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More about movements Posted By: georges zaslavsky Date: 12/27/05 16:52 GMT
In Response To: Good news/Bad news (Mike B.)
Hi
More about movements: Hi Georges, for the most part I'm in agreement with your comments, which isn't always a given, or I have nothing to add. I'll intersperse my comments within yours...
Patek: mainly in house movements except for the cal 177 which is a rebadged and modified piguet 21 caliber as well as for the cal 215 which a modified jaeger le coultre movement based on the cal 849. The new patek moon phase chrono has a victorin piguet column wheel hand wound chrono based caliber.
Lange & Sohne: 100% inhouse and better finished than a patek
Breguet: mainly modified Lemania movements found in them like the the lemania 8810,1350,2320,2393,2397,1050,387,8701,389 and 8844. Very high quality watches
Blancpain: mainly frederic piguet movements found in these watches like the 115x, the 118x, the 9.51, the 8.15 and the 6.15. Very high grade and nicely finished movements, very good dress watches No real comments/insights on these four, they are above my interest level and will likely remain so in perpetuity.
Omega: very modified eta 2892a2, lemania 1873, 1866,piguet 1285es de luxe and 1280es de luxe movements. Nicely finished watches and best bang for the buck. The deville coax rattrapante chrono easily plays in the blancpain, breguet, patek and lange crowd. Omega also uses Valjoux/ETA 7750 based movements with varying degrees of modification(s), finishes and refinements. As well as other ETA's I believe.
Rolex: known for the robustness and toughness of their watches. The 3135 and 4130 have settled the standards. Very good investment over the short as well as over the long run Rolex so tightly controls production and sales channels that there is often a waiting list for popular models which leads to "minty" privately owned examples being sold at or above MSRP (for those who choose to pay to have it quicker than the waiting list). This is a significant reason for the high resale value of Rolex's... Because Rolex doesn't allow Authorized dealers to discount more than 5-10% (if that) and demand is high, values remain high.
Breitling: mainly eta movements with no significant improvements. Charges way too much for a valjoux powered watch more than +3500$!!!! Chronographs used also include the Valjoux/ETA 7750 and in older models, Lemania 1873 (and if you want to go back far enough Venus and other movements). All current models are COSC tested which is something few other manufactures bother to do, or even attempt.
Baume & Mercier: mainly eta based movements but attractively price and well finished watches. Don't know enough about them to comment.
Tag: mainly etas except for the cal 36 which is simply rebadged zenith el primero chrono. Not as good as Omega and/or Rolex. In all fairness to TAG-Heuer, it is not reasonable to compare an inexpensive F1 to an Omega Moonwatch or a Daytona. On the other hand, the New TAG-Heuer Carrera competes decisively against the comparable Speedmaster Date (both are Valjoux/ETA 7750 based) and makes the Speedmaster look BAD. The level of finish of TAG watches themselves (not the movement) is comparable to Omega, perhaps not quite as good, but pretty close and in the same range. The Movements... TAG typically doen't spend as much attention to Omega (at least on the higher grade Omega models). The Cal. 36 is very nicely finished and comparable to the commonaly seen higher grade Omega movement finishes. It's a shame TAG doesn't use the Cal. 36 on more models.
Zenith: nice movements but prices increased like whoah and the brand is turned too much into joallery Movements are among the best if not the best in any catagory, however as Georges eluded to, this brand used to be a steal, and now is at best middling on value. They're current product lines have caused great speculation as to which elicit drugs the designers/marketers/administrators of the firm have been indulging in. The old Zenith was known as being a bit eclectic when it came to design, but the current Zenith is way out there (cue Twilight Zone music)...
IWC: very interesting movement like on the new ingenieur and the cal 5000. Very good quality of finish and very good movement quality. Prices are high. IWC also is a heavy user of the Valjoux/ETA 7750 movement, people claim great finish on the IWC versions of the 7750, but I don't see anything of note on my Porsche Design/IWC examples.
Maurice Lacroix: mainly decorated etas but very good value for money. Don't know enough about them to comment.
Hope this helps.
regards
georges Hope this helps too...
Cheers and Good Hunting!
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