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Help! New to Automatic Watches!

2K views 24 replies 18 participants last post by  watch_hor 
#1 ·
Hi guys, I'm new to the forum and the world of watches. I've been looking around and trying to do research on the various automatic movements (I want to buy one for myself), but I'm not sure what to go with as an entry level. I don't have a thousands of dollars to throw down on my first automatic, but I'm willing to go up to about $500-$600.

Price aside, I'm also wondering if anybody could help me with the types of movements out there and the prices I should expect, like a Miyota 82S series or a 9015? There's just so many, and I don't really understand them all even after combing through articles on these movements :-s

So far I've been using solar watches (family loves solar energy)..

Thanks in advance for the help!

Zach
 
#2 ·
First thing you need to do is completely forget about movements. Instead work out what type of watch you want. A dive watch, pilot watch, general sports watch, something dressier or casual etc? Then see what brands and models visually appeal to you. Check out the WRUW (What are you wearing) threads in the Affordable and Public forums. Then once you've got an idea for what you are after then you can think a little about movements but honestly when it comes to watches in that price bracket it's not really that important. Seiko do nice movements, so do ETA, so do Miyota and you'll get similar specs from all of them (except perhaps some of the lower end Seiko's that also forego handwinding. But like I say don't worry about it too much, pick your watch based on looks not movement specs.
 
#3 ·
Like shaggy said, look for what type of watch you want to start with. Or you can do like many of us did, buy a little of everything as you can afford to, and decide/sell off whatever you don't like.

Personally I find I like divers. I also found I like 44-46mm, 9-14mm thick, depending on the brand. I also only buy watches with solid end links, no folding. And I like a good quality clasp, with a safety if possible. I found all that out by simply buying many watches in the 150-500 range (of course selling any I didn't like after I got them). Also, do not be afraid to buy used, as long as you do your research on both the watch and the seller.

After all that, you will begin to remember common movements. There are really only a handful of movements you will find in a watch under $600. You will find Seiko has two common movements (that have different names for different markets). One movement that is newer hacks and handwinds (4r36), one that does not. And if you are truly interested in watches your knowledge will grow from there.
 
#4 ·
Welcome Zach111 to WUS
I would just add that, maybe you can walk into a store, and try a few on your wrist to feel the look, weight, size, thickness, color, finish, the type of band/clasp, etc. to narrow down your choices. Sometimes what looks good on paper in theory don't look great on your wrist, and vice versa. I am sure whatever style you settle on, there are many types of movements and manufacturers to choose from.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Welcome to the party.

If in-house movements is your thing, check out Orient Star line. It is a bit north of your budget (depending on the discount you get) and the finishing is very good for that price. With $700 or so, you should be able to get most of the Orient Stars.

For me, I love the chose the Retrograde when I was in your shoes 3 months ago. Love the perlage of its internals when seen from the caseback.

View attachment 3161698

Here's my piece:

View attachment 2478754

 
#8 ·
Wow, thanks guys for the input! By the way, how would you normally assess the price of a watch?

Based on the movement, the material, the workmanship?

Like when I'm making my purchase, I hope to be able to have a better eye for details beyond just paying say $500 because I like the design that much. Perhaps something like a Miyota 9015 movement would be in the $400 range with a Sapphire Glass cover?

I'm really not sure so I'm just throwing numbers. Thanks a lot for your help guys!!

Zach
 
#9 ·
Again as I said earlier try not to focus on the movement yet. Get a feeling for what you like and what brands seem to be more appreciated in what different areas. For a guy coming into it like yourself thinking about the difference between X movement and Y movement in terms of specs or accuracy is practically irrelevant at this stage. Go figure out what you like the look of, what complications or design cues take your fancy and then all the other stuff will fall into line later on.
 
#11 ·
I must say coming into the watch industry as a beginner can be a little intimidating due to the infinite number of watch brands with some having been around since the 1800s to the new start up companies. Then you have watches deriving from the big three Asia, Germany, and Switzerland. That's not considering regional watch makers in the U.S, Britain, Holand, Russia and from other corners of the world.

For your first watch do you want something functional, an everyday watch or one that you will wear on special occasions? I will say that the heart of most automatics will be either a Miyota, SeaGull, or an ETA movement. It can be broken down even further into other categories once considering the type of complication you want in a watch such as Date, Day & Date, GMT, Perpetual Calendar, Chronograph, Day & Night indicator, Moonphase, Retrograde, Power Reserve indicator and the list goes on. I would make a list of watches you like so far and show us images to help you narrow them down. Good hunting!
 
#12 · (Edited)
Hi guys, I'm new to the forum and the world of watches. I've been looking around and trying to do research on the various automatic movements (I want to buy one for myself), but I'm not sure what to go with as an entry level. I don't have a thousands of dollars to throw down on my first automatic, but I'm willing to go up to about $500-$600.

Price aside, I'm also wondering if anybody could help me with the types of movements out there and the prices I should expect, like a Miyota 82S series or a 9015? There's just so many, and I don't really understand them all even after combing through articles on these movements :-s

So far I've been using solar watches (family loves solar energy)..

Thanks in advance for the help!

Zach
The first thing to know is that an automatic movement is just a manual one with a rotor connected to the spring so that the watch will wind itself as a result of the motion of your arm as you go about your business while wearing it.

Technologically speaking, in your price range, there isn't all that much that notably different and worth worrying about. They will all keep time more or less to the same levels of accuracy, and in that regard, you should expect something on the order of +/- 20-40 seconds a day. Some of them will have hacking seconds and some won't. In your price range, few, if any, will be decorated, but they will be abundant and they are easily serviced by just about any trained watchmaker.

No matter whether they are decorated ("finished" is the watchie term for it) or not, they are still the same movement and barring technical enhancements by a given watch company, will deliver the same performance and wear characteristics. Here's a fair illustration of the difference: ETA watch movements .


Two ETA 2824 movements

Here's a discussion of what one company has done to modify a base ETA movement to provide improved performance in at least one dimension: https://www.bernardwatch.com/blog/swatch-eta-movements-pushing-ahead-with-hamilton-h-21-h-31/ .

I know you've done some reading. Hopefully this was among the articles you read -- Watches in Depth - Movement Calibres - The Baily Blog -- for it is a great primer as is this: What Are The Best Watch Movements? - Ask Watch Experts Questions About Watches | aBlogtoWatch . If you just want some specs, this may help:
For more movements' specs, just use the search field at the top of the page on the site above.

Here are some comparisons:

Among movements -- automatic or manual -- up until recent years, ETA's were by far the most commonly found ones. In 2010, ETA announced that it was cutting back on ETA distribution to non-Swatch Group companies, with a few exceptions. In light of that, several companies have developed ETA clones. Among the clones, the ones from Sellita and Soporod are probably the two most often encountered Swiss ones. Here's a comparison of ETA's 2824 with Sellita's SW200: Clone Wars: Sellita SW200 Vs. ETA 2824 | Watch Flipr . I won't say it's impossible to find a Soporod A10 in a watch costing less than $600, but I don't know of any.

Here's a discussion of the impact of ETA's 2010 decision: Prometheus Watch Company | How ETA's Decision to Stop Supplying Movements Affects Prometheus Watch Company and Watch Industry . Now whether read the article or just look at the chart, you'll see a pretty comprehensive list of who makes ETA alternatives and their delivery capabilities as it affects at least one watch company that purchases movements. More than much else other than pricing negotiations, the availability of alternatives will drive what movement you see in affordable watches.

There are of course other ETA watch movements, but in the sub-$3K or so price brackets, you won't see too many of them. The two you have any reliable chance of bumping into are the 2892 which is an uncomplicated movement and the 7750 which is a chronograph one.

Red:
So, to your question, you should expect, given your price range, to see Miyota, Seiko, ETA 2824, Seagull and Orient movements if a mechanical watch is what you intend to buy. You need not be too concerned with which one is in a watch you like, but all other things being equal, if you can get a watch with ETA-inside, there's little reason not to prefer it, but there's also little reason to require it. The reason for the latter is that ETA makes the same movement in varying grades of accuracy. The Standard grade will be about the same as the other movements you encounter. The grades that are a step up from Standard will have greater accuracy, but at best, you'll only see Elablore grade movements in the sub-$600 range. If you care, just ask the seller which grade is in the watch.
If there's something else specific you want to know, ask.

All the best.
 
#13 ·
For $500-$600 you can get a very nice watch that will give you a lot of enjoyment. Of course, it can also be a gateway drug to many, many more watches. ;)

I'd recommend looking through the WRUW (what are you wearing) threads every day in the public forum and many of the subforums. This will help you define your interests. Find a style, then find the brands that offer it, and go from there.

Since someone mentioned Orient Star, here's a picture of the Star Seeker, well within your budget.

Orient Star Seeker-2 by fortsonre, on Flickr
 
#15 ·
Without knowing the style you are looking for it is hard to help. However, I see several people say "for that price get swiss..." I disagree. Yes you can get a nice low end swiss movment in that price, and get a mid level Hamilton, or Tissot...However in that price range you can get a very nice Japanese. Seiko, Orient. and end up getting much more for your money.
 
#16 ·
My recommendation for automatics for the $500-$600 price range:

Seiko 007 or Monster
Victorinox Officer's Mechanical
Longines (Used)
Omega Seamaster (vintage - 70's)
 
#20 ·
Yeap, doing lots of reading but there is really a lot to absorb haha. I thought a good start for me would be to look at the movements of watches since that's the heart of the watch but there is really so much to know about!

I bought my current watch based on it's look, previous watches are for functionality (used a Pro-Trek with a titanium strap). And here I am realizing there may be more to a watch than how I used to shop hahaha
 
#22 ·
I thought a good start for me would be to look at the movements of watches since that's the heart of the watch but there is really so much to know about!
Forget about the movement. Seriously, in your price range the movement isn't even worth thinking about -- if you buy from a good brand, you'll be getting a perfectly good movement and that's all you really need to know.

Before you spend too much money, you might consider an entry-level Orient or Seiko 5 watch. There are some really nice automatic watches out there for under $200 (some for under $60). For example, this guy cost me a whopping $48 (SNK793):
Watch Analog watch Watch accessory Fashion accessory Product

Or this guy can be had for $150 (SNZH57, also available in blue. I've always thought it would look amazing on a distressed brown leather strap):
Watch Analog watch Watch accessory Fashion accessory Strap

In fact, just Googling "Seiko 5" will show you an absurd number of attractive, reliable, and inexpensive watches.

It's really common for a person's tastes to change and evolve pretty quickly after they get into watches. You could always buy something less expensive now and then get something nicer later when you've got more of a handle on what you like.
 
#23 · (Edited)
Get mine.

But I think you should give us an example of what your looking for in terms of looks.

These are my watches. Both automatic. I can't imagine any expert here to say anything bad about either of these 2 movements. The Tissot is a 2824-2 (probably one of the most used swiss movements there are), and the Seiko has a 4R36, which is a very reliable Japanese movement. Sort of the Japanese equivalent to the 2824-2, although it hasn't been around that long. It is a relatively new movement.



Seiko Stargate- $300
Tissot LeLocle- $490

I'm sure you can find them cheaper online.

In my opinion, if you want a first automatic watch that is reliable, you can beat up and wear every day and will cost <$300, you can't go wrong with a Seiko diver. Anyone of these guys on this forum (which are experts, I'm not), will never argue with anyone getting a Seiko Diver.

If you want a 100% no risk every day beater automatic, get the SKX007 Seiko Diver. The pictures don't do it justice. It is a very nice looking watch, and you can change the straps to whatever you like. Nato, Rubber or bracelet. My reason for choosing this one is because you can dress it up or dress it down. You can pretty much take it out of the box, put it on and never take it off. Shower, play sports, wear a suit, do whatever with it.





Whatever rocks your boat. A true classic no BS watch. You'll own it forever.

You can check the specs on the different movements, but why bother. For guys like us who aren't real experts, what I do is I look at the brand. Tissot uses ETA movements. ETA are in 80% of swiss watches sold. So, I bought it. Later on I found out what a 2824-2 is and it turns out it is a real work horse. I think since the 80's.

Seiko is possibly the most respected Japanese brand name in watches.

Tell these guys to show you a picture of their personal collections. Between their Rolex and their Omegas and Patek you will almost always find a Seiko Diver.

Seiko won't build you a watch with a crap movement. No way. So whatever it is that it has in there I'm sure will be a good movement.

I found out what a 4R36 was after I got home and had bought the watch. All I knew was, I was buying a Seiko and whatever was in there I'm sure is good.
 
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