I ran a “time trial” on my aeromatic watches for a week- the Sextant pilots watch performed the worst at a Consistant 22 seconds fast (plus or minus 3 seconds from this value). The Divers watch was bang on 10 seconds fast WITH NO VARIATION AT ALL (worn OR in box!!) for seven days.
The mechanical Chronograph was pretty accurate but not so consistant- it was between 5 seconds slow and 8 seconds fast per day. When WORN as oposed to left on its back it gains about 8 seconds a day.
While obviously not “Chronometer” grade these watches have proved to be relible and pretty consistant. There are no doubt better watches out there but I do not think that there are many of better VALUE.

Please note I’m not talking about genuinely high end hand made watches. As somebody said above, these are likely to cost >$50,000.

So if you have buckets of cash, I’m sure it is great to go out and buy a Sea Dewller Deep Sea if you need a dive watch. These are probably the ebst finished divers I’ve seen, and I would love one. But if you don’t have the AU$13k it costs in my country as spare change, then maybe an argument could be made that divers which are nearly as good (in terms of finish adn functionality) can be had for $2000 (Seiko MM, Ball HC) or even $1,000 (Seiko Sumo), or $500 (seiko samurai).

This has becoem a long winded rant (!) but the my actual point is I think it is obnoxious for rich people (or watch idiot savants who aren’t even rich but are just brand suckers) to say x-brand is crap because rolex and omega are better. (omegas aren’t even that great, but I won’t go there!) Many people love watches but can’t afford a rolex. Or can afford one but would ratehr spend the money on, say, a holiday, house extension, jewellery (real stuff with gold, platinum, diamonds) etc.

Having said all this, I was going to buy a Rolex GMT recently until my GF and a couple of mates suggested it wasn’t the smartest thing to do. So I’m going to build a patio. And get me one of those Tauchmeister GMTs or the he valve divers (1000m) on ebay for like US$110 – $150. Aeromatic and Tauchmeister have had mixed reviews above. I am very curious about the watches, can’t wait to try one out. If it breaks it’s not the end of the world, just a the price of a nice dinner out with my GF. Bad points about the Tauches I can see so far:

1. Finish. Not as good as Seiko / Omega, definitely no Rolex! Cases are cast not machined. Dials are a bit chintzy. Hands are nothing flash.

2. Folded end links (on GMT, diver has rubber strap).

3. Mineral glass, not sapph.

4. GMT is not real GMT, just a fourth hand. i.e. can’t be set independently from hour hand. So you have to set the 24 hr time with the bezel.

On the plus side, the colours are pretty sweet. The case of the 1000m diver is distinctive. I don’t know anybody around here who has either of em. I won’t be afraid to wear it around (most of my watches are wrapped in plastic!). I hope!

So to all you other “poor man’s” watch lovers, I’m with you all! It’s arguably better to spend tens of 1000s of $$$ having a LIFE, rather than on a piece of steel (I amke an exception with gold – I LOVE gold! And you can SELL it if you have to becasue it has intrinsic value). And spend a grand (or less, whatever you think is reasonable) on 3 or 4 interesting watches that make you smile.

And to all the rich folf (or poor folk who want to look rich) who rave about rolexes and omegas and the like, seriously, we know they’re good watches. We’ve all seen em, don’t need you to tell us that. But if you think they’re THAT good (as in, $5 – 10k good), you’re just having a tug of yourself. Also fair enough.

But to then bag others because they have to (or choose to) buy cheap watches is tacky and uncouth. I don’t know about you but I dobn’t walk around town telling poorer people I’m richer than them. Not very nice.

You obviously know absolutely nothing at all about engineering or manufacturing.

Mechanical watches are very simple and crude 400 year old technology. There are about 1/10 for engineering complexity. Mechanical movements have extremely low tolerances and are made of cheap common materials such as steel and brass. A high quality mechanical movement can easily be made for far less than $5.

Virtually all watches under $50k are mass produced in highly automated factories. They aren’t hand made at all. Rolex makes nearly a million automatic watches a year. More Rolex Submariners have been made than VW beetles or Model T Fords.

The total materials cost for a top quality stainless steel watch is less than $10 including a sapphire crystal.

A steel watch that costs $100 is probably overpriced let alone one that costs $10,000