Are There Any Swiss-Made Mechanical-Wind Watches Still Made?

[Jerry52]

Hello,

I like fine Swiss watches but it seems every movement now is some form of quartz or another...is there still a high-grade watch actually crafted in Switzerland that has an old-fashioned mechanical movement of high quality? An "automatic" would be OK- the sort of works that winds from wrist motion but isn't battery assisted. Is there realistic hope of finding this sort of Swiss watch for $800 or less? Thanks! Jerry

 

[billiebob]

The Omega Speedmaster comes in mechanical wind. I think they are available for around $1500. Try the Omega forum at timezone.com or the Omega forum
http://www.chronocentric.com/forums/omega/ for details.

Many high quality watches come in both quartz and automatic versions. You can get an idea what's out there by browsing a big online store like
jomashop.com
That will tell you what price ranges and models you'll likely encounter.

I've also found the Poor Man's Watch Forum to be a great resource for cool mechanical watches that don't cost a fortune. Many swiss mechanicals are available under $1000.

http://www.pmwf.com

The Tissor SeaStar 1000 sells for less than 400 and is really nice hefty swiss made automatic dive watch with a domed sapphire crystal. It's a good competitor to the Omega Seamaster Professional Auto ($1800 or so) and the Tag Heuer automatics that are so popular.

The poor man's watch forum top 20 is the place to start to check out some cool automatic watches. Some are swiss, some are not.
http://www.pmwf.com/Watches/T20PMW List Table.htm

Keep in mind that while expensive, hand wind and automatic watches do not keep time like quartz watches. Even Certified chronometers (such as omega and rolex) frequently run off 5-10 seconds a day. My Omega ran fine for a year, and is still running either 20 seconds fast or slow per day, despite an 8 week manufacturers overhaul.

 

[xarope]

Less than $800, unlikely. Swiss-made watches are currently enjoying a resurgence as luxury items, so there are few low-cost versions available (and their definition of low cost would be in the US$2000-3000 range - unless you look in the 2nd hand market).

timezone.com is the place to go to, there is a buy-sell forum for low(er) cost watches, mostly manual and automatic, rarely quartz movements, so you could use that as a starting point to see what catches your eye in terms of price and looks.

 

[saint]

Oris makes some stylish and reasonably priced automatic and winding watches. You can sometimes find them on Overstock.com.

 

[mr monty]

Try one of the Lucien Piccard @ shopnbc.com

http://www.shopnbc.com/SearchM/Defa...ccard-_-N&prop=Lucien Piccard|498&catprop=498

 

[edmorel]

If you are looking for a handwound watch, looks for a watch with a "Unitas 6497" movement. That is a swiss handwound movement and it can be found in watches from $200 to $5,000. Eberhard has a dress watch with this movement that sells for $800 or so and is a very nice watch. Alternately, you can go to LongIslandwatch.com and he sells a bunch of watches for under $300 that have manual wind movements. Some of them have the Russian movement versions of the swiss manual wind movements. I think the Nomos Tangent (german made) goes for under $1,000 also, which is a very nice watch.

 

[norcaltransplant]

Eberhard Traversetolo
Manual Wind Unitas 6498 (1-1.1k NEW, $800 used)

If you don't mind venturing across the border into Germany...
Nomos Tangente Wempe Limited Edition
based on the Peseux 7001; price: $1200ish used

If you are willing to buy German or Automatics there are a number of options, especially in the secondary market, that retail for under $800. Shoot, an English based company called Christopher Ward offers a Swiss ETA 2824 ebauche cased in a 316L stainless steel case with a sapphire crystal for UNDER $300 USD! (Original retail was UNDER $250 USD) That's simply amazing.

 

[texas_jack]

Universal Geneve and Gevril are both lower end swiss watches. I have a Universal Compax that I am very happy with.

 

[Thurston]

For low cost mechanical watches, try timefactors.com. The owner, Eddie Platts, has been dealing watches online for a decade and has a top drawer reputation.

 

[Jerry52]

Thank you all for your replies and the many website resources you offered. It's great to know that the automatic wind or otherwise mechanical watches still exist but on the other hand, there's that old saying "be careful what you ask for!"

I'll have quite a "time"

of it going through all your suggestions!

Years ago my mother gifted me with a Seiko automatic watch which, although Japanese not Swiss, has been a very fine watch through the years. At the time Seiko was still fairly new in the US marketplace so owning one was even more special. In maybe the last ten years they introduced a proprietary "kinetic" watch which was self-winding but also used a battery.

I'm sure it's true that nothing beats the accuracy of quartz (you can go one step further and get the radio-controlled watch) but there's something very "traditional" about wearing the old-style mechanical wind watches. It's like having an antique railroad regulator wall clock on your wrist!

I own a moderately-priced quartz Swiss watch currently, by Cyma, and have ben delighted with it.

Now...do I pursue the Swiss watch or new pair of shoes first?

I "need" the shoes and my wrist doesn't need to be as happy as my feet, BUT I consider a watch more "fun!"

Jerry

 

[kolecho]

Go to timezone.com and ask the good folks there.

 

[mr monty]

Originally Posted by Jerry52

Thank you all for your replies and the many website resources you offered. It's great to know that the automatic wind or otherwise mechanical watches still exist but on the other hand, there's that old saying "be careful what you ask for!"

I'll have quite a "time"

of it going through all your suggestions!

Years ago my mother gifted me with a Seiko automatic watch which, although Japanese not Swiss, has been a very fine watch through the years. At the time Seiko was still fairly new in the US marketplace so owning one was even more special. In maybe the last ten years they introduced a proprietary "kinetic" watch which was self-winding but also used a battery.

I'm sure it's true that nothing beats the accuracy of quartz (you can go one step further and get the radio-controlled watch) but there's something very "traditional" about wearing the old-style mechanical wind watches. It's like having an antique railroad regulator wall clock on your wrist!

I own a moderately-priced quartz Swiss watch currently, by Cyma, and have ben delighted with it.

Now...do I pursue the Swiss watch or new pair of shoes first?

I "need" the shoes and my wrist doesn't need to be as happy as my feet, BUT I consider a watch more "fun!"

Jerry

I have a couple, the Orange and Black Monsters

http://www.amazon.com/Seiko-Orange-M.../dp/B000EPLR2G

 

[Artisan Fan]

I believe there are several Patek and IWC watches in manual wind.

 

[zjpj83]

Originally Posted by Artisan Fan

I believe there are several Patek and IWC watches in manual wind.
Of course, but not at $800.

 

[6waters]

http://www.watchbuys.com/ is a great resource for German watches in the US. The German watch makers certainly hold their own against the Swiss.

Also check out
http://www.stowa.com/Collection/collection.html

The owner still answers posts on their own forum. They have great Bauhaus designs as well as the iconic aviator design. They use the Swiss ETA movement in a lot of their watches, only they don't gouge your with a price like Gevril or some other fashion brands.

For this price point, German watches offer a lot of variety. As far as cache goes, the German watch industry includes names like A. Lange and Sohne and Glashutte Original at the top of the pile, which will go head to head with the Swiss Manufacture brands (well maybe except Patek).

If you are in the market for a used watch, which like luxury automobiles can present a good bargain, check out www.watchseller.com. They have some interesting selections from time to time.

Also as others mentioned you can spend as much time on www.timezone.com as you can on SF.