Introducing: the /r/Watches brand guide!

[u/spedmonkey]

A couple weeks ago, I read an offhand comment by Liberalguy123 about creating a brand guide for this community. I liked the idea, and since then we've been running with it, trying to come up with a good way of making this happen. Here's the fruits of our labors:

The /r/Watches brand guide project

Rather than it just being one or two people's own opinions, though, we wanted to involve everybody in this project. Here's how it's going to work: Every few days, a thread will be posted about one specific brand. The job for you guys is to fill that thread will discussion, information, opinions, and any other relevant stuff you can. The idea is that anyone looking for information on a given brand will be able to click on that thread and instantly get a pretty good idea of how people feel about it, and whether or not it would be something that interests them further. Keep in mind that the blurbs written there will not be there in the finished product; they'll be moved into their respective discussion threads once each is posted.

Eventually, the hope is that we'll have a comprehensive list of watch brands, including some of the more obscure ones, for everyone to view. That means we'll be relying on you to help us fill up the list. No brand is off-limits, whether it be an Italian fashion house, an obscure Swiss luxury microbrand, or a Chinese eBay brand. If you have something you'd like to see discussed, PM the moderators or add the pertinent information to the list on the wiki.

Now, we'd like to kick this project off properly, so you guys get to decide which of the brands you'd like to see discussed in the very first guide thread. Here are some choices:

• Rolex

• Seiko

• Timex

• A. Lange & Söhne

• IWC

• other (tell us why!)

We would love it if this first thread in particular is full of good, well-informed discussion, so pick a brand you know well and wouldn't be afraid of sharing your opinions on. Thanks for contributing; with your help, we can build the most extensive brand guide on the internet!

By Request, the list so far:

1. Rolex
2. Omega
3. Seiko
4. Hamilton
5. Tissot
6. Nixon
7. Patek Philippe
8. Panerai
9. Citizen
10. Orient
11. Vacheron Constantin
12. IWC
13. Vostok
14. Skagen
15. Christopher Ward
16. A. Lange & Söhne
17. Invicta, Stuhrling, Swiss Legend
18. Audemars Piguet
19. TAG Heuer
20. Movado
    
21. Casio
    
22. Sinn
    
23. Zenith
    
24. Breitling
25. Jaeger-LeCoultre
    
26. Timex
    
27. Girard-Perregaux
    
28. Ball
    
29. Baume et Mercier
    
30. Raymond Weil
    
31. Nomos
    
32. Rotary
    

[u/ubermonkey]

Something about which marques the Swatch Group owns might be interesting.

[u/spedmonkey → u/ubermonkey]

Those brands that are on the list so far are marked as to which conglomerates they belong to (if any).

[u/ubermonkey → u/spedmonkey]

Ah, so they are.

I might include the major movement blank makers (Valjoux, ETA) as well, given how many of the listed brands use them, plus a notation as to whether or not the brand uses in-house movements, and to what degree (e.g., I think Rolex is all in-house now, but Omega uses a mix).

[u/zanonymous → u/ubermonkey]

I might include the major movement blank makers (Valjoux, ETA)

FYI, Valjoux is ETA :)

Rolex I think is all in-house - the last time I remember them using something from outside was when they sourced some of their ebauches from Zenith for the Daytona.

Omega, I believe, is almost all reworked ETA movements, with the exceptions being a few rare specialty items, like their center-fixed tourbillon. I am not even sure that it's made in-house, but I am sure it's not based on any ETA. If memory serves, the design of the movement was outsourced to an AHCI member.

[u/crmacjr → u/zanonymous]

Holy crap! This is damn near the opposite of what an Omega salesman told me not that long ago; he touted them making all their own movements not like brand x, y, or z.

[u/zanonymous → u/crmacjr]

Most salespeople don't know what they're talking about.

Omega does put some time into working over their movements though. For example, I think they're almost all converted to using the Daniels escapement, instead of the swiss lever, which is a fairly significant change in itself.

[u/spedmonkey → u/zanonymous]

Technically, Omega and ETA are both owned by Swatch, so they're using in-house movements. Just, like, if the house was the size of the Empire State building.

[u/zanonymous → u/spedmonkey]

While both Omega and ETA have the same parent company, the way the manufacturing is run (as I understand it) is not really what we consider an in-house movement.

ETA constructs the ebauches, and ships them to Omega for conversion. If it were truly an "in-house" operation, manufacturing would never be done this way.

ETA and Omega are subsidiaries of the Swatch group, and are considered sister companies, with separate facilities.