IWC Portofino vs Omega De Ville Prestige vs Baume My Classima

Hi all,

I'm looking at purchasing a watch, and was wondering if anyone had any opinions on the following models?

IWC Portofino (https://www.watches-of-switzerland.co.uk/IWC-Port…)

Omega De Ville Prestige (https://www.watches-of-switzerland.co.uk/Omega-De…)

Baume & Mercier My Classima (https://www.watches-of-switzerland.co.uk/Baume-an…)

I'm predominantly interested in having a nice timepiece to wear to formal events, and things like church on Sunday, but would also be interested in wearing it to internships/work (potentially in IB - if I can land offers!) in the future. Are all these watches appropriate in this regard (i.e. professional, classy, understated, not too flashy etc)? Or could the IWC/Omega be a bit too much?

The watches do vary considerably in their price - with the IWC costing £3,950, the Omega £2,570, and the Baume £820. Is this justified by the differences in how the watches are perceived, the quality of craftsmanship, the watch movements, how long-lasting they are etc?

I remember seeing a previous topic where someone posted something along the lines of "buy a $100 Casio/Swatch, or a $3000+ mechanical watch: don't bother with anything in between". Is this a fair statement, and if so, is buying the Baume futile as it's one of these "in-between" watches with a quartz movement and which is not as respected as, say, an IWC/Omega?

Finally, does anyone believe any of these models will hold their value well in, say, the next 5/10/20 years?

Many thanks in advance!!

15 Comments
 
Most Helpful

I would go with the IWC. I've eyeing an IWC for quite some time. The Mark VII la petit prince is on my radar. I still have yet to spend > $500 on a one single watch, but when I do this will more than likely be my choice.

Omega is a great brand, but with all the limited editions they have done recently and seeing so many Speedmasters around makes me not want to buy something from them. The quality is great don't though get me wrong though.

Baume and Mercier seems very blah to me. I think you would be better off getting a Fredrick Constant and saving a little coin personally. Again nothing against B&M just not something I would advocate for personally.

 

Thanks everyone - appreciate your insight.

Sounds like the IWC is worth the extra money. I'll look into pre-owned as well; and I think it's also possible to buy them VAT-free at the airport - so that may save quite a bit too.

Thanks also for the suggestions of the Reverso and of having a separate watch for day-to-day use. I wear an Apple watch for day-to-day. I like wearing it, and it's very functional, but I guess I've always wanted a formal "dress" watch; I also gather Apple watches are generally a no-no for work in banking too (https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/apple-watch-in-the-work-place)

 
"jnx123" Thanks everyone - appreciate your insight.

Sounds like the IWC is worth the extra money. I'll look into pre-owned as well; and I think it's also possible to buy them VAT-free at the airport - so that may save quite a bit too.

Thanks also for the suggestions of the Reverso and of having a separate watch for day-to-day use. I wear an Apple watch for day-to-day. I like wearing it, and it's very functional, but I guess I've always wanted a formal "dress" watch; I also gather Apple watches are generally a no-no for work in banking too (https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/apple-watch-in-the-work-place)

Reverso is a great suggestion. Only thing to note here is i think all Reverso models are manual wind and not automatic.

 

Get some gold cufflinks while you're at it. They're gonna love ya, kiddo!

heister: Look at all these wannabe richies hating on an expensive salad. https://arthuxtable.com/
 

You know what serves the same function and is even less expensive? A Casio. OP is looking to brandwhore

heister: Look at all these wannabe richies hating on an expensive salad. https://arthuxtable.com/
 

Based on your post you don't seem to know (or care for / appreciate) the difference between automatic / quartz movements. That's not a bad thing, just a state of being in the sense that you're interest in watches isn't very developed yet.

Because of this, I'd recommend the Baume. Clearly you're going for a certain look with these 3, and since you haven't done (at least I'm assuming) much research on movements, brands, calibre, price (you link the same website for all 3), I don't think you're at the point where you should buy an automatic watch.

Read, become interested, obsessed, etc. before making a bigger purchase. I'm assuming you're still in school, not much income, 4k PS is a lot to spend on your entry level watch (and to be honest I don't think any of these are worth it at this price point given the breadth of options out here) if you haven't done a lot of research.

I said it before in a prior thread... any purchase you make should be either a "fuck yeah I 10000% know I want this" or a pass. Nothing in between.

Good luck!

 

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Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes.

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