Recommend me a watch made in 1978

Recommend me a watch made in 1978

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Discussion

Hoofy

76,253 posts

281 months

Monday 18th July 2016
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Does the person
1) give a st about watches (beyond "It's a Rolex, I'm better than you. Automatic? What do you mean?")
2) give a st about birth year watches
3) wear watches
4) like old watches?

traffman

2,263 posts

208 months

Monday 18th July 2016
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After looking through tinternet , i cam across a few examples of a 1978 Omega Speedmaster , on a brown leather strap. Manual wind ?

I know its not going to blow your budget , but just a pointer , see what you think?

mikeveal

4,559 posts

249 months

Tuesday 19th July 2016
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Can't help I'm afraid.

A Reverso produced in 1978 is only a birth year watch for anyone born in 1931.
A Sub produced in 1978 is only a birth year watch for anyone born in 1954.
To wear a birth year Santos, you'd have to be 112 years old!

What's the point of a birth year watch manufactured in your birth year, if it is identical to a watch produced 30 years earlier or 30 years later? The watch isn't representative of the style of the time, it's just a dull timeless classic. Don't get me wrong, these are timeless classics for a reason. But they miss the point of a birth year watch.

£15K is a lot to spend on a generic, that just happens to be built in the year of your pal's birth.

1978 was the cusp of the LCD era. LED watches were dying, mechanicals were dead. Innovation was aimed strongly at quartz watches. The 1976 Omega flagship ChronoQuartz is a good example. The Computron was another. Clearly these are not in the ball park that you're considering.

If it were me, I'd rather have something actually "from" that era. The Omega Geneva line was built from 1970 to 1979, so that should be 70's style. ChronoQuartzs were still being made in 1978. Royal Oak was a 1973 design, but the fact that they're still making them kind of rules it out for me.

Closest I can get is the Vacheron 222. Made from 1977 to 1984. But according to this, you'll be trying to track down one of just 720 watches.

Good luck. I hope that gives a little "collector" perspective.

mikeveal

4,559 posts

249 months

Tuesday 19th July 2016
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Fully appreciate what you're saying about the collective decision. I was just throwing another opinion into the mix - your decision to make, not mine.
It is not for me to tell you that it would be wrong to buy a 1978 Datejust. Even though it would be horribly horribly wrong! smile

At 15K you're out of my normal shopping range by a couple of orders of magnitude! So I'm struggling even though I love 60's and 70's watches.

Cheaper stuff would be a Omega Dynamic '67 to '72.

A hummer... Bulova Spaceview '60 to '77 ,or an Omega f300, rare Rado f300

There's the Omega FlightMaster from the late 60's early 70's.

Going up a bit, the recently re-released Heuer Silverstone was a 70's design, as was the Autavia too I think.



Here's a 1978 AP. Well it's definitely from the 70's.
And a 1978 PP. Too much Patina on that one for me though.

How about?

Nik Attard

71 posts

182 months

Tuesday 19th July 2016
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I know I haven't actually given you any watches to choose from but the sites below are worth keeping an eye on.

I have always found some interesting pieces on Hodinkee which sell out quickly.

http://shop.hodinkee.com/collections/watches

They carry rare timepieces with some fantastic back stories. You may a little more for the knowledge and premium package the chaps in the US put together but they know a thing or two.

Rare birds http://www.rarebirds.de/ is also one to find a few rarities

Chrono24 http://www.chrono24.co.uk/ is also one to take a look at.

Nik

Polariz

867 posts

154 months

Wednesday 20th July 2016
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I tried doing a search on Chrono 24 and it did yield some good results:

https://www.chrono24.co.uk/search/index.htm?dosear...

This was just a search using any brand, that's automatic (But you can always include Manual if necessary).

glazbagun

14,259 posts

196 months

Wednesday 20th July 2016
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I have a similar problem (with a smaller budget) when looking for birth watches for myself, being born in the 80's where it's all quartz. I clearly need better friends. hehe

I posted on this thread when someone asked about 1981:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

A novel idea might be an automatic ref 1832 IWC Ingenieur with the cal 8541- these were massively unpopular at the time and it took them five years to sell out of the 500-odd they made, hence the being quite collectible now.

Patek is another good call, or a really nice Heuer if you fancy something more sporty.

I think your biggest problem, other than avoiding Quartz, will be finding something that looks good today- slim watches were very popular back then leaving mainly sports watches to chose from unless you want something particularly discreet.

Mad March Taffy

508 posts

118 months

Thursday 21st July 2016
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Original Casio LCD watch.... first produced in.... 1978!

:-)

Mad March Taffy

508 posts

118 months

Thursday 21st July 2016
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BigBen

11,610 posts

229 months

Thursday 21st July 2016
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Speed.deman said:
He is knowledgable about watches and enjoys a good time piece. It will be a gift from his wife and friends for a milestone birthday.

He would be happy with an auto or manual. By default it is a going to be an old watch. He has a beautiful 60s manual wind Patek which he loves.
Can't help but wonder why 38 is a milestone birthday, or is this early planning for 2018 ?

Mad March Taffy

508 posts

118 months

Thursday 21st July 2016
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Won the lottery?

scott-1vt9j

52 posts

99 months

Tuesday 16th August 2016
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Nothing of that sort of price range here

http://www.birthyearwatches.com/1978-2/

but remember that you are now firmly into the quartz crisis. Many firms are starting to try and make watches cheaper to compete, money invested in developing electronic and LED watches seems to be wasted.

If your lucky brother has a 60's Calatrava then don't get anything similar. Get a tool watch so if he is in a different mood/outfit he can choose the stainless steel chrono on a bracelet over the gold watch on a strap. If you are set on a 1978 watch then a VC222 as mentioned would be lovely, but an AP Royal Oak easier to find (and don't expect to find hundreds of those either). Don't forget that these watches have integrated bracelets so measure his wrists (or the PP when he is not wearing it) to ensure it is big enough. Finding links to a VC 222 will prove impossible.

Personally I would be looking for a Rolex 1675 GMT Pepsi. Common in this company admittedly, but still very nice


marcosgt

11,011 posts

175 months

Tuesday 16th August 2016
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Nothing like the budget, but for a 1978 watch, I'd be looking for something like this :

http://www.chrono24.co.uk/omega/speedsonic-chronom...

Perfect for the era, but with more interest than an everyday quartz watch AND it looks great too.

Of course, it may not be to the recipient's taste, which is surely more important than the year?

To go the real '70s hog, you could get a Lobster

http://www.chrono24.co.uk/omega/omega-speedsonic-l...

M.

Edited by marcosgt on Tuesday 16th August 16:42

Mr Overheads

2,436 posts

175 months

Tuesday 16th August 2016
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I have one of those Speedsonic's. It's one of the few watches I own that gets complements from people. Looks modern enough not to be overtly retro but you can still tell it's vintage. Mine's not for sale.