A little off and the NATO strap (£280), I think in a couple of months you'd get them for a steal after peak bond and xmas
What watch do you wear?
- Thread starter Doran
- Start date
A little off and the NATO strap (£280), I think in a couple of months you'd get them for a steal after peak bond and xmas
Just bought a King Seiko. Absolutely love it even though the dream would be a grand Seiko.
https://ibb.co/BrrJszL
https://ibb.co/BrrJszL
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Associate
That is not completely accurate. Swiss Made on the dial does not mean all the parts are manufactured and assembled in the country.
Associate
Bingo.
Associate
Spot on. The lie of the Swiss luxury industry is that everything is done in country then people on the internet believe it and repeat this ad nauseam as fact. Those percentages tally too with my experience.
No-one said Swiss Made means Swiss produced and manufactured in every case (at least I can't see a post that says that), but some Swiss watch brands do produce their own parts as much as can be reasonably considered possible (ie: not including specialist parts that are for whatever reasons unable to be made/acquired in Switzerland). So, you are again just regurgitating what panthro said and again without providing specific evidence to counter those who do MANUFACTURE their watches and parts in Switzerland at price ranges of £5-£10k. Some others in the mid-tier also only buy parts made (again, where feasible) in Switzerland in addition to producing in-house movements on their high-end watches.
Rolex: https://www.rolex.com/about-rolex-watches/made-in-switzerland.html
Tudor: https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/tudor-headquarters-manufacture-visit-2017
Zenith https://www.zenith-watches.com/int/brand/swiss-manufacture
etc
Yes, there are others in the Swiss watchmaking industry who source significant parts from Asia, but lets stop generalizing and be more specific when we are naming them.
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Soldato
Can I just point out that just because something is made in Asia it doesn't mean it's bad quality etc.
When ordering items from Asia, especially for mass production, you can specify the tolerances and acceptable limits for any item you have ordered so in theory you could order something at a higher quality than you can produce in house or you could have it made to a point where it's pretty rough and you then finish it off in house (say a case is quickly milled out then detailed and finished in house). Apple basically does this on their 'assembled in USA' items, parts manufactured in Asia to their tolerances, parts sent to and then put together in the USA.
Economies of scale can play a huge part in this and some manufacturers actually run their own factories, which use in house tolerances etc, but they're based in countries with lower wages etc. Pretty sure Swatch group and Seiko (yes I know it's not Swiss) does this and I'm sure they're not alone. Now don't ask me how that would fall under 'swiss made' because technically it's not being made in Switzerland but it is being made by a Swiss company (in the case of Swatch)....
Would I expect a Swiss 5-10K watch to be made solely in Switzerland, actually no I wouldn't but that's because of my background (product/industrial design), but it's far more likely that it is.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not arguing over the 'swiss' labelling, that can be a bit 'misleading' because the information about what makes it qualify isn't well publicised but please don't assume that 'Asian' means cheap and poor quality due to the fact we can get lots of cheap 'asian made' watches from [huge Chinese online store] and microbrands etc.
When ordering items from Asia, especially for mass production, you can specify the tolerances and acceptable limits for any item you have ordered so in theory you could order something at a higher quality than you can produce in house or you could have it made to a point where it's pretty rough and you then finish it off in house (say a case is quickly milled out then detailed and finished in house). Apple basically does this on their 'assembled in USA' items, parts manufactured in Asia to their tolerances, parts sent to and then put together in the USA.
Economies of scale can play a huge part in this and some manufacturers actually run their own factories, which use in house tolerances etc, but they're based in countries with lower wages etc. Pretty sure Swatch group and Seiko (yes I know it's not Swiss) does this and I'm sure they're not alone. Now don't ask me how that would fall under 'swiss made' because technically it's not being made in Switzerland but it is being made by a Swiss company (in the case of Swatch)....
Would I expect a Swiss 5-10K watch to be made solely in Switzerland, actually no I wouldn't but that's because of my background (product/industrial design), but it's far more likely that it is.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not arguing over the 'swiss' labelling, that can be a bit 'misleading' because the information about what makes it qualify isn't well publicised but please don't assume that 'Asian' means cheap and poor quality due to the fact we can get lots of cheap 'asian made' watches from [huge Chinese online store] and microbrands etc.
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Associate
To quote Mobius 1 - "Eh? Tudor watches and their parts are sourced and made in Switzerland?"
Show me where that says otherwise since that was the post I replied to.
Oh, qualifying now with parameters of "reasonably considered possible", gotcha...
Do you work in the industry, you seem to think you know a lot about the subject matter and like to argue with people who actually do. Panthro is spot on with what he says and just because you read a blog on the internet doesnt make it true.
Rolex since acquiring Aegler are pretty much the only completely vertically integrated manufacturer; Tudor along with TAG get the cases for their lower price bracket pieces from Asia and as mentioned earlier a lot of the dials you see from Swiss companies are from Taiwan.
Really dont know why you seem to have a bee on your bonnet about this but eager to learn why and what your own background and experience in the industry is and where it comes from.
Associate
A valid point well made, and one we talk about a lot. iPhones et al are made in Asia and are to exacting standards.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_made#60%_rule_for_Swiss-made_watches
Has some details but the luxury industry, as you rightly say, likes to keep schtum on things so as not to take the shine off.
Associate
A quick back shot of the the CW mentioned earlier in the thread ..
And if anyone wants to hear about it, the collabs with different companies to produce it etc then from 52:30 on this episode Mike France talks about it all (the rest of the episode is with Luc from Only Watch so worth a listen if you have an interest there too)...
http://www.scottishwatches.co.uk/20...with-the-creator-of-only-watch-luc-pettavino/
And if anyone wants to hear about it, the collabs with different companies to produce it etc then from 52:30 on this episode Mike France talks about it all (the rest of the episode is with Luc from Only Watch so worth a listen if you have an interest there too)...
http://www.scottishwatches.co.uk/20...with-the-creator-of-only-watch-luc-pettavino/
Associate
You're right, it's a pretty decent sized chunk of sapphire they lumped on there! You can see some of that Armin DNA on the plate and bridge work too ...
Great. Really like this watch and Mike France is nice guy who's passionate about his product.A quick back shot of the the CW mentioned earlier in the thread ..
And if anyone wants to hear about it, the collabs with different companies to produce it etc then from 52:30 on this episode Mike France talks about it all (the rest of the episode is with Luc from Only Watch so worth a listen if you have an interest there too)...
http://www.scottishwatches.co.uk/20...with-the-creator-of-only-watch-luc-pettavino/
Associate
I got a recent purchase back from the watchmaker the other day.
The Citizen Homer Second Setting was issued to the workers of the Japanese National Railway (JNR) from the mid 60's to the mid 70's. As with all railway issued timepieces the watch needed to be accurate and easily legible. The high contract dial achieve this as well a the lume plots at each 5 minute mark as well as on the hands. Also at 36.5mm in diameter it would have been a larger watch for the time period.
The 21 jewel, manual wind, in-house caliber 911 is a relative of a high end Citizen Chrono Master movement and features a hacking capability. This would have been essential for timekeeping on the famously punctual Japanese rail system.
This particular example is from 1970 and was issued to the Billing Office. Not quite as exotic as a Shinkansen driver but I'm sure there are examples where that happened.
This is now my favourite affordable vintage piece and I highly recommend them to any vintage watch collector.
The Citizen Homer Second Setting was issued to the workers of the Japanese National Railway (JNR) from the mid 60's to the mid 70's. As with all railway issued timepieces the watch needed to be accurate and easily legible. The high contract dial achieve this as well a the lume plots at each 5 minute mark as well as on the hands. Also at 36.5mm in diameter it would have been a larger watch for the time period.
The 21 jewel, manual wind, in-house caliber 911 is a relative of a high end Citizen Chrono Master movement and features a hacking capability. This would have been essential for timekeeping on the famously punctual Japanese rail system.
This particular example is from 1970 and was issued to the Billing Office. Not quite as exotic as a Shinkansen driver but I'm sure there are examples where that happened.
This is now my favourite affordable vintage piece and I highly recommend them to any vintage watch collector.
Soldato
That is rather lovely.
Man of Honour
The new Pelagos FXD with integrated lug bars and MN strap looks rather cool. They've dropped the WR to 200m, removed the date window, removed the helium valve and reduced the thickness.... BUT have increased the lug to lug length to a bit over 52mm :/
It's £2900 and I was all about it until that lug to lug length was seen.
https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/the-tudor-pelagos-fxd-ref-25707b
It's £2900 and I was all about it until that lug to lug length was seen.
https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/the-tudor-pelagos-fxd-ref-25707b
Man of Honour
Alright Big Bones 