re: Obtuse's guide to entry level Swiss watches under $2000

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Solid post sir. I heard from a certified Rolex repair guy that Rolex is slowly phasing out the independent repair shops in the US. He thinks that Rolex will not be able to keep up with the amount of repairs and they will be subbed out to certain Asian countries. Have you heard of this yet?

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I know Rolex has been pushing against the Indies for some time. Tightening up on parts account orders and closing some completely for any ticky-tack reason. As for sending the work to Asia, I don't really see it. I would expect outside the true high-end brands Rolex would be the last ones to do this. The reason is Rolex is owned by a charitable trust with the sole mission of supporting the cantons of Switzerland. I suspect over the time they have been starting to squeeze the independent watchmakers out they have been gearing up to expand their service capabilities both in Switzerland and the US. That said there are enough parts for the 3135 family and prior movements floating around to keep indies busy for many years. Not so much for the 3255 family I suspect. The previously Rolex only independents will just need to adapt and learn other movements, the mechanical watch boom of the last dozen years is going to start causing a huge need for watchmakers (relative to the few around). It isn't like ETA/Sellita 3 hand date movements are hard to service, I can do it as an amateur watchmaker (I still shy away from even the pedestrian 7750 chrono movements). While I agree that the Rolex movements are often less stressful to dig into and you can generally charge more for them depending on your location the work is out there.

Wife bought me a Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon Chronograph automatic about 11 years ago. I have worn it every day for 11 years. I highly recommend Ball watches..

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Really like that Hamilton pan Europe

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They make a chronograph version also but only in black, they made a blue one 2-3 years ago but it was a limited edition.

Here is a pic of the original Pan Europ they are based on, between the modern 3 hand and chrono.




This particular cushion case gained the nickname Fedora.

Would love to know where the watch that went this case went.



Holds my grandfather's 1958 Omega now.

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Would love to know where the watch that went this case went.

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It would have been a cool one. That is the inner bakelite case that was used for most if not all the men's Hamiltons in the late 40's and early 50's. It would have originally come with an outside blue cardboard box that would have had the model, case serial number and the movement number. I think the price tags were the stamped gold "foil" like you saw well into the 70s that stuck between the box and liner or the inside case wall. Chances are it was a gold tank.