I set myself a challenge during this lock in isolation period to buy a watch. Any watch.
But it has to be £50 Max (or the equivalent currency). Just for fun.

Something that I liked the look of and would wear during the lockdown period. Or look to break even more.

Was happy to stumble across this on Ebay that looks like an OK 60s Diver!

Here she is on the wrist and for a cheap diver made me smile on this sunny day.

Anyone else care to join in the fun please post away.
Will be hunting again over the next few days.

Stay safe!

 

Nice grab for £50! I would have paid at least £65 for it
I love these vintage bargains- they make for great fun. Looking forward to see what people come up with.

 

Like it.....it is fun for sure. Especially the ones on Ebay that don't look to sell internationally. Trick missed at times. Or an awful description that bears little resemblance to the piece being posted.
Hope to splash out another big 'Fiddy' soon!

 

Although not procured during the house arrest, this was an eBay grab of the same ilk for around $50, the bracelet however was mine already. Had it overhauled by a friend and is running tip top now.

 

Lovely. Dagger hands. Great Patina.

 

Okay, how do you find these on ebay? What search terms?

 

You want us to give all the secrets away?!?!

if you search “vintage watch”, you’ll get tons of garbage- including new watches in a “vintage” style. Narrow the field by only searching used items, then newly listed (that will get lots of the stuff that been siting forever down to the bottom). I searched “vintage diver watch”, used items only, newly listed- and saved the search.
On these vintage cheap diver watches, there was a lot of garbage, and some gems. Research is rewarded and knowing what signs to look for. There were many single jeweled crap movements with plated cases and good looking dials, but they are garbage- were when they were new, and still are. There were some (like my Clinton) that were no-name brands but made with decent Swiss movements (FHF, Felsa, ETA), and they will usually have a jewel count on the dial. All stainless case is a giveaway of a better quality watch regardless on the name in the dial- but those tend to fetch more.
The bargains are the ones with 17+ jeweled Swiss movements, plated cases in good shape (look closely for plate wear) and good looking dials- parts are abundant (I have purchase whole NOS movements for these for $20) and they are easy to have serviced.

 

i wont tell a soul. thanks
after i posted i did try it, and oddly enough it works, just a you describe.

But wow, the things i see, yeuch.....

 

Doesn’t this thread already exist under the title “What did you tell your spouse that the price of the watch was?”

 

£20 for this Vostok on the Bay. Don’t own a Soviet watch, liked the style and thought it might be a fun little beater. Plus Rocky IV was on the telly last night

 

I'll give you that. Quite a few Vostok pieces I see on Ebay for BIN around the target price.
Always liked the look of these pieces as a beater.

Currently am on the scent of another diver.....let's see if that works.

 

The above Watch is commonly known as the Lewinsky.

I will leave now

 

I was wondering why it came with a box of cigars!

 

Thanks for a cool idea! My refinement doesn't involve any innuendo, sorry - but I thought I'd enjoy it just as much if I decided to play virtually (having already blown all my real money on groceries and handwipes). I'm currently stalking this, located in UK, bidding currently at £21 with 2 hours to go. Wish me luck, it's getting tense.

 

As well as looking at the newly listed I like to look at "Ending Soonest". That way you can see what's going to be sold in the next couple of hours and if something looks cheap you have a chance of picking it up without the pain of watching the price creep up over a few days.

 

When I was really on the hunt for cheap vintage diver watches, I would check the newly listed saved listings every morning while having my coffee. I never looked at the “watch sellers”, they usually overprice for mediocre pieces. It was the estate pickers that always had the good deals- they buy and sell in volume and just want to dump it.
Some came up with reasonable or cheap BIN and I would snatch them up, some had high BIN (which normally would just sit) and I would send an appeal for lower offer- and sometimes it paid off. Sometimes even if there was no BIN, I would send a PM and ask if they were entertaining offers and a few times they took very low offers. I made it a game of sorts and within a matter of a month or two found myself flush in vintage divers- all have been serviced since or have had donor movements swapped in when the originals were just to much to repair (these cheaper Swiss movements are abundant).
All below were eBay grabs, none over $250 (I know this blows your £50 threshold but many of these were around that price) not including straps, bracelets, parts/donor movements and service...but still- great fun for cheap thrills. I’m not showing the ones that were $250-500 which is IMO the sweet spot for many of the best steals in vintage divers (Bulova, Zodiac, Helbros, etc).

got to love the thrill of the hunt

 

We decided to see if this is real or fake for under £45 ($56) - is everything on Wish a fake? We'll see...

https://www.wish.com/product/5dd792486bd5babf8a709baa?share=web

 

£50 is a hair under $75.00 USD. My most recent purchase was a few bucks more at $79.99.
A factory refurbed Citizen eco drive Chronograph. Retail for these is around $300.
It should be here Monday or Tuesday.

 

Well, it's over now, and in my head I had bid 27.50 so, virtually, I won - thanks again @Just Livin for a fruitful week's lockdown entertainment.
IRL (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/223984041866?_trksid=p2471758.m4704Purchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network), it went to a last-minute sniper for £26. So everybody's happy!

Thanks for showing - really liked that Bouchard!

 

Thanks- the Bouchard is a great watch. It’s also a good example of the typical eBay grab- watch was around $80, ran intermittently. Turns out it had water in it at one time and parts of the movement were rusty. It has a very common FHF movement and I found a NOS movement (still in plastic case) for $20. Had a buddy do the lube and swap, new crown & back seal and clean up the dial a little and put it back together. Runs like a top and looks great for under $120 all in- but the labor was free so we aren’t counting that.