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New to the forum, have a Theorema on the way

21K views 30 replies 12 participants last post by  TWoodie 
#1 ·
My last mechanical automatic died yesterday - it was a Swatch Irony skeleton (the colorful one with the aluminum bracelet and date) so I chucked it. I probably should have kept it to see if there was anything I could do to fix it but alas, it's too late. The mechanism would not turn unless I rocked the minute hand back and forth. Swatch said that I had two years for the warranty and it was just over four years old so I figured total loss.

I came very close to rebuying that model because I really enjoyed it and got many compliments on the design but I figured it was time to get a new one.

After about four hours of scouring the internet, I came upon the Theorema "brand" of watches. From what I gather, they use the 6497 mechanism and I presume it is a Chinese clone. The picture shows a very nicely skeletonized mechanism and it looks like the finish is top notch.

Has anyone had any personal experience with these watches? I ended up paying $150 with free shipping so I'm assuming I got taken but probably not too badly. Hopefully it's a higher quality mechanism than the $10 watches on Ebay; the finish seems to suggest that it's a better quality than most of the knockoffs.

My requirements were luminous hands, skeletonized, polished nickel or stainless case, not too "blingy", and no wasted space around the edges from too small of a face - I don't like small faces surrounded by a huge case.

Anyhow... hope to receive my watch soon, it looks fantastic in the picture!
 
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#4 ·
Congratulations on the skeleton. If it runs well out of the box and for a month or so, the you've probably got a good one.

Don't worry about the price, sometimes you get antsy and overpay. Next time be patient and you'll get a bargain. :)

Cheers,
gigfy
 
#5 ·
I do this more than I should... research, research, research, make the deal, find that one site on the internet that had even more information and find out I overpaid or didn't get the best item available.

My only experience with chinese knockoffs is from working in a scooter dealership. We'd get the cheapest chinese junk scooters with terrible material quality and poor assembly (blind people must be welding the frames). The chinese would usually use a cloned engine (GY50 and GY150, both old Yamaha designs) and usually the parts from one cloned engine were not interchangeable with another manufacturer's copy.

Zong Shen, which was our second lowest price (and quality) model also made some Vespa scooters. Not their high-line stuff, just scooters that looked like chinese bikes, but with better regard to assembly and materials. It all depends on how well built the contracting company wants their design to be.

Don't get me started on the Rocketa bikes... clones of the ZS's - half the price and 1/4 the quality. They always came back for service and no parts could be sourced.

There now.. I've rambled :)
 
#6 ·
#15 ·
Where did you pick that one up, on the eBay site you linked or somewhere else? I've been looking at that model, but in the rose coloured version, for ages. Do let me know if the finish is okay and it runs well when you get it!
 
#8 ·
I got a MZI Corinth for $61, wicked deal.


However I wasted $30 on a Philip Persio. That would be a 100% total loss, but the seller has given me a RMA number for a refund (but we shall see how much of a battle that becomes).

So sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Somebody bought the same Corinth for $50 by watching the auctions, I see they aren't really running them in auction format too much right now? Personally I watched at least 1 dozen if not 2 dozen auctions before I snagged mine... Give it about 3 years and you'll completely forget what you had paid & you'll just enjoy it. There are some auctions or sales sites for Corinth that are selling it for 1,000 euros.. just think of the poor guy who buys that one. o|
 
#9 ·
That's a pretty sharp version of the watch! I personally don't like a gold watch but the skeletonized movements really look sweet in gold.

Hopefully I get the watch pictured in the auction, it has triangular hands.

By the way, can you measure the width for the band? I want to buy a stainless band for it.

Also - does the watch run particularly fast or slow? My last mechanical watch was around 30 seconds a day fast but eventually settled in after a while, I would only have to adjust it every month or so when I saw it running fast.
 
#17 ·
;-)
My last mechanical automatic died yesterday - it was a Swatch Irony skeleton (the colorful one with the aluminum bracelet and date) so I chucked it. I probably should have kept it to see if there was anything I could do to fix it but alas, it's too late. The mechanism would not turn unless I rocked the minute hand back and forth. Swatch said that I had two years for the warranty and it was just over four years old so I figured total loss.

I came very close to rebuying that model because I really enjoyed it and got many compliments on the design but I figured it was time to get a new one.

After about four hours of scouring the internet, I came upon the Theorema "brand" of watches. From what I gather, they use the 6497 mechanism and I presume it is a Chinese clone. The picture shows a very nicely skeletonized mechanism and it looks like the finish is top notch.

Has anyone had any personal experience with these watches? I ended up paying $150 with free shipping so I'm assuming I got taken but probably not too badly. Hopefully it's a higher quality mechanism than the $10 watches on Ebay; the finish seems to suggest that it's a better quality than most of the knockoffs.

My requirements were luminous hands, skeletonized, polished nickel or stainless case, not too "blingy", and no wasted space around the edges from too small of a face - I don't like small faces surrounded by a huge case.

Anyhow... hope to receive my watch soon, it looks fantastic in the picture!
I bought the Monte Carlo for my Uncle for Christmas, and all I can say is IT IS HUGE! :-d Its ok, not the best quality of metal and looks kind of cheesy, but it can hypnotise you if you stare into the movement too long. Its actually a nice watch, but different than what I expected. I reccomend you buy from the user watch.age He had a nice transaction and nice communication. Good luck!
 
#18 ·
The tracking number went live finally and it should be here Thursday. I was surprised that the seller chose UPS over USPS due to the cost difference and the fact that the shipping was free.

Isn't the case 44mm or something like that? 43mm... just checked. Yeah, it's going to be a big watch but I have big wrists so that shouldn't be too much of an issue.

The model I got was the Monte Carlo - I really like how the crown is at 4:00 and the triangular shape of the hands. I do wish there were luminous dots on the face but what are you gonna do? The lume always fades in 30 seconds so it may as well not exist.
 
#19 ·
The tracking number went live finally and it should be here Thursday. I was surprised that the seller chose UPS over USPS due to the cost difference and the fact that the shipping was free.

Isn't the case 44mm or something like that? 43mm... just checked. Yeah, it's going to be a big watch but I have big wrists so that shouldn't be too much of an issue.

The model I got was the Monte Carlo - I really like how the crown is at 4:00 and the triangular shape of the hands. I do wish there were luminous dots on the face but what are you gonna do? The lume always fades in 30 seconds so it may as well not exist.
If the watch is coming to you internationally, UPS is probably going to ding you pretty good...duties, taxes, brokerage fees, etc. :-|
 
#23 ·
Ok my watch arrived today from Chicago via seller Watch-age on the bay. The watch is everything that is advertised. Finish of the case is good but not excellent. No obvious defects. The movement started up immediately with a single jiggle and hand wound flawlessly. The movement is beautiful and the engraving is not as overwhelming as I may have thought from the pics. So far the time keeping is spot on with my citizen after 5 hours. My only dislike is the cheesy faux lizard strap.
I think this will be a nice beater for me. Probably going to change out the strap though.
 
#24 ·
Chrono; very glad to hear it! Yeah, I'm really not keen on the black band; I much prefer brown myself. I'm going to replace it with something as soon as I get it in hand and decide what would be the best material to go with.

I was considering stainless but I've seen some thick leather bands that are very tempting - I just can't visualize from the picture what this watch will look like with a different band.

My hope is that this is a slightly higher grade than the similar movements on the $25 ebay specials and the premium price I paid is going towards better materials and finish.
 
#25 ·
I think you will be happy. I was thinking about a black strap with blue stitching to match the hands. Also with a deployment clasp. The model I got has a 24mm lug, so it may limit some of my choices. Let us know what you decide too.
 
#26 ·
It arrived in the mail today and started up on about the 6th revolution of the crown. Seems to be keeping time but since I've only had it for about two hours it's obviously a little early to tell.

The watch was packed in a clamshell eyeglass case with the warranty card. The warranty (24 months) is through a fellow named Enis Tufina from Germany. Googling the address provided shows that he lives in a subdivision in Northern Germany near the Denmark border. The website on the card (tufina.com) is parked with watch-related ads on it.

I wonder if he makes the watches in his house? :roll:

The finishing seems to be very nice, you can see the tooling marks easily at 12x magnification but from the naked eye it's perfectly fine.

I was shocked to see how large the watch is! You don't think about 1.6 inches across until it's sitting on your wrist - and I have a big wrist!

The band is actual leather and is stamped in a snake skin pattern. I thought it was going to be black but it is extremely dark brown. I'm going to change it for something when I get a chance as I don't like stamped leather.

I'm quite impressed with it but i think if it were 10-15mm smaller it would look slightly less awkward. Oh, it has a particularly loud tick but that doesn't bother me.
 
#27 ·
Glad you like yours. Yes it is big. The largest in my modest collections so far. It is a bit too big for my liking, as I prefer around 40mm. I don't have really big wrists, about 7" so it is barely acceptable. I have been wearing mine for the last 2 days and it is keeping good time so far. Told you the band was a bit cheesy.;-)
Now I am waiting on my Alpha Bond homage to arriveb-)
 
#28 ·
It seems to be keeping time just fine so far. The one thing I don't care for is that it is sort of hard to read because the skeletonized part is pretty busy and the hour markers aren't very distinct. Also, I was under the assumption that the hands were luminous but they are just painted - which is fine.

The band is actually black, the lighting in my office somehow made it look dark brown. I have a nice brown calfskin band w/ a Panerai-esque buckle and white stitching on order for $30.
 
#31 ·
Watch Analog watch Watch accessory Fashion accessory Strap


I've had this Tufina Theorema XL Jumbo for about 10 months now and I'm really happy with it. It caught my eye of FB, so I bought it. Later, I learned I probably paid too much for it through this forum. Not a fan of skeletal watches but I bought the watch for the style and the large numbers on the dial.

I'm not into watches to the point where I get into movements and all that. I like watches that look good, have good quality, and keep good time. My Tufina does that.
 
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