Old Watches

[ToneMonkey]

The wife, being as fantastic as she is, has set up a new account and is putting money in there every month to get me a watch.  I'm going to be 30 in a few months and she knows that I've been after a decent watch for about half that time.

Does anyone here know about watches?  I've kind of narrowed down my search to old military watches (WW1 onwards) or something from the 60's.  Old Omega's and Jager one's look really good for the money.  Do you think that most of these are for collectors (especially the WW1 one's) or do you think that they'll stand up to daily use?

I rekon that I might have around £500 to spend, so if anyone has any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated.  I'm not after anything flashy, it just has to be a beautiful watch.  Ideally a chronograph would be nice as I really like the look.

[indysmith]

Solid, reliable, classic, beautiful, 10+ year battery, alarm functions.
Should cost about a tenner.
Leaves yu with £490 to spend on BKPs and other fun stuff. :lol:

[ToneMonkey]

I remeber them when they first came out.  My mate had one and I was really jellous.  :lol:

Can't spend it on guitars, only a watch.  It's the first time Mr's TM has let me have any of my own money beofre spending it on handbags  :lol:

Did I mention that I sold my old car this morning so the money from that is going in there too, that's the only reason I have the £500, I'm not rich or anything  :lol:

[_tom_]

haha those old casio ones were awesome.

[Andrew W]

I bought a watch from this guy about 4 years ago and am still very happy:

http://www.70s-watches.com/a_to_m/index.html

Some of his prices for the more collectable pieces are on the high side but there are some beauties there for not so insane money.

Personally I'm hankering a little after one of these though:

http://www.phosphorwatches.com/phosphorwatches/watches.html

but that's just because I want something with E Ink in it.

[WezV]

those 70's watches are great i really like jump watches and these driving wacthes
http://www.70s-watches.com/n_to_z/aagp.html

[WezV]

my main watch is actually a 60's timex but i need to get the strap fixed

its just like this
http://members.tripod.com/~watchdoc/yellow-snoopy.jpg

[Bradock PI]

Depends if you want a battery or analogue movement, if you want analogue have to be careful with older watches if anything goes wrong they can easily cost several hundred to repair.  Years of winding or automatic watches that sit unwound for long periods become unreliable. In the present climate I would buy a swiss one from auction all bar a few makes will go very cheap comapred with their price new. If you want a list of swiss and others let me know.

There are some very nice russian makes that are in your price range if you want a new one.

For example Poljot here http://www.russia4u.co.uk/categories.php?cat=8

If you get a good swiss case quartz watch and keep the price around £400 ish then you can get a brand new movement fitted for around £100. Almost all the swiss makers use ETA movements although some will custom spec them.

[Stevepage]

These guys seem to have quite a lot in

http://www.antiquewatchcouk.com/forsale1.htm


Would really like one of those Omega Military watches.

I have one of these

http://oakley.com/pd/3676/11867

But with a black rubber strap. Love it, saphire crystal so it never scratches. Got mine last year in America

[martinw]

I can recommend this guy:
http://www.timefactors.com/index.html
Also there's a good forum on that site you might find useful.

[ailean]

Solid, reliable, classic, beautiful, 10+ year battery, alarm functions.
Should cost about a tenner.
Leaves yu with £490 to spend on BKPs and other fun stuff. :lol:

I've been wearing that since I was a teenager, must have bought half a dozen of them by now, the last one just a few weeks ago :) Quality watch.

[ToneMonkey]

This is why I love this place.  Cheers guys. PDT_015

[indysmith]

Solid, reliable, classic, beautiful, 10+ year battery, alarm functions.
Should cost about a tenner.
Leaves yu with £490 to spend on BKPs and other fun stuff. :lol:

I've been wearing that since I was a teenager, must have bought half a dozen of them by now, the last one just a few weeks ago :) Quality watch.

+1 :D except I'm on my first, and have been for many years now!

[Bradock PI]

I wear a Breitling B2 (previous model) which I got as a gift from my wife for my 40th birthday. They are great watches but I suspect the only way you would get one in your price range is at auction. Look for government auction (customs/police)) or lost luggage auctions.

On swiss watches Longines can be fantastic value as they tend to be a little cheaper and do not hold their value as well as some other swiss makes. I had a Tag 2000 midsize quartz before and I gave that to my sister as she always wanted it.

[PhilKing]

I still have a Craftsman Swiss 17 jewel incablock chronometer that my Grandmother bought me for my 11th birthday.  I don't wear it everyday and it was lost in boxes for about 20 years.  However when I found it again and wound it up there were no problems and it keeps great time.  I've been wearing it for the past couple of weeks constantly because I am traveling and the last thing I want is a battery to go in the watch I have with me.

I have no idea how much one would be to buy now, and I can't really remember how much it was then, but it is over 40 years old and was worth the money.  If you find a real swiss watch and don't mind winding it every day, then they are great.  They can also be repaired if they do go wrong.