Re: value of good versus not good movements

I believe 6R15 is 21,600 bph watch. The 6R20 is a 28.8 and therefore
comparable to the 2824, but the few 6R20 models available are rather pricey
($800) and even for the 6R15 there are only a handful of models, all Seiko
and mostly intended for the Japan market. It's true the 6R15 is superior to
the 7S26 but they should have bit the bullet and made it a 28.8 so it would
really compare to a 2824.

For that matter, they should have made it available in volume to other
manufacturers and made it compatible with the 2824's measurements, but
priced a little lower. There is a real hole in the market right now from
$100 to $300. Under $100 you have Miyota and Seiko 7S26, not to mention all
of China. Above $300 you have the 2824. A $200 watch with a Seiko Japan
movement and nice Asian case would have a lot of credibility in the market.

In contrast the 2824 (and its almost twin the Sellita) is widely available.
The accuracy is faultless - my $50 Gruen "Swiss" 2824 keeps better time long
term than several of the quartz watches I own. The 2824 may drift a couple
of secs and drift back, but the quartz tend to drift in one direction and
the modern ones don't even have trimmers so you can correct that.



<mylesv@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1187284434.859323.40450@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Aug 12, 5:25 pm, "Jack Denver" <nunuv...@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Seiko currently lacks a comparably priced movement with the same features
as
the ETA2824 . The most common Seiko movement, the 7S26, found in almost
all
mechanical Seikos from under $50 up to $200 or more is the 7S26, which is
non-hacking, slow beat, non-crown winding, etc. - just a lower end
movement
than the 2824. The Miyota comes a little closer but is still non-hacking
and
slow beat. In short, there is no economically equivalent Japanese
movement,
though there should be. I think the current champ for value/price would
be
the ETA2824, which can be had under $300 in "Eurasian" watches (Swiss
movement, Chinese everything else) such as the Sandoz. Sometimes even
lower
(Gruen "Swiss" for as low as $50 on ebay). These are highly accurate
(after
regulation) even in "stock" form and can offer quartzlike accuracy on the
wrist that is almost astounding for a mechanical watch, as good as or
better
than mechanicals that sell for 10x the price or more.

"Olaf Peuss" <m...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

news:f9nlun$r0v$1@xxxxxxxxxxxx

mike.mad...@xxxxxxxxx wrote:

Let's say there are two watches. Each watch has the look and features
that I want to have. One has a "good" swiss or german movement and
costs over a thousand bucks, while the other has some asian "not so
good" movement and costs around two hundred.

If I don't care about what brand name is on my wrist, what exactly do
I get for spending five times as much?

I wouldn't say that Asian movements are inferior to Swiss movements in
general. Seiko and also Citzien make very good and reliable mechanical
movements indeed. Perhaps in the future, Chinese movements will become
of
acceptable quality, but as a rule of thumb I would chose to avoid
watches
with Chinese movements.

Proper German movements (not watches made in Germany featuring Swiss
movements, mainly from ETA, the world's largest producer of mechanical
movements) can only be found in Lange & Söhne, Glashütte Original, Union
Glashütte and Nomos watches. They are all quite dear, and offer no value
over run-of-the-mill ETA movements other than superior bragging rights.
;-) More kindly worded: They offer true manufacturer's movements but
it'd
be untruthful to say that they are any better in terms of timekeeping,
reliability, mean time between services etc.

So, to get back to your question: Given the choice between two watches,
I'd chose the one with the Swiss movement unless the Asian movement in
the
other watch comes from Seiko. At five times the price for the watch with
a
Swiss movement, I'd rather have a Seiko. Should the Asian movement
happen
to be of uncertain origin, it'll probably be from China then, and I
would
chose the watch with the Swiss movement.

HTH and best regards,
Olaf

The Seiko 6R15 hacks and hand-winds. It's used in the "Spirit" line
(e.g. Ref. SCVS003) as well as the new mid-range diver (e.g. Ref.
SBDC001). It lacks a fine regulator adjustment, as I understand some
grades of 2824 have. It's otherwise comparable to the 2824, in my
opinion.

M


.

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