Reply With QuoteA top brand in my opinion. I had one of their divers watches for several years and really liked the solid construction and nice design. Only possible downside is the company name. If they dropped 'Raymond' and just kept 'Weil' I think it'd be nicer.
I've never really given RW much of my time or interest as I have always felt they were a fashion brand however recently, I saw a new chrono they have released on a jubilee and it looks fab. Decided to do some research and they appear to be very well made and still an independent company, if a little young in comparison to the usual suspects. The only drawback is their pricing but you can pick them up online via Jomashop for example, at a decent discount.
These are the models that have caught my eye and are worth a look in the flesh:
I even like the date window
A top brand in my opinion. I had one of their divers watches for several years and really liked the solid construction and nice design. Only possible downside is the company name. If they dropped 'Raymond' and just kept 'Weil' I think it'd be nicer.
Good to know and I hadn't thought about the name at allOriginally Posted by LorneG
I have a Raymond Weil Parsifal chronograph (automatic).
Very nicely built and comfortable watch.
I think the brand is underrated. Several of their offerings can be found at a steal.
My wife has a couple of their Ladies watches and prefers them to some of the better known brands.
Yep, my first half decent watch was a RW moonphase (in the days before I stumbled across this place). I think it’s a good looking watch, but will admit it doesn’t get much use these days. Thankfully I bought it at an enormous discount in a sale so don’t lose any sleep over it.
The negative has been the service under warranty. It went back to RW for a minor fix and came back even worse than when it left me. I tried their customer services a couple of times but eventually gave up and sent it to Brendan. He said it hadn’t been oiled and he was amazed it was running at all!
So, some nice looking watches but buyer be slightly aware not much in the way of aftersales (in my experience at least)
I have a RW Tango Quartz that was bought as a gift many years ago. Miniature, rubbish quartz inside... not impressed, but it was only around £350 new, so you get what you pay for I guess.
I've had LOADS of RW watches and love them.
This brand and Maurice Lacroix both depreciate so badly it's unreal - superbly built Swiss watches that you can buy for a quarter of their retail prices.
Raymond Weil Tango watches are always comfy and feel quite hefty on the wrist, but the Parsifal models are my faves. I love the dimensions of the W1 sports range (about 38mm without the crown), they are light, robust and make a bloody great knock-about watch. New they were £600 or so, second hand they are £100-£200. Bargain.
The Freelancer Chronograph was another favourite but at £1800 new I did regret that one a bit (sold here for about £700).
Best Raymond Weil buy I ever made was this gorgeous Parsifal World Time GMT automatic. Steel but a solid gold bezel, retailed about £2000 in the 1990's and I rather lusted after them even then.
I had change out of £300 on ebay.
I've got half a dozen I guesss
I still love this Raymond Weil 9821
3 Timezones
I have a W1 from 20 years ago and it is going strong (touch wood). It is well made and received quite a few compliments, I think due to the bracelet where the flat links reflect light.
I’ve always thought of them as the watch You would buy on the plane on Your flight abroad in the 1980s
There's another first name a company should think about dropping! 'Maurice'
This brand and Maurice Lacroix both depreciate so badly it's unreal - superbly built Swiss watches that you can buy for a quarter of their retail prices.
'Weil of Geneva' and 'Lacroix Chronometers' sound better to me.
Oh I've got one of those in a rather nice pistachio colour scheme
"Weil" (possibly in a suitably bold typeface, think Zenith Defy) would be great for the sports line while I think "Raymond Weil" does work well on dressier offerings.
I quite like them, especially because they seem to see quartz watches as more than just a necessary evil and an afterthought, but I find their styling too fussy, even when they've tried their best to resist it. And their tie-ins (The Beatles, David Bowie, Gibson etc.) tend to fall flat as far as I'm concerned.
Last edited by lasz; 18th July 2018 at 19:07.
Nicely made watches but not attractive to WIS as they are better known for dress watches. They are currently doing some music related watches, which are rather naff IMHO (Bowie, Beatles). The Parsifal chronos were really nice when I started taking an interest in watches 15 odd years ago.
Last edited by Gruntfuttock; 18th July 2018 at 21:32.
Not a fan if I am honest, as a few have previously mentioned they are horribly overpriced for what you are getting and seem to be the first watches found in sales. Add to that they seem to be popular with some pretty undesirable folk and its another reason for me not to buy. For their three handed watches you can always find something nicer or more interesting at a better price and I really dont think there is much comparison with ML. ML seem to put a lot of effort into making some interesting watches and producing their own movements (Similar to FC) I am not aware of Raymond Weil doing much of anything really.
My first Swiss watch was a Raymond Weil Tango. In hindsight a bit dressy for every day wear but a decent watch, the bracelet was really well made and comfy.
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Sounds familiar,
Years ago when my ex wanted a watch for her birthday I suggested the usual suspects, she chose a RW quartz, saved me a wedge of cash and more importantly it was what she wanted.
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.
Not a fan as they have no real direction, movements are rebadged ETA, cases look generic.
The RW marketing department have tended to focus on associations with music or showing off special editions with diamond dials as opposed to focusing on the watches themselves.
That said I do have a Limited Edition 2008 Brit Awards watch!
Video is here https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s8dbw0FaDng
Its pretty good at keeping time too.
My RW Parsifal chrono has a highly decorated 2892 A2 with DD module. I bought it for peanuts amd recently had it serviced. It is running extremely well, almost no positional variation, 0.0 beat error and it looks very well.
It has the comfortable steel bracelet. When it comes to VFM it scores.
And I have UG tricompaxes, Breguet, IWC, Omega, Movado, Longines, JLC and several other big brands in my collection.
Last edited by Bernard; 19th July 2018 at 11:46.
Mine runs well too, no complaints but is that thanks to ETA rather than RW? I do like my Brit Awards watch but it’s unlikely that I’ll buy another RW.
It obviously is a high end ETA, but I expect the people at RW to have finetuned/ regulated it.
My point was: these things are well made, with good quality materials, no corners were cut.
I am no fan of the brand and basically got one as I thought it was a nice automatic chrono for a handful of money, but they really are underrated and deserve more credit.
I lived in Singapore for five years in the early 90’s where RW did saturated marketing on the TV and radio for the whole five years. “This show is sponsored by Raymond Weil”, “the time now is .... by Raymond Weil”. I got sick of it and the name still grinds today. I wouldn’t buy one for that reason alone.
Some interesting feedback and viewpoints. Thanks.
I'd still consider one as they are as good as a number of Swiss brands and use the same generic movements, just like everybody else.
Last edited by stix; 19th July 2018 at 10:24.
They have only recently introduced sports/divers watches to the range so without them it was never going to be popular on tz( for a brand thats sells mainly in the £500-£1,000 range.)
They are popular watches and sell well especially the ladies models thats why several jewellers stock them in every high street/shopping centre.
Not a fan exactly, but I do have a very simple and elegant two hand dress watch that I acquired as a birthday present in 1994.
Seen the odd nice model but they seem to big for me and my skinny wrist.
Only 42mm or lower please
My wife, (who doesn't have a clue about watches) bought me a RW tango for my 30th Birthday simply because she liked the look of it. (Exactly the same as the one above but with a brown dial) I wore the watch on our wedding day a year later. At first I wasn't so sure but after wearing it a few times, I realised that its actually very well built and has one of the most well built and comfortable bracelets of any watch I own.
I wouldn't buy one for myself because I am not a fan of their styles but you can't deny the build quality.
Kapish
....sad to admit I started reading this thread hoping to see some examples....of Maurice Lacroix! Got the names mixed up....
This is my only RW. It’s my main dress watch and the watch I wore on my wedding day
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Very nice mate. I'm warming to the grey moonphase above.
I bought these two RW's back when I was busy taking apart any watch I could get my hands on. Got them both in an auction and whilst I don't remember the prices, I think they were pretty good value.
The Nabucco GMT was really well built, very comfortable to wear on a slim wrist and looked rather nice. I kept it for about a year as a daily wear before selling it.
Not really a fan but this Freelancer chronograph is stunning .
Yep the Chrono is a beauty but too big iirc
Raymond Weil Othello. So hot in 80s.....
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