Quote:
Originally Posted by
East Oakland 
Omega, as part of the Swatch group (which makes all of the ETA movements) and Rolex, as the world's best known watch maker, both produce an extremely large volume of highly-accurate automatice watch movements. With the new co-axial movement, Omega may be very slightly ahead of the curve, but the reality is that a top of the line ETA/Omega movement and a Rolex movement are comparable in almost every way, and are both relatively ubiquitous. Debating the difference between the two is like debating the relative merits of a Honda six-cylinder engine and a Toyota six-cylinder engine. This is a very mature technology, and both movements are well refined and will run worry free for many years.
All that is left, then, is the case and the crystal. Both are made from relatively similar stainless steel and Sapphire crystal, respectively, so it really just comes down to what design you like the best. The same could be said for all of the other major brands that run on ETA movements (IWC, Breitling, etc.). There is also the price factor, I guess, with the Rolex band commanding a higher price becuase its name is better know to the general public.
Nothing really changes until you get up to the smaller volume manufacturers that make their own movements (Patek, etc.), but because these manufactures make less movements, their movements tend to be less refined and less reliable then the Omegas and the Rolexes--like a Ferrari engine vs a Honda.
I own a Rolex and an Omega, but when they finally crap out I doubt I'll repace them--I'll go back to quartz and spend my money on better suits.
Very well said!!
Only thing is if you take care of them then they shouldn't crap out on you or your kids.
After doing a bunch of research I decided on the Omega. I really like my SMP 2254.50
