I don't know if there's a particular theme this week, but I do think all of these watches fall into what I've probably been harping on too much; slim vintage time only manual wind watches, vintage chronographs, and neo vintage watches. With the most expensive option coming in under $2200, I think all of these represent some relative value and alternative to the usual dealer highlights.
Such a clean dial and layout, and I love those funky hands. Photo from FS listing, click through to purchase.
I love watches like this, just so pure, clean, simple, classy, timeless, it’s everything you need and nothing you don’t. These watches wear incredibly well at 35mm without crown, and the long lugs will make up for anyone with large wrists. I love how slim they are too, especially as compared to today’s bloated case thicknesses. Vintage Longines movements are known for their craftsmanship and reliability, and this one is recently serviced with the papers to prove it. The watch is beautifully understated, but offers plenty of fantastic details such as the applied Arabic numerals and those fantastic syringe type hands. This is a watch that could easily be worn with a t-shirt and jeans on a strap like shown or dressed up to nicely slip under a shirt cuff for more formal attire on a more refined and finished strap. This reputable seller is asking a reasonable $530 net to him on Omega Forums, and at this price it’s pretty low risk proposition, not that you’d ever want to sell.
Three register, tritium, panda dial chronograph with screw down pushers and rotating bezel? Yes please. Photo courtesy of for sale posting, click through for more info.
This next one is pretty much the opposite of that Longines with a big automatic chronograph, with date, screw down pushers, and rotating bezel. Admittedly, I didn’t realize the “Tiger” name on these was for Tiger Woods in conjunction with a sponsorship shortly after he turned professional. Unlike Eldrick, this watch doesn’t look washed up with critics questioning if it’s passed its prime. These Tudor Prince Chronographs offer a lot in the way of a Rolex Daytona at a fraction of the price with the panda dials and screw down pushers. The rotating hour bezel is functional for a second time zone, and a three register chronograph with screw down crowns, pushers, and date pretty much give you just about anything you could really need in a watch, especially when travelling or for day in and day out use. This particular example was just after the “transitional” period where Rolex caseback and/or signed crowns could still be found fitted on the watches, making this one slightly less desirable. However, at just a $2150 asking price, I think this is pretty safe bet, and you’d be really hard pressed to find a three register automatic chronograph with screw down pushers and crown of this build quality new or used otherwise. It’s been available on WatchUseek forums for 3 weeks now, so I gotta think there’s still some opportunity there as well.
The stain on the dial at 8 o'clock is reported to not be on the dial, and the watch is very clean overall. Photo from eBay listing, click through for more info and bidding.
This vintage chronograph has (reported) US Air Force Major General provenance, and although it seems fairly legit, it’s not the reason why it stood out to me. I’m not sure how you would verify the provenance short of trying to contact the family and see if there are any memories or photos of the Major General in the watch, but it’s a pretty cool connection to someone with an impressive palmares. However, I added this to the “watch list” before I even got the last picture showing the previous owner. The watch is large for its time 36mm without crown with the great big, high domed, and in need of replacement crystal. Underneath that crazed and well worn crystal though is a supposedly clean and very attractive and legible classic chronograph dial. I’m always a sucker for blued steel hands and this one is pure pilots watch, before the days of lume on the dial and hands to boot, kind of in a similar vein to the original Benrus Sky Chiefs. As with any vintage watch, you should factor in the cost of service to the purchase price, but the Landeron 42 column wheel movement looks relatively unmolested, so if this purchase price stays under $1,000 this one could clean up exceptionally nice. Currently sitting at $540 on eBay and ending Sunday.
With traits of vintage pilot's watches all over it, the Dynamic packs quite a bit of value and design into such a low price tag. Photo from FS listing on WUS forums, click through for more info.
“Dynamic” was a line of watches Omega had been trying to establish since 1968, with this one representing the third, and perhaps final attempt for the line to take off in 1997. Made for just three short years, these last generation Dynamic’s have a cult following of sorts due to their relative low production numbers, affordable prices, and some really great style characteristics. This last generation was designed to appeal to a younger generation with a relatively low price tag, around 1500CHF, and bead blasted case and bracelet. It is reported to be very light and comfortable on the wrist and it seems like every time I hear of someone getting one on the wrist, they fall in love. And that is really understandable with so many great, classic pilot’s watch design cues like the oversized pump pushers, large luminous Brequet numerals, and big broad pilot’s style sword hands. The matte black dial stands in sharp contrast to the yellow accents making the style quite “Dynamic” indeed #dadjokes. These are 38 mm in diameter but tend to wear slightly smaller, and have a lot going on for them in the neo-vintage sort of realm. The start/stop pusher is reported to be sticking, but at an $1150 asking price on WatchUseek forums, there is room to make sure and get a proper service to keep it running for years to come.
Thanks for reading, and as always, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below or via the contact me page. If you see something out and about that's worth a mention, feel free to tag me on instagram or twitter, @meticulist.