Need Help: Halios Laguna or Magrette Regattare

[dondi]

I was choosing between the two as well...and went with the Magrette cuz the dimensions were a little larger and I had a ton of 24mm straps. Here's mine on a handmade canvas strap.

[Jeep99dad]

Halios all the way, love how well they are finished, looks better (though it is perspective!), better mvt, great lume, bracelet, isofrane, great CS... Polished areas on the Regattare will be a scratch magnet too. I tend to not keep divers with polished SS except Omegas. Which Myota mvt is it? 8215?
TH emvt is solid but noisu and stutters, I have owned several and the second hand stopping and skipping just bigs me too much, plus I highly prefer hacking mvt.

then again I've never been a fan of Margrette watches for some reason. But don't have first hand exprience so they may be just as fone from a finish and CS standpoint...

[sooner76]

Neither. I don't see either of these watches being keepers.

[Chrispy1]

So why comment?

[CrazySeikoFan]

Can't speak to the Magrette, but I have had a Halios, and will buy another. I love the Panerai-ish look of the Magrette, but all of the previous cons mentioned have always resonated with me. The movement, the screw down bezel crown...
The Laguna is just super cool. I think that the look is spectacularly retro, and the bracelet, isofrane and overall quality make it a scream of a deal.
Sorely miss mine.

[Spoonsey]

^^^^ So just out of curiosity, why don't you have your Laguna any more?

I currently own several Magrette watches but I would take the Laguna over the Regattare. The ETA movement, supplied bracelet and Isofrane really make it a no-brainer. A great package.

That said, I have a work colleague who recently purchased the Regattare and it is a really nice looking watch. I admire the designs that both Jason and Dion have been coming up with lately. We are spoilt for choice.

[CrazySeikoFan]

Spoonsey,

I think I was just on a flipping bender! At the time I really liked it, but a Sinn U2 came up for grabs and something had to go to help fund it. However, every time I now see one, I am not sure why I didn't just use other funds for the Sinn???? That being said, I really like the new blue dial, so it should all work out in the end.
Does anyone know if the new blue dial model will come with a blue Isofrane?
The only con I would mention for the Halios is that it sat a bit high for my liking. Otherwise an awesome watch.
Best
Aaron

[bedlam]

Neither. I don't see either of these watches being keepers.

And yet I kept mine.

[mngambler]

owned a Laguna and flipped it, imo it was a decent watch with a pretty cool looking case, but it had some "finishing" issues on it, nothing too terrible and I would still choose it over the Magrette based on looks alone if I had to re-buy one of those two exact watches

[ZASKAR36]

I think the fact that you're considering either one, leads me to believe you can afford the higher end Halios @ $700 USD. If that's the case, why not just go with the Halios? The Magrette @ $545 really isn't in the same category as the Halios. Somewhat trying to compare apples to oranges. I think at the end of the day though it's a choice between lumed bezel vs non lumed bezel, ETA vs Miyota, and Halios design vs Magrette Design. Just need to figure out which of those things are deciding factors.

For me, $700 was and is way over my normal budget. So the Halios was out for me. Also, my personal tastes, I put design over movement as the deciding factor along with price.

I bought my Magrette 2011 because I fell in love with the design the first time I saw it. The Miyota movement doesn't bother me at all as it is a work horse movement and will provide years of solid performance. It may not be as smooth as ETA, but it doesn't bother me. Had it on yesterday, and I still love the design. Case finishing is top notch and beautiful to look at. Dion does sell the bracelet now separately and the leather strap it comes with is out of this world.

Dion provides great CS and is responds to email promptly. I actually had a defective unit when I first ordered it (had chipped paint on the internal bezel). Dion promptly replaced the defective unit with a new one and covered all shipping costs.

Good luck in your choice. IMO, you can't go wrong either way.