Help me Decide on a Watch!

[benjamin831]

I'm in the market for an upper-middle range watch, but I'm having a bit of trouble selecting one. Here are some of the choices I have considered so far:

Glashütte Original PanoMatic Lunar - Beautiful watch, reminiscent of the Lange 1. Highly decorated Caliber 90 movement with dual swan-neck regulator and mini-rotor. Perfect size for a dress watch. However, a little too thick and the "Panomatic Lunar" font looks hideously like Times New Roman.

Jaeger Le Coultre Reserve de Marche - Elegant and timeless. Perfect size and thickness. Superb JLC service. 40 hour power reserve. Relatively inexpensive. However, dial doesn't really wow me.

Glashütte Original Senator Perpetual - Clean and simple. Extraordinary beautiful. Lovely dial texture. All the complications are tastefully located. A little over my budget. Movement rather boring by Glashütte standards. Too thick.

As you can see, I'm really into the clean styling, nothing too large or eye-catching. At the same time, I tend to go for something with one or two complications, such as moonphase, power-reserve, or calendar. I also look for something more youthful, which usually means stainless over gold and index markers over roman numerals. If you have any of your owns suggestions, feel free to post them up. My budget is around $10,000.

 

[TIEALIGN]

Of the three I personally like the Glashütte Original PanoMatic Lunar the best.

 

[singlechange]

A longtime watch collector on Timezone.com who also happens to be an authority on watch construction and has the practical skills to work on timepieces said this about the JLC Master Reserve de Marche: "I think the latter (Master Reserve) is one of the most original and beautiful watches EVER made and it reeks quality, from the 45 jewel movement to the incredibly well-made, beautifully shaped case....I bought one in steel and I will buy one in gold when I get some watch money together." This from the collector who had in his collection, Patek, Lange & Sohne, to name a couple. I personally have had the Master Reserve in rose gold and a limited edition in platinum as well.

 

[emmanuel]

Didnt even have to think about it. Panomatic

 

[Four Aces]

I would go for the Panomatic Lunar. Lovely movement !

 

[acidboy]

Between how GO puts such a big and bold date on their watches and JLC's too busy of a face, I'd pick JLC... and 40h power reserve?! wow!

 

[Atlantic herring]

I would go with the GO PML. It has a better finished movement. To me at least, the dial is more interesting. I love the shape of the blue hands and It's said that GO has the best date function in the industry. I would also check out the GO PanoReserve. It's slightly thinner and has a 42 hour power reserve manual wound movement, for more interaction and a closer relationship.

 

[Lagavulin16]

I have owned the JLC RDM and the GO Senator Perpetual. I did not like the dial on the GO as I found the windows for the day and month a little too far apart on the dial. If you really like the GO Perpetual, look at the Karree Perpetual, the dial to me is a bit more appealing.

I would go for the JLC. It is timeless and beautiful and it is the perfect size watch that fits under a sleeve beautifully.

 

[JN41]

I would go with the JLC.

I know it's probably blashpemous in these parts, but I do not like the PanoMatic... Beautifully constructed and detailed, not doubt, but I don't like the dissected dial. Too much empty space...

But if you must have a moonphase complication, I like the PanoMatic over the other GO you have posted.

 

[gdl203]

Originally Posted by acidicboy

Between how GO puts such a big and bold date on their watches and JLC's too busy of a face, I'd pick JLC... and 40h power reserve?! wow!

lol

Nothing more normal than a 40 hrs reserve... the GO Caliber 90 has a 42 hour reserve.

I think it's definitely between 1 and 2. The GO Senator Perp is not nearly as elegant or attractive as the first two IMO.

If choice was based purely on these photos, I'd be torn between the PML and the RDM. However, in real life the silver RDM dial is much less attractive IMO - too subdued and lack of contrast. The PML dial in real life is truly as beautiful (if not more) as the stock photos. That's the tie breaker IMO (not to mention the backside is much prettier too...)

 

[TRINI]

Originally Posted by benjamin831

Glashütte Original PanoMatic LunarHowever, a little too thick and the "Panomatic Lunar" font looks hideously like Times New Roman.

Jaeger Le Coultre Reserve de MarcheHowever, dial doesn't really wow me.

Glashütte Original Senator Perpetual - Clean and simple. Extraordinary beautiful.

I think you should listen to yourself. From your own descriptions, it seems like you like the Senator Perpetual.

Go with the one you love.

 

[glowell222]

The Jaeger is too busy.
The off-center dial of the Panomatic lacks balance and grace.
I like the Senator perpetual best. I've never been a fan of off-center dials, and I find the face of the perpetual very elegant and interesting and it's not too busy-it has a very nice balance.
My opinion, fwiw.

 

[JKB]

I've looked closely at both in real life and for me it would be the PML definitely. Both the PML and the RDM offer good (and about the same) value for money. The RDM is nice and slim by today's standards and has useful functions and for the price you get more than excellent JLC quality. The dial is a bit crowded and looks a but messy when the minute and hour hands overlap any of the other hands on the subdials (especially the date pointer).

The PML has a much cleaner and balanced dial, and is much better in pure appearance to my eye with the best large date in the industry (as someone else has said) and the moonphase (although quite useless). Movement wise the PML wins hands down in appearance (not sure what the differences are in terms of the balance, hairspring, regulation etc are though). But the PML is also more expensive, hence the equality in value for money. But that also means that the PML is in absolutely terms the better watch, in my view anyway.

But in the end I bought something else

 

[acidboy]

Originally Posted by gdl203

lol

Nothing more normal than a 40 hrs reserve... the GO Caliber 90 has a 42 hour reserve.

my mistake. i never really check what's the reserve on my watches.

 

[gdl203]

Originally Posted by acidicboy

my mistake. i never really check what's the reserve on my watches.

Do you still have your Luminor? It has a 56 hour PR.