What's The Difference Again?

 A watch salesman once told me that an average Victorinox automatic (using a standard ETA movement, in stainless steel) is the exact same thing as a Rolex or any other watch. The only difference according to him is a "difference in packaging!"

 May I just say; what the hell was he thinking when he opened his mouth! Don't get me wrong, I know he's there to sell lots of watches, pocket knives and other accessories; but seriously?! Once again don't take it the wrong way, I love Victorinox. Who doesn't! Their watch design show a lot of promise. 

 Honestly, what would you chose? A Submariner, or some ETA Victorinox? Victorinox lovers might hold strong, but would any one else go for the ETA? Since we're being honest, I can truly say that I'd take a Tissot over Victorinox, they may both use ETA's but Tissot defiantly has more style.

 Once more very few people who know any thing about watches pick an ETA, over an in house.

----MainSpringWatch----

What to Buy?

 Recently I directed a father, giving him a list of suggestions of what watch to buy for his 24 year old son. I couldn't just pick any watch either, we had the reasonable budget limit of $200.00. If you have had this conundrum, which I know I had when starting out, what do you do? Personally I turned to blogs, forums and chat rooms. Now that I have a blog of my own up and running I would like to share this valuable under $200 top watch list with you (first being best, and last being... least best of the best).
Oh, also I apologize to Submariner owners in advance.

1. The Seiko Orange Monster: Can be found for as low as $180 online
-Automatic (self-winding)
-excellent lume
-Good for swimming diving etc.

2. The Invicta Pro Diver Titanium: can be found for as low as $100
-Automatic (self-winding)
-Ultra light and strong titanium case
-styled after the Submariner for 100x less money

3. G-Shock GA100MC-1A: can be found for between $120 and $140
-Gadget for the wrist: feature packed, ani-digital
-In most cases nearly indestructible
-2 to 3 year battery life


----MainSpringWatch Team----

News

 Hi everyone just alerting you guys that BaselWorld 2014 is now in progress! If you are in Switzerland before April 3 I suggest you check it out.
 I've got to say the new Rolex Sea Dweller is pretty awesome.
Once again if you are around for it, you should really check it out.

-Mainspringwatch team

News

 Okay first I will say that I finally got some emails with watch review requests. Secondly our first series is at a close. The last episode of everyman's watch will air tomorrow night at sometime or other. After I am finished with the last everyman's watch episode, I will then get to reviewing the chosen watches.

 Thank you for your patience,
 The Mainspringwatch team.

Automatic Watches

 Some people don't know what they're getting into when they buy a watch. I was one of those people! Without extensive research it is almost impossible to choose a watch on the fly. Usually we look at price tag, complications and look of the watch. What is truly strange, however; is that people rarely look at movements and watch engines.

 The average non-watch enthusiast, who happens to own a watch, will ask, "Why? Why is it important to know what type of movement a watch has?" It cost an average (if you go to a mid quality watch establishment) of $320 every 16 years, and up to 60hrs of your time. If you are an economical person and you have owned your watch for a few years now, and plan to keep it, you will probably spend twice as much on batteries as you have on your watch. There is a solution... go Mechanical.

 Mechanical movements have no battery. A coiled main spring is their power source, the main spring must either be wound by you every day or so, or if it is an automatic it will be wound by a pendulum/rotor. The heart of the watch is the thing that keeps the time (accurate) it vibrates (half spins) at a calculated rate. If you buy a mechanical watch you will have to have it serviced (every 4-6 years) as mechanical watches moving parts need to be lubricated. Most watch companies have released some sort of eco friendly watch engine, so why not try out an automatic watch? Remember to always look at what watch movement you're buying into.

Some companies with (in my personal opinion) excellent automatic watches: Rolex , IWC, Oris, Alpina, and Christophe Claret

If you are on a budget I would recommend Tissot, or Swatch.

Tissot or Timex: What does it mean to be a "Swiss Made" Watch?

 Contradictory to the first part of the title we will not be talking about Timex at all. Instead we will be talking about what it means to be a real "Swiss Watch". We will also be talking about the difference between "Swiss Made" and "Swiss Movement".

 If I asked all of you what your favourite dream watch is, I can guarantee that at least 85% of you would say the name of something Swiss. Realistically, it has almost always been this way (except maybe in the 1980s when Japanese watches were super popular), and now with the internet we can get terrific deals on some of our favourite Swiss brands. Are they really Swiss brands, though? Before I go any farther I beg you not to go and throw your $30,000 Oris in the garbage, no that's a real Swiss watch brand. What I'm talking about is Swiss Legend (neither very legendary, or very Swiss), and Stührling Original; those types of brands. Do not let them fool you with things at six o'clock like: Swiss Mov. or Swiss Mvt. or even Chrono Swiss. If a watch says something similar to this on it, and you are looking for a real Swiss watch... Do not Buy it. If it says something like this on it it means that the movement is Swiss Made to varying degrees of quality. After the movement is finished it is then exported and cased somewhere else (cheap-labour countries mostly), it is then tested for flaws... in those countries. Meaning that it is more susceptible to defects, where real Swiss-made watches are not.

 A watch that is labeled "Swiss Made", is, as the name suggest, mostly Swiss made. In order for a manufacturer to legally* put Swiss made at the six o'clock the watch must meet the following requirements:
-Swiss Made movement (made in Switzerland)
-Cased in Switzerland
-Tested for defects in Switzerland by- the- Swiss
-Must be 60% or more Swiss made

 Thanks for reading- The bloggers at Mainspringwatch


*some companies will not abide by the rules and will make watches and illegitimately call them "Swiss Made"
*note some Swiss Legends, and Stührling Originals maybe Swiss made, the brands are both highly respected by Mainspringwatch
*note no Oris price has actually been quoted, if a particular Oris is priced similarly it is simply coincidental 

2014 Olympic Games in Sochi

 Yes, the time for the winter olympics is finally upon us! Television sets all over the world will be turned on non-stop for the next while. After these olympics we will say where did the time go? Certain journalists who are partaking in Russia's, staying in unbuilt hotels' tradition will think otherwise. You've got to give Russians some slack though. They only knew that the olympics where coming to Sochi for seven years!

 No need to despair whilst wondering were the time went though! Thanks to the new, Sochi olympic games, Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 45.5mm "Sochi 2014" Limited Edition. They also came out with two other Sochi limited edition watches... Which will not be mentioned here because we would like you to visit their website.

Omega

Also don't feel sad if you missed out on the limited edition Sochi watches; if their Speedmasters' are good enough for Chris Hadfield, they should be good enough for you.

 Please enjoy the Olympic games, our next episode of everyman's watch will be sometime after. The exact date has not, as of yet been decided.