zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

: John,

: Let me preface by saying I'm an idiot. At the
: moment, I don't own a working watch, and in
: fact haven't for the last few years. I'm in
: the market for a first, and possibly last
: quality watch. I've been looking at the
: Omega's, Breitlings, and Rolex. I spent a
: few hours talking with the service manager
: of a local store that sells all 3 brands,
: and looking at a large number of watches. I
: truly did not come to any conclusions, but I
: do have some observations.

: 1. The Co-axial movement is the best value.
: Think TCO, or total cost of ownership.
: Initial warranty is 3 years, as compared to
: 2 for the others. Service intervals extended
: to 8-10 years, as opposed to 2-5 years for
: the others. Use dependent of course. That
: Omega has that much faith in the movement is
: saying something.

: 2. Breitling has a greater selection of dial
: faces, and a certain style advantage over
: Omega. The Wings version is classic, simple,
: understated. The chronograph dials seem to
: say you mean business in a serious way. Not
: that I could ever live up to it! My
: impression is that Breitling trails the
: other 2 contenders in terms of movement
: technology.

: Rolex hits all the high points of style and
: reputation. They certainly have won the
: marketing war. Are they better than Omega? I
: don't know enough about movements to
: comment. The white face explorer II is
: simple, supremely functional. I tried on a
: Submariner and liked it a lot, even though
: I'm not fond of black dial faces. I do think
: the Daytona is the supreme chronograph in
: terms of style.

: I am of the opinion that the movement is a
: large part of what we pay for. Best value at
: the moment seems to go to the Omega
: Co-axial. I love the Seamaster GMT with the
: display back, though I'm not that thrilled
: with the way they did the 24 hour marks on
: the dial. I like the PO, but don't like the
: numerals. The only thing I didn't like about
: any of the Rolex watches was the height of
: the crystal. Looks like a chip magnet.

: I read somewhere that Omega may start using
: Co-axial movements in the whole Seamaster
: line. It might increase selection somewhat.
: I'll probably look for a used Seamaster,
: non-co-axial, save my pennies to see what
: comes down the road. I'd love it if Omega
: had the same selection of dial faces as
: Breitling. If Omega doesn't come out with
: something that absolutely tickles my fancy,
: I may go to the dark side, and buy a Rolex.
: They do seem intrinsically
: "right".

: Regards,
: Mark
Hi

My thaughts. A Breitling Headwind is like a Rolex Oyster Day Date Wannabe. It has just got a slightly modified eta 2836-2 as movement but it doesn't justify its high price.
Now about Rolex movements. Two of the Rolex Movements beat the coaxial and the 33xx and this point of view is sharing by many watchmakers.
The 3035, 3035, 3085 were the first using microstella balance technolgy 34 years ago before
Omega.The Microstella technology was way ahead of its time. I know some rolex owners who never have serviced their watch and who told me that their watch is still very accurate.
I am going to enclose you a link (thanks go to the author) which will show you the inside of the rolex in movement
http://bruno.cracco.free.fr/montres/revues/rolex/video/insidearolex.mpeg
and another link (use babelfish for translating it in English) will explain you more about why Rolex movements are so better than others
http://bruno.cracco.free.fr/montres/revues/rolex/sea-dweller.16600.html
I don't think that if you play golf or tennis with a coaxial it will keep great time after that.
Not the case with a Rolex, it is built to take the ugliest beatings.
About the Daytona movement, the 4130 it is the best chrono movement ever built, 72 hours of power reserve and a very very robust construction, it is better than an El Primero and than the Omega 33xx.
Older rolex watches had a very high glass, but it was a plexiglas one better than the saphire one because unbreakable and easy to polish if scratched.

hope that helped.

regards

georges