Market Watch(ing): A Rolex and Some Other Stuff

Rolex 1675 blueberry

It’s Friday, folks. That means the weekend is finally here, and so is Market Watch(ing). This week we have a great variety of pieces; in fact, you won’t even find two watches from the same brand. So, before the Mets begin their epic crawl out of their 0-2 hole tonight, read on and get your fix of awesome watches for sale around the web.

Neil’s Picks

Sinn EZM 13

Sinn EZM 13

We’ve said it many times, we are fans of Sinn. They make some of the best purpose-built watches at an incredible value. One of the lines from them I like the most are their EZM’s which are their “Einsatzzeitmesser”, or mission timers. It at started with the venerable and increasingly sought after EZM 1. Here we have the evolution of the series with the EZM 13, one of my favorite watches from the many releases last year. The EZM 13 it the ultimate tool watch with features like: 500m water resistance, unidirectional dive bezel, 1,000 Gauss anti-magnetic protection, anti-reflective and anti-fogging sapphire crystal, temperature resistance from -45 to 80 degrees Celsius, an uncluttered 60 minute chronograph, and all in a perfect size of 41mm. I really enjoy how well executed the dial is. The running seconds blends into the background at 3:00 and the chronograph has a full 60 minutes, eliminating the requirement for an hour counter, at least for my needs. This all adds up to an extremely functional and clean dial. I’m also a fan of the “destro”, or left-handed controls. The price is more than fair for this watch and the listing even says “negotiable”.

$2,394

 

Heuer Bundeswehr Chronograph

Heuer Bundeswehr

This watch is one we wrote about way back in our first Hall of Fame article. It just oozes military cool and has the rep and features to back it up. It paved the way for countless other brands and styles that can trace their origins back to the Heuer Bund. The one featured here looks great and is claimed to be all original and included is the original kit with box and pouch. There is just a little flaking of the tritium in spots, but overall, it is a fantastic dial. Not a lot of additional is info provided, but based on the sheer rarity, especially with the “3H” dial, this is hard to pass up. It’s a wonder this has been on the market this long. As always, it pays to do your homework, especially with these Heuers, but this looks like a solid piece.

$3,750

 

Dean’s Picks

Rolex 1675 Blueberry

Rolex 1675 blueberry
Ever seen a $20K piece of aluminum? Well, it would be about the size of a full grown bull elephant, because aluminum is worth about 0.90 cents per pound. Unless of course you were talking about the bezel on this GMT; yes, you read that right. This sliver of aluminum is worth about $20K in today’s INSANE vintage Rolex market. “Why”, you might ask? Well, we’ve discussed the dick measuring contest that is modern Instagram-fueled watch collecting. One way to eek out a few extra millimeters is to sport something rare and eye-catching like the all blue bezel on this 1675. The story behind these beautiful rare birds is still a bit of a mystery. One common theory is that the bezels were supplied along with watches issued to the UAE military (the ones with that hideous eagle crest on the dial). While those watches are frequently seen with blue bezels, so are a lot of non-UAE issued watches. Its safe to assume there are a lot of fakes out there, so it helps to buy from a reputable dealer like Jacek. While the draw here is obviously the bezel, it doesn’t hurt that the rest of the watch looks quite appealing in its own right with even creamy patina and a clean dial and sharp case. Would the red 24-hour hand be a nice addition to this watch? Maybe, but I’m sure most of you guys know that the red hand is a service part and was never original to any of these watches to begin with. Vintage Rolex, ladies and gentleman!

 $29,000

Longines Greenlander

longines greenlander
Military watches? Am I right? For a generation of men raised by women, strapping on a watch that potentially was used in combat is quite a thrill. Personally, I usually find the aesthetics of these watches somewhat bland…but then again if my life depended on telling the time off the dial of a Rolex 1655, I’d be worm food before I figured out the hour. This Greenlander however has the “it” factor: 37mm, screwback, stepped bezel, and excellent lume plots. You really can’t ask for much more out of a watch of this age. What’s the story behind the “Greenlander” designation? Well, apparently we can chalk that up to our wacky Italian friends as it is entirely inaccurate. These watches were supplied to the British MOD in 1945 and played no part in any exploration of the world’s largest island (Australia is counted as a continent).

€5,620

Isaac’s Picks

Omega Museum Collection Officer’s Watch 1945 Chronograph

omega museum collection chronograph

In my time as an enthusiast of horology, reissue watches, or watches loosely inspired by several vintage pieces have been “hit and miss” for me, so to speak. When brands try and pull off a full-out reissue, it sometimes falls short of a vintage-focused collector’s expectations, which is why I tend to gravitate towards the throwback watches that remind us instead of a particular era in watchmaking in general. Since I’ve been looking into (read: insatiably obsessing over) less iconic vintage chronographs lately, I thought this piece from Omega fit the bill perfectly, even though it was released in 2003. As a part of their Museum collection, the Ref. 5702.50.02 pulls most of its design cues from a rare 33.3 chronograph supposedly released in 1945, but still features additional touches that we’ve seen in Omega’s of the same time.

This watch really could pass as a vintage watch in mint condition, and I’d say that’s largely due to the case size, coming in nicely at just 37mm across. The vintage aesthetic is then furthered dominantly by the oval chronograph pushers (something we don’t see on many chronographs today), the multiple scale gilt dial, and the relatively spartan shape of the lugs. On top of that, you’ve got an Omega Cal. 3200 column wheel chronograph movement beating away on the inside, and the fact that the watch is limited to 1945 examples is always nice. If interested, contact Miami-based dealer Matthew Bain, or check out his eBay page and listing.

$3,295

 

Universal Geneve Polerouter Deluxe

universal geneve polerouter

After writing an article on a little something we like to call “Fuck You Watches”, I went down a path of researching the gold-cased variants of my favorite steel watches, to see just how far the boundaries of bling can be pushed. The problem with this market segment, is that it gets expensive, since, uh, you know, it’s gold. Luckily, I managed to find a few stellar examples of relatively affordable vintage pieces in gold, so you can ball out on a budget.

We’ve talked about it many times before, and we’re about to do it again, because the Polerouter from Universal Geneve is just that great of a watch. Ask anyone out there what they think of the model in its purest form (Genta designed with turned lugs, crosshair markings, dauphine hands, etc.), and you’re bound to hear a great deal of praise. What’s different about this particular example, is that it was a Polerouter Deluxe, since it was produced in pink gold. In my opinion, the look of a gold watch with a black dial is hard to beat, and the condition of this particular piece speaks for itself. Definitely a worthy addition to any collection.

$2,750 or Make an Offer

 

Shane’s Picks

Zenith S58

zenith s58

Each week in Market Watch(ing), I make an effort to find less popular vintage watches and bring them to light. I think I’ve managed it today. Here we have a Zenith S58 from the early 1960s. These interesting pieces came with manual or bumper automatic movements, and featured highly legible dials and hands with plenty of lume. Thankfully, the abundance of lume makes for a nice vintage watch, if kept in good shape. This example is one of the bumpers, and doesn’t feature an external rotating bezel like some later S58s. Overall, it seems to be in good, honest shape, with matching patina and a thick case. It sort of reminds me of a vintage Milgauss ref 1019 with the case and hand designs. At €4,500 (OBO), it doesn’t sound cheap, but it’s certainly a lot less than a ref 1019.

€4,500 but taking offers

 

Jaeger LeCoultre Deep Sea Master Mariner

jaeger master mariner deep sea

A while back, I wrote about the first Jaeger LeCoultre Master Mariner, which was a very simple watch marketed to seafaring folks. Appearance-wise, it’s not the most exciting watch, but here we have a later Master Mariner that really speaks to me. This is the Deep Sea version and it sports an internal bezel, and cushion-shape super compressor case. It’s basically everything I love about 1960s/1970s dive watches. From the limited pictures provided, this looks like a nice example, but I’d want to see natural light photos of the dial, as well as maybe just a few more shots in general. The seller says the full-rotor automatic movement was just serviced, which is a nice plus. For $6,300, you get a sweet vintage super compressor from a bonafide watchmaker that stands out from the sea of matte-dial Submariners.

$6,300 or Best Offer

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4 Comments

  • October 30, 2015

    j_cic

    Just a quick question on Vintage watches on eBay in general:

    I’ve been following a few auctions for vintage Omegas of late. There seems to be a recurring pattern of items being re-listed after the auction ends, citing “non-paying bidder” – however it just appears to be happening too frequently to be random.

    Should these sellers be avoided?

    It feels as if they are probably bidding themselves with other accounts in order to reach a reserve.

    • November 1, 2015

      Shane Griffin

      There’s a lot of shady stuff that goes on with sellers bidding their stuff up, so I think that would be a possibility. You just have to do your best to trust the seller’s reviews and how long they’ve been on eBay. If you think their bidding stuff up, and the price gets too high, just lay off it. Even if they are bidding their auctions up, good deals can still be had, you just have to be patient.

  • November 1, 2015

    Chris

    This has to be the single best crop of picks you guys have done. It’s killing me that I’m putting my spare cash right now into a new car purchase. It’s just as well. If it wasn’t that, I’d then be trying to decide between one of these excellent pieces.

    • November 1, 2015

      Shane Griffin

      Thanks, Chris. You know, it gets really hard for us to resist our own picks as well.