I currently own 2 quartz watches. I was planning to go the obvious path and save for the swatch x blancpain for my first automatic/manual... but now I'm having second thoughts...

Go for the Tissot. If you compromise get a Japanese Mechanical.

Can’t see how this new Swatch beats a Casio Duro.

Buy what appeals to you. If you think the Swatch x Blancpain is the watch you want, go for it. If you think you might regret not waiting and getting the Le Locle, go on saving for that.

Having said that, I will relate my own experiences with both the Swatch Sistem 51 and the Tissot Powermatic 80 movements. I found the Sistem 51 to be fairly accurate, but every bit as noisy as a Miyota 8215 movement, so I sold my Swatch. I have a PR100 that I have had for more than a few years, and it is still running well within factory tolerances; in fact, it is almost within COSC chronometer tolerances. It loses less than five.seconds per day currently. If it were my choice, I would wait and get the Le Locle.

The new mini Duro can’t even beat the old Duro! 😆

As a Tissot Le Locle owner, for what they are going for on JomaShop right now (less than the Blancpain x Swatch). I’d buy the Tissot all day, every day. Mine has served me well for years and years and is still beautiful. Don’t forget the Sistem51 is a plastic automatic movement. It’s not built to last forever. The Tissot is.

You can always buy whatever you think you’d like the most but I don’t know if I’d want my first auto to be some throwaway movement like what’s in the swatch.

I think it doesn't really matter that much. But... that Tissot looks pretty great to me.

...plus, I think the best time to buy one of these Swatch x [thing] crossovers is once the hype has died down. Let the passions of the crowd settle down, wait until some people have talked about their feelings of regular use of them for a year or more, and then make a decision. In the meantime, I think that Tissot is something that will remain an outstanding watch for as long as you continue to enjoy it, which I expect will be many years...

It’s not just the potential ‘shame’ of saying that it was your first… I think that’s a bit overblown… but honestly, take that same amount of money and you can buy something really, really cool.

Do that instead for your first automatic. Trust me.

If you love the look of FF I would suggest looking at a Baltic. Beautiful watch and IMO a better alternative to Swatch Blancpain. Just my 2 cents. Good luck.

For you first automatic, I would go another way at an equal price.

The whole thing is the Sistem51 movement is not all that great. Yup, we all wanted it when they came out, I got a red one just like I wanted and it ran fine till something happened and now it doesn't hold power. It runs fine while on the wrist but will stop after a little bit when taken off. I suspect the main spring is broken but it really is't worth fixing to me. TH e service would be replacing th emovement.

BTW, did ytou know the Sistem51 is the first automatic movement to be totally assembled by machine? I'm not even sure if humans get involved witfh apckaging the watches.

From my side I would recommend to get a vintage watch, for $400 you can find an absolute mechanical beast in a good condition🤘

Just checked Chrono24 - there are tons of mechanical in like new condition, check them out. There is plenty of Hamilton and Tissot models there at a +-$400 price tag

If you like the Le Locle then there is no reason not to buy one on the grey market, e.g. Jomashop. I personally haven't bought one because it always seemed a little steampunkish to me, but you are undoubtedly getting a lot of watch for your money.

Despite the virtue signalling of the recycled strap, the watch is disposable. If you want an affordable first auto diver then id reccomend invicta, seiko and orient. You already have a gmt and a chrono so maybe the aforementioned tissot might be a better pic anyway

I was thinking, the Raymond Weil on the right is a 1000ft diver and also a gmt so would you class it as a diver or a GMT?

Divers are defined by their dive style bezel, gmts by their fourth hand. Some watches are both, but imo this one isnt

Despite that, it has very similar overlapping aesthetics and functions of a dive watch, so whilst it might be nice to add, personally I'd round out the collection with something dressier then maybe after get a diver

Of course, its your collection, buy what you like

Na I really want a diver next and then a dress watch, thats where the le locle might come in. I prefer the leather strap over the bracelet

The Tissot is a great choice. Some other ideas might be a Seiko 5 for a sports-watch (eg the very nice GMT SSK003) or a Seiko Presage for a more elegant choice, eg SPB063, SRPB41 or SRPG23. Very high quality for the price, in house movements and the Presage are also Made in Japan

Buy whatever you like. You don't have to own a dress watch at all. Tho as for bracelets, you can always swap them out for a strap. I wear my diver on a rubber strap, makes it far more practical and lightweight (and less blingy)

Get one that you can see it's tiny mechanical heart beating. So many people have never seen an actual mechanical watch running. It's a total conversation starter.

Some pictures from Qwant. https://www.qwant.com/?client=brz-brave&t=images&q=open+heart+watch