Horological Meandering

Marcus Hanke
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Sorry, you don't ...

I fear I did not make my intention completely clear: I did not want to take two watches at the same price level and compare them in order to tell which one is better. I wanted to take the most inexpensive Asian sports watch (meaning: most inexpensive watch from a traditional manufacturer, fulfilling a few requirements, like water tightness, steel case, contrast, original design) and the most inexpensive Swiss sports watch and evaluate whether the higher price makes it a better timepiece. I deliberately ruled out any private label products and focussed on original design.

My goal was to see whether those people who state: "Don't buy that Japanese/Chinese watch, take a Swiss one, it's better, even if it is more expensive!" are correct or not.

We should not forget that in Europe, Seiko is still struggling against the image of the cheapo brand (a problem they might even be responsible for themselves, but this is a different story). Mechanical watches wearing the Seiko (or Citizen) label at prices around 1,000 Euros have absolutely no chance on the market, which is used to Seiko/Citizen offering complex quartz watches with a gadzillion of functions at that price point. What is bought in the mechanical sector is mainly the inexpensive Seiko 5, but when it comes to quality, most people still prefer Swiss made.

I think my result is clear - and fair to both manufacturers: The cheap Seiko 5 is everything other than worthless, in the contrary: it is a highly capable timepiece, definitely a piece of quality. The Tissot as the more expensive Swiss counterpiece, on the other hand, demonstrates that the price premium is not simply a question of origin. The Tissot is more expensive because it offers more constructive and design details, not because it is Swiss.

I have a similar comparison in the pipeline, this time a Swiss-only review: Longines Legend Diver vs. Breitling Superocean Heritage. Both have the same movement, the same function, and the same design direction quoting historical diving watches. Here, too, the price difference factor is roughly 2.5. I will check if the Breitling can be considered offering 2.5 times more value than the Longines. We'll see ...

Marcus