What Vintage Watch - Budget sub £1k

[crispyshark]

Afternoon all,

Having found myself with some time on my hands (excuse the pun) whilst WFH and the next round of planting in the garden not needing to be done until next week....the devil has made work for idle hands and i'm looking to bolster my growing watch collection.

I've got budget to spend up to £1k on a vintage watch which will add something a little different to mix i have but might also represent a nice investment for the kids down the line.
Current Collection:

Citizen Professional Dive Eco-Drive with depth gauge (2002)
Omega Planet Ocean Chrono (Orange) - not sure of date as bought 2nd hand to replace one I lost
Tudor Pelagos (2013)
Rolex Oyster Date (1966)
Rolex SS Submariner Date (2020)

It's a bit diver heavy (which doesn't mean i wouldn't consider another to add to the collection).

I'd like a moon watch but budget doesn't get there yet and i'm impatient!

[p4cks]

Do you have one from your birth year yet?

Could be an idea.

[crispyshark]

p4cks said:

Do you have one from your birth year yet?

Could be an idea.

I was looking at a 5513 Sub for my birth year but it was well beyond budget (10.5k) and the 2020 Sub came up so have gone for that.

Birth year watch is a great idea..... '82.

[Mezzanine]

How vintage?

There are loads of nice old Omega for under £1k.

Example from Hackett Watches.

[crispyshark]

Mezzanine said:

How vintage?

There are loads of nice old Omega for under £1k.

Example from Hackett Watches.

Anything from 50's up till mid 80's.

I'm really open to consider anything...hence putting it out there as if i look (besides the Moon Watch) i immediately resort to diving watches!

[lostkiwi]

Old Longines are great quality.
A 1984 calibre 990 would make an excellent choice as they were the last fully in house automatic movement.

[nikaiyo2]

Can we stretch the budget a bit?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Philip-Watch-Caribbean-...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Longines-8484-U...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Dugena-Carrera-...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Aquadive-Automa...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BREITLING-80520-1-steel...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Chronographe-Lip-42762-...

[crispyshark]

nikaiyo2 said:

Can we stretch the budget a bit?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Philip-Watch-Caribbean-...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Longines-8484-U...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Dugena-Carrera-...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Aquadive-Automa...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BREITLING-80520-1-steel...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Chronographe-Lip-42762-...

Oh Lordy! Some of these are sublime! Thank you.

I especially love the Dugena and Philip watch...

Can anyone else add any other options.

Something interesting from 1982 would also be good!!

[Stunters]

Left-field alternative.
Not vintage, but vintage style, and vaguely close to your budget:

https://farer.com/products/oxley-silver-le

https://wornandwound.com/farer-debuts-the-oxley-si...

[crispyshark]

Stunters said:

Left-field alternative.
Not vintage, but vintage style, and vaguely close to your budget:

https://farer.com/products/oxley-silver-le

https://wornandwound.com/farer-debuts-the-oxley-si...

Has a bit of the Oris pointer look to it! Very nice but will it appreciate?

[nikaiyo2]

crispyshark said:

Oh Lordy! Some of these are sublime! Thank you.

I especially love the Dugena and Philip watch...

Can anyone else add any other options.

Something interesting from 1982 would also be good!!

The Dugena is super, glad you like.

The 80s were pretty shocking, really the only things from 1982 that I can think of are WAY out of budget.

You might find a speedmaster MK4.5 for closeish to budget, might even get a mkii, but I know literally nothing about them so have not linked to any in case they are absolute dogs

Tag Super Professional are way underrated IMHO and first cake out in 84.

[romeodelta]

Echoing lots of the thoughts above.

You don't seem to have a dress watch.

I have a 1974 gold Omega Geneve - lots of these around under budget.

I also have a 1984 birth year bi-metal Rolex DJ. These were available in 82, yellow gold or more subtle white gold. You will have to stretch the budget, but this is PH, right?

Or if you want a different brand, Longines is a good shout too.

A slight budget stretch will get a Speedmaster Reduced. Not a Moonwatch, but may scratch the itch.

Happy shopping.

[Brads67]

Get a Rado Diastar in Tungsten/Gold and look like a 70's darts player.

[Dynam0humm]

You could get a really nice Seiko 6139 Pogue for around £600 or a 6138 Panda for just under 1k. Due diligence is very much required though with the amount of fake dials etc out there.

[Raddors]

I have an 1974 Omega Chronostop Driver that was my old man's. Worn under the wrist, gets more comments than any of my more expensive watches and hold the most value to me and still on its original shark mesh strap. They're around the £1k mark.

[seefarr]

Yup, Seiko would be my bet too! I've got a '73 King Seiko (internal competitor brand to Grand Seiko, similar quality standards) and when compared to a mate's Rolex of the same vintage the difference in quality is laughable. Specifically, I'd be looking at an ultra smooth 36'000bph movement.

Grand Seiko 6145 / 6146 often fall to this level although they're steadily going up.

https://wornandwound.com/review/affordable-vintage...



Here's one for under £1000. Pro - he sells a few vintage Seikos and it looks nice. Con - location: Russia.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Grand-Seiko-6145-8000-a...

Or a cheaper manual wind King Seiko like this chronometer certified for a smidge under £500:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/45-King-Seiko-Chronomet...

[Trev450]

Raddors said:

I have an 1974 Omega Chronostop Driver that was my old man's. Worn under the wrist, gets more comments than any of my more expensive watches and hold the most value to me and still on its original shark mesh strap. They're around the £1k mark.

Apologies for taking this a little OT, but I've never seen a Chronostop in this format before - very unusual. In comparison, this is mine which I purchased new in 1970 and I think is the more common design:

Edited by Trev450 on Friday 17th April 17:23

[crispyshark]

Trev450 said:

Raddors said:

I have an 1974 Omega Chronostop Driver that was my old man's. Worn under the wrist, gets more comments than any of my more expensive watches and hold the most value to me and still on its original shark mesh strap. They're around the £1k mark.

Apologies for taking this a little OT, but I've never seen a Chronostop in this format before - very unusual. In comparison, this is mine which I purchased new in 1970 and I think is the more common design:

Edited by Trev450 on Friday 17th April 17:23

Big fan of these but haven't been able to find within my budget!

[Raddors]

Trev, yes as I understand the "driver" edition with the dial rotated 90 degrees so it sits upright under the wrist supposedly so you can see it without taking your hand off the wheel. It's a bit of fun.

Edited by Raddors on Friday 17th April 18:56

[skylarking808]

Really happy with a vintage 1977 Longines in steel for under that budget. Under rated in some ways, with a great movement inside. Also pretty rare with an orange inner edge.

I would also look at Heuer as they also seem to make quality kit that make Rolex look expensive. I also like the idea of my next watch being from birth year, but like the style of swiss seventies stuff.