I am a newbie to watch hunting and am weighing up purchasing my first dress/professional watch but would like to know a bit more about the manufacturers. Mainly, I am curious to know about the watchmakers' reputations, their watches' reliability and longevity, and if anybody has had any experiences purchasing watches from them.

The manufacturers I am weighing up are:

Raymond Weil
Louis Erard
Frederique Constant
Longines
Tag Heuer

In case anybody is wondering: yes, I did post on a similar topic last month but I am now willing to budget a little bit more cash if it lands me a durable, long-lasting watch!

I've had my Tag for 12 years, and no problems at all. I wear it all the time (including when playing sports/swimming). It has no scratches, and has only needed one battery change.

Are any of those 'manufactures'? I think they use the same movement bought from the 'swatch group'

Longines has the best history, buy one made in the 50s and you will have a superb watch and a fair investment...

State your new price. From those, I think Tag or Longines is your best bet for durability but I would take a look on Raymond Weil too. Few weeks ago I tried the Nabucco, it looks and feels so good on your hand, really sweet watch. Sticker price was 3k though.

Thanks for all of the feedback so far.
@ V_____: I have budgeted CHF 800-1200 for a new watch. The Nabucco certainly looks like a nice watch but I might have to blow open my bank account to afford it, and that really is not an option for me!

You could save from 30 to 50% online or buying in tax free zones, for that budget probably Tag or Longines is your best bet regarding history/durability side.

You can also search on ricardo for good deals, there are many many brand new unopened watches with factory waranty for 40-50% of the original price.

http://www.ricardo.ch/kaufen/uhren-u...v/an652463718/

If you find one near you can always see it before you bid.

Maybe you could consider something vintage and classic. It doesn't have to cost a fortune.

Example:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-40s-...ht_3336wt_1392

or a bit more upscale & sporty:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINATGE-WAKM...ht_1204wt_1159

Just examples, I'm not recommending these specific watches.

The brands of new watches that you mentioned don't really impress me w/design. Longines could be the exception.

I like Hamilton.

Be careful about buying online. Some brands do not honour warranty on watches bought online.

At your price level you might be able to consider Oris too? Tissot is also an option.

Also worth looking at vintage, but always budget for a cleaning and service too, unless there is evidence that it ha been done recently.

Also note that some watch brands keep value very well and may even go up in value.

Not really SWISS!

I find it a strange question to be honest.....its not like you're buying a PC or a car. You're buying a watch from very good manufacturers, all high priced watches. They will all tell the time reliably, look good and last for a long time.

What did you expect - somebody would post....."stay away from those Longines watches. They're made of plastic and fall to bits after a week"!

Buy the one which has the brand image which matches your style, the one you like the look of best and the one that makes you feel great when you wear it and the one you can afford

Edit.....sorry....I missed the budget figure. Ignore all the above at that price!

To be honest your just buying a mass produced watch for 5,000chf, hand finished start around 10,000 & hand made 100,000.

The movements on all the cheap Swiss watches are from the same factory. There are only about 6 manufactures of movements.

all the brands you mentioned are not 'quality' brands, they are mass produced, and with your budget you're going to be in the low end of there mass produced. Personally I'd look for 2nd hand, that kind of money will get you a really nice watch. Also get a watch because you like it, not because of what you think it says about you, you can get very nice swatches that are more or less identical to some very expensive watches out there, same movement etc, except swatches come with a 2 year guarantee and cost a hell of a lot less. the only person who'll be able to tell the difference is another watch buff, and most (I have met anyway) couldn't care what make it is. Indeed I have quite a few watches, and that includes a few swatches.

Almost all the movements are made by ETA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ETA_SA

http://www.eta.ch/

To set up a manufacturing line for movements costs approx 40,000,000, thats why most brands buy from ETA. They used to sell parts, however Hayek (deceased) got fed up of having other names engraved on his parts, so now they only sell the complete movement.

So where is this factory?

Cheap swiss movements????

We are currently desperate for 7750s - cheap !!!

Look at the post above, ETA makes the cheap movements. Expensive movements are 100,000 - 750,000 CHF, thats everything hand made including screws.

So every movement under 100,000 CHFs is cheap???

For 100,000 CHF I can buy almost any movement made in Switzerland handmade or not - only the ultra complex cost more - and they are a different category.

Coming back to the OP he has circa 1000 CHFS to spend so he will definitely be in the land of Swatch - Soprod - Sellita -et al - NOT- Rolex - Zenith - Breitling - Patek Philippe - Audemars - Jaeger Le Coultre - Peter Speake Marin, Christophe Claret - Piaget - Piguet - Greubal Forsey, Chopard............to name just a few of the companies manufacturing their own movements in Switzerland.
There are many more companies, in Switzerland, manufacturing their own movements, for themselves and for others, not about the 6 or so figure that you quoted.
You might have guessed I am inside the business so authoritive sounding quotes should be correct.

Under 100,000 is less expensive, the most expensive watch I have ever touched is the reproduction Marie Antoinette by Breget, probably worth more than 5,000,000.
Very few manufactures make the movements for ALL the watches the sell.
Chopard do make the LUC movement however most of the watches they sell are powered by ETA.

You wont find a real 'hand made' for 10,000, a little hand finishing of a mass produced watch.