# Quality of my Solvil et Titus watch



## calri (Mar 1, 2016)

Hello,

My parents decided to visit Hong Kong not so long ago. During their visit, my uncle decided to buy me a watch as a present. He purchased a 'Solvil et Titus 1887 Model No. 06-2716-001' valued at around $700 USD. However, because the company is a HK based company (with little information regarding their reputation online), I was highly skeptical regarding the quality of my watch. Moreover, according to my friend who used to work on watches, my watch is no where near worth the $700 it was charged for. Lastly, from what I found, the crystal is mineral. Is it strange for a watch at this price range to have mineral crystal rather than sapphire? Is it true that the quality of my watch does not reflect the price it was charged for?

Thank you.


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## secret3933 (Oct 18, 2014)

hi, its a nice watch! i believe your friend is right too. it seems like using a Seagull st19 movement. judging from all the 1963s and some Seagull own chrono watches that are available in the market which cost around 300-600 range, yea, its a bit overpriced.


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## Chascomm (Feb 13, 2006)

Solvil et Titus is an old respected Swiss brand (notwithstanding the nationality of its current owners or current place of manufacture) so some mark-up is to be expected for the brand. That seems to be what is happening here, but look at the prices commonly asked for Ingersoll (traditionally a budget brand). Judging from the style, your watch looks like one that may have been made by Sea-Gull's OEM division. A good on-line price for comparable products (without brand mark-up) seems to be a bit over $500.

And I reckon there are probably quite a few watches in the $500-$1000 bracket with mineral crystal.


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## calri (Mar 1, 2016)

Thank you to both of you for your inputs. While I still loved the watch because it is a well intended gift from my uncle, it is also great knowing that the piece is of good quality.


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## Unikagen (Feb 16, 2012)

Solvil et Titus used to be a Swiss brand, but like many other forgotton brands, is now in the hands of the Chinese. The Sea-Gull ST19 movement is beautiful to look at though, and the watch looks nice. I'd value it at a maximum of $300, based on similar watches with these specs out on the market. This means absolutely nothing though.  The watch was a gift and I'd thank the hell out of my uncle if he gave me this.  Wear it in good health!


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## wessa (Feb 10, 2012)

Quite a well known brand in Asia, thanks largely to the Time is Love advertising campaign.
This one is my favourite.


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## Ed.YANG (Jun 8, 2011)

I had handled and "auditioned" some of the SoT 1887 series watches with ST19 movements before... the quality of the work on the movements are too impressive to be HangZhou made. What TS's friend commented could be those "ST19" made in HZ... which is found commonly with the Italian label LAMBERTI OROLOGIAI as well as many other Chinese makers such as ALPHA.

Pricing wise... TS's uncle may have paid too much @ $700. Here in Singapore, without Moonphase, TS's model sells roughly about the number that TS's uncle had paid, but different currency with SGD$.


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## richardkam (Jan 13, 2016)

As someone grown up in Hong Kong I might as well share something about Solvil et Titus watch.
Any Hong-Konger above 30 surely knows this brand, thanks to a commercial back in 1993. There is nothing special about it, except it starred a movie actor called Chow Yun-Fat. The gorgeous lady in the commercial is Jacklyn Wu. I can't post link at this moment but you can easily do a youtube search.

Solvil et Titus is always about romance, although the focus shifted from the epic love story from 90s to more daily-life-heart-warming-romance in recent years. It is not a luxury brand. No one is particularly reaching out to collect them. There is nothing special about the movement, dial, construction, history or whatsoever. But everyone in Hong Kong knows about Solvil et Titus (and the slogan). 

It is a lovely watch.


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## Chascomm (Feb 13, 2006)

Thanks. I did not know that.

Happy Birthday Chow Yun Fat! - Wristwatch Daily 名錶誌

There's another reason to buy a Titus watch.


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## Reinhard Immanuel (Oct 25, 2015)

Titus used to be stylish Swiss brand (and defunct) - since then they've been acquired by Chinese company

Keep in mind that the persona of Titus still play a major part in pricing


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## Tsarli (Apr 13, 2007)

I remember back in the day watch sellers in Manila had tons of these Seiko "inspired" :-d Solvil et Titus diver's watches. They were cheap, but they were mechanical and they worked. Couldn't afford a Seiko? Solvil et Titus to the rescue.


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## wessa (Feb 10, 2012)

Solvil et Titus is owned by Stelux Holdings, a company incorporated in Bermuda and listed on Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Besides Solvil et Titus they also own CYMA and Universal Geneve.
They also own the well known in Asia City Chain stores as well as Thong Sia Group who are the sole Seiko, Lorus, Alba distributor in HK,Macau, Malaysia and Singapore.
Some other non-watch reated busness (optical).


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