I adore the beauty and romance of vintage watches. Before the quartz crisis the watch making landscape was wonderfully rich and diverse, with a multitude of small companies producing some beautiful time pieces.
When you do a search for ‘best vintage watches’ you will inevitably be presented with the bigger and better known brands of Omega and Rolex, along with the hefty price tags.
It would be easy to think that finding a vintage watch with history and heritage for less than £100 would be difficult.
It’s not.
I wanted to share 5 beautiful watches I have in my collection that can be picked up from less than £100.
Most vintage watches on this list were originally sold as men’s time pieces, but they fit perfectly for men and women. For comparison, I have a 5.75″ wrist.
I have tried to pick watches that are easily accessible on sites such as eBay, but all the best bargains require a bit of patience and hunting.
Bare in mind, when you are buying a 60 year old watch for under £100 you need to set your expectations. These types of watches probably haven’t been serviced and cared for like their more expensive counterparts. As a result it can be a bit of a roll of the dice as to how well they are going to run. The flip side of this is that I’m not going to be crying myself to sleep at night if my £20 eBay bargain turns out to run 30 minutes slow in the day, or has an un-original crown. I also won’t be worrying about service costs, as it simply wouldn’t be worth it in this price range unless I was deeply smitten by a piece.
If you need a great in-depth guide on how to buy a vintage watch check out Chris’ post here.
Gruen
I picked this one up at a watch fair in the UK, but they can be had on eBay too. Prices do vary vastly for Gruens, but they can be had, like this one, around the £80 mark.
Gruen watches are packed full of heritage and the Gruen precision has graced the wrist of Sean Connery’s James Bond, so definitely worthy of a place in your box.
Bulova
Bulova is an American watch brand founded in 1875 and still successful and thriving today. Most of their current offering is very modern, with a few vintage style pieces in their Archive Series.
If you take the time to explore some of their vintage pieces you will find some beautiful classic designs which just ooze class and elegance.
Pictured above are 3 vintage Bulova’s from my collection. Each are from different periods, have their own style, and picked up off eBay for less than £80 a piece.
Hamilton
Similar to Bulova, Hamilton was founded in Pennsylvania in 1892 and started its life making pocket watches. They still produce some beautiful designs and their vintage collection has been thrown into the limelight recently as their Boulton watch accompanies Indiana Jones in his latest film.
Although there is a vast price range for vintage Hamiltons I picked up this Sawyer model for £80 at a vintage watch fair.
Ingersoll
Ingersoll watch company originated in New York in 1882. It does still exist today, but it’s current offerings are more reminiscent of Richard Mille than its historical designs.
They may not be made to quite the same calibre as Bulova or Hamilton, but the prices you can pick them up for make them difficult to resist.
I bought my Ingersoll from eBay for £20.
Dogma
Dogma started making watches as early as 1860 in the watchmaking mecca that is Switzerland. Much like Ingersoll, they were a victim of the quartz crisis, and although their name was used on watches up until the early 2000’s, the designs produced then bared no resemblance to their distant relatives.
Dogma chronographs can go for £600+, but if you explore their vintage dress watches you can find some beautifully detailed dials for under £100.
Mine pictured cost me £50 at a watch fair.
Omega
This is a bonus watch for anyone happy to don ladies vintage sizes.
Ladies vintage watches were dainty affairs and simply not in vogue at the moment, but if you love the look of these smaller styles then eBay is your oyster my friend.
I don’t need to tell you about the Omega brand. Men’s vintage Omegas go for multiple hundreds or thousands of pounds, the vintage ladies sizes however can be had for much less.
I picked up my vintage Omega for £75 off eBay.
These are just a few options in the sub-£100 range. There are many others out there, such as Smith’s (Chris’ drug of choice), Timex and Seiko, which I will try to post on in the future.
Remember, do your research, have a read through Chris’ ‘How to buy a vintage watch’ post, and have fun exploring eBay!
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