What’s your experience living with vintage watches?

I have two one is special occasions only, but it's a beaut. 1953 Vacheron-Constantin. It was a gift from my uncle to my father when my older sister was born. Uncle brought it back from the factory along with it's platinum cousin.

I have sent it to the factory in the past for service, but more recently found a cranky German gentleman who owns a local watch repair/sales shop here in SW Florida who takes excellent care of it.

I also have a late 60's early 70's vintage Omega Speedmaster that keeps great time and requires a once every ten years or so minor service. I picked it up 20 years ago for under $900. I wear this one pretty regularly, and for a while it was my daily.

I love the look of the Constellation, it really is a classic, and not one seen all that often. Also affordable, which has always been one of my guidelines for daily's. I'd lean that way for you, never been a huge Rolex fan, although I did buy one many years ago as a gift for my now long time ex-wife. hmmm . . . that could be the source of my prejudice.

D

 

I wear vintage watches almost everyday. In my experience, most vintage watches have little to no lume. Even the ones that had lume back in the day (radium in some cases) , have lost it. Since you like Seikos, they had several lines that meet your criteria. The Lordmatic, Kingmatic, Bellmatic all of which originally had lume and had day+date models. As to the Tudor vs Omega, because the Tudor has an Oyster case, it is theoretically more durable than the Connie. Is it worth 1,000-1,500 more… open to debate. Here is a picture of a late 60s Hamilton that I have been wearing all day. The lume pic is after holding it under a lightbulb for a minute. Two minutes later and the lume is gone. Had I not charged it for the pic there would be no line even though I was surrounded by natural light and led lights all day.

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The Bulova Super Seville would also fill your description. I used to have one but traded it for a different watch. Quite comfortable. Kinda like the frugal man’s Tudor day+date. It has the same ETA automatic movement. Stock pictures of the Bulova and the Seiko
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The dial on the Omega is quite handsome.

 

If you want a vintage watch that REALLY glows in the dark, go find a Ball.

Trainmaster series is where I'd start.

Probably most will land under $1000.00

I have one that's only 20 years old, keeps perfect time, has a smaller face and a vintage look/feel. I'll dig it out and post photos later.

Here's one for under $900, used, low miles. Also comes in day/date.

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Others have a more traditional old school look and feel, and of course they've been making watches since the 1890's, so there are plenty of real vintage ones available too.

D

 

Love the Hamilton stuff. Been lusting after one for a while, but with maybe already a dozen "daily quality" watches on hand (get it ) I can't really justify having more.

Jack, buy my Omega Speedmaster, I'll go shopping for something new!!

Dave

 

I am not a leather strap guy, especially for a daily. Too sweaty here in FL for that, at least for me, I prefer stainless.

I might have one or two "sport" watches with the rubbery watch band, but not a big fan of those either as they eventually dry out and break, and not all are easy to replace.

Take a peek at the Ball stuff. They have some beautiful basic watches as well.

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I have one very similar to this but with the stainless band. 4 or 5 different faces/colors. Really glow in the dark.

D

 

@walnut

 

Hamiltons are great watches. Especially at that price point.

 

My Ventura came with a tang buckle, but a local Hamilton dealer switched it to a deployment buckle when the original strap broke. I’d imagine they can do that for you for a small increase.

 

Jack, I think you might have mentioned this in another thread or may have one already, if not, how about an Omega Constellation Pie Pan Dial? I'm also getting into vintage watches and picked up a Rolex 1680 Red Sub 1974/1975.
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I may be wrong, but as far as I know the pie pans were date only and never lumed.

 

The issue most people seem to have with “vintage” watches is the size of the case. Frequently, no matter how attractive, they are simply seen as being dainty due to the small sizes relative to modern aesthetic preferences.

You can’t go wrong with an Omega Constellation. I’ve seen some great pieces by LeCoultre (before it was JLC) as well. I would say to look into Oris too.

Personally, I love my Girard Perregaux (GP03 movement) but I don’t think they were available with lume originally. It’s a clean looking watch design (if mine didn’t have so much patina at least) and is larger like the Calatrava was.

 

This was considered a men’s watch in the late 1930s when my grandmother bought it for my grandfather.
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https://www.ebay.com/itm/326267873205

Just get a new bracelet for it if you don't like leather. I really get the appeal of these.

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https://www.ebay.com/itm/256636761003

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