[jakobdam]

Hi all

First of all - sry if I've posted in the wrong forum...

- So, I've gotten very hooked on skeleton watch designs.

I have a kind of noname skeleton watch, which actually works pretty fine (I've owned it for 1 month). It's easy to find on e-bay for around 20-40 USD.

I've been looking around for a similar watch but with better build quality, as I'm fairly sure this no-name watch won't last much longer than 1-2 years, if even for that long.

The first watch I found is the Tissot T-compilation skeleton watch, which sells for around 1250 USD. It's fabulous - I've tried it in a local store, and I definitely would have bought this watch on the spot, if not for the (for me) kind of steep price tag.

Then I read up on the internet - which is also how I found this place - and there seems to be a consensus that swiss clockwork is, for the most part, pretty decent. The ONLY skeleton watches I can find with swiss movement (in my price bracket, which is around USD 100-700), is the Rotary offers, which has been featured here:
Rotary showcases 'The Calibre' - Watchuseek

From the article, I'm certainly very hooked - and I love the designs.

I've also looked a bit on the Fossil Townsman ME3085, which is the only Fossil that I like. The clockwork is made in China, which I can see is not necessarily a bad thing as quality varies - and I actually do own a Fossil as it is (I've had it for almost 2 years now, no problems).


So - what is your advice?

- Should I go for one of the Rotary offers, or...?
- Should I go for the Fossil ME3085, or...?
- Or should I simply save up and bite the sour apple and get my @£$"¤# act together and buy the Tissot?

(And no, I don't consider anything beyond the price of the Tissot - although I did find an extremely nice looking skeleton watch for around 1500 USD)


Edit:
At the moment, I'm mostly hooked on this Rotary:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_o...313.TR0.TRC0.H0.TRS0&_nkw=GS02520/03&_sacat=0
- ... along with the aforementioned Tissot, which seems to be quite popular.

I know quality can be very hard to quantify, but I'm really thinking that the Rotary may be what I need and want, price considered. And with the Tissot, I'm not sure that I'll get "a watch for life" - or if the quality simply isn't high enough "to be all that" anyway.

 

[mpalmer]

Most skeleton watches with a Swiss movement will cost north of 1k with 1.5k-2k being where you'll start to see some choices. Less than 1k gives you less choices but puts you in preowned territory for a skeleton. Revue Thommen has some suprisingly affordable skeleton models with this one for $865. http://www.amazon.com/Revue-Thommen-Skeleton-Automatic-12110-2532/dp/B00S08D0J2

You might look at an open heart with an exposed balance wheel that would be within your price range. Hamilton has some nice looking Open Heart models for $700.

If you must have a skeleton and do not have the budget for a Swiss movement, I would drop all the way down to Sea-Gull skeletons for $150. With Sea-Gull at least you know what movement you will be getting and have a good likelihood of it being accurate of the box. Fashion brands charge more, but use mystery Chinese movements that may be more reliable with a lesser guarantee of accuracy.

 

[jakobdam]

Thanks a lot for the very good answer, mpalmer!

The Hamilton looks really nice - although I do prefer the looks of the Tissot...

Sea-Gull has some extremely interesting offers to choose from! I completely missed them when I blindly searched eBay, armed with little else than the keywords "skeleton" and "watch"

I actually think I'm gonna go down that road - I found two where I really love the design - thx a lot!

 

[sticky]

If I'd got that thar Tissot in my sights I'd start saving ASAP.