A first vintage Swiss watch should be easy to love and hard to get wrong. That usually means a simple dress watch from a big house that built a lot of them. These watches were made well, many have been looked after for decades, and there are plenty for sale, so you can wait for a good one. Leave the Speedmasters and rare chronographs for later. Here's where we'd start, what to check first and what to expect once it arrives.
Why a simple watch first
Fewer functions mean fewer things to go wrong and fewer parts that could have been swapped. A time-only or date watch from Omega, Tissot or Longines is also straightforward for a good watchmaker to service. The bigger choice is how it winds. A hand-wound watch is the simplest and usually the slimmest, and you'll wind it each morning. An automatic winds itself as you wear it and often adds a date. Either is a fine first choice, so pick the one that suits how you'll wear it.
Expect these watches to look smaller than modern ones. Men's dress watches of the period were sized for shirt cuffs, and that's part of their charm. Check the case size in the listing and compare it with a watch you already own before you buy.
Good first picks from our catalog
- Omega Genève 135.070. The Genève line covered a lot of plain, wearable Omegas, including automatics such as the cal. 565 versions. The 135.070 is the hand-wound one on the cal. 601, about as simple as a vintage Omega gets, and an easy way to own one without paying for a famous name like the Speedmaster.
- Omega Seamaster De Ville. The dressier side of the Seamaster family, a line Omega started in 1948. It runs the cal. 562, a 24-jewel automatic with a date from the same family as the Constellation's chronometer cal. 561. Those two share so many parts that a 562 sometimes turns up behind a dial that says Chronometer, so check that the dial and movement agree.
- Tissot Visodate Seastar. Tissot launched the Visodate in 1954, a year after its Centenary model, which Tissot billed as the first automatic with a date that changed instantly at midnight. As the name suggests, the Visodate was one of Tissot's first watches with a date window, and the Seastar is one of several versions that followed.
- Longines Admiral. A simple automatic from a house known for finishing its movements well. Worn & Wound singles out the beautifully finished 19AS in the Conquest, and that care shows up across Longines' automatics of the period.
- Movado Tempomatic. Movado's automatic dress watch, and a good pick if you'd like something a little less common than an Omega or a Tissot.
- Zenith Captain. A dress watch that lets you own a vintage Zenith without paying chronograph prices. Zenith launched the Captain in 1952 to take on the Constellation.
- Tissot T12 as a first chronograph. If you want a chronograph from day one, the T12 of the 1970s runs a hand-wound Lemania 873, from the movement maker behind the Speedmaster, and it costs far less. Ask for a movement photo to confirm the caliber.
What to check first
Most of these watches are listed at a fixed price, so you have time to ask questions before you buy. Work through the photos in this order.
- The dial. Look at it in angled light. The printing should be crisp, and the lume on the dial and hands should have aged the same way. Our guide to spotting a redial covers the tells.
- The case. Look for crisp edges and clean lines on the lugs. Worn & Wound points out that unpolished cases with sharp edges are desirable and fairly uncommon on vintage watches.
- The crown and crystal. A crown signed with the brand's logo is a good sign. Many of these watches have acrylic crystals, and light scratches on acrylic polish out easily.
- The movement. Ask the seller for a photo with the caseback off. The caliber should match the reference, and the movement should look clean, with no rust.
- The caseback. Ask for a photo of the inside of the caseback too. The reference stamped there should match the watch in the listing.
For the stamps and numbers themselves, read Swiss watch reference and caliber numbers. For problems with the listing itself, see eBay red flags.
Plan for a service
Assume any vintage watch will need a service soon after you buy it, unless the seller can show recent paperwork. Oils dry out and thicken over the decades, and gaskets harden and crack. A watch can run fine on arrival and still be wearing itself down inside. A service by a watchmaker who knows the brand cleans and re-oils the movement, replaces worn parts and gives you a watch you can wear every day. Fold that into what you're prepared to spend, or pick a listing that shows a recent service if you'd rather skip the wait.
Treat every vintage watch as not water resistant, whatever the dial or caseback says, until a watchmaker has fitted new seals and pressure tested it.
Buy the dial
Collectors say buy the dial, and it's good advice for a first watch too. The movement can be serviced, the crystal replaced and the strap swapped, but an original dial can't be made again. It's also the part you look at every day. A clean original dial with even aging will look good for as long as you own the watch, and it keeps its appeal if you ever sell. A refinished dial isn't automatically a bad buy, as long as the listing is clear about it and the asking price reflects it. Pick the watch with the best original dial you can find, and let a watchmaker sort out the rest.
When you're ready for more
Once you've lived with a simple watch for a while, the chronographs open up. Start with the Speedmaster 321 vs 861 guide and our map of El Primero and Lemania calibers. If you find yourself drawn to watches from the 1950s or earlier, read radium vs tritium first, since the lume on older dials needs a little care.
