Greetings all,

So I have buy in on the vintage watches, I have infected her with the bug. It started with novelty fun watches, little cocktail things I could find for under $100, a few cheap mens watches from the 60's, then her taste started to evolve...just like everyone's does when they get into a hobby. Every occasion now includes a vintage watch along with whatever gift she actually wanted. In fact sometimes it is the vintage watch that she wants as her present. Her collection is now around 15 deep with around 4-5 vintage Ladies Omega's, a 60's Tudor Ranger (she actually stole that from me), Hamilton CLD, a Gruen bumper, a stunning 60's Westclox with which she plays with colorful nato straps, a 50's mens GF Benrus....it keeps growing and it's fun. She prefers watches in the 28-34mm range for daily wear and reserves the cocktail watches and under 26mm watches for dressier occasions. Her favorite daily is a 1969 Lady Seamaster with integrated bracelet- a stunning piece.

But she works in a bakery, she gets covered in flour and frosting, she doesn't want to wear her nice watches to work. I have been tasked with finding her a good work beater. It need to be totally waterproof (yes, I know, a 30+ years old watch is compromised just by it's age but I intend to have the seals replaced and pressure tested), it has to have a date complication (not day/date- she hates those) it has to be easily readable at a glance and it needs to be on a bracelet that can be sized for her petit 6' wrist. Most importably, it must have cool factor. It can't be some pedestrian grandma watch, it has to be something that any of us watch lovers would gladly wear if it were our size and we didn't mind having some fun with color and a quartz movement.

I have thought about just getting a cheap Seiko but of course I had to send her pictures of watches I thought were cool and she loves the divers from the 70's-early 90's like the Tag 1000M or colorful Formula series, the early Seiko divers or the Omega 200M's. Yes some are quartz (and she is now a mechanical snob too, but agrees that this is for a cool work beater so quartz is acceptable), but those seem to be the best value in the mid-sized watch category that actually have some vintage cool factor. I am trying to keep it under $3-400 (preferably lower of course) just because of the nature of what it will be subjected to but would love to hear suggestions. Mens watches are acceptable as long as under the 36mm range.

So, does anyone have any experience with the aforementioned vintage sport watches, or can anyone suggest anything mechanical like these that would work her needs?

 

Some visual aids of Ebay ones I saw and forwarded to her which got her stamp of approval

 

Sorry - I’m adding a zero to your budget, but you’ll get over it (and isn’t she worth it??!)

Tudor made two smaller versions of their Sub that would fit the bill... reference 75090 (35mm) and reference 73090 (33mm).

 

Hmm... Get a cheap seiko and mod it perhaps to something funky and loud? (and unique!)

 

The mid case 75090 looks stunning, on a Girl…especially in Blue

The full size 79090 looks even better !…but then my Wife, is a Germanic 6’2”

& All the flour in the World, is not going to defeat a Tudor Submariner

 

Wow these ladies watches look great!

 

@No Mercy mentioned that he has a 566.007 here.

https://omegaforums.net/threads/omega-seamaster-120.95062/

 

I appreciate all of the enthusiasm with my wallet, but I don't even own a Tudor Sub!!
I can stretch it to $500, but seriously, her "beater" would end up being the most expensive watch she owns.

 

Lol!! I was actually joking with her that we should get matching Seamsters- I recently got the 027. I shudder to ask what you want for that thing.

 

I'm in a similar situation but was considering something more modern given my wife's tastes. I was considering an Aqua Terra quartz and this seemed to be in good condition and the price is about right, from my research.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/OMEGA-Seam...500159?hash=item3d8708b63f:g:DhcAAOSwTmxchdJuPurchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network



Sorry for piggybacking onto your thread!

 

No, this is about awesome watches for our awesome partners.
That AT is classically elegant- that would appeal to anyone with taste.

 

So for reference, here are pics of some Tudor's like @Darlinboy and @ICONO are talking about - damn you guys these are awesome and you are making this much harder for me!!! Now I am trying to think about what watches I am not going to buy for myself so she can have one of these! The blue or crimson one show would go nuts over.

 

Here's a Tag Heuer with a rather tasty mother-of-pearl dial. Anecdotally, I've heard that this style is pretty popular.

I would like to get the watch as a surprise. From experience though, I am going to forward pictures to the good lady wife to get her approval beforehand.

 

I have found the best strategy is to send her tons of links of watches you are browsing casually, and have her opine. You can tell from reactions which one she likes best and then get that one and don't mention it again....she will forget about it until it's gift time.

 

So more reading, it looks like these Princess Tudors are all under 28mm, that's a deal breaker....damn. They are actually not badly priced at around $2k. So the midsized are what I am indeed after, which come with a hefty premium.

 

Those Tudors are something else. Thanks for posting. Something to contemplate when I get her a little further down the watch journey.

 

Ok, found the min-subs...man I would wear any one of these!! But these are between $1.9-3.2...yikes!

 

The 60's Lady Omegas seemed to have been the gateway drug. When she realized she was wearing something special, there was no turning back.

 

I don’t even own a Girard Perregaux ! …currently

Did not prevent me buying her one, @ 38mm

Just accept…In relationships, an unexpected, gratuitous gesture is warranted occasionally

The watch



The Wife

 

Pearls of wisdom- I get it