Help! Buying & Gifting a Birth Year Vintage

My father is a pilot and has spent his entire professional career flying, first for military and then British Airways. As (I understand) is required by the civilian aviation authorities, he will retire as a commercial passenger pilot once he reaches the ages of 65 - next year!

He’s a wonderful father and has always been somewhat humble and understated, he’s not at all materialistic so the thought of buying something nice to mark his retirement probably hasn’t crossed his mind. He has a few watches, nothing outrageous (Mont Blanc, Christopher Ward etc) but has always worn one every day. He also bought me my first Flik Flak as a child.

Given all of that guff, I’d love to buy him a watch to mark his retirement. I’d looked into getting something military-based; Bremont do a couple of bits that commemorate his old RAF squadron or the aircraft he flew, but they’re pretty hefty pieces and he prefers something slim and less…’loud’. So instead I’ve decided to find him something from his birth year as a present.

I’m checking websites like Chrono24 regularly but would prefer to buy from an OF seller / a decent jeweller, given my lack of knowledge and being worried about some of the Frankensteins that exist out there.

He’s cast an approving eye over my Speedmaster 1863 in the past, so I think I’m safe with Omega. I’d be looking for a piece from 1959, so unfortunately a Speedy is out of the question given the prices. I’ve now begun looking at Seamasters / Devilles but know very little about them. Could anyone point me in the direction of a reliable guide to the different calibres / models from the era, please? I’m thinking something gold, relatively plain (a second hand / complication would be perfectly fine) and probably on a leather strap, £1-2k.

Thanks all in advance!

Nice idea for a gift. If you're flexible on the production date, you may find a nice watch in less time. For example, would your father be alright with a watch dated to the late 1950s?

Nice Seamaster DeVilles come up fairly often on this thread:
https://omegaforums.net/threads/rec...-only-on-ebay-not-for-inquiries.1790/page-361

In my opinion, this is a very nice 14K Seamaster with a two-tone dial, great looking case, and a bumper movement. Classic 1950s style (dates to ~1952) and it's within your price range.
https://omegaforums.net/threads/omega-seamaster-2657-14k-gold-case-chf-1650.154681/

It were me, I would consider a flight-related watch.

An Omega Flightmaster.

A WWII Type A-17.

A Speedmaster X-33.

One of those Longines that was designed for Lindberg, or whatever?

Birth year is, perhaps, difficult at best. I personally would focus on function rather than arbitrary date.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I’m pretty keen to stick to the birth year idea, so at least that narrows the search down to Seamasters I suppose.


Yours is absolutely beautiful, could I ask if you have any suggestions on best places to find something like this? I presume you have a trusted jeweller?



I get why flight-related watches work for some people but he hates overly complicated watches with big dials, hence discounting Breitlings, Big Pilots etc. I’m content to spend a bit longer finding the right watch that he’d like, in the right year.


I hadn’t considered the Longines Flagship, I’ve started looking at those as well as they’re beautiful and just the sort of thing he’d like, thank you.