Five Affordable Swiss Watches with In-House Movements

When shopping for a fine timepiece, people often seek particular attributes, and two of the most popular are “Swiss made” and “In-house movement.” Here are five Swiss replica watches for sale that meet these criteria, and that you can acquire without breaking the bank.

Alpina proudly counts itself among the small group of Swiss watch manufacturers that develops and produces its own calibers. Within this elite circle, the Startimer Pilot Manufacture offers outstanding value. This 44 mm watch lets you enjoy classic good looks, automatic winding and a useful pointer date at 6 o’clock, all powered by the Alpina AL-710 caliber. The suggested retail price for the stainless steel model on a leather strap is a mere $2,595.

alpina startimer

If you seek something a bit dressier, Alpina’s sister company, Frédérique, Constant offers the elegant Slimline Manufacture Moonphase. This 42 mm fake Swiss watches features the Frédérique Constant automatic winding caliber FC-705 with 26 jewels and a 42 power reserve. The stainless steel model on a strap lists for $3,695.

frederique constant moonphase

JeanRichard, the sister brand of Girard-Perregaux, also joined the manufacture club recently. The sporty-yet-dressy 1681 Ronde Small Seconds is attractive and versatile. This 41 mm watch features the automatic winding caliber JR1050 with small seconds at 6 o’clock and a date display at 3 o’clock. The JeanRichard 1681 Ronde Small Seconds is priced at $5,300.

jeanrichard 1681 rondo

Some may be surprise to see a Rolex in this group. The replica Rolex watches is the new 36 mm Oyster Perpetual, and it is powered by the Rolex self-winding caliber 3130. This is the only movement in our group that is a COSC-certified chronometer. The movement features other high-end Rolex components, including a free-sprung balance and the patented blue Parachrom balance spring, all protected by the famous Rolex Oyster case. The Rolex Oyster Perpetual is priced at $5,400.

Rolex Oyster Perpetual

Our final affordable Swiss Brietling replica watches is produced by Zenith, a brand with a proud history as a manufacture. We’ve selected the Captain Elite Central Seconds, a dress watch with a sporty flair that makes it a great all-around timepiece. This 40 mm watch features Zenith’s in-house Elite 670 caliber with automatic winding and a date display at 6 o’clock. This movement runs at 28,800 vph in 27 jewels with a 50 hour power reserve. The Captain Elite Central Seconds is priced from $5,600.

zenith captain elite

Back to the Past: Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Ultra Thin 1948

The iconic Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso has had many incarnations since its debut as a watch for polo players in 1931. One of the most recent is the new Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Ultra-Thin 1948, a classically elegant Swiss replica watches that revives the look of the Reverso model that heralded the style of the 1950s.

The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Ultra-Thin 1948 is distinguished from other Reverso models by the inscription “Fabriqué en Suisse” (“made in Switzerland”) on the dial, just below the Jaeger-LeCoultre logo, a nod to the 1948 original. The traditional Reverso swiveling case, with its Art Deco-inspired rectangular shape and distinctive gadroons, is made of stainless steel. True to its name, the Replica Cartier watches uk is very slender, just 7.3 mm thick despite its contemporary large dimensions (46.8 x 27.4 mm).  The back surface of the case bears Jaeger-LeCoultre’s “1000 Hours Control” motto, referring to the brand’s intensive quality control testing, but is otherwise a blank canvas for its owner to personalize. The silvered, grained dial has blue, stamped hour indices and blue-facetted baton-shaped hands. A rectangular subdial for small seconds is placed at 6 o’clock.

Jaeger-LeCoultre Grande Reverso Ultra-Thin 1948This ultra-thin fake Swiss Breiitling watches has a correspondingly slim movement, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Caliber 822/2, which is made entirely in-house at the brand’s manufacture in Le Sentier, Switzerland. The manual-wound movement is only 2.94 mm thick, with a frequency of 21,600 vph and a power reserve of 45 hours. It is made up of 114 parts, including 19 jewels and boasts hand-decorated patterns on several elements. The Jaeger-LeCoultre Grande Reverso Ultra Thin 1948 is fitted with a matte black alligator strap with steel pin buckle and will be available exclusively at Jaeger-LeCoultre boutiques, priced at $9,450.

Baume & Mercier Classima Men Steel Automatic

Talented, enthusiastic and determined, tomorrow’s leaders are driven by the energy of success.

Smiling at the future while remaining loyal to the Baume & Mercier: “Accept only perfection, only manufacture Swiss fake watches online store of the highest quality”, the four new Classima Men’s models exude a stylish and contemporary elegance. Destined to gratify young graduates and newly appointed executives, the Classima Men in steel or two-tone versions features a consensual new 40 mm diameter, with taut lines and a redesigned dial featuring a date aperture at 3 o’Clock. The center with its line guilloché decor, matching the hours, minutes and seconds hands –blued steel or gilt – sets the final touch of visual balance to this elegant composition. Tomorrow’s talents will appreciate the sapphire crystal case back revealing the Swiss Made mechanical self-winding movements, as well as the oscillating weight engraved with the emblematic Greek ‘Phi’, the Baume & Mercier logo and the symbol of the ‘golden ratio’. These watches are worn on metal bracelets seamlessly integrated with the case, or with an alligator strap secured by a triple folding buckle with security push pieces, and remain a symbol of affordability.

An intimate trophy, a discreet sign of a first personal or professional success, the new Classima Men, associated with timeless masculine dynamism, celebrates accomplishment, a value conveyed by all the fake Breitling watches collections from Baume & Mercier.

Slim is in

Like the siren’s song, watchmakers were lured by the temptation of XXL. Bigger, thicker, more imposing, watches were put on a diet of bodybuilding hormones. Not so today, as classic-sized timepieces mark their return.

Piaget already gave a taste of things to come with last year‘s Altiplano 900P, yet another demonstration of the expertise behind the brand’s impressive string of records for ultra-thin movements. In this latest exploit, Piaget skimmed its watch down to a thickness of 3.65mm including the case. A Swiss replica watches uk with such a slim profile could easily have expanded outwards on the wrist, and the off-centre dial and visible gears indeed give the impression of a watch that takes up a respectable amount of wrist real estate. In reality, the Altiplano 900P has a 38mm diameter. And while Piaget presents it as a model that will appeal equally to men and women, not so very long ago it would have been filed under women’s watches without a second thought. This year, Piaget exercises similar restraint with its hand-wound Altiplano Chronograph which, at 4.65mm high, sets another record for thinness in its category. Its 41mm diameter revives a size that was commonplace in the 1950s but totally out of phase with the recent wave of “big is beautiful” watches.

There have been a number of sightings in the horological skies these past few years of watches that truly push the envelope in terms of size. The success encountered by the likes of the Luminor by Panerai, Excalibur by Roger Dubuis or Master Compressor by Jaeger-LeCoultre has largely demonstrated that wrist appeal is directly related to the number of millimetres on offer. Such man-sizing went hand-in-hand with the seemingly unstoppable growth that drove the Swiss watch industry onwards and upwards. Built to conquer, watches were expected to think big; this was a time of superlatives, even excess, as a way to mark one’s territory.

Horological workout

As doubt creeps in as to the real prospects for growth in 2015, given the sudden surge in the Swiss franc and the downturn in certain key markets, watchmakers appear to be turning their back on XXL. A welcome show of restraint in these uncertain times; a more introspective approach to wearing a watch; a return to the more classical canons… Whatever the explanation, the facts are plain to see: men’s Rolex replica watches have been put on a diet and are flaunting their new slim figures at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie. The hand-wound Saxonia 8 Days from A. Lange & Söhne has shrunk from 37mm to 35mm. Baume & Mercier is reviving its 1996 Classima in a 40mm version for men. Similar downsizing can be observed with the new Clé watch by Cartier, while Jaeger-LeCoultre is proposing its Master Calendar with meteorite dial in a 39mm diameter. This is also the size of Parmigiani’s Tonda 1950 Skeleton, with just 2 millimetres more for the Montblanc Heritage Chronométrie Dual Time or the self-winding Royal Oak from Audemars Piguet.

No need to go on. Watches that would have had sand kicked in their face not so long ago are now paragons of virtue. Ideal dimensions, irresistible elegance, comfort on the wrist, timeless appeal… the trend is almost ubiquitous among brands. best Swiss replica watches uk are shedding their excess millimetres. A horological workout that is also an exercise in style.

Grading the Retrograde: Longines Master Collection Retrograde Test

In 2007, Longines commemorated its 175th anniversary with the introduction of its classically styled Master Collection. When the company made the decision to add to this line a complicated watch with multiple retrograde displays, it considered several options for where it would get that Swiss replica watch’s movement. The brand, a member of the Swatch Group, covers the mid-range price niche, bridging the gap between lower-priced Tissot and Hamilton and higher-priced Omega, and its budget for movement-making is accordingly limited. Thus, the simplest option would have been to use an existing base movement from ETA — the movement supplier that is Longines’s sister company in the Swatch Group — and add a module from a specialist such as Dubois Dépraz. However, Longines CEO Walter Van Känel wanted an all-new movement for the Master Collection Retrograde — one that would be exclusive to Longines — and directed the specialists at ETA to create one.

For its part, ETA welcomed the challenge, using as its canvas the Valgranges line of calibers, descendants of the classic Valjoux 7750, which are known for their large size and reliable rate performance. The results were not one but two reliable, user-friendly and, above all, high-performance calibers, each of which uses the traditional cam-and-rack construction. Version A07L21 (designated Caliber L698.2 by Longines) has four retrograde displays; version A07L11 (Longines Caliber L697.2) has three.

Caliber L698.2 has retrograde displays for the date, the day of the week, the time in a second time zone and the continually running seconds hand at 6 o’clock; Caliber L697.2 leaves out the seconds hand and replaces it with a power-reserve display at the same position. The Master Collection Retrograde watch in our test contains Caliber L698.2.

Longines Master Collection Retrograde - front

Close scrutiny of the movement reveals some unexpected attributes. The first surprise comes when you extract the crown to its middle position to set the time: the hand on the seconds display continues to run, but the hands on the three other retrograde displays abandon their previous positions and move clockwise into a sort of waiting position. A Teflon-coated guide ring ensures that the racks fall onto the cams and thus disengage simultaneously. When they’re in this position, the hour hand can be set in hourly increments without stopping the seconds hand or influencing the position of the minute hand. If you need to reset the minute hand, pull the crown out all the way and turn it. In this position, the seconds hand stays stopped where it was when the crown was fully extracted. There is no return-to-zero mechanism for the seconds hand; the movement’s developers decided not to include one because it would have made the cheap Omega replica watches sale significantly more expensive.

Longines Master Collection Retrograde - recliningAfter the time has been set and the crown pressed back into place, the retrograde displays all return to their original positions. To set the day-of-the-week display, press the button at 2 o’clock to advance the display in single-day increments. The button at 4 o’clock is used to set the date display. So far, so good, and eminently simple, too. This watch has no 24-hour indicator for the hour hand, so the wearer must determine whether the hour shown on the dial is a.m. or p.m. Failure to take this detail into account may cause the date and weekday displays to advance at noon rather than at midnight. The simplest solution is to turn the hour hand through one full circle by extracting the crown halfway and then advancing the hand in a dozen single-hour increments. After the crown is pressed back in and the retrograde displays have returned to their positions, you can see if the hour has progressed past midnight, causing the date and day-of-the-week displays to move to their next positions. If you’ve inadvertently jumped to tomorrow’s date and day, simply turn the hour hand 12 hours back and the calendar displays will follow suit.

Longines Master Collection Retrograde -  side

The threaded button at 10 o’clock repositions the retrograde display for the time in a second time zone. Following the motto, “better safe than sorry,” Longines put threading on this push-piece to prevent its being inadvertently pressed when the wearer bends his wrist. The fake replica watches uk time in a second zone can be set so that it’s independent of, and uninfluenced by, the ordinary hour hand. If you wish, you can set this display to show the time in a city outside your home zone (say you live in New York but want to keep track of the hour in London or Los Angeles) or you can use this display to keep track of the time back home while you’re on the road. The display of the hour in your home zone remains unaffected, even if you turn the ordinary hour hand forward or backward.