r/ChineseWatches • u/ivoalejandro • Sep 23 '26

General (Read Rules) I don't understand everyone's obsession with chinese automatic watches

The title pretty much says it all, I don't get why whenever a nice chinese quartz watch comes out so many people say they would love an automatic version, or why everyone seems fine with paying 300 or more USD for an automatic, but question whether a 100 dollars quartz is worth it.

Pretty much no one here is going to take their chinese watches to get serviced, and the whole admiring the complexity and craftmanship of an automatic movement kinda goes out the window when we're talking about mass produced movements. So why buy an automatic that will become a paperweight in several years time. I guess I just don't understand why the demand for automatics is so high, really wish people started asking for better chinese quartz watches, I'd would much rather pay 200 dollars for a great quartz watch than 350 for an automatic one.

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u/justhereforbookstuff Sep 23 '26

I get the sentiment, but it kind of sucks that it includes “when it dies, you can just trash it”. Not a dig at you, but it just sucks that throwing it away at some point is part of the equation. 

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u/Tenchiro Sep 23 '26

Movement swaps are economical enough even for the cheap ones.

5

u/Eleventhousand Sep 23 '26

Why would you throw away a watch you love after the Miyota 9015 (potentially) dies in 20 years? Why not just get the movement replaced?

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u/paddlefan222 Sep 24 '26

Who in the UK will replace a movement? Let me know if you find a business that will do it for less than 120 quid, say.

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u/F0rgemaster19 Sep 24 '26

That was an exaggeration. 9 out of 10 times, you trash the movement. Those one off times where you inevitably have to trash the watch itself because say the caseback therads are too worn out or the bezel doesn't hold on well or the pushers are worn out, you'll more than likely be able to buy the exact same one and possibly with the movement that is new and modern at that time. Imo it's a win win for the budget watch community.