TAG vs. ORIS

midshipman01 said:

Quartz TAG's go for $1k-1500 all day from just about anywhere. So, about the only thing in their price range in the Oris catalog, if we also give Oris a discount, would be an entry level steel model with an SW200 in it.

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Fair point, if we're going to talk $ we need to compare MSRP to MSRP or discounted vs discounted. If I'm spending $1500 after discounts and I can have a quartz tag or a SW200 Oris of any kind, I'm choosing the Oris every time. But that's a preference thing. I picked up a Quartz Tag in 2000 and for it nearly daily for a decade. Still have it. And I still regret not ponying up a little more for an automatic of any kind.

Oris has a surprising number of things around $2k MSRP. BCPD just under that price, but Diver 65 models can be had on bracelet for just a hair above. Same with some Aquis models.

midshipman01 said:

I'm the first person that will tell you that a BCPD is one of the best all around watches for the price on the market, I love it, but I wouldn't list "high quality" as one of the reasons. It's as basic as basic Swiss movements get, and the case is by and large just a simple field watch case. It's not BAD, it looks great, but it's hardly a departure from the type of "quality" you would get from an F1 or Aquaracer. Honestly, there probably is a lot more going on with cases, bracelets, and dials on the TAGs.

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I guess "quality" can encompass a lot of things. I think of it as robustness, reliability and quality of construction and finishing. I separate design into its own wholly subjective and separate qualification. If we let design cloud the issue, then modern submariners (they don't bother to even chamfer the edges anymore) and fully polished Datejusts might rank below the BCPD in terms of being basic looking.

So I guess when I say high quality I mean a watch that will last and that will take a beating and that is well constructed. Not necessarily elaborately constructed. I actually have an aversion to elaborately designed watches. Which is why "quality" is a meaningful term if we can leave the subjective aspects out of it such as finishing or designs that have "a lot going on" and how we feel about that.

So from my own personal perspective, both my old Quartz Tag and my Diver 65 both held up to abuse equally well, and were both executed to a quality standard, despite their respective design ethos being extremely different

midshipman01 said:

If we're going to include "finishing" in the equation then design very much needs to be involved

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I think I just mean the quality of the finishing/execution of the intended design, not how much design intricacy there is.

For instance a simple 3 link oyster bracelet is exactly that: simple. But you can have some with rougher edges, some with crisp but not disruptively sharp or coarse edges, and then others that actually have a bit soft edges just from unskilled/inexpensive brushing. Also there can be a large variance in how tight the tolerances of joined 3 links are, and how long those tolerances last. Huge variance can exist in something as simple as a 3 link oyster style bracelet from one company to another and from one price point to another, from one price point to another.

So that's what I mean in terms finishing and construction.

And based on that criteria, from my direct experience of owning both brands and many others, both my 1999/2000 Tag and my 2016 Diver 65 are of a quality on par with my BB58 or SMP. I'd be tempted to say that they're better than my early 90s Rolex stuff, but those have so much mileage that it's not really a fair comparison. Especially the bracelet which has hollow center links and is starting to develop some play. But it has an extra decade of use even over the Tag haha. Time will tell how well they all hold up after 30y. But the Tag has remained impressively tight