Any Love for Rotary?

I don't have a Rotary yet, but they are an absolute staple of a watch here in the UK amongst non-watch people. I may even say I see more Rotary watches than I do Casio's or Seiko's.

Yours is a very lovely example 👌

Yes I love Rotary. UK resident also and yes, it is a popular brand, and rightly so imho.

Very nice! Tempted a few times to get one…

That sums up my feelings about Rotary perfectly. I had the Cambridge in my shopping cart with a discount but didn’t quite pull the trigger. Looks like a great way to figure out if I’d get on with a Cartier.

Right on! Everybody’s wrist topography is different, obviously, but my experience with wearability has been very positive. It’s super thin, so it sits flat and comfortably when just barely above the knuckle on my 18.4cm wrist.

That does look great - another watch back on my list.

Rotary is very well worn in the UK. Both my parents wore them. Still popular I agree among the general public but less so for watch people.

I'm not really sure why. Going to take a look at what they have in their catalogue.

I really like the look of yours.

I also have a Cambridge that I imported from a UK seller late last year. Perhaps Rotary would get more love in the USA if they marketed and sold watches here.

A Reverso homage?

I recall seeing some interest in their Henley GMT watch on YouTube. It got lots of praise.

This is my Rotary, picked up 2nd hand. I've just had a look on their web shop, and they have some outlet items reduced: https://www.rotarywatches.com/outlet?limit=48

I call my Steinhart OVM39 my first proper watch, but it'd be more honest and accurate to say it was the Rotary Super 7 that got me into watches in a serious way. I wanted something to wear while swimming, and I was so excited I could get something mechanical so I wouldn't have to worry about batteries or whatever 😅 It has a loud rotor, and eventually I was terrified to wear it at all after the lume pip fell off the bezel for a second time, but I loved that watch, and I still have it in a bag in a drawer. I like Rotary, they'll always have a place in my watch-collecting heart

Wouldn't say they are a fashion brand. I have owned a Rotary Elite in the past (was stolen) and it was a lovely watch silver dial, sapphire glass, and they do have some nice pieces in there collection, but they do create a lot of homages, and the movement quality is at the low end and I think there is much better value on the high street.

I have the Portland. I live in the U.S.A. It doesn't get as much wrist as it probably should. I like the clean simple looking dial and when turned in the light I like the blueing of the hands and hour markers. It's an overall classy looking watch and comfortable to wear.

What an awesome story. I feel the same way about my Citizen Nighthawk. Might not do much to turn an enthusiast’s head, but dang if I didn’t love and wear the crap out of that first “nice” watch.

That’s one of my favorite things about this hobby, being able to associate great memories with these lovely little pieces of machinery.

Sure is. Swiss Made vintage rotary! Duel face

I think its a similar story to brands like Festina, Dugena and Titoni. When the quartz revolution hit, it decimated these historic Swiss and German brands. Some were acquired and some faded into bankruptcy.

In modern times, it has been easier to purchase the "heritage" of a former Swiss brand than to try and create a new brand. Many of these re-launches rely on inexpensive quartz-based attractive watches to generate a volume of sales using the heritage brand name to compete.

Many are little better than fashion watches and many fall into the homage category.

I have pursued the vintage references from a number of these brands as they can be acquired for a good price to value ratio being less popular than the common name brands that are popular today.

Sources of information like HODINKEE and Fratello have done a great job in promoting and increasing the value of a number of the better vintage watches from these brands, but there are still finds out there if you are persistent.

I think it comes down to how well the watch is made. It doesn't matter if it is a quartz or mechanical movement, if the production quality is high, the materials used are quality and you enjoy the design of the watch then go for it.

If digging into the vintage space, then just be aware of the many fakes and frankenwatches produced in India, Turkey, Eastern Europe and other parts of the globe which trade on the heritage and lack of information about these brands to sell redialed garbage with garbage movements.

I have attempted to provide some information in this community on some of the brands. Here are a few of my posts that could be of interest...

Vintage Watch Brands for under $500? What's on Your List? | WatchCrunch

What vintage watches have you picked up for less than US$100? | WatchCrunch

Let's Talk About The Caribbean! | WatchCrunch

Let's Talk About Enicar! | WatchCrunch

Let's Talk About Pontiac! | WatchCrunch

Let's Talk About Nivada Grenchen/Croton | WatchCrunch

Let's Talk About Wakmann! | WatchCrunch

Let's Talk About Choisi! | WatchCrunch

Let's Talk About Titoni! | WatchCrunch

Let's Talk About Favre-Leuba! | WatchCrunch

Let's talk about Festina! | WatchCrunch

Let's talk about Dugena! | WatchCrunch

Let's Talk About The Lings Scam "Fake" Chronograph Watch | WatchCrunch

Love all my Rotary watches, vintage, modern, mechanical and quartz. Sadly bit of a fan boy, but for the money they are well made and nicely designed. The modern watches lean more towards the homage styling but some of the vintage watches with the swiss movements are very attractive. I've also had the pleasure of using their parts department in the UK for bracelet links and the service was excellent.

I have one, so does my wife. I just changed out a strap on one for my brother-in-law.

Here's mine

This is my brother-in-law's

still waiting for my cambridge to come, hopefully in march

I'm in the US and own one. They're a good watch. Yes more popular in the UK because Rotary moved from Switzerland to London decades ago.

Cheers!

Rotary suffer because most high street jewellers sell them alongside all the crappy Chinese made so called fashion watches such as Michael Kors, Hugo Boss, Vivienne Westwood et al. The non discerning public seem to dismiss Rotary as old fashioned, and go for the names they believe are modern and well known. (This is from a person I know who works in a high street jewellers)

I’ve found that the older Rotary models are fantastic quality, it’s a bit hit and miss with the newer ones but they still turn a decent watch out for most people, obviously we’re talking the lower price sector but most people can’t or won’t spend on expensive watches.

I had a Super 7 divers, great value and presence.

They have that vintage stuffy old gent vibe going on. Certainly not a fashion brand & I think they have been trying to update their image of late, but they are a great low cost piece. With some heritage chops.

They were argos fodder for many years along with accurist if I recall.

Wow! I didn't know that. Do you happen to know which model or models?

Rotary are a great brand that were hit by the quartz period, they made some lovely watches and I think their new owners have really upped the ante on design styles etc they now offer some fantastic well priced watches.

Here’s my dads rotary auto my mom bought it for him circa mid 60’s I think and he wore it constantly till he passed away in 2021 a quality reliable watch x