I don't think their movements is/are anything special, the Swiss ETA 6497/8 is known for being a very good movement, and is widely used. From what I know and think, they're just quality watches and are very cool/simple looking.

Have to remember, mechanical watch movements don't keep as good of time as quartz, the beauty of mechanical/auto imo doesn't lie within the quality of timekeeping, but more the raw closeness between watch and wearer, and the need to do more than just wear it.

man that longines moonphase is pretttyyyyyyy


got my new sea-gull today. some pics. really like the black dial, the style/font of the numbers and the hands. its 38mm. also got hamilton viewmatic on the way and after that im gonna cool it for a while most likely, hah.

Very sharp.

You guys are killing me. I've got like 38 ideas bookmarked for my next acquisition, but it's so tough to decide.

Nice Gull.

I've been eyeing up a Flieger style for some time now. I don't know what to do though.

Really like the Fortis, Archimedes, and Nav B-Uhr fliegers.

I also drawn to the Sinn 656.

WTF TO DOOOOOO!

***Shill Alert, delete if inappropriate***

I'm selling this watch on another forum. Got it as part of a group special of 15, just to mess around and wear around the house. However it's just too big...46-47mm can't pull off this unique Nav-B look.

?

Damn, I wear a 44mm and it's just perfect. How much are you looking to get out of it cxbxax?

Look into Stowa as well. They are probably the premiere flieger style in that price range, due to their history and military contracts. Mine should be getting here in the next few weeks.

i paid $560 2 mos ago, looking to get $500.

yea 44m is my max these days and going forward...(44mm is pretty huge on me also).

I'm considering getting a nice ($500+) mechanical watch... How inaccurate are these? I really don't want to have to reset time every few days.

Also is there a huge difference in inaccuracy between a tourbillon or automatic?

The logic of why watch enthusiasts like automatic watches has been described by a few different people ITT but I'd describe autos as being kind of like engineering art. Using architechture as an analogy-- a building could be designed with only practicality in mind but often extra time and money is spent to make them look cool and some people appreciate it. Besides, you're probably more likely to get more annoyed by the watch stopping after a few days (if you don't wear it daily and don't use a winder) than having to reset the time every few months.

To give you an idea, I just checked the accuracy of a few of my watches after I synced them with time.gov a month ago:

Hamilton Khaki Field automatic: -5 seconds/day
Rolex Submariner: +2 seconds/day
Tag Heuer Formula 1 (quartz): +0.5 second/MONTH

As you can see my quartz watch is much much more accurate than the automatics but the autos aren't so far off that it really bothers me. Also, just because my Hamilton is off 5 seconds/day doesn't mean all Hammies are like that, every watch is different. That is something that can be adjusted anyways.

Yeah I mean I can definitely appreciate the engineering that goes into a watch, and I really like that. I was just trying to gauge how inaccurate they were. 5 seconds/day isn't a big deal but if it was like 30 seconds/day that's kinda a dealbreaker.

So I'm in Shanghai at the moment. I've been to a couple back alley places out of boredom and they have random watches, some counterfeit some stolen. About 30% of these will actually be ticking at purchase. Say I see one that is moving smoothly. Is there any chance that this is NOT a mechanical watch?

If you're worried about movement quality you probably shouldn't be shopping in back alleys in Shanghai. And the reason most of them aren't moving is because they're likely mech/auto, and haven't been wound or moved.

Disclaimer: The Asian 6497/8 movements have been proven to be very close to their Swiss counterparts in terms of accuracy, it's the functionality that lacks (busted crowns/springs, etc) I wouldn't put much faith in any of those $10-$50 watches having a replica movement though. Probably some pile of **** one that will last you a month.

If you're looking for ridiculous time keeping don't be a mechanical watch, simple as that. Go quartz.

i'm just curious if they make counterfeits that have the smooth ticking movements. i remember hearing a while back that the telltale sign of a fake rolex was the quartz movement... not sure if that is the case now.

i tried googling for asia 6497, asia 6498, and asia 6497/6498 and couldn't really find any information on this. i'm assuming this is the counterfeit movement?

if error is 3-5 seconds/day as i've seen on a couple of sites, then that's plenty fine.

i'm planning on buying an authorized watch once i get back to the states, but i'm going to be here and a while. i might pick up one from a back alley place just for curiosity's sake. even if it ends up breaking, i'll probably just take it apart and try to fix it

edit: also i want to bargain with random chinese guys and see how i fare

Nobody is going to tell you "yeah, you can buy watch X and get 3-5 seconds/day". Especially if we're talking $500. Chronometer-certified movements will get in that range, but outside of that there is a lot of variance. Some movements will be in that range, some will go closer to 10 or 15 sec/day. It's a crapshoot.

You probably need to figure out why you need a watch and why you want a watch, and then figure out what to buy from there.

also, there are plenty of $100 fakes with asian clone movements. There are a lot of good fakes with genuine ETA movements as well.

yeah i'm obv fine with my watch not being quartz accurate. not a big deal. if i wanted something with accurate time, i'd just check my phone

The Asian 6497 isn't a "fake". It's just a clone of the Swiss 6497. Same parts, same workings, just not of the same quality & control. I've seen some guys get +1-2 seconds/day with their $125 Asian movements on Watchuseek. It's pretty cool.

FWIW, there are some some asian movements being sold as genuine ETA movements. If you buy a watch with a "genuine swiss movement" from a shady dealer, you've got a pretty good chance of getting an asian with ETA trademarks stamped on it.

I just wanted to clarify that when we're talking about movements we're talking about the physical machinery or circuitry that makes the device tell time. We're not talking about the appearance of the hands through the glass.

In other words, when someone says, "The telltale sign of a fake rolex is its quartz movement," they aren't talking about the physical movement of the hands.

Yep, be wary. The Affordable Watches section on WUS is a great resource for clearing up any doubt. There are plenty of legitimate, trustworthy sellers out of Hong Kong that won't **** you over.

My suggestion is either spend some money and buy something real; a lot of nice watches in the $400-$800 range. Or, get a nice homage (from a reputable maker, Davidson, Wilson Watch Works, etc) with all the same Swiss internal workings w/o paying the mark up for the name. i.e. Panerai

Clones aren't fakes now?

The ones stamped with ETA marks are fakes. Others are just generic movements with no false claims.

Oh semantics.

I guess? Is store-brand cereal "fake cheerios"?