Fine Watches

quote:

Originally posted by mangiare:
does anyone know what movement this watch embraces? watch

Looks to be a very firm movement though I doubt it has an eight day power reserve.

Thank you Mr Sutherland. I knew I could count on your expertise.

Picked up a Citizen Signature Series Grand Classic Automatic on a recent cruise. Watches are a new interest, and this seemed a good entry point into nice, but perhaps not "fine" watches. My watch-collecting bro in law was quick to point out the Japanese mov't, but liked the buy overall.

quote:

Originally posted by EB Wine:
Picked up a Citizen Signature Series Grand Classic Automatic on a recent cruise. Watches are a new interest,

Careful, EB. Before you look up you will own 12 or more watches.

I assume this is the 9010 movement that is produced by Miyoto, a Citizen owned company.

Congrats on your new purchase. I hope you enjoy the watch.

quote:

Originally posted by wine+art:

quote:

Originally posted by EB Wine:
Picked up a Citizen Signature Series Grand Classic Automatic on a recent cruise. Watches are a new interest,

Careful, EB. Before you look up you will own 12 or more watches.

I assume this is the 9010 movement that is produced by Miyoto, a Citizen owned company.

Congrats on your new purchase. I hope you enjoy the watch.

I know- I feel the urge already...

Movement is described as Automatic 9184.

Starting to seriously think of getting a Panerai. Question for you guys (would be curious to hear from Rob Sutherland on this): If I buy from a place like Humbertown Jewellers, can I expect to be able to bargain or is the price set in stone?

quote:

Originally posted by Gsmfan:
Starting to seriously think of getting a Panerai. Question for you guys (would be curious to hear from Rob Sutherland on this): If I buy from a place like Humbertown Jewellers, can I expect to be able to bargain or is the price set in stone?

I have owned two Panerai's ( still have one) and bought both from the Panerai boutique store. My experience is they hold their prices. That said, I always buy watches and have them shipped out of state to save on the taxes. Also, with the strong U.S. dollar the current pricing is favorable. I looked at one a couple of weeks ago that was about $1200 less than a year ago.

Which model are you thinking about?

quote:

Originally posted by wine+art:

quote:

Originally posted by Gsmfan:
Starting to seriously think of getting a Panerai. Question for you guys (would be curious to hear from Rob Sutherland on this): If I buy from a place like Humbertown Jewellers, can I expect to be able to bargain or is the price set in stone?

I have owned two Panerai's ( still have one) and bought both from the Panerai boutique store. My experience is they hold their prices. That said, I always buy watches and have them shipped out of state to save on the taxes. Also, with the strong U.S. dollar the current pricing is favorable. I looked at one a couple of weeks ago that was about $1200 less than a year ago.

Which model are you thinking about?

The strong USD won't help me as I'm buying in Canada. I haven't decided yet but considering the Luminor 1950 3 days automatic Acciaio (PAM312). I want something that has the classic Panerai look but I don't think I can go with hand-wound.

Last week, I took 4 watches I seldom wear that I'd inherited from my dad to a local watchmaker who was interested in selling them on consignment (an IWC, 2 Doxas, and an Ancre). While I was there waiting, I had some time to look over their selection of pre-owned and tried on a couple. I ended up buying a gold Omega Automatic Geneve day-date with black dial, in exceptionally good condition. I wasn't intending to buy another watch, especially a watch this old (circa 1975), but couldn't resist this one. I'll know in the next couple of months whether it keeps good time, and they gave me a 1-year warranty with an agreement to refund fully if there's a problem.

Weren't the ones from you father more valuable to you than any you could buy? I have my father's gold Le Coultre and Movado, along with the inexpensive watch he wore to work everyday. I'd never part with any of them.

quote:

Originally posted by Board-O:
Weren't the ones from you father more valuable to you than any you could buy? I have my father's gold Le Coultre and Movado, along with the inexpensive watch he wore to work everyday. I'd never part with any of them.

Fair question, Board-O.

My dad passed away 15 years ago. He was a long-time watch collector, frequently buying or selling, and he left me 6 watches. Two of them-- a gold IWC Schaffhausen and a stainless steel Doxa-- are the watches that I remember him wearing all the time; they were his favourites. I will always keep those two, will wear them occasionally, and will eventually pass them on to my son.

I've got 3 nice watches of my own. The other 4 watches that my dad left me just don't get worn, are all manual-winder models so of limited interest to collectors, and are fairly delicate. My son's not interested in them. Rather than leave them sitting in a drawer, I'm finally getting rid of them. As I wrote, I wasn't looking for or planning to buy another watch; it was just an impulse decision while I was in the store that will sell the 4 watches on consignment.

quote:

Originally posted by Seaquam:
I wasn't intending to buy another watch, especially a watch this old (circa 1975), but couldn't resist this one.

There are several forum members that understand all too well.

quote:

Originally posted by Gsmfan:
Starting to seriously think of getting a Panerai. Question for you guys (would be curious to hear from Rob Sutherland on this): If I buy from a place like Humbertown Jewellers, can I expect to be able to bargain or is the price set in stone?

They all bargain, the independents AND the chains. At least for my Panerai they did.

quote:

Originally posted by mrpostcard:

They all bargain, the independents AND the chains. At least for my Panerai they did.

What kind of discount is it reasonable to expect? 10%? More?

quote:

Originally posted by mrpostcard:

quote:

Originally posted by Gsmfan:
Starting to seriously think of getting a Panerai. Question for you guys (would be curious to hear from Rob Sutherland on this): If I buy from a place like Humbertown Jewellers, can I expect to be able to bargain or is the price set in stone?

They all bargain, the independents AND the chains. At least for my Panerai they did.

Good luck bargaining with Humbertown Jewellers. I'd be interested to hear how that conversation goes.

quote:

Originally posted by mangiare:

quote:

Originally posted by mrpostcard:

quote:

Originally posted by Gsmfan:
Starting to seriously think of getting a Panerai. Question for you guys (would be curious to hear from Rob Sutherland on this): If I buy from a place like Humbertown Jewellers, can I expect to be able to bargain or is the price set in stone?

They all bargain, the independents AND the chains. At least for my Panerai they did.

Good luck bargaining with Humbertown Jewellers. I'd be interested to hear how that conversation goes.

I agree, you should be able to get a discount of about equal to the sales tax but Humbertown is a pain to deal with...

quote:

Originally posted by Rob_Sutherland:
I agree, you should be able to get a discount of about equal to the sales tax but Humbertown is a pain to deal with...

Good to know. You think Birks is better? If too much of pain I will simply buy in Calgary and save a portion of the tax.

I believe Panerai is only sold at Humbertown.
I have a friend who is very active in the secondary market if you're serious.

quote:

Originally posted by mangiare:
I believe Panerai is only sold at Humbertown.
I have a friend who is very active in the secondary market if you're serious.

Birks on Bloor St. & Yorkdale Mall are listed as licensed retailers.

I would suggest secondary market anyways. Much more bang for your buck. Especially for a daily wearer.

quote:

Originally posted by mrpostcard:

quote:

Originally posted by Gsmfan:
Starting to seriously think of getting a Panerai. Question for you guys (would be curious to hear from Rob Sutherland on this): If I buy from a place like Humbertown Jewellers, can I expect to be able to bargain or is the price set in stone?

They all bargain, the independents AND the chains. At least for my Panerai they did.

Got 20 off 8-day GMT plus some other goodies. PM me if you can.

Thank you all for the replies. That should be useful information when it comes time to pull the trigger.

Mangiare, I appreciate the offer to put me in touch with your friend. Maybe it's because it will be my first expensive watch, but I'm not sure I'm ready to buy second hand.

quote:

Originally posted by Gsmfan:
Thank you all for the replies. That should be useful information when it comes time to pull the trigger.

Mangiare, I appreciate the offer to put me in touch with your friend. Maybe it's because it will be my first expensive watch, but I'm not sure I'm ready to buy second hand.

gsm, did you pull the trigger?

Not yet. Lots of other stuff going on (renos) so I may delay a bit but I will keep shopping, reading about the various options... and who knows, maybe I bite the bullet sooner than planned.

Weiss Watch Co. marks Independence Day by debuting a U.S.-made mechanical movement

quote:

Originally posted by The Old Man:
Weiss Watch Co. marks Independence Day by debuting a U.S.-made mechanical movement

They had hoped to have the watch ready for the Christmas season last year.

I hope they continue their pursuit of an all American made product.

I tried on a Weiss recently. Didn't fit as well as I was hoping. I liked the design though.

$2,500 for a stainless steel watch ... yowsers.

Plenty of Swiss modern stainless steel going for 5 figures. Why is $2500 such a big number?

And never mind the resale values for vintage. I've got a few stainless Rolex sport models that are easily worth 8-10x that number. And mine are a pittance compared to really desirable vintage models that are 300x that price and higher.

quote:

Originally posted by DoubleD:
$2,500 for a stainless steel watch ... yowsers.

As Fusion said, that is cheap for an in-house movement watch. Even an ETA movement watch sell for far more.

I guess I'm just used to Seiko prices.

quote:

Originally posted by DoubleD:
I guess I'm just used to Seiko prices.

Swatch for me.

I'm not into watches. But during an overnight stay in Ann Arbor, MI recently there was a Shinola store in their downtown. They looked pretty nice to my untrained eye. Range of $500 to $1,100 IIRC.

quote:

Originally posted by billhike:
I'm not into watches. But during an overnight stay in Ann Arbor, MI recently there was a Shinola store in their downtown. They looked pretty nice to my untrained eye. Range of $500 to $1,100 IIRC.

I've read in this thread that the movement is made in China, or at least not in the US.

If true, another reason for me not to buy one. In addition to the fact that I don't care about watches.

quote:

Originally posted by DoubleD:
I've read in this thread that the movement is made in China, or at least not in the US.

I'm told that the parts for the movement are Swiss (Ronda AG) and that assembly is done in Detroit.

PH

Ah, ok

Shinola has gotten some flack about accuracy in how they describe how and where their movement is made

I followed the story for a while but still wound up not fully understanding what the final word was on this

That said, nice looking, under-stated watches. . . not time-pieces by any means but a nice watch

quote:

Originally posted by Parcival:
Shinola has gotten some flack about accuracy in how they describe how and where their movement is made

I followed the story for a while but still wound up not fully understanding what the final word was on this

That said, nice looking, under-stated watches. . . not time-pieces by any means but a nice watch

As of last month, Sinola can no longer claim Made in America. I think they are moving towards assembled in America.

Either way, the company is employing locals (500?) to assembling watches along with other products as well.

As Parcival said, these are a fashion watch ( quartz movements) that clearly have a place within the marketplace.

I wish them well.

Needed a new brown leather slim watch for days when I wear French cuffs and grabbed a Tissot Tradition Rose Gold, then came across a Hamilton Khaki Field Green Strap that's a duplicate of the one my granddad had from WWII - had to have it and got it for a steal.

A nice week of watch-buying for someone who appreciates them but whose appetite stops around $1000.

quote:

Originally posted by Vino Bevo:
Needed a new brown leather slim watch for days when I wear French cuffs and grabbed a Tissot Tradition Rose Gold, then came across a Hamilton Khaki Field Green Strap that's a duplicate of the one my granddad had from WWII - had to have it and got it for a steal.

A nice week of watch-buying for someone who appreciates them but whose appetite stops around $1000.

VB, let's have dinner soon and you can show me your new watch. I hope you love it as time passes.