It’s the Friday morning before a long weekend and everyone is sitting twiddling their thumbs in anticipation looking for things to do because, let’s be honest, you’re not really going to do any work today are you?

I get asked all the time about good watches for around the $1000 mark and for that amount my money is on vintage. I don’t understand why people don’t see the allure of owning a vintage watch. I am fascinated by the thought of wearing a watch that is half a century old and perhaps even more fascinated by the fact that it still works, perfectly. I love the heritage associated with vintage, not just of the individual brands but the industry as a whole. Finally, the best thing about wearing a vintage watch is everyone loves them, you are never considered pretentious whilst wearing vintage – if anything you are a connoisseur and playing it down is part of the fun. ‘Oh that old thing? Yeah it is an IWC. Where? Oh, just picked it up off this old guy at a market’.

I hopped on Ebay this morning to have a look at some of the vintage offerings and thought I’d share a few of my favourite finds, well within everyone’s budget.

Breitling Top Time Chrongraph Ref.2002

I’m not the biggest fan of modern Breitlings, I find them overzealous and busy but their vintage watches are another story all together. Classic, elegant styling with chronograph functionality. At the beginning of the 60′s Breitling recognised that the future belonged to the young people and brought out the Top Time range to acknowledge this. I love that sentiment. This watch is a cracker.

Vulcain SS 3 Registers Chronograph

You’re probably wondering what Vulcain is and that’s part of the reason I posted this particular watch. Vulcain is famous for making the ‘President’s Watch’ which they have given to every sitting president since Harry Truman (except Bush) right up to Obama. This is a brilliant 60′s period chrono for a tad under $1200 from a well respected brand.

Omega Speedmaster Cal. 1140

So it’s a 1993 model, not outrageously vintage but you can’t beat the Speedmaster for looks. Maybe it’s because I have a complexion with the 6263 Daytona which also features the Bakelite bezel design. Nevertheless wack this fella on a faded leather nato strap and you’ll be the envy of every guy in the office.

IWC Ingenieur

Now this is sitting well below $1000 and it will rise quite a bit so it is the longshot of the bunch but a mint Ingenieur like this could set you back around $5000 so it’s worth keeping an eye on. The Ingenieur is cult classic, a real collectors piece from IWC, this one also has a black dial, rarer than the common silver dial. The photos on the auction aren’t great (and neither is the bracelet) but this is a serious watch.