those.

Hmm, well what's the benifit of kinetic? I dont know enough so I'm assuming that automatic is obviously the better choice since you dont have to deal with a battery at all...

thanks for helping me. Those answers were great.

now to decide which of these 2....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260157191093

or

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=260173819670

The benefit of Kinetic and Eco Drive is that you have quartz accuracy and maintenance free operation without having to change a battery, ever. If you think this is not much......

As to the choice between Seiko types this is totally up to one's personal preference.

IMHO.. Marathon TSAR offers one of the best value for $$ spent. $450 from county comm. current military issue for our astronauts.

put away my Rolex submariner in favor of TSAR. chose quartz version otherwise it'd be duplicating submariner.
my current EDC watch for the last year is TSAR. Absolutely LOVE it!!!

found TSAR used in new condition on watch forums for $350. He purchased two TSAR's, one went in gun safe. wore other one. I ended up with one from gun safe.

TSAR in mechanical version gets pricey at $600. I'd look like at Seiko... an orange monster just sold on B.S/T for $110. just purchased for my 19 year od boy, an Pepsi Seiko for under $100. these have very rugged mechanical movements, but not too accurate. best bang for the $$$ for mechanical watches.

for a new mechanical watch.. I'd order a Yao custom seiko watch for aprox. $250.
http://www.time2watch.net/yao.htm

I'd go for the TSAR

EsthetiX said:

Hmm, well what's the benifit of kinetic? I dont know enough so I'm assuming that automatic is obviously the better choice since you dont have to deal with a battery at all...

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"Automatic" generally means what used to be called a "self-winding" mechanical watch. No battery, but it will need to be periodically serviced by a watchmaker (or replaced), and it can't match the accuracy of a quartz watch.
The service interval is specified by the manufacturer. Although you'll hear plenty of "I picked this up in WWII and it's never been serviced" stories, that's the exception. Some watchmakers advise having the watch serviced every three years, some say wait until it has a problem (usually losing time). :shrug: Dive watches should be pressure checked at least once a year, perhaps with a gasket replacement at the same time.

As discussed above the Seiko Kinetic watches charge a very long life energy storage module, as do the Citizen Eco Drive and the Solar Casio watches. The batteries or capacitors used in these watches can fail and need to be replaced (I've replaced one in a Casio solar watch, for example).

Mechanical watches are still around primarily because some people like the thought of a little machine running on their wrist keeping time. I fall into that category

If you don't need any exotic features, e.g. radio controlled ("atomic") time receiver, compass, barometer, etc. I'd recommend a long-life battery model. Casio and Seiko, among others, make basic time/date analog and digital watches with 10 year battery life, and I think other manufacturers do as well.

As for mechanicals, it's tough to beat the bang-for-the-buck offered by the Seiko 5 series or Seiko dive watches. You may have to order them from overseas, though. Lots of models to pick from.

If you want to invest a bit more money check out Hamilton mechanicals and I'll second cy's suggestions of Bill Yao's Mark II watches or a Marathon SAR series.

Regards,
Bob

I have an automatic Luminox watch and with the automatics you also really need to buy a winder if you don't wear it every day, otherwise it will stop running and you can reset the time and date before you wear it. Also, it keeps lousy time, gains 15 seconds a day, and would be very expensive to fix.

I just ordered this watch: Luminox Sea Diver Watch 1584 Blue Dial. LAPolice gear carries them but mine came from http://www.gemday.com/.
Luminox Sea Diver features:
SOLID Stainless Steel Case and Bracelet
Screw Back Case and Screw Down Crown
Tempered Scratch Resistant Mineral Glass Crystal
Unidirectional Rotating Elapse Time Diving bezel
Luminox Gas Illumination system guaranteed for 10 years
Orange Illumination Taser at 12 O'Clock Position
Water Resistant to 200 Meters (660 feet)
Multi Jeweled Swiss Quartz Movement
Solid Stainless Steel Link Bracelet with Butterfly Clasp
10 year Lithium battery life
High Polished Black, Midnight Blue or the new Silver Sunray Dial
DIMENSIONS:
Case Diameter 39 millimeters ( 42 millimeters with crown)
Depth (thickness) 12 millimeters

I really like the Taser tubes that glow for up to 25 years in the dark. They have a silver colored face version that I think looks pretty dressy. I was also impressed with the 10 year lithium battery. I have somewhat small wrists, and this watch is not huge like some of the others.

Hope this helps,
Terry

Invicta makes good watches in the 200-400 dollar range very similar to the Rolex Submariner . I've owned a couple but one got stolen and the other damaged at work so I wear a cheap watch now. But if I were gonna spend the money I would buy another Invicta without a doubt.

My Wife bought me the UZI protector from LA Police Gear. It has a nylon strap and the tritium vials are not that bad, alot better than I expected. I found that it actually had two more than I thought it had. It has two red for the 12 o'clock position, and one green vial for the three, six, and nine position.

The two unexpected vials are on the hour and minute hands. The minute hand vial is 3 times as long as the hour hand vial.
http://www.lapolicegear.com/uziprtrwabld.html

Mine is the protector with the blue dial. They also come in red, black, and yellow. This watch is a steal at 59.99 IMO.

LA also has the UZI Defender in stainless steel and titanium with even more tritium vails on this watch.
http://www.lapolicegear.com/uzih3dewati.html

I collect watches a bit and have them ranging from Casio solar quartz to Swiss and German automatics and manuals. It is very, very hard to beat Seiko or Citizen (I have an Eco Drive that is great) quality in a dress watch in the $100-$400 price range in my opinion. Probably impossible in fact. They just make an incredibly good watch for the price. I have a slight preference for Citizen, but they are both really good products. You can probably save a pretty good chunk of change getting them online, by the way.

Citizen watches? I love them...

javafool said:

I have an automatic Luminox watch and with the automatics you also really need to buy a winder if you don't wear it every day, otherwise it will stop running and you can reset the time and date before you wear it. Also, it keeps lousy time, gains 15 seconds a day, and would be very expensive to fix.

Terry

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I bought an automatic watch a few years ago. Even wearing it every day for 8 hours a day, it always stopped. After a couple of times of that happening, I sent the watch back for a refund.

In my experience, watch batteries last several years. Replacing them is rare enough that automatic movement seems like too much of a hassle for not much benefit. And a watch that doesn't keep accurate time? What's the point of that, unless you wear one as more of a status symbol. Quartz movement, far better.

Monocrom said:

I bought an automatic watch a few years ago. Even wearing it every day for 8 hours a day, it always stopped. After a couple of times of that happening, I sent the watch back for a refund.

In my experience, watch batteries last several years. Replacing them is rare enough that automatic movement seems like too much of a hassle for not much benefit. And a watch that doesn't keep accurate time? What's the point of that, unless you wear one as more of a status symbol. Quartz movement, far better.

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That is sort of like saying, who needs a flashlight other than a maglite or who would buy a car other than a Toyota or Honda. A lot of people think that way, but very few do concerning flashlights in this forum I suspect. Ive got several automatic watches, none of them stop on their own if I wear them. They do not keep as good as time as a quartz watch but they are good enough for any practical use. The difference between them and a quartz watch is the craftsmanship and fascination with the small mechanical instrument that an automatic watch really is. Not for everyone, and I have several quartz watches, but there is nothing like a manual wind or automatic watch to me.

To each his own. But the automatic watch I bought was from a quality Brand. It kept stopping, I sent it back.

Monocrom said:

To each his own. But the automatic watch I bought was from a quality Brand. It kept stopping, I sent it back.

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I agree. I would definitely have sent it back as well. And I can see why people dont fuss with automatics. Sometimes I dont myself. Ive been wearing a Citizen Eco drive the last few days. My point is that it is another type of thing similar to flashlights that some people see differently and I agree with you that it isnt from a convenience standpoint, but sort of a collectors type thing of something that a person might like, and others dont get.

In my case it helped indirectly when I started getting lights. The first time I spent over $200 on a light my wife saw the Pay Pal statement and asked what it was. I told her Ive started getting cool flashlights. Her first comment was "what the hell kind of flashlight costs $260?" But then she said, "oh well, at least it isnt a ^(*()*((& watch"

Most Japanese and Swiss manufacturers are good. If you're on a budget try these few: Seiko, Citizen, Casio, Timex, Swatch.