30mm family, simple and reliable movement , and so many beautiful and different cases and dials ... i cant get bored of it ...
My Louis Brandt & Freres grade CCR from circa 110 years ago. I like others, but this is one of two of these that I have, and aesthetically, modern watches don’t hold a candle to this era of high grade watch manufacture.
My 1958 Genève. Caliber 491. When I hold it up to my ear, I can hear it ticking as well as the zip of the rotor as it winds itself. Love it.
Gotta love a true watch nerd thread like this, since obviously there is very little reason to be emotional about a movement ... and yet we are. Like several others above, I am fond of the 30mm manual calibers: 30T2, 265, 266, etc. I realize that there is nothing special about them (with the possible exception of the 30T2 Rg), and I can't even say that they are particularly high-quality compared to other hand-winding movements of that era. I have even had my share of problems with them. But I have always felt that they were a simple and solid movement that stood the test of time. I admire the fact that they were in continuous use, with very little change, for roughly 20 years, during a period where technology made significant advances. OK, add some shock protection or modify the balance a bit, but the same framework goes on and on.
I concur with many others here with 30mm hand wound movements - I have two 30T2s from the 1940's (an SC and a sub-second) and a 269 from the early 60's. For auto wind, a 300 series bumper is on my list to acquire. The 500 series rotor movements are terrific and I have a 562 that has been very reliable for the past 12 years. Thankfully, I have a local indepentent watchmaker who can do these vintage movements in his sleep.
I have had nothing but good experiences with a well serviced 564. I love the chronometer features and quickset dates...I also love the 751 for the same reasons as the 564. If I am on vacation, or on a trip through many timezones, I lose track of the day so the day/date is a very useful feature (despite all the snarky comments on various forums)