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Vintage Watch Thread (Pre-1990's watches only)

cchen

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That looks fantastic! They (Baltic) really do a fantastic job with design. I have seen them in the metal once, but would love to hear your thoughts overall on the piece!

-DL

Sorry for my late reply to your question. Overall, great watch that punches above its price point. A few nitpicky things:

1. case shape - basic, you don't get the curves and finishing at this price level
2. case design - at least for me, the lugs are a bit too long
3. thickness - thicker than anticipated, despite it being a manual wind
4. dial - love the two different finishes.

I haven't had any QC issues with mine but note that a few other collectors had problems with theirs that needed to be sent back.
 

DavidLane

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Sorry for my late reply to your question. Overall, great watch that punches above its price point. A few nitpicky things:

1. case shape - basic, you don't get the curves and finishing at this price level
2. case design - at least for me, the lugs are a bit too long
3. thickness - thicker than anticipated, despite it being a manual wind
4. dial - love the two different finishes.

I haven't had any QC issues with mine but note that a few other collectors had problems with theirs that needed to be sent back.

No worries, I was just curious. Thank you for taking the time to reply.

-DL
 

cchen

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This one just landed. Always love applied breguet numerals

IMG_3430.jpg
 

Michigan Planner

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Here's a few of my pre-1990 divers:


photo-feb-25-1-16-44-pm-jpg.1758886


photo-feb-25-1-17-09-pm-jpg.1758887

photo-feb-25-1-17-31-pm-jpg.1758888

photo-feb-25-1-17-44-pm-jpg.1758889


FWIW, I was looking something up about one of the Super Pros the other day and was astonished to see how much their listed for these days on eBay. It seems they have sort of skyrocketed in price compared to what I paid a few years back.

The 2nd hand market is definitely strange and inconsistent though, especially when you're not talking about Rolex or PP which just seem to go up and up. I remember buying a 2nd gen Seiko Monster for well below retail maybe 10 years ago and then in 2018-2020 they were going for a couple hundred above original MSRP. On a whim a few weeks ago I got an itch for a black 2nd gen Monster and looked at some listings and was able to find a NOS one for about $150. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 

RSS

Stylish Dinosaur
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How have I missed this thread? Or maybe I haven't and I've just forgotten (the drawback of age).

While I have a good number of recent watches I am much more a fan of vintage International Watch Company and Jaeger LeCoultre pieces. I'm wearing what I think is probably a 50's or 60's IWC ... black face ... steel case today. I'll go out and take a pic and add it.

I find I truly have more affinity for these watches than the newer ones. They are lower key and that appeals to me.
 

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DavidLane

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Here's a few of my pre-1990 divers:


photo-feb-25-1-16-44-pm-jpg.1758886


photo-feb-25-1-17-09-pm-jpg.1758887

photo-feb-25-1-17-31-pm-jpg.1758888

photo-feb-25-1-17-44-pm-jpg.1758889


FWIW, I was looking something up about one of the Super Pros the other day and was astonished to see how much their listed for these days on eBay. It seems they have sort of skyrocketed in price compared to what I paid a few years back.

The 2nd hand market is definitely strange and inconsistent though, especially when you're not talking about Rolex or PP which just seem to go up and up. I remember buying a 2nd gen Seiko Monster for well below retail maybe 10 years ago and then in 2018-2020 they were going for a couple hundred above original MSRP. On a whim a few weeks ago I got an itch for a black 2nd gen Monster and looked at some listings and was able to find a NOS one for about $150. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Great set of Heuer's. I started looking at watches just after this time period which is a shame. They moved to the big plastic bezels which I never liked.

-DL
 
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DavidLane

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How have I missed this thread? Or maybe I haven't and I've just forgotten (the drawback of age).

While I have a good number of recent watches I am much more a fan of vintage International Watch Company and Jaeger LeCoultre pieces. I'm wearing what I think is probably a 50's or 60's IWC ... black face ... steel case today. I'll go out and take a pic and add it.

I find I truly have more affinity for these watches than the newer ones. They are lower key and that appeals to me.

Those older IWC's are fantastic. They had some great movements too, the Caliber 89 comes to mind.

-DL
 
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Michigan Planner

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Great set of Heuer's. I started looking at watches just after this time period which is a shame. They moved to the big plastic bezels which I never liked.

-DL

I used to hate those Tag Heuer “Formula 1” watches with the big plastic bezels. They reminded me of an over-priced Swatch but over the past few years they’ve really grown on me.

I’ve been keeping my eye out for one with the white dial and blue and red bezel at a good price. It screams 1990s to me, but in a good way and I guess I’m just willing to spend a few hundred $$$ on some nostalgia!

Not my photo:
703F5857-61D8-4AB1-9176-4172A2B97D0D.jpeg
 

DavidLane

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I used to hate those Tag Heuer “Formula 1” watches with the big plastic bezels. They reminded me of an over-priced Swatch but over the past few years they’ve really grown on me.

I’ve been keeping my eye out for one with the white dial and blue and red bezel at a good price. It screams 1990s to me, but in a good way and I guess I’m just willing to spend a few hundred $$$ on some nostalgia!

Not my photo:
View attachment 1759963

Agreed. That is a good one. I have a soft spot for the Seiko Kinetic's from the same era for all the 90's goodness:
1646079276278.png

-DL
 
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RSS

Stylish Dinosaur
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Those older IWC's are fantastic. They had some great movements too, the Caliber 89 comes to mind.
Think this one is an 852. Had my favorite watchmaker open it for me recently. Very nice.
 

patrick_b

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Here's a few of my pre-1990 divers:


photo-feb-25-1-16-44-pm-jpg.1758886


photo-feb-25-1-17-09-pm-jpg.1758887

photo-feb-25-1-17-31-pm-jpg.1758888

photo-feb-25-1-17-44-pm-jpg.1758889


FWIW, I was looking something up about one of the Super Pros the other day and was astonished to see how much their listed for these days on eBay. It seems they have sort of skyrocketed in price compared to what I paid a few years back.

The 2nd hand market is definitely strange and inconsistent though, especially when you're not talking about Rolex or PP which just seem to go up and up. I remember buying a 2nd gen Seiko Monster for well below retail maybe 10 years ago and then in 2018-2020 they were going for a couple hundred above original MSRP. On a whim a few weeks ago I got an itch for a black 2nd gen Monster and looked at some listings and was able to find a NOS one for about $150. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Very cool. My first watch was a quartz Tag Heuer diver's watch circa 1995. I wore it until 02, then my wife wore it for at least another 10 years. First the date wheel stopped working then it finally died but I still have it and the box.


DSC01032.jpg
 

Michigan Planner

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Very cool. My first watch was a quartz Tag Heuer diver's watch circa 1995. I wore it until 02, then my wife wore it for at least another 10 years. First the date wheel stopped working then it finally died but I still have it and the box.


View attachment 1759990

I like that one. You can definitely see the DNA of my old Super Pro’s in that one.

If you ever wanted to get it up and running, I imagine it would be a pretty simple job for a watchmaker to swap the movement, though I’m not sure how much a replacement quartz movement would cost. I know some Tags from that era used Ronda quartz movements, which should be readily available and relatively inexpensive but some others used Dubois Depraz which might be a bit more difficult to source.Though it’s possible that there are some Ronda movements out there that might fit the case even if that’s not what they originally used.
 

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