Horological Meandering

Hi guys, I'm interested in seeing which brands rank among the most popular here. What are your favorite brands? Could you go as far as to explain your preference? I think it could be an interesting experiment. ...  

Early RDs are fantastic, I agree

What can I say about MB&F... Max Busser is the father of the independent watch movement. He started his career working at JLC and then moved over to Harry Winston to work on the Opus Project. I'm not sure if you are familiar with it but Google Harry W...  

I too love MB&F, event though I don't have one yet. It's my favorite independent and Max is one of my favorite people in the industry. A cool guy that always dares to be different.

To get a personal reply from Max or Tim in a matter of minutes is crazy. Other brands it takes days if not weeks or even in one case months

Max and his friends have really made Horology so much more exciting

Personally i pick out my watches by brand. Second the country of production. Number 1. First i have not tried every brand that exist, so there are maybe winners which i not knew. For me is important what a brand brings and rationally said price. Here it c... 

Thank you for your contribution, I too have omega in my top two favorites

More. When i study my Omega, it is clear that this brand is very good in watch making. If Omega put not so much energy in the watch box, they can bring up more quality to the watch. A simple sustainable watch box will have my preference.

But the omega boxes are beautiful, I love both my wooden seamaster box and my huge speedmaster box.

Haha, i buy watches to wear, not to lurk the box. But….. i smell the watch box, Omega used that delicious leather.

I am a nerdy guy, I love to geek out over my passions, and not many subjects can be explored as deeply and widely as horology can, at least in my opinion. I've always considered myself to be a free thinker, I'm more likely to love something if it's the un... 

I'll put in a vote for my favorite German watch brand of A. Lange & Sohne. While I sadly don't own one myself yet (one day!), they've always spoken to me on a different level from almost every other brand. I absolutely adore MB&F, Gronefeld, DeBet... 

The Lange 1 and the Zeitwerk have long been grails of mine

I also use mine for chores, occasionally..... ...  

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I'm with you, brother - prefer my two sub-bridges, little islands of heaven, despite the technical advances with the newer guy.

What about another model? 1815 chrono, datograph, zeitwerk etc

1815 chrono I prefer the cleaner dial of the 2nd generation, without the pulsometer scale. Dato and ZW, first-generation for me!

on a smaller scale, Akrivia, for their amazing finish and craft. -Dean

Rexhep Rexhepi is making some stunning movements

But I’ve always enjoyed the earlier stuff by Lange and Patek. Also vintage Rolex and very selectively some modern pieces. On the independent front I’m a big lover of Laurent Ferrier’s and Kari’s earlier stuff, also Frodsham. Cartier has finally made its w... 

Second, and perhaps also unsurprising, Rolex, which I always strongly admired for the same simple reasons that most collectors admire this Brand: the quality, reliability, and enormous success of its production. Let me just reiterate here that I'm sincere... 

The importance and quality of Rolex and PP are occasionally ignored by afficionados, amidst the bitterness surrounding hype culture and the popularity of icons like the 5711. It's nonsense, there's a reason why their names are the golden standard. The mos... 

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From an accuracy and durability standpoint I believe they make the finest movements at any price. Astronauts wore them on the OUTSIDE of their spacesuits on the moon. Parmigiani To me there are few watches as sublime as the Hebdomaire in dark green. Urwer... 

Omega is my favorite too (with JLC), I've loved the brand since I was a child dreaming about being how cool it would be to live the life of James Bond and have cool gadgets like the seamaster. Every time I walk in the Omega boutique I feel like the child ... 

After 3 years my POC was off 3-6 seconds total. After 6 years I'm losing 1-2 seconds per month.

Love AP, the design, history, pedigree and craftsmanship.

I love the star wheel

I'll be hung and quartered now but I really love the older Hublot King Power/Oceanographic line a lot. Tough as f@@@ with wrist presence.

Seriously, modern textualist approaches and their....vital consequences aside, I do appreciate your interest and support for this Brand, which too often seems the favorite target of its detractors! I actually believe Hublot has many more fans than critics... 

That's how it should be!

I also like Vacheron for the overall quality and finish of their movements and their overall design language. Rolex, of course, makes some of the most robust and visually appealing pieces. And I think Greubel Forsey makes some incredibly compelling pieces... 

Habring² IMO is one of the most compelling brands in the world. A relatively small Independent (~200 watches a year) who are able to produce in house their own monopusher chronographs, pusherless chronographs, Rattrapante chronographs, jumping seconds wat... 

and it's not difficult to understand why!

Ulysse Nardin, because if they are pure horological wizards, Girard Perregaux with their exquisite Tourbillons with Bridges, Tudor with their vintage marvels and some very cool modern creations, Blancpain mostly because of their vintage Fifty Fathoms, Zen... 

I have to research Jardur now 😅 I love most of the brands you listed, many of them are underdogs, undeservedly...

…and yes your Jardur 🤪🤪

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Cool chonographs! I second your preference for underdogs, I have a deep love for brands like JLC, Lange, Zenith and Omega (if you can call it an underdog), that put the engineering first instead of trying to be the flashiest status symbols.

Definitely Patek Philippe for many of their vintage vintage pieces and some of their modern ones, and certainly so many Independents for their incredibly well finished watches but above all for the special personal relationship one can have with them (I c... 

You are right about the Independents, an universe I don't know that well... But I would pick from your selection Romain Gauthier, Laurent Ferrier, and at another level, of course, Hentschel, because we have a friendly relation. As we are speaking of frien... 

Hype is a sad state of things today and not just in watches, however Rolex to me represents all the values I look for in watches in this segment. Not just the product which is impeccable, the history, brand integrity, service and product development... Se... 

Rolex and Patek are so well regarded for a reason

Man, do I love Nomos!

1. Omega (185) 2. Longines (118) 3. IWC (105) 4. Universal Geneve (82) 5. Rolex (77)

Brands and models. A top 3 will be. 1. Seamaster. 2. Twin beat 3. Excalibur. Special attention. 1. Big Bang 2. Charles Lindbergh 3. Pall Weber Iconic. 1. Reverso 2. Overseas 222 3. Pulsar Independent. 1. Logical One 2. Continuum 3. 19thirty

The twin beat is a masterpiece

It has to be Seiko. So much technical innovation and great designs over the years. And, at least for some time, you could collect them without refinancing your life.

So yes, GS and Credor included. Even if they weren't, I think seiko would still be a strong contender. High quality mass production is in many ways more impressive than extremely high quality artisinal products.

I love the crash.

Here are the brands I had purchased from and some interactions with and some thoughts - JLC: used to have more wonderful creations but company is changed now. Had terrible horrible experience with the Navy Seals Alarm bezel falling off and them not replyi... 

Omega: completely agree: I've had an issue with the date wheel of my seamaster and they were extremely quick to repair it and send it back to me. Plus I believe the brand to be really well managed at the moment. Rolex: so many great things to say about it... 

I'd love to participate!