DELMA
Lots of models, various price points from £500-£2000
ETA quartz or 2824
Top end Blue Shark III looks like a serious watch that would take on the MM & win

https://www.delma.ch/

 

Thanks Simon, good examples. They've pretty much stolen the Fortis logo btw :-d

 

ps - I contacted Delma a week ago about their product - though factory shut, I received a swift, polite and very helpful email back
I was impressed actually
I am tempted by the Blue Shark III which has had some great reviews - and the new Oceanmaster Antarctica
I am surprised they get little traction here -

 

So you're looking with a budget of around 2500? Which Seiko category are you looking at in that price range since I don't think there are many Seiko's in that pricerange that are not like "special editions". In the case of samurai type prices from Seiko, Citizen is a very nice brand, however, not Swiss.

Regards,

Timo

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So you're looking with a budget of around 2500? Which Seiko category are you looking at in that price range since I don't think there are many Seiko's in that pricerange that are not like "special editions".

Regards,

Timo

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Looking at 2 price ranges, one around $1k as alternatives to watches such as the 6r15 divers', and one around $2-3k as an alternative to the MM300.

 

If you are into SLAs at MSRP, Tudor Pelagos is another option. Seamasters too.

For lower priced Swiss offerings with unique heritage and personality, perhaps DOXA and Zodiac.

 

Links? Pelagos goes for about a grand more than an SLA021 which sells at AD's for less than £2500 in the UK. What is a realistic discount on a Pelagos from an AD? Seamasters are around £4000 MSRP so they are definitely out. You are not getting a new Seamaster for close to £2500 anywhere.

 

This is a very very difficult question to answer.
As you stated, you will have pro-Seiko versus pro-Swiss brands, and since a few years the pro-Microbrands. Each poster will give you his best answer, according to his experience for sure, but also in accordance to his personal taste.
Choosing a watch is not only a matter of brand but a matter of personal taste, brand will only bring reputation, reliability (most of the cases), and the rest will be personal criterias as price, comfort, design, mouvement, customer service and so on...
There are so much watches corresponding either to 6R15/6R35 price range or MM300 price range.
Do you have additionnal criteria to share ?

 

No other criteria really. I'm most interested in what the Swiss alternatives for the 6r15 diver's are since so many people think you can do so much better for your money than buy one of those. I already mentioned one myself, Certina, which offer seemingly well made watches with good movements for a similar price although I'm not into the look of them. I'd like to see some others and see if there's anything myself and others out there like the look of for the same price.

 

Try Ball. They have plenty of watches in the price range you've noted, many with H3 lume and chronometer grade movements.
- https://shop.ballwatch.ch/en/

 

Which models comes with chronometer grade movements?

 

ooooh hadnt noticed that
just checked n both companies similar age
Fortis may be a section of a cog & Delma a crown???

 

For me;

- MM300 is somewhere inbetween Doxa & Sinn dive watches and Omega SMP & Tudor BB,

- Longines LLD and Oris Aquis are similar in MSRP, but I do not know many people who's paid MSRP for these watches.. Transocean was a competitor but market apparently wasn't ready I guess all this year's new releases (for $1.2k MSRP) will be the new competitors.

- everything else - only Tissot and Certina are Seiko alternatives (all Christopher Wards, Hamiltons, Glycines, Edox, Davosa, Squale etc do not have enought brand recognition against Seiko).

 

For me;

- MM300 is somewhere inbetween Doxa & Sinn dive watches and Omega SMP & Tudor BB,

- Longines LLD and Oris Aquis are similar in MSRP, but I do not know many people who's paid MSRP for these watches.. Transocean was a competitor but market apparently wasn't ready I guess all this year's new releases (for $1.2k MSRP) will be the new competitors.

- everything else - only Tissot and Certina are Seiko alternatives (all Christopher Wards, Hamiltons, Glycines, Edox, Davosa, Squale etc do not have enought brand recognition against Seiko).

Re: bold text:
Yeah, I know what you mean. Brand recognition plays such a key role in a watch's operation, reliability, build quality and servicing.....��

 

Brand recognition is something probably most people will take into account, myself included, but how well known they are is not a requirement to be a Seiko alternative for the purposes of this thread. Just no microbrands because 1. it's Swiss alternatives (that means actual Swiss manufacturers), and 2. it's not a fair way to do it due to how microbrands operate, and like I said people will just be listing millions of cheap watches from people nobody has ever heard of like all of those horrible Seiko "homage" manufacturers. Glycine, Hamilton, Squale are all viable alternatives, don't like any of their watches personally though.

 

nitron - you dont mean SLA025 surely - where can you get that for <2500 when it retails at 5k?
dont you mean SLA021 at 2500?

the SLA033 is outstanding

 

Yes, corrected, sla021. Hell of a value.

Other SLAs are mostly in the Seamaster/Pelagos price range now, though.

 

Yeah think he just made a mistake but to be clear I'm only talking about the MM300 (SLA021 etc.), not the other SLA models.

 

I was recently looking in your lower price range, at Certina, Longines, Hamilton, Mido, and Raymond Weil. None of them did it for me, so I bought an SBDC051. I think the Tissot Seastar competes in the 6R15 price range, but I already have one.

 

Lets see this.

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If we are talking mm300, then there’s not that much can beat them at any price, they’re just such a unit of a watch. If we’re talking 6R, then although seiko make a good case, the movement doesn’t match up to a bomb proof eta. I’d still take a sumo or an mm200 though.

 

If we are talking mm300, then there's not that much can beat them at any price, they're just such a unit of a watch. If we're talking 6R, then although seiko make a good case, the movement doesn't match up to a bomb proof eta. I'd still take a sumo or an mm200 though.

While the 6r15 does get plenty of criticism, I definitely wouldn't be describing an ETA as bombproof when the cheaper ones have a reputation for breaking from too much hand winding.

 

Yes I agree they have that reputation but they normally are very accurate, long lasting movements that I trust. On the other hand all my 6rs were miles out time wise, they’re well known for being under lubricated and they’re a movement I don’t really trust. Another note is I can get a eta fixed, serviced relatively easily, cheaply and close. Having said that I will say I’d have the 6R again but only because I like the look of the watch

 

Yes I agree they have that reputation but they normally are very accurate, long lasting movements that I trust. On the other hand all my 6rs were miles out time wise, they're well known for being under lubricated and they're a movement I don't really trust. Another note is I can get a eta fixed, serviced relatively easily, cheaply and close. Having said that I will say I'd have the 6R again but only because I like the look of the watch

I've been lucky with mine, definitely seems like it's easier to get an ETA serviced though. So what Swiss alternatives would you recommend, or have you not seen any you prefer the look of over a Seiko for the same price?

I mean I never have, when I got my Transocean I wasn't set on getting a Seiko diver. I was looking around, looked at and considered the Oris Aquis (at £500 more) etc. and didn't see anything I liked as much in the price range I was looking at. Again when I got my SLA021, personally I think when you're looking at spending that kind of money you make sure you look around first and consider what else you could get for that much or a bit more. The only other thing I could find in the end that I considered is the Pelagos LHD (which seems to be quite a common one looking at the amount of videos etc. comparing the two), but I didn't like the look of it as much and it cost about a grand more.

 

The 6rs, even though I’ve not owned one for a while , I’d be tempted to place them alongside the likes of Oris. They both make great cases and seikos cases have always been great.

 

Anything with an ETA or Sellita movement is going to outperform a Seiko 6R. If you're looking to spend about $1K there's plenty of options from all over the map of Swiss watches that contain those movements. Look at Swatch Group brands (Tissot, Hamilton, Certina, Mido, Longines, Rado, etc.), Oris, Zodiac, Doxa, Glycine, Eterna, Victorinox, Squale, Steinhart (not just Sub homages), Edox, CW, etc.

I don't have any experience with the 8L movements so I don't know how those watches compare to other brands. Lots of awesome Swiss watches to be had for around $2500 though.

 

Hamilton. Mido.

 

Yes, we know those brands exist thanks, but this thread is for people to post watches that would be good alternatives for the same price, not just shouting out brand names. So for example post a Hamilton diver for about $1k that you think would be a good alternative to an SBDC051.

 

If you want us to be specific about watches, we need more specific criteria than price.

As for a Hamilton diver, how about a 200m GMT for $945 retail...

https://www.hamiltonwatch.com/en-us/h77615133-khaki-navy-gmt-auto.html

 

Tissot Seastar - either the standard Powermatic 80 or the new one with silicium. The bracelet sucks but the silicone strap is great, and the gradient blue dial on that model is incredible.
Tissot Gentleman - a good alternative to any non diver Seiko in that price range (SARX)
Mido Ocean Star - Not as well know as Tissot but the divers are solid, especially the new Ocean Star Tribute M026.830.11.051.00 only 40.5 mm if you like smaller divers.
Hamilton Khaki Scuba is not a good value proposition imo, but the Navy Frogman is pretty cool and unique.

 

Here's some pictures, because we all love pictures.

 

Does it have to be Swiss? What about Orient Pro Diver 300m?

 

Does it have to be Swiss?

Yes, because most people suggest you buy something Swiss instead when you're spending that much, not something else Japanese. That is why I'm excluding Japanese brands and have kept it to Swiss.

 

Duplicate. Please delete.

 

Glycine perhaps, their Combat sub models

 

Wouldn't a Tudor Black Bay be in the ballpark price?

As for the Tudor Pelagos, there's one for 2900 GBP, from a dealer in London,

https://www.chrono24.co.uk/tudor/pelagos-25600tn--id7614664.htm

or even less from Japan,

https://www.chrono24.co.uk/tudor/pe...udor/pelagos-titanium-automatic-blue-dial-mens-watch---25600tb-0--id7117522.htm

Both the regular Black Bays and the Pelagos are rather common, so it shouldn't really be all that difficult to negotiate a 15% discount off the current UK MSRP of 3440 GBP, or around 2900 GBP. It might be harder to negotiate a discount on a BB GMT, BB 58, or BB Bronze, but with the current state of the economy, who knows?

I guess the fundamental question is what do you value in the MM300 that justifies spending that amount of money, so that we can get a better sense of what you're looking for in an alternative.

 

Yep Tudor Black Bays are alternatives at around £2800. I'd say yes to Pelagos only if it's realistic to get it down to £2900 through an AD or it's widely available for that price from other places, and not if you can only get it for that price going through a single grey market dealer. That is just to make this more straight forward too, as otherwise you could say you can get an SPB051 off chrono24 for £500 (which you can).

In the MM300 it's really the aesthetics more than anything else for me. Yes the 8L35 is well regarded but it's not what drew me to it, it's the case shape and finishing, the hands etc. That is why the Pelagos fell short for me when I compared the two. Yes it's supposed to have a great movement and and a great bracelet but they just look pretty boring to me. Like I said I had a good look around to see what the alternatives were when spending that kind of money, and I just didn't see anything anywhere close in price that I liked the look of as much. My real money no issue alternative to it would be a Seamaster PO but we know how much more expensive those are.