I think auction links find an audience better in this thread: Recommended Good Value / Vintage - New Deals On EBAY & other Auctions I've seen a few nice cheapos posted there. If folks following that thread start complaining about the quality of watches then we can start posting the auction tips here.

 

Happy to oblige. All good

 

Leopard was a brand of Finnish watch importer Sylvester Korhonen Oy. The company imported Zenith and Certina among others. Leopard disappeared with the parent company sometime in the 70s. Extremely common watches in Finland. Leopard, Leijona (Lion) and Tiger form the holy trinity of Finnish cheapo vintage beauties.

When I bought the watch I made the mistake of not asking the seller about the diameter. I got cocky! Turns out the watch is 30mm. Way too small for me, but luckily perfect size for my wife. She just loves the military aesthetics of this Leopard.

 

Vintage Barrett ETA 2783 Automatic 25 jewels
I liked this Barret Swiss Made very much and it was the fastet selling watch I had.
In the beggining I did not like it from the photos but when I had it in person was very beautiful.
View attachment 1326398

 

Product Detail
In 1917, emerging from the German general representative body of the Swiss Union Horlogère, and under the leadership of Wilhelm Ulrich and the brothers Emil and Richard Rothmann, experienced watchmakers and watch retailers came together to form the Deutsche Uhrmacher-Genossenschaft Alpina (DUGENA)

 

NOS $20USD with hangtag

 

Over decades of collecting, I have fallen heir to dozens of nondescript watches of decent quality, for free. So I won’t bore you with the dozens that fit that category. The lowest price I ever paid for a watch was $2.00! (Garage sale, and she was asking for 50 cents, but I had a two dollar coin, so I bought it). Nearly $200.00 and a bunch of sweat equity later, here’s the watch. Refinished dial, chrome case re-plated, rotor post, crystal, crown, recondition.

 

Well I don't own any expensive watches so you will be seeing me here,posting a lot!
Junghans Trilastic 17 Jewels

 

Very nice watch!

 

Welcome to the club!

Junghans looks good

 

I'm really partial to a red seconds hand. Add in a full steel case, automatic, interesting railway dial (or guitar strings?) with gold furniture, and an almost onion crown: sold. For the grand total of nz$69 (~us$50). I love this hobby!

 

Very nice. I like this kind of dial!

 

Bought this in a flea market for £5 about 25 years ago.
Recently serviced and running beautifully.
9ct trebex.

 

I like this Raketa!!

 

Darwil was actually something you could today call a „microbrand“.
Although it was actually a italian based company, all their watches were made in Switzerland and company itself was registered (on a few different occasions actually) in Gretchen valley.

As their business expanded, they entered yugoslavian market with smart approach: lowered the profit margins so they could keep the price lower than competition and offered wide range of affordable wristwatches or as the ad in the local newspaper quoted „quality for a few bucks“.

And indeed, they were great watches.

As it comes to some basic models chronology – it is mission impossible. They have had almost all types of watches: from handwound basic wristwaches, similar to HMT, automatic watches, chronographs, pocket watches, dive watches...over 3 million watches came out with Darwil badge on them!

Basic models are handwound mechanical watches, diameter around 33-37 mm, with chromed cases and usually subdial second, run by 17 jewel movements, that were all personalized and engraved with factory logo and even had personalized nomenclature (for example, Darwil 7041 is actually a Pesseux 7001 movement, Darwil 7018 is Unitas 6325 etc)

Variety of models and movement is almost endless. Mylord 72, Special Flat Lord 63, Special Flat Darblock, Snow Star...movements were Peseux 7001, FHF 76, Unitas 6325, ASchild movements..or anything that was swiss made, and thin enough to fit into „ultraflat“ cases.
{Found it on the internet}

 

Candino definitely belongs to the upper echelon of cheapo vintage watches; ETA movements, steel cases and cool looks. I think the brand still exists in a strange, mutated form. In my opinion, vintage Candino watches offer good value.

My Candino dive watch from the late '60s. Automatic ETA 2472 and a submarine case back! I really like this watch and it's funky looks

 

The Candino below was a “freebie” included in an auction lot I purchased for one specific watch….powered by an ETA 2472 adjusted in six positions….’70s chunky and funky, and very accurate. The “Neptune” is a Baylor, the house brand of Zales Jewelers. It has an EPSA compressor case and the same “submarine” case back as the Candino dive watch in the post above.

 

I like the shape of your Candino and for a reply to that shape I have this Herma

 

Recently picked up this cheap vintage beauty, 35mm steel case and beautiful radium dial

 

Very crisp watch Dial is in wonderful condition, bet that thing radiates like Chernobyl. City-Bravur was registered in 1941 in Stockholm, but City Bravur (without the hyphen) was registered 1953 in Biel. So a Swedish origin story with City?