Hello. I am looking for a skeleton watch, max price 200 usd (140£)

Hi and welcome to WUS!

In that answer they sent you, the Stührling marketing team confused the words "many" and "some". If you just swap them, it makes some sense. Read: Almost all of their watches are made in China, only their "Prestige" line uses genuine Swiss Eta movements. But with a higher price tag.

However, made in China does not automatically mean bad quality any longer. There is still a lot of watch junk out there, but there are also Chinese movements that are very good and reliable. I trust both Fossil and Stührling that they do some better quality control than many fancy named mushroom brands. So with a 2 year warranty in place, my guess is that you'll get tired of the skeleton look sooner than the watch lets you down. Skeletons are fascinating at first, but that wears off..

If you are set on the skeleton, look at Orient and Bulova. Not entirely sure what they offer in your price range, but it's certainly worth a look. :-!

 

Personally I find both of those watches quite garish, and neither of them have any real horological history.

It's not a true skeleton watch, but how about an open-heart Orient? In-house movement, stylish, nice history to the brand - and you can get one for well under $200 if you look for the right deal.

 

It's not a true skeleton watch, but how about an open-heart Orient? In-house movement, stylish, nice history to the brand - and you can get one for well under $200 if you look for the right deal.

Full agree!

 

You will likely hear a lot of terrible reviews slamming Sturhling, and likely Invicta as well. They are made in China, but advertise the "Swiss made" like a lot do. I have a GMT Sturhling Quartz, first watch I purchased, before I got into this collecting thing, and bought it off looks. I have to say I have been happy with it. Its pretty, and dependable. I have read a lot of bad things about their automatic movements though, so I would stay away from this watch. Go with the Orient as they are much more reliable.


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I believe Fossil offers an 11 years warranty in the US.
At least, that's what I got when I bought my son one.

 

Do you want a full skelly like Sea-Gull offer or would an open heart like the Orient suit better? Personally I pick the Orient for quality.

 

Thanks. What are the negative comments about? Is it the accuracy of the time, is it that they don't last more than 1-2 years, or?

 

Sturhling doesn't get much respect among those who collect watches. For the price you pay, the build quality and QC are rather lacking. Furthermore, there is no history or provenance behind the brand and many view it as something of a pettifogger in the affordable price range. If you want to be in the low-cost Chinese-manufactured category, you'd do much better with SeaGull. They are one of the largest manufacturers of watch movements in the world (if not the largest) and have numerous watches in the low-end category that will last you longer and perform better than a Sturhling will.

 

Welcome to the forums! If you must have a skeleton in this price range, Sea-Gull is your best bet. As mentioned, Orient has open heart options as well.

 

Hi, thanks for the comments. I got this information from Sturhling on the watch:

- In some cases we replace components from lesser quality movements with Swiss-manufactured components. In the case of the 571, the watch movement is entirely Chinese and is not switched out with any other components, Swiss or otherwise. The supervision in the factory is Swiss, yes.

- The Stührling Original Special Reserve 571 is powered by the ST-91015, which features a base movement Z2015(alt. Z2016), adorned with a customized Stührling rotor. It has twin-barrels, features 2 hands, sun/moon and dual time. The movement provides approximately 60 hours of power reserve. It contains 22 jewels, and operates at a frequency of 21,600 vph (vibrations per hour). It is 6mm high and 33.60mm in diameter. It is a Hong Kong Registered design Application No. 0802073.3

 

- The Stührling Original Special Reserve 571 is powered by the ST-91015

Sounds like the ST-91015 is a slightly modified (not really modified at all, they probably just added a customized rotor and regulated the movement) PTS Z015, which is a Chinese movement made in Hong Kong. I have no experience with the movement and can't tell you much more about it. Try using the search function or cruising the Chinese Watches sub forum. I'm sure there's some information on WUS about it.

 

Hello. An update on this watch (Stührling Original Special Reserve 571 with mechanic ST-91015). I finally got it as a gift from my parents, so I had the opportunity to test it.
Estetically nothing to say, it's very nice, good finishing touch on all parts and beautiful view over all the internal movements.

The big problem I have is that the time is not accurate. Approximately every 2 day sit ADDS 1 minutes....this is a lot. I contacted the customare care and they offered to repair it. I am wondering if it makes sense to try to repair it, or if this inaccuracy is built into the mechanic. What do you think?

 

I believe Swatch still makes the Body and Soul. It's Swiss made, with an ETA auto movement. Full skeleton dial, SS case and bracelet with a vast array of straps available. Mine is at least 15 years old and I still like it. If it's gone out of production it should still be available various places for under $150. For a Swiss skeleton automatic.
Swatch® US - BODY & SOUL - YAS100G

Personal tastes differ of course and your priorities are your own, but for myself between a Swiss made watch and a Sturhling there's no comparison in terms of parts quality, assembly and durability.

 

" Skeletons are fascinating at first, but that wears off.. "

Yup.

 

Honestly, if you're upset about an affordable automatic watch losing or gaining time after sitting for a while. You're gonna be really pissed when an expensive watch does the exact same thing. Automatics aren't very accurate. Especially if they aren't on your wrist and just sitting on a table or something.

 

I own a Stuhrling original's skeleton watch, and I gotta say I regret buying it. Even after wearing it at work(10h-11h), it stopped moving at around midnight if I took it off after work.
Not the kind of power reserve you want from an automatic watch.

 

The only Chinese Seagull moment I have in a watch is the ST25 in my Tisell flieger. It's pretty accurate during the 8-10 hours on my wrist, maybe +/-5 seconds. It up to 10 seconds more inaccurate if it's winding down in my watchbox. I don't know much it's off after 2 full days cause it doesn't run that long.

 

do you like this Skeleton watch ?

 

I don't know man. If you're wearing a skeleton watch, you're already leaning toward an edgy look. If you put a skull on it, it's like saying "hey, look at me!" I don't like those lugs either. The Panarei Radiomir case. I just don't dig it man. It looks like it's trying too hard.

 

Idk about other orients but other people here mentioning orient as more reliable etc and accurate but my ray gains 2 minutes in 2 or 3 days... so I don't think your watch is gaining lots.

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Could be magnatised? You may need to get it demagnatised. Or at least regulated. That's way too fast.

My 2x Orient auto movements have both been way more accurate than my Seikos, so it's not like Orient can't build a decent autp.

 

I don't own an Orient, I never have. I own 19 automatic watches, movements ranging from ETA-7750 to Seagull ST25. A lot of Seiko 4R36 movements in there. Not a single one of my Autos has that kind of time loss/gain. I wouldn't be okay with that. My most inaccurate watch has a Miyota 9015. It loses ~25 seconds a day. I have 4 watches with the 9015, and 3 out of the 4 are spot in. If it bothered me enough I'd have it regulated.

 

Op or me ? I am thinking about getting it regulated too. I really wanna love this watch but my skx007 is spot on so this beautiful watch with this gaining sh** ruins this watch for me.

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The Stuhrling dual time is nice. But never buy any of Stuhrling's dual-time watches, almost all of which use the terrible PTS Resources Z2015 movement (also called ST-91015 by Stuhrling). I owned the Stuhrling Tempest for one month, and by the end of it, the rotor fell apart and stopped working altogether. Currently, it sits on my desk as the most-gorgeous paper-weight I've ever owned.

On the other hand, you could get the Stuhrling Executive II. Gorgeous. Incredibly legible and the movement is nicely decorated. Cost is around $143 on Overstock. This would be a better buy than the dual-time.

Hello. I am looking for a skeleton watch, max price 200 usd (140£), and I picked up this model from Surhling Original:
Special Reserve 571 (Reference: 571.33151)
(I cannot post links...)

Now, I read different opinion about this brand and I had a look at other brands as well, but I like the design of this watch and I see that the company offer super-fast customer service and 2-years warranty. I asked some more info and got this response:

Is there some more specific question I should ask about the movement?
I am aware that this is a limited budget, but it's still 200usd and therefore I would like to be sure that I am not going to make a mistake (= a watch that lasts only a couple of years) by buying this watch. Do you have any experience with this particular model?
Do you have any suggestion for a skeleton watch with similar design but from a more established brand? Is Fossil much better than this in terms of reliability? They also offer 2-years. I might consider this one for example: Fossil Grant Automatic Dark Brown Leather Watch ME3095P (picture)

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Thanks, amazing forum btw!

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The Stuhrling dual time is nice. But never buy any of Stuhrling's dual-time watches, almost all of which use the terrible PTS Resources Z2015 movement (also called ST-91015 by Stuhrling).

This is exactly the movement in my watch. I now tested it alittle bit more, and I see that it adds time when it is on my arm, but not when it is lying on the table. Maybe it is the recharging mechanism that is not accurate? I am still waiting to see if they want to repair it or to get a refund.

 

Cool

 

I also considered buying a Stuhrling watch because i like their designs but after reading lots of negative reviews on the internet i decided not to and bought a similiar looking Tisell watch instead, mostly because of its good reputation on this forum. Seems like most negative reviews about Stuhrling watches are about lack of quality control. Their watches often tend to not work straight out of the box or stop working after couple of days because of bad assembly. They also seem to randomly stop and start running which could be related to dirt and dust in the movement because of bad quality control and dusty room where its being assembled. I would definately recommend Orient watches over Stuhrling.

 

Hello again. Please read this because it is funny. I contacted the customer service of the shop and they replied this to my enquiry (where I explained that this watch is adding approx 1 minute every day and I am not accepting this):

Please be aware that the automatic/mechanical movements have an outer range of accuracy of approximately thirty-ninety seconds per twenty four hour cycle.
We appreciate your understanding.

Sorry, but what do you think of this answer? And what does thirty-ninety mean? Not 39 seconds I guess (which would be more in line with what this watch does...)

I am aiming at getting a refund, this is ridicolous.

 

I think it's generally accepted that skeleton watches in this price range aren't exactly the greatest buys, perhaps consider open hearts like some others have already suggested, or look at Seagull's skeleton

 

Thanks. But 39 seconds per day is considered as acceptable?

 

For that watch, yes.

 

Your watch is gaining (or losing, not sure which) ~30 seconds per day, which I'm sure is within specifications for that watch movement. Seiko and Orient specify something like +15s/-25s (or maybe more). These can and do perform better, but the specs are pretty wide. You have to spend more for the higher priced movements to get tighter specs. (Notice, I said specs and not necessarily performance. A low priced watch can often be regulated to run very accurately, but you're not going to get quartz accuracy regardless of price.)

My problem with companies like Sturhling and Invicta is that they create a false company history, and then sell watches as if they're Swiss made (and if that alone makes them special). They also use absurdly high retail prices and then mark them down something like 90% so you think you're getting a deal. This is where they take advantage of people who don't follow watches as closely as we do. "Hey, my Swiss Sturhling was a $1000 watch but I only paid $149. What a great deal!" While they may have a few that are Swiss (by the legal definition), most are just straight from Sea Gull.

Now, about Sea Gull, I've owned three of their watches under their own name and all have been very nice for the money. For me, if I want a Chinese watch, I want to get it from the manufacturer. I feel that they put a little more into watches with their own name, and I get what I consider an "honest" watch.