After I starting this thread, I have visited Hing Wa Lee (does not carry Tag Heuer), Ben Bridge, duty free at LAX trying out some of these watches, picked several watch magazines at Kinokuniya, and many hours browsing the TimeZone forums (Great forum for watches, tons of great atricles, hardcore watch collectors for every major brand, faq on movement, calibre, technical terms, similar to nsxprime for NSXes).
Initially I only wanted one entry level automatic mechanical watch to replace my 5 year old Tag Link Professional. I will definitely end up with 2. I did picked up one of the 3 on the poll, and will add one additional mid level Rolex soon. I can stare at the mechanical movements for hours, very happy so far.
On the side note, I did sold my 5years old
Beater Tag Link Professional off ebay, and shockingly got nearly what I paid back, and the buyer paid immediately. That was really odd. This model is discountined with color Tag logo instead of the B/W on the newer models.
Retail price for these 3 watches on the poll:
Tag Heuer Carrera Chrono tachymetre $2450
Omega Speedmaster Date $2200
Rolex Oyster Pertetural Date $3675
Tag and Omega can be had for 30% off retail and 20% off retail for Rolex at authorized jewelers if paying via cash or online. Rolex is definitely siginficantly cheaper at authorized shops in Japan 10~20% less than the price at the State, probably because they consume more Rolex than rest of the world combined.
I also check several Breitling models. Awesome watch with top notch built quality. Very pricy, $4k+ for the models that offer the look I liked.
The decision was down to Tag Carrera Tachymetre vs Omega Speedmaster for the entry level automatic mechanical watch in $2k range. Omega Speedmaster date wins in built quality and function. The Tag Carrera Chrono wins hands down aesthetic department, with reliable Calibre 16 movement, aka Valjoux 7750 Engine, same engine in Speedmaster Date and also used in some Breitling, IWC chronographs.
