What watch?

[shirt]

or should that be which watch?

i don't usually post in this section, but i'd appreciate a little input/advice on this.

i am rapidly hurtling towards my 30th birthday and am being asked by my family what i would like as a gift. i am veering towards buying a watch, but have no defined idea as to what.

i reckon if i buy purely from familial generosity, i'd be looking at £300-350, and with that in mind was looking at something like this:



however, i'm now thinking of putting my own money together with anything gifted in order to buy something nicer, one i'll cherish and keep to mark the event properly. i would be willing to pay up to a maximum of £1200 either new or secondhand.

stylewise, i have no idea other than i want something classic looking and would prefer a chronometer. i was in the netherlands at the weekend and saw one of these in a jeweller's window. i love the design of this watch and have seen them for sale at £995 brand new from chronomaster.






http://www.firstclasswatches.co.uk/junghans-chrono...

can anyone advise as to the quality of junghans watches? is there something similar of a better quality that i should look at?

the jeweller had a great range of vintage watches. i could well be swayed by a vintage omega, but what others should i investigate?




to give you a feel for my tastes, my dream watch would be a glashutte senator sixties


i also like the tag heur monza and the lozenge shaped longines watches.

[parapaul]

IM(unexpert)O, the Boss watch will be designer tat, the Junghenenenenes is fugly, but that Omega is in a different league. Get a nice bracelet on it instad of the leather strap and there's your choice

[ShadownINja]

Yeah, the Boss is over-priced. Is it an Swiss mechanical movement? If it is, then it might be worth £300 - it has to have a Valjoux 7750 movement, but looking at the dials, I don't think it is, which means it has a Chinese movement and is therefore worth £50-80 if it didn't have Boss on it. Looks nice, though.

Add money and get what you really want - then it will be a real pleasure to own and wear.

[Pesty]

junghans foe me out of those

[CommanderJameson]

I have a Junghans Max Bill Chronoscope and I can reassure you that the build quality and finish is first-rate.

[shirt]

That is good to hear. My opinion of the Boss watch is similar to those stated - looks nice but the name carries much of the price.

Currently its a toss-up between the Max Bill and a vintage Omega, the latter being the one I need to research.

The shop I was in had about 15 early 1950's seamasters and pre-seamasters. Can anyone recommend a site or dealer who might carry a good range in the UK?

[Hughesie]

Have a look at TW Steel - they have some nice decent Kit in your price range

[andy_s]

The only caveat with vintage is the water resistance which may affect practcality, the Omegas are very smart though. The only equivalent 'modern' vintage Omegas would be the newly assembled from old but unused stock by people like STS or watchco, but then you're looking at double the budget.

[CommanderJameson]

Here's a better picture of the second Max Bill in your list. It's the Chronoscope and exceeds your budget, but it gives a reasonable sense of how the crystal, dial and hands appear in real life. Most pictures of these watches utterly fail to do it justice:

[ShadownINja]

shirt said:

The shop I was in had about 15 early 1950's seamasters and pre-seamasters. Can anyone recommend a site or dealer who might carry a good range in the UK?

I think you are better off sticking with the shop unless you are registered with the British watch forums already. If that shop has about 15 vintage Omegas and you like them, then whilst you may pay more, you get peace of mind you're not buying something dodgy especially if you were vaguely considering ebay. And I would choose a vintage Omega over anything else you've mentioned.