Learning How To Fish: The Under $50 Collection

70's Diantus 16 bucks shipped

Todays flea market find. $20 bucks US. The 645 was sitting in the wrong case it has been re-cased. I went through my junk box and put the 645 in a much better wadsworth 20 year case. The crystal is scratched on the wadsworth case. I can live with that small issue. The watch has been keeping time. My way of thinking swapping cases is an improvement

That is one seriously beautiful watch. The engraving on the movement is fantastic, something the owner was unlikely to see. I really like those spring loaded micro adjustable regulators. I wish all watches had them.

Eek, did you seriously get this for less than $50? 😲😲
Another dibs !!

Not that sought after by collectors it's an oldie dates to 1918 so it's either 99 years old or maybe100 years old. Depends the month it was made.

Probably the cheapest mechanical watch I've ever bought.
A Russian ZIM in good condition for $5 USD.
Just won it on ebay, I bid 5 bucks and no one else bid on it.
Probably because the pictures were so poorly done.
Here's the internals image.
The spacing of the bridges is uncommonly deep. Looks like you could clean it with a Q-tip. The case back looks more like that of a self winder.
Only reason I was interested in it was the odd look of the moment.
Can't tell much about it from the other pics.
Said to keep good time, We'll see.

I love this thread. I am only just getting into vintage watches but here are my first two under $50’s. Well the first one was actually $51 but I hope it still qualifies.
A Hamilton and an Elgin that I picked up this morning for $18.50. The auction only ended this morning so I only have auction photo’s

That ELGIN is a real beauty.
At such a small investment I'd consider a re lume a long with whatever else it might need.

You got those for about what the bands are worth.

The Hamilton came with an oversized black band that was pretty beat. I purchased the brown band for $15 or $20. The black band was 18mm at the lugs. This watch is 17mm.

Why relume it when it looks good as it is 😀

Picked this up in a lot for around 30USD. I think it should be the same full stainless case that's used on a lot of divers from this period, and fingers crossed it might be a runner.

My pick up is the Gama, the Smiths Astral diver is just for reference as it shares the case. If anyone here ever finds one of the Smiths ones for under 50 bucks then dibs !

Just something I'd consider. I have a old Biltmore that had the radium lume and every time I look at it I wish the lume was still functional.

In reality though the watches I have that have modern non radium based lume just don't hold a charge long enough to be of any real use.

You are correct that its not really important, and the watch looks great.

A diver watch thats going to be used as intended should get a re lume if possible. They did this for a reason.

Mmmm, I did think that way. You will find a lot of collectors though prefer the aged lume because let's face it, if you need to know the time in a dark place, you either have a watch that does have lume or you just pull your phone out or hold your vintage watch to light 😜

I keep a tiny led penlight for the purpose.
I used my high candle power tac light awhile back to attempt to read the time on a watch that until then I had not known had lumed hands.
The tac light quick charged the tritrium and a few seconds exposure had them glowing for about twenty minutes.

PS
I just received the 70's DIANTUS watch I mentioned earlier. Shipping was uncommonly fast.
The watch began running after only a quarter turn of the crown and seems to be in good order.
The seller said it was not reliable, being a little fast one day and a little slow the next. I suspect it just needs to run for awhile after long storage. If it settles down I'll leave it as is.
The strap though delaminated in places seems to have never been worn at all. Its a vinyl strap though comfortable. I plan to replace it soon with the same brand of nice leather strap I got for my Tower boys watch.
Near as I can figure based on comments on other boards the DIANTUS watches of this era were a very low end Swiss watch that used an unusual movement called the 8800. DIANTUS was brought into the SWATCH Group and is still in business.

Yeah, I've faced the lume issue on many of the vintage Seikos I've posted in this thread. All have dead or nearly dead lume.
Since all but 1 have pristine dials, It's a quandry as to re-lume or not.
The iphone light workaround is my go to at night for now........

I'm thinking of using a donor watch I picked up as a test bed to see how hard it would be to make a DIY re-lume project.

About 5 years ago I bought each of these off ebay for around $50 each. Both of them are remarkably tough and just run and run.

I love the Sportsman, the silver on silver is a little hard to read, but cool. 1968.


I particularly like this early (1978) Seiko quartz. It has some mechanical elements (four jewel), and built like a tank. Chunky, keeps perfect time, a bit of disco/Space 1999 bling but not too bad.

I enjoy the hunt here are some highlights most under 70$/50
1984 Casio

1983 Seiko Quartz diver(one of my favorite pictures I have posted here taken at the Porsche museum in
Stuttgart)

August 1974 Seiko 7005. This watch is my most worn watch I have worn it nearly everyday for months it works so well with my clothes. It is made the same month and year of the Electric Light Orchestra's Eldorado which is what made me buy it in the end for 26$!

1985 Casio DBC. Yes an original 80s calculator watch and a true icon. I love this watch but it is a tad too fragile for daily wear my 7005 is my daily. I usually always wear a Members Only jacket while wearing this! Bought for 36$. I added this a day after this post.

1987 Seiko 8223 JDM. It was 28$ running and gave Japanese businessmen vibes.

I have owned this 1934-1940ish Limit Sports watch for about 8 years and it is the first vintage watch I personally bought and second watch I bought(I'm not very old). Before I knew much I went under the impression it was of the WW1 era as WW1 Officer's watches were what brought me into watches. I got this for around 35-40$. My best find I don't have a picture of at the current time it is a 1943 Elgin Deluxe that came with a Roosevelt for president pin, a medal for the European theater and good behavior, two letters one referring to how showy Kentucky was for boot camp with a snowy picture with some barracks looking buildings in the background and the other a picture of a group laying in the snow facing the camera smiling side by side and the guy in the center appears in both pictures and the watch I have is shown. Searching his name Norman something I forget shows he was involved with d-day(not the first assault). The watch runs and is on the same leather strap from the pictures all of this for 22$!!!!!!!!!!!! I really wish I was joking, but l recall a Jager Lecoultre being found at Goidwill for 5$. Good to share stories after awhile.

What a lovely bunch of gems....oh wait...hmm....



Upon closer look...maybe not...shit...


At least there's a Raymond Weil in there....well


...


Thankfully that's not the end of it all because wait, there's one more!




A 36mm big boy with original crown! Still running strong. Phew!

My latest purchase is the bumper automatic to the right in this group. Midos are outstanding value for money - along with Certina, they are my current favourites.



The two others in the picture were a part of a lot I purchased last year along with a few Certinas and even an IWC - so technically also well under $50 😗

The one to the left has a 14K gold bezel and is one of my favourite watches of all I own. The level of craftsmanship on the case is completely unbelievable, much better than the finish on contemporary Omegas and such. When I get my Multi-Centerchrono back from servicing later next week (hopefully!), I'll put together a post showing just how incredibly well finished these 40's and 50's gems really are. It is truly something else!