Chronoswiss has had its ups and downs since Gerd-R Lang, the founder, retired and sold the company in 2011. They pretty much lost their way, much like Minerva and Dubey & Schaldenbrand, when a change of ownership occurred. I haven't seen them in stores for years. Most of the movements are reasonably standard so repair shouldn't be too much of a problem. You have to be careful with what you pay for these kinds of watches since the market for them is very thin.
I have handled a couple of these. They seem very nicely finished and are striking in a good way but as noted above, you may get a lot of pain at resale time. Buy cheap and keep may be the best policy.
Thanks I really like the colors and the enamel ones seem nice, but I don't see any cheaper than retail. It feels wrong taking a chance on one vs getting a zenith or even Rolex. Still can't get that blue and orange combo out of my head though...seems crazy I'm the only one talking about them when they have favorable reviews on hodinkee and the like...something must be up
I have one from when Gerd owned the company. I purchased it new, when I was on a business trip in Chicago. I fell in love with it at first sight. Never even heard of the brand at the time.
A ChronoSwiss Klassik Chronograph in 18K and SS...
The only problem I have ever encountered, is the date wheel seems intermittent when setting manually. Never bothered me enough to get it checked out.
Have had my eye on several other models, but just haven't pulled the trigger on another... yet!