This is long so I apologize.
In my teenage years I saw an Omega Seamaster Chronograph ref. 2296.80. I lived in a very small town and we were only in the city 80 miles away because a family member had to go there for medical issues. It left quite an impact because of what it looked but also because of what my family was going through and I knew I'd end up with one.
A couple of years later as a birthday gift, my father gave me a very nice Timex "Submariner" with a day and date complication. I liked it very much - wish I could find another one - and after research, learned more about the watch it was meant to mimic. My sights were set very high!
Years later, I was able to purchase an Omega chronograph but it was a ref. 2225.80. I also ended up buying a Rolex Submariner ref. 16610, if I remember correctly. I realized shortly that the chronograph I had, while beautiful, was not the one that I wanted and the Submariner I really wanted was from the late 70s and early 80s - something about that matte dial and painted indices - I sold them both. In retrospect, I wish I had kept the Rolex as it does represent well what a Submariner is all about.
Didn't do much in the immediate years following. Learned more about the Speedmaster, appreciating it more and more not understanding why I was so dismissive of it before. I did a lot of research and decided I wanted a very early ref. 145.022 without a "Moon" case back. I got lucky and found one followed by another Speedmaster while first was in service, the ref. 3594.50. I discovered Chuck Maddox's website and decided the ref. 2298.80 chronograph was the one. After some some false starts, I did end up with a great example.
I've been lucky in my used Omega purchases. They were in varying service condition and were brought up to speed with a fresh service but all of the parts were there. I think you could call all of them vintage at this point.
In between, I purchased a couple of Fortis, Glycine, Casio, Oris, and a whole lot of others including a Seamaster 300 assembled with service parts. There's really nothing out there that I truly want. Omega has sort of priced themselves out of my wheelhouse and the Rolex is not the Rolex I truly grew up wanting, not to mention, expensive. I think I may look for vintage watches >38mm. The Bruno Söhnle Lagomat 17-62096-745 is an interesting watch that has a vintage vibe to it. I've also become more intrigued by the Tudor Black Bay dive watch line. A part of me would still like to get that ref. 2296.80 also. I still keep an eye out for that 40-year old Submariner but I feel like I'm too late and I don't want to spend the money they're going for now.
-Josiah
