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Thread: Watches you realistically hoped you'd have one day

  1. #1
    Grand Master Foxy100's Avatar
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    Watches you realistically hoped you'd have one day

    When I joined this forum you could buy a Heuer Autavia 1163 on eBay for £500, my manual 2446 cost me £750 - vintage watches were relatively cheap and affordable. I bought and sold watches, to a certain extent trying out what I fancied, and keeping the ones I really liked (although I did have to sell a few 'keepers' to help pay for my car restoration!). I liked my Seamaster Big Blue, for example, but then I traded it for a Tudor Heritage Chrono plus some cash. The Tudor went in trade a week later when out of the blue a Big Block Tudor popped up on SC. That went in favour of an Autavia 11630 GMT. These watches used to come up for sale on a regular basis, and Rolexes came and went, pre-moon Speedies were readily available. My first (with a pile of history) cost me £1600, and sold for that a few months later. My second, a tranny, was a couple of hundred (I think) more expensive but had all the bells and whistles with it. DON bezel? £80. My Tudor Snowflake cost me not far north of £1k, and it was a bit tatty and at that point no one could relume the dial for me (someone had relumed two plots really badly) so I sold it, safe in the knowledge I could buy a good one for £2k. I'm very lucky I was able to try some of these watches, and have a few of the ones I bought when I could afford them.

    In a roundabout way I'm wondering what you would have liked to have tried or kept were vintage watches still affordable and readily available. This isn't a question about watches that are suddenly incredibly desirable because of their current value, I remember seeing LVs for not much money and just not being interested, and some hung around unsold too, despite costing a fraction of what they do now! I owned a red Sub but the lack of quickset bothered me - it would have worked fine as an only watch but winding that date on every time I wanted to wear the watch? Nah, for me it's about collecting before value.

    I'd have liked to have owned this lot but can't afford any of them now, unless I somehow find decent ones for sale and can sell any of my current watches, most of which I want to keep! Not a big list, but watches I'd say would have been keepers.

    Great White (Andy Tims offered me his and to this day I still kick myself for not going for it, I was seriously tempted!)
    Fortis Marinemaster (the Val.72 one)
    Tudor Snowflake (blue, non-date)
    Heuer Autavia 1163 GMT first version, with 1-24 bezel.
    Explorer 2 (the so-called 'McQueen' one)

    What about you? Are there any watches that were at realistic prices not so long ago but which you can't afford or justify spending money on now? I don't mean every vintage Rolex and Speedy at 2005 prices so you can sell them for whopping profit, just watches you would have liked to have owned at affordable prices.

    Incidentally I removed the Flightmaster 911, hi-beat GS and Speedmaster 125 from my list last year after I sold a few watches and bought some I really wanted. Not desperately expensive though. And I still want a completely original PloProf, but I did have one for a while so for the purposes of this post it doesn't really count!
    "A man of little significance"

  2. #2
    Master PreacherCain's Avatar
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    I was immensely lucky to have picked up my "straight text" caseback 69ST Speedmaster when I did, and even more fortunate to have hung onto it! I wish I'd kept my racing dial MkII, which was lovely and tidy and about £1,500 from memory.

    These days, I hanker after a Flightmaster and I'd love to have tried a vintage Heuer, maybe an Autavia GMT, but both these seem either to be incredibly expensive or really leggy and worn. I am still holding out for a Marine Chronometer or similar, though looking at the way those are appreciating I should probably crack on.

  3. #3
    Master
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    I once sat across from a chap on a dinner table about 20 / 25 years ago and he was wearing a rather tasty gold chrono and it looked very classy indeed with a crocodile strap.

    I asked him what it was and he replied saying it was a 13zn and I kept toying with the idea ever since. However since buying a Daytona it now seems a bit pointless.

    At the time I wore an Omega Constellation 24/365 so I didn't bother. Muchas regrets today.

  4. #4
    Grand Master Sinnlover's Avatar
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    Interesting idea for a thread.
    I am fortunate that I tend to like watches at the ‘more affordable’ end of the market (it’s all relative I know). As such I have been able to add a few to the collection over the years.
    I am still smitten by the flightmaster I bought off SC recently, even more now it’s had a clean up and new crystal. I still love my manky 7016 as well.
    I still kick myself over some of the British Military watches that have slipped through my hands over the years. I would like to have bought a 1980 CWC Diver a few years ago when prices were more realistic. I don’t do birth year watches but that would have been a nice one. I am now looking for Precisita issued watches as I feel these are only going up in price for the foreseeable future.
    An Omega Big Blue has always been high on the want list along with an original SM600 PloProf both unlikely to join the collection now as they are at a price point I find hard to justify to myself.

  5. #5
    Master Tetlee's Avatar
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    Speedmaster Akaska Project, they were so cheap at one point but wasn't in position to buy, look at them now!!!

    Also another vote for a nice Flightmaster, feel I've missed the plane(hehe) on those now.

    To a lesser extent the Mariner II octo case, although I think there is still the occasional deal to be had there.

  6. #6
    since mid-nineties I always wanted Explorer II, but it was always 1K€ more expensive than I had funds. Eventually I bought it last year after realising that both of my watches at that time had more or less equal value of Explorer.

  7. #7
    Rolex DRSD- came so close but somehow never did. I wouldn’t buy it at today’s prices.
    There are a few others that I want to buy but they are current models that I WILL buy sooner or later.

  8. #8
    Master jukeboxs's Avatar
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    A 1972 double-red SD or a Patek 5712. But too steep for me now at £32k+.

  9. #9
    Master
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    I'm with you on the Snowflake, I'd love one but they are laughable money now. I remember a lovely one with faded blue bezel on the the forum for 2k, if only.

    The other watch I'd like that always seems to keep 1k ahead of the maximum I have to spend on a watch at any one time is an EZM1.

  10. #10
    A 1970’s explorer 2... I’m a silly boy!

  11. #11
    Master
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    Good question.

    Since I joined in 2008 I've always felt slightly behind the curve - by the time something's on my radar and I've set my mind to wanting it, the values already seem to be going up, or else it's rare or limited and unobtainable. When I decided I wanted a sub LV in May 2016 the going rate was £6k. By the time I'd been able to find one six months later I had to pay £7k.

    I wasn't so decisive with the snowflake submariner, and despite becoming aware of them before Tudor started trading in the UK again I never took the plunge. Now the values for them are not far off some of the vintage Rolex subs, and head would always rule heart over that one I think.

  12. #12
    Journeyman
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    Pam bronzo,hopefully by then the price have gone down to normal...

    There’s no way I’m getting one in current resale price ($25-30k)

  13. #13
    Master sweets's Avatar
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    Here are the ones that I thought I would have a good chance of owning, and genuinely want(ed) to own.
    But now I never will, entirely because they are above my comfort zone for cost outlay, and too-expensive-to-wear.


    • 2000 transition Rolex 16710 GMTII, with the old case, SELs and the new lume. No chance now, they are a stupid price for a mass produced watch.
    • Lemania SwAF or SAAF (the 1872 version, not the 5012)
    • Heuer Black PVD Autavia (to think I turned down an IDF one for £1600 because I thought it was £200 too much - hahahahahaha)
    • Omega Grail (TBH, these were always too much for me)
    • MN Snowflake (these were actually quite affordable to start, but I never hunted one out because I was never confident enough of getting a genuine one)


    In addition, there are a few watches which I am lucky enough to own that I would never be considering as a buy at today's prices. These are


    • Sinn EZM1
    • Tudor Snowflake
    • Zenith De Luca
    • Tutima ZUZ (actually, I have no idea on this, these are so rare that there is effectively no established market for them, so value is totally debatable)


    Dave

  14. #14
    Craftsman smashie's Avatar
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    The only watch that I'm actively looking for is a 1970 JLC Reverso.

  15. #15
    Master sean's Avatar
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    I'd have loved a 1016. Stone cold classic, in my eyes.

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by jukeboxs View Post
    A 1972 double-red SD or a Patek 5712. But too steep for me now at £32k+.
    More like £60k for a 5712 if you actually want to put your hands on one


    Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app

  17. #17
    Master Tenko's Avatar
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    ^^^^ This, a 1016. When I purchased my first Autavia for a grand about 10 years ago, there was a gilt 1016 on offer for a couple of hundred more. It looked so cool on a black nato but I was hell bent on buying a Heuer so left it behind. Traded the Autavia for similar money as purchased about a year later so at least I wasn’t out of pocket!

    Would still love a 1016 but out of my reach now...

  18. #18
    Master
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    Not a big regret person but the only one I think why didn't I buy it at the time is a 2003 LV sons birth year, I kept thinking I'll get one later but then the price would rise got a sum of cash in 2007 and 2009 and both times thought I'd get one later.
    Now the prices have gone crazy.

    Sent from my VOG-L29 using Tapatalk

  19. #19
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    Marathon GSAR. Still don't have enough cash on hand to get myself one... they are so rare over here and expensive as well.

  20. #20
    Master Mouse's Avatar
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    By the time that I'd started to get 'into' watches, around 2102, it was already too late. I was able to dabble in many classic Seiko divers without too much trouble, but the grails of Rolex and Omega were already fast accelerating away from me. Now they're in a different section of the universe altogether :-(

  21. #21
    Craftsman
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    A few years ago while travelling on business through Frankfurt airport, I pondered an Omega Apollo 11 45th Anniversary at a good saving off list and regretfully passed.



    Wanted one ever since and have seen the prices rise beyond anything I’d consider reasonable. Unlikely to ever own one now.
    Last edited by MartC; 3rd July 2019 at 23:13.

  22. #22
    Master
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    Like a few others here, I wanted a weathered Snowflake as a weekender. It was in my range in 2011-12, why didn’t I?

    Though I later got a 1675 (since traded), I still have regrets about not buying a 16750 matte dial full set from Mike Wood in about 2013. I think it was listed at £5k which was slightly more than I hoped to spend and there was a scratch on the bezel insert that put me off. Duh!

    At least I did get a late 60s 1016 before things went mad.


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    Last edited by NickRed71; 3rd July 2019 at 23:17.

  23. #23
    Master Tony-GB's Avatar
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    I've always genuinely thought I would be able to locate the Exorcist Heuer and start my quest with Mark Kermode. I'm still optimistic.

  24. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by bloater View Post
    Not a big regret person but the only one I think why didn't I buy it at the time is a 2003 LV sons birth year, I kept thinking I'll get one later but then the price would rise got a sum of cash in 2007 and 2009 and both times thought I'd get one later.
    Now the prices have gone crazy.

    Sent from my VOG-L29 using Tapatalk
    I had opportunity to buy one new, and walked away (thought £2.4k was too expensive!). Did the same, watching and thinking I’d get one pre-owned but their premium over a standard sub, and me not having loads to splash about, kept delaying.
    Now I wouldn’t buy one on principle - although I probably have the money, it would taste sour.

    Still gutted, as the case size, maxi dial and that green - still the best looking mainstream watch I can think of (personally)


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  25. #25
    Grand Master
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    Same here with the blue snowflake. Always fancied one, but not at todays prices.

  26. #26
    Grand Master Der Amf's Avatar
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    I've had my Nivrel Coeur de la Sarre for over five years, it has a 2824. Launched at the same time was a LE a little smaller - 40mm - using a famously thin NOS Longines L990 auto movement, which cost € 2k. The watch I think is just 7.5mm thick.



    This week I thought the moment had finally come for me to get one, only to find that LE has finally sold out, the last one that had been hanging on at a German AD is now nowhere to be seen.
    Last edited by Der Amf; 4th July 2019 at 10:42.

  27. #27
    Master subseastu's Avatar
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    For me its a omega silver snoopy. To be honest I probably couldn't have afforded one at the start anyway. I think the earlier "eyes on the stars" model is well out of reach now as well.

  28. #28
    Master
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    1016.

  29. #29
    Apprentice
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    I’ve been waiting for a Rolex Daytona since 2016 it’s not looking promising!

  30. #30
    Master
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    Always wanted and thought I'd have a tri colour el primero 1969 chrono master 38 or New Vintage model.

    I've lusted after one for probably 10+ years, but it's just never happened.

  31. #31
    Master JackW's Avatar
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    Interesting question. For me it's this exact watch:



    Was offered this in trade for a Datejust a few years ago, but at the last minute the deal didn't materialise. The fact that I kept the pictures is telling I guess.

  32. #32
    Master
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    I was tempted to pick up a Tudor Snowflake about ten years ago and didn’t, funny how you have no idea at the time, it didn’t feel like a particularly important decision one way or the other. Around the same time a Vacheron Constantin 222 seemed tempting but a bit on the steep side, maybe one day I thought, little did I know. Also one day I was wondering through Selfridges and they had a 15202ST Royal Oak sitting there in the cabinet, apparently someone had ordered it but changed their mind when it came in that very morning. I tried it on and could have had it on the spot at list. Needless to say I thanked them and carried on with my day, without the watch. You can lead a horse to water...

    All this just makes me wonder what I’m missing right now though. So many opportunities with 20:20 hindsight!

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