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Help deciding in my first vintage watch

Peemacgee
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Fallout Boy Fallout Boy
It is the dealer (seller) who -if at all- cheats or is inaccurate. Not C24. C24 simply mediates. And this does not exempt the buyer from researching and informing themselves. Bought three times with C24 - everything is great!

I think you are rather splitting hairs here.

Chrono24 is the platform through which sellers advertise their watches and through which buyers become aware of said watches.

To advise to “steer away from Chrono 24” is not dissimilar to saying “stay away from eBay”
 
Peemacgee
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For the record - I’ve nothing against commercial dealers making a profit when selling their watches.

(Although it can affect us all as it raises the prices of the watches we collect across the board. )

What boils my piss is dealers asking ridiculous prices for sub standard watches in the hope of misleading unwary newcomers into thinking they are buying collector grade watches.
 
Davidt
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Ask, I find the quality:value ratio on eBay much better than C24.
EBay needs knowledge and frequent searching but you can find diamonds in the rough there. I only ever see watches that are either poor quality or overpriced on c24
 
Fallout Boy
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Peemacgee Peemacgee
I think you are rather splitting hairs here.
No, I love facts! I bought 3 x without problems - so tell me your personal "accident" while using C24. Conjectures and hearsay is not my understanding of posting here. And the price is accepted by the buyer (and the seller). Noone is forced to accept. I am 100% satisfied with C24 as "broker" . And the escrow-service!
 
cristos71
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Davidt Davidt
I’d agree with this. Although I browse occasionally, in 13 years buying vintage watches I haven’t bought a single one from C24

Same here!

On to the OP, I like the 14393 at half the price, so around €1500-€1750. Correct crowns can be found.
 
Peemacgee
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Fallout Boy Fallout Boy
No, I love facts! I bought 3 x without problems - so tell me your personal "accident" while using C24. Conjectures and hearsay is not my understanding of posting here. And the price is accepted by the buyer (and the seller). Noone is forced to accept. I am 100% satisfied with C24 as "broker" . And the escrow-service!

I think you are either misunderstanding my point or being wilfully mischievous.
There is no 'conjecture' or 'hearsay' in anything I have said in this thread - the evidence is in the C24 links to watches that the OP has posted.

I haven't personally had an 'accident' with C24 - because, fortunately, I stick to what I know and (like @Davidt ) I have never bought from C24.

If you know what you are looking at and are prepared to pay a premium for a watch then I'm sure that there are deals to be done on C24.

For the sake of clarity, the point I was making to the OP (not you) was that he should probably steer clear of C24 as he evidently doesn't have the knowledge to know if a watch is 'good' or not and therefore doesn't understand that he might end up paying through the nose for a watch that has a market value of perhaps one-third of the asking price on C24 (as per the example he posted and to which I referred to earlier)

I do hope that helps
 
Davidt
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Thats also why although eBay is great for me, it isn’t necessarily good for new collectors unless you trust the seller as there is also a huge amount of overpriced crap on eBay. It’s just if you know what you’re looking at, it also throws up great barn find watches.
 
SMM
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Peemacgee Peemacgee
I think you are either misunderstanding my point or being wilfully mischievous.
There is no 'conjecture' or 'hearsay' in anything I have said in this thread - the evidence is in the C24 links to watches that the OP has posted.

I haven't personally had an 'accident' with C24 - because, fortunately, I stick to what I know and (like @Davidt ) I have never bought from C24.

If you know what you are looking at and are prepared to pay a premium for a watch then I'm sure that there are deals to be done on C24.

For the sake of clarity, the point I was making to the OP (not you) was that he should probably steer clear of C24 as he evidently doesn't have the knowledge to know if a watch is 'good' or not and therefore doesn't understand that he might end up paying through the nose for a watch that has a market value of perhaps one-third of the asking price on C24 (as per the example he posted and to which I referred to earlier)

I do hope that helps
This here, that was the point I was trying to make. Even if I recognise the watch is not so great but I would still like to buy it (because why not, maybe I am crazy), I don't know if the asked price is correct for a dud or frankenwatch. Because, honestly if he would've asked let's say 1000usd for that 14393, I wouldn't have bothered to ask and just bought straight. But from that to 3500usd is a huge difference and even someone as stupid as me has issues justifying paying that much.


cristos71 cristos71
Same here!

On to the OP, I like the 14393 at half the price, so around €1500-€1750. Correct crowns can be found.

Thank you, that's the price I had in mind for that watch, unless it can make french fries as well, then I'd for the 3500 he's asking for it.
 
Peemacgee
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SMM SMM
This here, that was the point I was trying to make. Even if I recognise the watch is not so great but I would still like to buy it (because why not, maybe I am crazy), I don't know if the asked price is correct for a dud or frankenwatch. Because, honestly if he would've asked let's say 1000usd for that 14393, I wouldn't have bothered to ask and just bought straight. But from that to 3500usd is a huge difference and even someone as stupid as me has issues justifying paying that much.
I'm pleased that at least you understood what I was trying to say 👍
 
Peemacgee
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cristos71 cristos71
On to the OP, I like the 14393 at half the price, so around €1500-€1750. Correct crowns can be found.

Actually, I quite liked the 14381 that the OP posted a link to on pg1 - at $1750 it wasn't an exorbitant price either - but unfortunately the dial has started to go around the tips of the indices, as they often do on dials of this era


Screenshot 2025-06-25 at 16.59.43.webp
 
Dan S
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I've also never bought a watch on C24. Not because there is anything wrong with the platform, but for some reason it mainly attracts sellers who post deceptive listings, absurd prices, or both. I assume there are some exceptions if you're willing to hunt through all the junk.
 
SMM
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Dan S Dan S
For a gold dress watch, I would be considering brands other than Omega. To be fair, I'm not a big fan of gold watches in general, but I tend to like rose/pink more than yellow, and deep yellow more than pale yellow. Finding rose/pink gold Omega watches is a real challenge. The color of gold in IWC and UG watches is so nice.

Mate, that's an entire different rabbit hole I am not trying to get myself into right now. I am barely scratching the surface with a couple of constellation models there's no point going more into the unknown or I am going to end up loosing some money quite fast and I am not so keen about that, that's why I came here for advice and learn as much as possible for myself.

But thank you for the input, for the future I will definitely start looking into some Longines models. As a matter of fact not knowing how expensive a vintage omega would be, that was my first path trying to get a vintage watch. Back then I also thought I am not prepared to pay more than 1000 USD on a vintage watch, little did I know ...

I found this watch online and as I was going to Italy I actually wanted to go see it in a jewelry shop in Trieste so I can get a better idea of how it actually looks in real life (i reckoned I could asses it better in person than in photos), how it would sit on my wrist and probably buy it for 750 USD. But the idea slowly faded away when I've started seeing the seamasters and constellations. But I am still opened to the idea and if something comes up and I like it, I'll probably buy it.

1750969522847.webp 1750969550319.webp 1750969571903.webp 1750969622272.webp 1750969644494.webp 1750969661365.webp 1750969682018.webp
 
Dan S
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If you like Constellations the best, then by all means, buy one. Whatever you buy, it should give you joy when you put it on your wrist. In your place, I would look around at many different watches before deciding.
 
Larry S
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Vintage + Active + Hard On Watches = Ends Badly. Vintage are worn on sunny, dry days at the office or non sporty activities. Sweaty hot days end in a bag of rice and a trip to the watchmaker especially with snap back cases and original crowns. Gold watches are great but they are to be worn carefully and with discression. Inadvertent dunking, door frames, side tables are vintage watch foes . You cannot have vintage as your only watch. Late model or new sports watch is my recco.

If you still insist on dropping down this rabbit hole then the various brand forums here and the private sales section are the best places to seek advice and buy. That is a nice Longines but all of the above applies.
Edited:
 
SMM
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Larry S Larry S
Vintage + Active + Hard On Watches = Ends Badly. Vintage are worn on sunny, dry days at the office or non sporty activities. Sweaty hot days end in a bag of rice and a trip to the watchmaker especially with snap back cases and original crowns. Gold watches are great but they are to be worn carefully and with discression. Inadvertent dunking, door frames, side tables are vintage watch foes . You cannot have vintage as your only watch. Late model or new sports watch for you.


Mate, what are you talking about?

I've already said two times it's not an everyday watch for me, that's why I want a gold one, so I can put it on a shrine and look at it when I open my eyes in the morning. Can't go to a wedding with a g-shock or these other new ones with huge bezels on, I'm not 15, I'd rather not wear a watch or stick to the Tissot Visodate I've had for some years now.
 
Larry S
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SMM SMM
Mate, what are you talking about?

I've already said two times it's not an everyday watch for me, that's why I want a gold one, so I can put it on a shrine and look at it when I open my eyes in the morning. Can't go to a wedding with a g-shock or these other new ones with huge bezels on, I'm not 15, I'd rather not wear a watch or stick to the Tissot Visodate I've had for some years now.
I’m advising you to slow down, focus and and think this through. It will save you money.
 
Davidt
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I’ve got to disagree @Larry S. Vintage is all I wear, every day.

As long as you’re careful (not ridiculously so), a vintage Omega can absolutely be your daily driver, particularly once you get into the 60’s with decent seals and screw down casebacks.
 
Larry S
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Davidt Davidt
I’ve got to disagree @Larry S. Vintage is all I wear, every day.

As long as you’re careful (not ridiculously so), a vintage Omega can absolutely be your daily driver, particularly once you get into the 60’s with decent seals and screw down casebacks.
Good for you. I’m an active guy and 100% vintage doesn’t work at all for me. Plus the OP stated that he’s rough on watches. I have a big collection of vintage watches mostly all serviced and they are worn as I described. I’ve also experienced enough expensive mishaps early on to stand by my advice.
 
padders
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There is vintage and vintage. I wear a 2254 to do the garden or go on the piss. I do not wear my sold gold ‘90s JLC Reverso or 1970s Rolex Date to do so. Horses for courses.
 
Davidt
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Larry S Larry S
Good for you. I’m an active guy and 100% vintage doesn’t work at all for me. Plus the OP stated that he’s rough on watches. I have a big collection of vintage watches mostly all serviced and they are worn as I described. I’ve also experienced enough expensive mishaps early on to stand by my advice.

Easy big fella. I’m not saying what works for you is wrong. I am saying there’s different opinions and people should consider the pros and cons of both when making up their own mind.
 
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