For a while I have really loved the idea of having a blue dial in my collection. However as a vintage collector these seem very rare and are more often found in more modern watches. Those I seem to be finding nearly always end up being refinished dials. I thought about this one, but it's an refinished dial: It is of course very beautiful, and short of spending $10,000 on a blue dial submariner a great alternative imo. I don't like buying refinished dials though as it just plays on my mind, even if I love the watch and so I'm not sure if I will indeed get the one above. Others I have enjoyed but don't often find for sale are Vulcain Chronos: I love how the blue and white really stand out in this watch. I also quite enjoy the Zenith A3634, with it's bold dial and bezel - and being a diver is a real plus for me. A blue dial is likely to be a watch I'd wear in summertime, so a blue faced diver sounds like a great route and this variety with the world timer bezel is quite a cool idea! I could dream of being on board a boat sailing to my next destination using this watch to tell me the time wherever I went - Haha! Anyway, I think the one above is probably the route I'll be taking perhaps at some point in time. The only thing I'm not so keen on is having a date on the dial. Rarely my thing (unless done really well). I'd love to see what you other members have with blue dials, or recommendations in the world of vintage! My thanks in advance, as always! Ollie
Seiko 6138 "Kakume". This photo doesn't really show off the brilliant blue of the dial but you get a sense of the bezel.
It's hard to make suggestions without some idea about your date range for a vintage watch and budget, but how about Heuers? There are plenty of blue dial options across their Carrera, Cortina, Monaco, Montreal, Silverstone and Skipper ranges. If you want to dream of being on board a boat sailing to your next destination you can't go past a Heuer Skipper. Take a look at OnTheDash. Calibre 11 is a sister forum for vintage Heuers https://forums.calibre11.com/
I think some of the blue dials Rolex was putting out in the 60s and 70s are incredible, and age beautifully. My 72 1501 blue dial pictured in my avatar is one of my all time favorites!
I know my dreadful pictures don´t do it justice but I think the IWC Yacht club is still the smartest blue dialled watch around with the advantage of an excellent movement behind the dial. There are plenty available on the market so you can take your time.
I have a manual wind IWC that looks very similar to this with a silver dial. Hasn't quite reached me yet - picked it up on a HK auction. Came with a bracelet too - so yes I agree smart watches, I think they date to around the 70s, right? It'll certainly be my most 'modern' watch I have bought to date haha!
I've never seen a blue dial in the vintage niche in which I collect. The closest I will ever get is a grey dial with a blue tachymeter scale, but that scratches the itch for me:
Wow I love vintage Tissot, even to the logo. Pretty rare though - I haven't seen one for sale in 4 years of collecting! Yours is lovely. I think they use the same 33.3 calibre as Omega right?