Underrated watch brand?

I think Longines is underrated. They've been coming out with some lovely designs lately, but seems to be overshadowed by its stablemates in the Swatch Group. 

The Sprint Zulu Time and the Ultra-Chron series are tasty. 

Gerard Perrageuax (edited as I had AP here on accident)

Chopard

 Baume & Mercier 

Frederique Constant

All of these are underrated because their tech and finishing is on par or better than others in their price range.  The common denominator seems to be that none of them offer a dive or field watch.   

Love the Zulu Time. Almost got one.

I'd argue AP is overrated.  It's really a one-watch pony.  A fantastic watch, granted, but one watch nonetheless.

I don’t know if I agree with you about AP, they’re considered one of the holy trinity along with Vacheron Constantin & Patek Phillipe

Maybe Girard-Perregeaux should go on the list?

Would though consider Grand Seiko underrated? Certainly watch enthusiasts talk about it a lot, but I bet the public has no idea they even exist. But they sure do know Rolex LMAO! 

STOWA, Sinn, Glashutte Original, Baume & Mercier, Longines and Laco.

I might be bias here, but Oris comes to mind. The new caliber 400 and its variants are a banger movement. 

They check off a lot of boxes as a brand: Independent, banger inhouse developed movement, still offers watch styles w/ solid 3rd party movements @ competitive pricing, heritage, partners with great initiatives(clever marketing or not)

Good call! 

Second Sinn. I cannot believe the watches you can get from them for less than $2k (fully tegimented too)

I think Oris, Mido, and Orient.

I’ll say Piaget. They have some high end watchmaking chops and some great models, but they never get talked about. I know why. They are largely known as a fashion brand similar to Cartier and Hermes, but I don’t feel they get nearly the respect they deserve.

Frederique Constant for me. A tourbillon perpetual calendar for under 20k? 😀

It's controversial, but I think Citizen watches are underrated. I can agree about Sinn as well. Cannot tell anything about higher end brands, because I have never handled them.

You see, I think this be the only genuine contender mentioned because PF could be the one brand that might slip under the radar at higher price entry points, where I think more “traditional“ options might be considered safer. That’s a mindset we don’t tap into much on here… if you had £15k, and a full choice, what would you do? I also don’t have an answer to this one as well. Perhaps they need to market slightly differently, or, in terms of production and supply/demand, are they doing it just right? Who knows, I’m speculating.

Halios, Christopher Ward, Dietrich   three microbrands thta give you real value for your money . 

You nailed it - that's why they brought in the head of Bulgari. They have really made a big change over the last year. Starting to function in the marketplace more like a luxury brand. They are also getting very protective now about pricing on the grey market and protecting the brand equity.

Glad I got in when I did as the new Tonda PF series has been a real hit and the brand is taking off. They just introduced the Tonda PF in 36mm which I believe will be a smash hit for them especially with women. My daughter who is a very good test case - 25 years old and a young professional was instantly enamoured with them. She is a huge Cartier fan - so that bodes well for PF.

We shall see. I may be priced out of the brand soon. 😉 

Hands down, the most underrated brand is Frederique Constant.  The Highlife Automatic in particular, with COSC certification and a beautiful design, for only $2195 retail, is a standout.

It‘s going to be interesting. Bvlgari is probably a good place to draw from, they really upped their watch game over the last 15-20 years, significantly. I have an Ergon, it’s amazing, and the Diagono is lovely, but the Octo is just next level. It’s saying something when in around 30 years we will probably look at the Octo with as much iconic reverence as something like the Royal Oak. I also think the pitch-battle with Piaget and the Altiplano has been incredibly engrossing, only for Richard Mille to come out of nowhere with the UP01, but hey…

PF development is going to be very interesting, so I look forward to seeing them in my travels.

Yes clever little Richard snuck in there and stole Bulgari's fire...

However, I am not keen on either the Bulgari or the RM, but that Altiplano is amazing!

If I had to name just one underrated brand, it would be Ball watch.  The watches are very nice.  However, the company could be run from a management perspective much better.  Too many ‘limited editions’.  Bloated catalog.  Over production, leading to too many watches showing up at huge discounts on the grey market - which drags down both product perception as well as buyers willingness to pay list and makes it hard for their ADs to want to promote the brand.

Ball is a company where the product is there, but the management and ownership is the problem preventing the company from reaching its potential.  I wish Swatch Group would buy the brand, because I see them as being able to develop Ball to the next level.

I agree that spec-wise the Caliber 400 is impressive. It's just that the Sellita versions are already priced so attractively that it becomes difficult to justify the additional $1,000 to get the new movement.

I can see that. I myself own a Sellita-based Big Crown Pointer Date and I wouldn't trade mine for the Caliber 400 version. But I do think the Caliber 400 is worth the upgrade from a specs perspective. In fact, I've had to have my Sellita serviced twice now (after only 2 years of ownership) because of an issue with the rotor sticking when hand winding the watch. Makes me skeptical if I will ever buy a Sellita-based watch again. 

To me, this is like the difference between paying $30K for a base Subaru WRX or $42K for the GT version. Are they the same car? Technically. But also, vastly different. You may think the upgrade isn't worth it and I may, but that's something else entirely compared to saying the $42K version is grossly overpriced. 

Talking about Bulgari watchmaking chops, I stopped into the boutique a few years ago to check out the latest Octo Finissimo at the time and the Sales person really gave me a treat pulling out a few prototypes that they were working on. They were really astounding. It was such a great experience and they were so accomodating. Take a look

Some amazing brands already mentioned.

For me it’s Breitling. Absolutely love what they’re doing.

Im a Breitling fanboy as well. I totally agree. Their build quality & they way they have been reaching into their archives for design inspiration under Kerns is a big boon to the brand. But alas they're overshadowed by their old big blingy reputation.

GRAND SEIKO, because they are not SWISS MADE! 🧐😜

Grand Seiko. To me, they have a lot of new releases, outstanding movements and finishing, and they always surprise me.

I remember something that I read: "you buy a Rolex to impress others, you buy a Grand Seiko to impress yourself"

I would add Ball watches and Orient Star watches.