You're stuck on a desert island with a mechanical watch. What movement do you pick over the others, and why?

I'd pick whatever has the biggest bridges and least moving parts.
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My 2011 Deep Blue Alpha Marine 500 ETA 2824-2. Love it!

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Cheers!

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Vostok 2409A.  F*cking Tanks. 

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If I am stuck on a desert island with a mechanical watch .. the only movement .. I will make is that of swimming the hell out of there. Because I do not wear the Breitling emergency.  

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If you're stuck on a desert island, make sure your watch never winds down.  

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Because my Wenger has an ETA 2824-2, has never been serviced, and is still wonderfully-accurate after 26 years.

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horologuitarist

If you're stuck on a desert island, make sure your watch never winds down.  

So true! It’s like a variant take on the movie Quest for Fire.

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Just to piss people off, my vote is for other, and I choose Spring Drive. 

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Hm. Something with a moonphase would come in handy for calculating which tide can carry my raft out best.

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Cannot beat the ETA 2824 for long term reliability. I don't think I would want a manual movement since I'd only be wearing one watch and the automatic movement would ensure I don't forget to wind it.

Don't want to lose track of how long I am on the deserted island now would I?

Desert Island GIFs | Tenor
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key wound, easier to wind with sunburned hands. also emergency lights to get rescued

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ChronoGuy

Cannot beat the ETA 2824 for long term reliability. I don't think I would want a manual movement since I'd only be wearing one watch and the automatic movement would ensure I don't forget to wind it.

Don't want to lose track of how long I am on the deserted island now would I?

Desert Island GIFs | Tenor

This times 100.  Though a 3230 could be an interesting item to have on the island. Note, I would throw the 3230 in the ocean for any solar smartwatch under those circumstances. 

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My SBGY011 with the manual wind 9R31 so I can facilitate three things: 1) Keep accurate time whilst on the island and 2) have a ritual winding the watch every morning I eat a banana and 3) keep water tight whilst swimming in the lagune/beach. Bonus: The SBGY011 would look awesome in the press photos upon return from that island. 

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Sundial or build a sun marker while my watch is still functioning.i.e marks on an exposed stone wall or wooden surface , just hourly:) no buses to catch …. 😂 

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Myota 9035 :)

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Do I need to know what time it is?  If Yes, then probably something with an ETA.

If No, am I alone? 

If No, don't care

If Yes, maybe one of those naughty UN automatons.  Because, alone time...

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AllTheWatches

This times 100.  Though a 3230 could be an interesting item to have on the island. Note, I would throw the 3230 in the ocean for any solar smartwatch under those circumstances. 

I would definitely want my Explorer with its 3230 movement, assuming my desert island watchmaker has access to the new proprietary bits. If not, then maybe the lauded 3130?

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If it has to be mechanical. I would go with the GO 36-13 (in the SeaQ Panorama Date): To have something beautiful to look at through the display caseback, encased in a diver watch which is practical given the situation, I think.

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Whatever I've got, if it's got a metal back, I'm probably taking the back off and beating it into a rough blade to use as part of my survival gear. 

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Ngl if you're stuck on an island with nothing better to do, accurate timekeeping is pretty useless. A moonphase would be nice but you could just track it yourself. Not to mention, the best chance of survival is actually staying put, and not trying to risk rafting out into blue water.

I would go for the most ostentatious, complicated mechanical with multiple moving parts, so I could keep myself entertained and not die from boredom before my rescue / inevitable demise.

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Most islands people get stranded on have magnetic fields that disturb the normal flow of time, anyway. I would just wait for the beeping noise to know when to press the button and wait for Penny's boat.

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in house because it'll end up being my @HORAGE Supersede (when it gets here).

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Finding myself stuck on a deserted island is the most compelling argument there is for wearing a solar G-Shock M5610 24/7/365, but since you restricted the choices to mechanical movements I  think the less worse choice is going to be the Seiko NH35.

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Miyota 9015 or, God forgive me, an NH35. Never will die. 

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Tudor MT5652.  Chronometer certified, 70 hour power reserve, 28800vph, jumping hour hand and gmt complication, bidirectional winding, free spring balance wheel and silicon hairspring to reduce/eliminate the effect of magnetism.  There’s nothing there not to like.

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In house - Omega, because it's the most accurate and durable on the list.

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I'd use SW330

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ETA

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A Vostok 2416b.

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Stranded on a desert island, I'd want a solar powered G-Shock so that I'd be on time for my tennis match and Swedish massage.

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I pick the nh35 because it is THE diver movement. I’m courious: I saw most people voting for the 2824. maybe i’m just unlucky but the 2824 has a big (actualy it is pretty small) weak spot: the fine tuning lever on the balance bridge. This little thing broke twice on me - and if it does, the ballance goes way out of position. for me it is just not reliable enough for a desert island. 
 

i’ll go for a g-shock too.. 😅👌👌