[BRCMRGN]

My favorite watch - Seiko Kinetic Titanium (5m43-0b69).  Very light and seemingly indestructible.  Bought my first one in 2000.  Capacitor died in 2006. Had it replaced with rechargeable lithium ion battery in 2008.
 

 
Recently bought two more refurbished ones on eBay (don't want to ever be without one) and bought the Kinetic Charger:
 

 
This thing is great. Not cheap, but very useful for keeping multiple Kinetics charged at all times.

 

[OddE]

Rolex is by far the best performer for overall reliability and return on investment. They are one of the few manufactures now who make most or all of their product in house. Breitling is a good example of an $8000 watch with a $35 movement in it made by a McWatch movement company (ETA, etc...)

 
-I do find it a bit snobbish referring to ETA as a 'McWatch' company, my apologies if that was not the message you tried to get across.
 
Rolex do produce excellent movements, don't get me wrong -and there's no denying that they hold their value exceedingly well- but they, too found it sensible to outsource movements on occasion (el Primero Daytonas, I'm looking at you!). Doesn't make a 16520 any less desirable, IMHO - and there's no doubt that ETA are very, very good at what they do. Heck, now that Swatch are restricting supply of ETA movements to other Swatch group companies, I guess it could be argued that ETA makes in-house movements, too...
 
Incidentally, I own an ETA-powered vintage-ish Breitling  - more precisely, a Valjoux 7750-equipped one. (A late eighties Chrono Shark)
 
I do find the rotor a bit on the noisy side (I guess I am not the first 7750 owner to make that observation!), but as far as reliability, ruggedness and accuracy goes, it has been a rock solid performer. Not bad for a McWatch, anyway. (Which, I will admit, in the case of the 7750 is not an entirely unwarranted designation, seeing how much effort was spent making the 7750 cheap to make...)
 
Unless things have changed, by the way, the most decidedly in-house watch company is...
 
 
                                                                                                                                                                                     ...Seiko.
 
They even refined their own lubricants, rather than using Moebius' products like everybody else.

 

[customcoco]

   
  Unless things have changed, by the way, the most decidedly in-house watch company is...
 
 
                                                                                                                                                                                     ...Seiko.
 
They even refined their own lubricants, rather than using Moebius' products like everybody else.

Indeed. I don't want to end up being the Seiko Fanboy of that thread, but they do build exceptionnal watches, whether one chooses to go full Quartz, Spring Drive, or even "plain" mechanical.
 
With that said, a well cared for Rolex is a beautiful thing. I don't get the appeal of the Daytona's (which I find horribly overpriced), but I appreciate the simpler models. Something like a grey dialed Date-less oyster would be closer to my tastes. The Milgauss is also quite intriguing, even though I once again find its price hard to swallow.
 
Then, as someone else already mentionned, their re-sale values are unmatched. Buy well (read : used), and you could end up swapping watches every six months without investing anything more, nor going down in the model range.
 
My guess is that Rolexes are the epitome of Veblen's goods. They don't even try to give anything in the way of value, since nobody cares about value in the first place. That's why it is so hard for those who do not get their appeal to justify buying one. Those who do, however, feel that nothing else's quite like a Rolex. Some are objectively better, some are different, but nothing is quite like it.
 
I sometimes suffer from Oyster envy, and realize that nothing else will do. Still, I wouldn't buy a Daytona even if I could afford it.
 
Nomos also gets my vote, as a company making most of its stuff, but we're now in a completely different aesthetic territory. That's a company that cares about value, though.

 

[russdenney]

   
-I do find it a bit snobbish referring to ETA as a 'McWatch' company, my apologies if that was not the message you tried to get across.
 
Rolex do produce excellent movements, don't get me wrong -and there's no denying that they hold their value exceedingly well- but they, too found it sensible to outsource movements on occasion (el Primero Daytonas, I'm looking at you!). Doesn't make a 16520 any less desirable, IMHO - and there's no doubt that ETA are very, very good at what they do. Heck, now that Swatch are restricting supply of ETA movements to other Swatch group companies, I guess it could be argued that ETA makes in-house movements, too...
 
Incidentally, I own an ETA-powered vintage-ish Breitling  - more precisely, a Valjoux 7750-equipped one. (A late eighties Chrono Shark)
 
I do find the rotor a bit on the noisy side (I guess I am not the first 7750 owner to make that observation!), but as far as reliability, ruggedness and accuracy goes, it has been a rock solid performer. Not bad for a McWatch, anyway. (Which, I will admit, in the case of the 7750 is not an entirely unwarranted designation, seeing how much effort was spent making the 7750 cheap to make...)
 
Unless things have changed, by the way, the most decidedly in-house watch company is...
 
 
                                                                                                                                                                                     ...Seiko.
 
They even refined their own lubricants, rather than using Moebius' products like everybody else.

My apologies if I offended with my ETA claims...
 
I will point out that the Daytona movement was pulled in-house some # of years ago with the caliber 4130 - one the finest chronograph movements known to man. With that, I believe Rolex has become 100% in-house production save for a few parts.
 
I have owned more than a few Breitlings. They were the only watch I ever had problems with, and I eventually wrote them off due to malfunctions and horrid resale value. Great looking watches though...I always thought the Navitimer was gorgeous.

 

[OddE]

  Indeed. I don't want to end up being the Seiko Fanboy of that thread, but they do build exceptionnal watches, whether one chooses to go full Quartz, Spring Drive, or even "plain" mechanical.
 
With that said, a well cared for Rolex is a beautiful thing. I don't get the appeal of the Daytona's (which I find horribly overpriced), but I appreciate the simpler models. Something like a grey dialed Date-less oyster would be closer to my tastes. The Milgauss is also quite intriguing, even though I once again find its price hard to swallow.
 
Then, as someone else already mentionned, their re-sale values are unmatched. Buy well (read : used), and you could end up swapping watches every six months without investing anything more, nor going down in the model range.
 
My guess is that Rolexes are the epitome of Veblen's goods. They don't even try to give anything in the way of value, since nobody cares about value in the first place. That's why it is so hard for those who do not get their appeal to justify buying one. Those who do, however, feel that nothing else's quite like a Rolex. Some are objectively better, some are different, but nothing is quite like it.
 
I sometimes suffer from Oyster envy, and realize that nothing else will do. Still, I wouldn't buy a Daytona even if I could afford it.
 
Nomos also gets my vote, as a company making most of its stuff, but we're now in a completely different aesthetic territory. That's a company that cares about value, though.

 
-Agreed; poor Thorstein Veblen shouldn't be surprised if someone renamed his observation into 'Rolex goods', as they have perfected the art, for sure!
 
(That being said, I really, really want an Explorer - probably a 14270, but if a late 1016 comes up at the right price... Anyway, definitely one of the 36mm ones; I am quite lucky in that the most appealing Rolex (to me, that is) is also one of the most affordable ones.
 
+1 on the Nomos range - their Bauhaus aesthetic really speaks to me, though I haven't seen one in the flesh for at least 4-5 years.

 

[OddE]

  My apologies if I offended with my ETA claims...
 
I will point out that the Daytona movement was pulled in-house some # of years ago with the caliber 4130 - one the finest chronograph movements known to man. With that, I believe Rolex has become 100% in-house production save for a few parts.
 
I have owned more than a few Breitlings. They were the only watch I ever had problems with, and I eventually wrote them off due to malfunctions and horrid resale value. Great looking watches though...I always thought the Navitimer was gorgeous.

 
-Oh, no worries, us Norse people aren't that easily offended.
 
Living way out in the boonies, I've never handled a 4130 Daytona - I've dropped by a number of Rolex dealers in latter years, but none which had had even a drool specimen in stock. Still don't quite get the aesthetics of the Daytonas, though - obviously, opinions vary, but to my mind the chrono to beat in the good looks department is the Speedmaster, with some of the IWC Portuguese claiming second place.
 
As for Breitlings, I've owned (and still own) one, which luckily hasn't caused me any problems over the years; I put this down to it being fitted with a 7750 - a lot can be said about the 7750, but that it isn't rugged isn't one of them! The Navitimers (and their cousins, the Cosmonautes) do look great, though - to each his own, but I find that most of the current Breitling range is somewhat over-blinged, to my tastes. The Navitimers still by and large look just like they did fifty years ago.
 
By the way - presumably you know already, but just in case - have you seen the Sinn Navitimers? By a quirk of corporate licencing after Breitling went bankrupt in the late seventies (?), Sinn acquired rights (and some parts and tooling, methinks) to make Navitimers; they renamed it the Sinn 903, slapped in a Lemania movement and off they went. Nowadays, I think there's a Sellita inside.
 
Much as I like the Breitling wings, I do most of the time find the Sinn's more understated dial (To the extent a Navitimer can ever be understated!) the better looking one. I am not entirely sold on Sellitas (Though I would expect Sinn to give them a good work-over) - but a Lemania-powered 903 would definitely be desirable to this watch enthusiast!

 

[mwilson]

  That's probably the hottest offering that came from Basel this year, really like it!

 
Yeah, I dig the Cerachrom Daytona, will probably get one at some point to match my 116515.
 
For my taste, however, I'm far more excited by the new Grand Seiko Spring Drive 8-day in Pt:
 
https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/the-grand-seiko-spring-drive-8-day-power-reserve-a-rare-example-of-japanese-haute-horology-from-the-famed-micro-artist-studio
 
The only thing holding me back from plunking down $55k on it is its 43mm case; too big on paper for my preference, needs to be seen in person and on the wrist.

 

[roadcykler]

If they're only making 8 of them, they're quite possibly all spoken for already.

 

[mwilson]

I'm sure they're all gone

 

[Blurr]

Pick up a new casio today, solar and bluetooth functionality. I especially like the 3D hour markers and the second hands hit the markers accurately. Bluetooth let you adjust the timezone as wel align the hands when they feel off and lots more stuff i have yet to explore.

 

[moedawg140]

Pick up a new casio today, solar and bluetooth functionality. I especially like the 3D hour markers and the second hands hit the markers accurately. Bluetooth let you adjust the timezone as wel align the hands when they feel off and lots more stuff i have yet to explore.

 
Nice! I adore Casio's Bluetooth technology.  My favorite is probably the Gen 2 (Casio G-Shock), as I feel the functionality is more practical for my uses than the Gen1 and Gen 3 models (which I both own as well).

 

[Blurr]

   
Nice! I adore Casio's Bluetooth technology.  My favorite is probably the Gen 2 (Casio G-Shock), as I feel the functionality is more practical for my uses than the Gen1 and Gen 3 models (which I both own as well).

I don't know which generations this one is, but it lacks the always connect functions that the gmix has, like getting notifications and music control. The things it can do, you need the casio bluetooth app to adjust, setting up 5 alarm or which timezone you want on the secondary dial is just a easy as sunday morning

. It feels so weird not having to adjust the watch with the crown, then again it synch with internet time everyday so it will always be accurate.
 
ps. I notice that there is a tiny world map in the secondary gmt dial, loving this kind of attention to details.

 

[moedawg140]

  I don't know which generations this one is, but it lacks the always connect functions that the gmix has, like getting notifications and music control. The things it can do, you need the casio bluetooth app to adjust, setting up 5 alarm or which timezone you want on the secondary dial is just a easy as sunday morning

. It feels so weird not having to adjust the watch with the crown, then again it synch with internet time everyday so it will always be accurate.
 
ps. I notice that there is a tiny world map in the secondary gmt dial, loving this kind of attention to details.

 
I'm not sure with regard to your specific generation (looks like the first) but the Casio Edifice Bluetooth comes in three models (ECB-500X[X], EQB-500X[X][X], and EQB-510X[X][X] - the X, XX, and XXX denoting model names such as D, DB and RBB.  The ECB-500 is Dual Dial World Time Analog and Digital Combination, EQB-500 is the Dual Dial World Time Sporty Design, and the EQB-510 is Dual Dial World Time).  The Gen 1 and Gen 2 Bluetooth G-Shocks do not have G-Mix functionality either.
 
These are my favorite Bluetooth Edifice models (have not tried them on as of this posting)
 
EQB-510RBM-1AJR

 
EQB-500RBB-2AJR

 
It's great to not have to set the watch on the watch itself.  It was amazing to have my Gen 2 connected to my iPhone as I changed timezones during my country drive to Iowa, as the timepiece changed to the exact same time the iPhone was set to by GPS/atomic clock, automatically.  Loved it!

 

[dropbassnotbomb]

Can't beat Moe G, he's a G-Shock specialist!

What the heck is multiband atomic.. guess mine wouldn't change time by itself :rolleyes:

 

[Coq de Combat]

I like this one:
 

 
The dark grey goes well with red.