The Breitling Watch Blog

My search for the ultimate recession-friendly watch fixes once against brings me to a clock! This time, its one of those Russian MiG fighter aircraft clocks that those Russians and Ukranians are always selling. I figured an authentic working Waltham or Wakmann would be a bit pricey for a watch fix at several hundred or more, so I settled on a $68 + Shipping peice, the cheapest I could find that has a Chronograph/Timer. Choosing the model without the heater saves me an additional $5.

I picked the silver model, because I like the contrast, and think this one will look better in my office. It looks great alongside my Breitling display and Seiko world time clock. Movement is a 5 day manual wind, with a Chronograph that measures up to 60 minutes. The models with the additional hour counter costed about $40-50 more, so I decided against it for my first feeler purchase.

Accuracy is pretty good as far as I can tell, but there is no second hand except for the chronograph function. The Chronograph is monopusher type, with the same button start/stop/reset in that order, and the button for that is one on the right. The left hand button is responsible for setting and winding the clock. Turn it counter clockwise to wind (a bit odd), and pull it out and turn it to set. I had to figure that out since it did not come with instructions.

The clock measures about 5″ in diameter, which is a decent size but not really big enough to have as a mantel clock. It works well as a desk clock, or a shelf clock like I am using it for. The clock came in like new condition, with a few rubs here and there as it is supposedly NOS and has some shelf wear. It is for the most part pretty clean. There is a switch on the back that I am not sure what it does. Perhaps for adjusting the time? I dont know. It moves in a u-shape pattern and does not do anything explicitly that I can tell.

Overall I’m really happy with my clock, and it brings me much more joy than a $65 watch would. I’m really glad that I started buying a few sub-$100 clocks here and there.. it keeps the watch bug at bay, and keeps my cash in the bank, where it should be

Next up in my search for the ultimate sub-$500 watch is a Wilson Watch Works Navi, which I briefly talked about the other day.

The Wilson Watch Works (WWW) stuff is not very known, especially outside of ebay, but very impressive. I stumbled upon Wilson Watch Works when I was browsing through ebay at various watches using the Swiss Unitas 6497/6498 movements. These are hand made peices from the US, made from German crafted cases and dials, with Swiss luminova. Front crystals are all Sapphire, double AR coated, with rear exhibition crystal made from K1 Mineral.

The model I picked up is the Navigator, or that’s what I call it at least because of the navigator dial, as Chris at WWW does not have model names yet. Dials and cases are totally sterile. This one is 42mm, and bead blasted stainless steel. They are all available with any combination of cases, dials or movements. You can choose to have a seagull movement installed if you prefer, and will save you $150 or so.

As you can see, the semi-gloss black navigator dial is very nicely crafted, with expertly applied Swiss luminova on the all the outer markers and outer arabics. Hour and minute hands are also both illuimated.

I put mine on a German Pilot strap with rivets in a dark chocolate brown, and I think it looks fanastic. Chris offers them on either vintage or bund straps, but I am partial to the double rivet pilot strap so I sourced mine elsewhere.

The crown is very nicely crafted of solid stainless and finely bead blasted as well. The movement is nice and slack-free, unlike those chinese seagull unitas copies. The cases are manufactured by a company in Germany that also manufactures cases for Tourby watches and Lum-Tec, which sell nearly identical watches for almost twice the price, which is probably fair market value. Wilson Watch Works doesn’t have the same exclusive dial and case designs, but the quality is the same, and thus you save money.

This case uses lug screws, not spring bars, which is kind of nice. The screw threads are very strong and well threaded, and not likely to strip. They are polished, which gives a nice contrast to the blasted case.

Exhibition caseback showing the swiss made eta unitas 6497 movement, undecorated, but beating strong. Did not really check accuracy, but it was within seconds of my Breitlings that I synched it to over the course of a day. Of course the Unitas doesn’t have a date complication, but most days I can do without it – doesn’t stop me from looking for it though.

On my wrist, the 42mm case is fanastic. Probably the perfect size, though the spikey diamond crown digs into my wrist sometimes. But I love the watch and love the case. Everything about it screams quality… and at a price of $459, it certainly is worth the price and very close to the perfect $500 watch for me. I’d been eyeing the Tourby peices as well, but at $800+, they would really have to offer me something that WWW doesn’t. And until then, I’ll stick to my WWW Navigator.

Take a look at his ebay store here: http://shop.ebay.ca/merchant/wilsonwatchworks

I went on a bit of an affordable watch buying spree and picked up several watches in the Sub-$1000 category. Three of these watches clocked in under $500, and it gave me the inspiration for an article because I realized that there is definately a niche that these affordable watches fill. I have had my share of bargain mechanicals liks Trias in the past, and was disappointed. This new breed of watch is quite different from the last, however. I’ll be releasing video reviews for some of these watches as well in the future. The prices I am going by are the available online prices for these watches new, not the MSRP or the used prices. I’ll start from lowest to highest priced.

1. Alpha Radiomir Automatic – $65US

The first watch is an Alpha Radiomir with a Japanese Miyota movement, probably the best movement that Alpha uses, as most of their other watches use fairly unreliable Chinese movements with questionable accuracy. Their cases on the other hand are very well made, and a steal given the ridiculously low prices. This is the perfect mechanical watch if your budget is below $100.

2. Ticino Stealth Military Pilot Watch – $199US

The Ticino is a nice budget watch with a cool Pilot look without the price tag associated with it like most 47mm pilots like the Steinhart/Debaufre Nav B-Uhr, or even more so the IWC Big Pilot. The Ticino is also available in this cool stealthy black case with a completely sterile dial. Very nice touch. The watch is completely Chinese made, but good value, especially if this is all you can afford. Manual winding Unitas clone movement in this one.

3. Pyrolume Mechanical Pilot – $400US

Pyrolume is an interesting brand out of the US here, hand assembled in a one-man shop. The watches are mostly constructed out of Chinese-made parts, except for the dials which are CNC machined in-house by the watchmaker. The mechanical movements are either Chinese Unitas Clones or Japanese Miyota automatics mostly, very similar to the $65 Alpha Watch. The watches have very unique and memorable dials of the watchmaker’s own designs, and are the primary reason for buying these watches. The accuracy on mine is not very good. For a primarily Chinese-made product, it is pricey, but his dials are one-of-a-kind. Currently available only through eBay.

4. Swiss Army Ambassador Day-Date – $450US

Victorinox Swiss Army is probably one of the most underrated brands of watches I have ever seen. Their watches are a bit more mass-market, and likely brushed aside by WIS, but the value is undeniable. Retail price on this Ambassador is around $750, but it can usually be picked up online for around $400-475US new. This is a completely swiss made watch, with a decorated rotor, sapphire crystals front and back! And not to mention the dial is quite stunning. Pricing is very much inline with Hamilton watches. Victorinox makes a very good watch for the money.

5. Wilson Watch Works Unitas Navigator – $460US

Wilson watch works is one of my favourite places to pick up a $500 watch. His watches are probably the priciest of the bunch, but justifiably so. The cases are sourced from Germany, as are the dials, sapphire crystals, Double AR coating on the front. Movement is Swiss made Unitas, and timed and regulated. Compared with watches at several hundred more. At this price competition is stiff, but the Wilson Stands out especially if you like the pilot style watch. Currently available only through eBay.

Overall, all these watches offer something unique for the pricepoint, and will appeal to different people. The key thing is to remember that there are lots of great choices out there for any budget, and to have fun when you are collecting!