Poor man's watch thread

[justridiculous]

Gentlemen, I need your help. I'm looking for a new watch. I would like to keep it under $200, but will go up to $300 if it's something I really like. I currently have a few Seikos, a couple of Orients, a Luminox, and a few other mostly "beater" watches. I like divers and pilot watches, along with most military watches. I'm also all for the minimalist/bauhaus look as well. In other words, I'm not super picky. I've been looking at Tiger Concepts and Orient, as well as vintage Omega and Hamilton Khaki (used). Can you please suggest some things I should look at?

 

[pizzapie]

Gentlemen, I need your help. I'm looking for a new watch. I would like to keep it under $200, but will go up to $300 if it's something I really like. I currently have a few Seikos, a couple of Orients, a Luminox, and a few other mostly "beater" watches. I like divers and pilot watches, along with most military watches. I'm also all for the minimalist/bauhaus look as well. In other words, I'm not super picky. I've been looking at Tiger Concepts and Orient, as well as vintage Omega and Hamilton Khaki (used). Can you please suggest some things I should look at?

Might be out of your price range, but http://www.larssonandjennings.com/shop/classic/cm-silver.

 

[mimo]

Vintage Omega, albeit a little scruffy, is not out of the question for that money. I reckon mine (eyes left) is worth only about that on eBay. Though a lot more to me. And on a $100 alligator strap for that matter!

 

[WorkingClassDude]

 

[ridethecliche]

Not sure I like it on the NATO strap, but watch is great.

 

[justridiculous]

Might be out of your price range, but http://www.larssonandjennings.com/shop/classic/cm-silver.

Nice looking watch! Do you have any experience with it?

 

[justridiculous]

Vintage Omega, albeit a little scruffy, is not out of the question for that money. I reckon mine (eyes left) is worth only about that on eBay. Though a lot more to me. And on a $100 alligator strap for that matter!

Are you selling it???

 

[pizzapie]

Nice looking watch! Do you have any experience with it?

I have one of their models, the Laden, and very much like it. My wife has the Liten which is pretty much the same thing as the CM, but smaller. She likes it as well. We are far from watch experts however they appear to be well made - in Switzerland for what it is worth - and have a very nice aesthetic and feel. I often get complemented. Plus, being a newer company, you are unlikely to run into someone with the same watch if exclusivity is your thing.

 

[AntiHero84]



Gentlemen, I need your help. I'm looking for a new watch. I would like to keep it under $200, but will go up to $300 if it's something I really like. I currently have a few Seikos, a couple of Orients, a Luminox, and a few other mostly "beater" watches. I like divers and pilot watches, along with most military watches. I'm also all for the minimalist/bauhaus look as well. In other words, I'm not super picky. I've been looking at Tiger Concepts and Orient, as well as vintage Omega and Hamilton Khaki (used). Can you please suggest some things I should look at? 

I second the suggestion for an Omega. It sounds like you have your bases covered in the "lower tier" (i know that'll be a loaded term), so you can spend your time shopping for a good used luxury piece. $300 seems to be as low as a good vintage Omega Seamaster could go, so you'd definitely need to shop around and do your homework, but I think it'd pay off.

 

[justridiculous]

I second the suggestion for an Omega. It sounds like you have your bases covered in the "lower tier" (i know that'll be a loaded term), so you can spend your time shopping for a good used luxury piece. $300 seems to be as low as a good vintage Omega Seamaster could go, so you'd definitely need to shop around and do your homework, but I think it'd pay off.

Thanks!

 

[Jmm722]

Unless you have service history of a vintage watch then I'd stay away. A servicing would cost around $300-500 and an overhaul is over $1,000. Without being able to see the internals you're playing russian roulette.

 

[justridiculous]

Unless you have service history of a vintage watch then I'd stay away. A servicing would cost around $300-500 and an overhaul is over $1,000. Without being able to see the internals you're playing russian roulette.

Thanks for the tip! How about purchasing from a reputable seller? Maybe someone who has service records?

 

[AntiHero84]

You usually end up paying more for a seller with a good reputation, so probably closer to 500-800.

What's nice about Omega, is that they are extremely well documented. It's easy to look up the number on the movement and track down the true year, to see if it matches the seller's description. That said, I would never buy a used watch that doesn't also show you the movement.

http://www.omega-fanatic.com/pages/omega-info/omega-codes-and-movement-numbers.php

It's definitely a gamble. I was originally looking to buy one a few months ago as my first "real watch," but settled on a new Seiko instead. However, I could see dabbling with vintage in the future.

 

[mimo]

Unless you have service history of a vintage watch then I'd stay away. A servicing FROM OMEGA would cost around $300-500 and an overhaul is over $1,000. Without being able to see the internals you're playing russian roulette.

But as there are plenty of parts around and the simple time-only watches are familiar to any competent watch repairer, you can get a service pretty much anywhere you'd trust to touch your watch. If you buy a watch for a few hundred, no box or papers, some scuffs and imperfections as expected, then you're not getting any advantage from trying to make it newly-Omega'd.

 

[The Saint]

Since I'm poor and only own an Omega, I figure I better have the right one! I have the opportunity to trade my SMP for a PO. If I do this I'd need to add some money (don't know about 1K) to sweeten the deal. What do you think of these two beasts? Right now I have the Seamaster Pro:

I could have the Planet Ocean instead (would need to add 1K):

Which would you recommend? (For the watch snobs, they're both the same co-axial movement, although the PO is 42mm and the SMP 41mm.) My attire is fancy, slim fit dress shirts and pants. I wear a suit every few weeks but not every day. I'm early thirties going on 17, and on weekends am more likely to be found wearing a nice polo and diesel jeans. Thanks in advance my esteemed SF members!

Aye , it's a tough one. .