Think I maybe a movement guy?

[Noxa]

Ok so I’ve recently been eying up a PAM01070, to me it’s the perfect watch… Then I see it’s got the P900 movement and all dreams are shattered. Currently own a PAM 425 and live the simple workhorse handwind movement but the P900 in a £25,000 watch? I mean really. I know this has been spoken about to death but it’s beyond belief really.

Which brings me to me next epiphany, I’d happily buy a Camry with a Ferrari engine, but I wouldn’t buy a Ferrari with a Camry engine… I think finally I’ve admitted to myself that the beating heart of the watch means so much more to me than I ever thought.

Can we throw out any suggestions for watches in the £15,000 range if indeed there are any that have a truly magnificent movement?

[Russell996]

Not sure if you are talking new or used but here is an amazing movement in a couple of used Lange's at £15k. One with date, one without.

https://www.chrono24.co.uk/alangesoe...id21675596.htm


https://www.chrono24.co.uk/alangesoe...id23007230.htm

[ChetBaker]

I agree. Sub 15k GBP it’s probably Lange Saxonia Thin, Chopard LUC Quattro Mark III, Vacheron 56 day-date. Or perhaps a GO Panoreserve or Parmigiani Tonda 1950 but those are significantly cheaper and won’t get you the same level of finishing as the other three.

[athens7]

How do you define "truly magnificent"? Is it about movement design (layout), finissage (decoration), in house construction (production capability), or something else? Depending on the answer, there are many choices. Here are some possibilities:

Vaucher 5400 series movements: nicely designed and laid out micro-rotor movement. Used in Hermes Slim de Hermes, Laine V38, Parmigiani. Can be finished to a very nice standard (Laine V38). Vaucher produces most of the movement content as well.

Any Lange you can afford. In particular, the original Sax-O-Mat (L921.2) is considered one of the great automatic movements. It can be found in the no date variant listed in the prior post.

Glashütte Original produces their own movements and finishes them nicely, although not as well as ALS. The 36-13 in the SeaQ Panorama Date is a very nice sports watch movement.

While I don't care for the use of the Villaret movement in the smaller Blancpain Fifty Fathoms models, the Caliber 1315 in the larger FF is a nice movement, finished to a quality standard.

Any Chopard L.U.C. movement is going to be well finished and well made. Here's an article that speaks to their workhorse micro-rotor movement:
https://subdial.co/blogs/news/how-ch...movements-ever

Parmigiani Fleurier makes well finished and well designed movements (they own Vaucher). The watches themselves until recently had a pretty quirky aesthetic and are not for everyone, but that makes them great values secondhand. The new models are getting a lot of attention and are hard to get.

[JR16]

I guess it depends what draws you to a movement - is it finishing ? Aesthetics? Accuracy? Engineering? Or must it be all of the above?

Would add Grand Seiko high beat movement to your list of those to explore under your price range. For accuracy, hard to beat a spring drive and also, of course, a Rolex. Also agree w other opinions in above posts.


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[enjoythemusic]

OP, we all already widely know Richemont's Panerai brand uses meh movements nowadays, and overall the brand has been going downhill for years while pricing and their marketing efforts seem to have greatly increased. Besides, you already have a Panerai so you have that fashion style all set in your collection. Still, if you like the fashion style and want a solid timepiece then i suggest looking at Bell&Ross.

Have greatly abused my BR03-92 with ETA movement for well over a decade, never serviced, and still going strong. Priced well too! :)

They have some really nice Bronze timepieces too and bailed on the PAM boutique-only 42mm as when the time is right will get the B&R Bronzo instead.

Here's my abused 03-92.

Face.jpg

[ILoveFerrari]

Originally Posted by Noxa

Ok so I’ve recently been eying up a PAM01070, to me it’s the perfect watch… Then I see it’s got the P900 movement and all dreams are shattered. Currently own a PAM 425 and live the simple workhorse handwind movement but the P900 in a £25,000 watch? I mean really. I know this has been spoken about to death but it’s beyond belief really.



Which brings me to me next epiphany, I’d happily buy a Camry with a Ferrari engine, but I wouldn’t buy a Ferrari with a Camry engine… I think finally I’ve admitted to myself that the beating heart of the watch means so much more to me than I ever thought.



Can we throw out any suggestions for watches in the £15,000 range if indeed there are any that have a truly magnificent movement?

What is your criterion of a movement that makes you feel magnificent? finish, complications, power, design novelty?

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[bondtoys]

Originally Posted by Russell996

Not sure if you are talking new or used but here is an amazing movement in a couple of used Lange's at £15k. One with date, one without.

https://www.chrono24.co.uk/alangesoe...id21675596.htm


https://www.chrono24.co.uk/alangesoe...id23007230.htm

Excellent advise

[GusFring]

JLC Ultrathin Perpetual Calendar would be my shout, out of budget new but used should be there or there abouts.

[ChetBaker]

JLC is value for money but certainly not up there with the best in terms of finishing in the sub-15k segment.

[htc8p]

panerai and movements are polar opposites. omg.

dont buy pams for their movement.

if you really want movement quality. JLC is your best bet. they have been proven to be better than rolex, zenith, omega etc

[Noxa]

Thanks for everyone’s input so far, very much appreciated. As to what I define as magnificent, maybe magnificent was the wrong word… I just want a true in house movement, with something about it, doesn’t need to hit all parameters to be special to me, I just feel the movement is the heart of the watch and I want that heart to be worthy of its casing. Does anyone have any insight into the movement in the GO SeaQ panorama date? I’m slowly falling for the two tone version, well not even slowly at this point so any opinions would be great as adding a German watch to my small collection would also be another bonus to it.

Agree about Chopard and JLC, always been a huge JLC fan due to history and movements but there’s not many models that sing to me, and I’m quite a big guy so the 43mm of the GO is kind of perfect.

[ts3]

If you like big watches the 42mm Jubilee Portugieser IWC 5441 might be worth a look. Very pretty backside in my eyes but clearly not the most technically advanced movement.

[athens7]

I had the two tone SeaQ on wrist at WatchTime NY last fall. It is even prettier in real life than it is in pictures. The grey dial glows with a nice sunburst finish. GO not only designs and manufactures their own movements, they also make their own dials. The movement has 100 hours of power reserve, a free sprung balance with silicon hairspring, and high quality machine finishing (not hand finished, but one wouldn’t expect that at this price point).

I forgot to include H. Moser on my list. They design and produce virtually everything in their movements in house, including the hairspring. Finishing is appropriate as well.

JLC has an unmatched history, but the quality of their current offerings does not live up to their historical standards, IMO. Buy used, and not newer than 2010.

[Exiztence]

Parmigiani Ionica and Parmigiani hebdomadaire kalpa offer one the biggest values in terms of movements finishing and can be usually bought under 15k.

[enjoythemusic]

Oops, looks like i read the OP's post wrong, yet as others have said Panerai is not about movement quality. If you really want movement love, look at MB&F, REXHEP REXHEPI, etc. if you want the ultimate. :)


Agree with below, look at the Bvlgari Octo FS as that's more in your budget.

[rag5178]

For the money, I think the BVL 138 in the Octo Finissimo models is tough to beat. It's beautiful to look at in addition to being a very impressive technical achievement.

[Noxa]

Some really good suggestions here, Happy to hear the GO SeaQ is even better in real life, it’s hard to find somewhere to see in the flesh it seems so good to know it’s not a disappointment in person.

Parmigiani Tonda PF Micro rotor is very much on my radar also, I have no clue on availability at retail etc but wildly impressed with the brand and that offering in particular right now. It’s above what I ideally want to pay but maybe worth the stretch.

Octo Finissimo is another I’ve been ogling heavily recently, but concerned it’s more of a right now design and not something that’ll last the test of time but it’s a very impressive watch and as you say the movement is exactly the thing I’m looking for.

[Noxa]

The H. Moser Pioneer is also very much in the runnings, thanks for reminding me about that one, there’s a few more options than I realised within budget if I’m willing to go used.