eBay Finds: A Quartz Seiko with a Surprising Name, a Gorgeous Wittnauer Chronograph, and Some of the Fanciest Lugs You’ll Ever See

eBay Finds is back! This bi-monthly installment will feature a selection of watches currently listed on eBay that have caught the eye of editor Christoph McNeil (@vintagediver). If you come across any hidden gems on the ‘Bay drop us a note at [email protected] for potential inclusion!

Vintage Seiko Speedmaster Chronograph 

Starting off this week with a killer vintage Seiko Speedmaster with the amazing 7A28 quartz chronograph movement. While I’m not usually a fan of quartz, you really can’t beat the 7A28 for quality, function and reliability. I don’t know how Seiko got away with usurping the Speedmaster name, but nevertheless this is a great watch. The 40mm bead blasted steel case looks unpolished, and the original bracelet with “Speedmaster” branded buckle is excellent. Dial and bezel are mint…what more can you want? Seller states it is functioning perfectly as it should. This is one that doesn’t show up all that often for auction, especially in this condition. Not one to be missed!

View auction here

Vintage Wittnauer Revue 

From 1980s sleek quartzness to 1950s fancy dress-watchness. Here is a wild vintage Wittnauer Revue with waffle textured dial and insanely curved fancy lugs. The 22mm wide 10k yellow gold case is mint, with super sharp edges and brushed finish on the back. You really don’t see watches from this era with cases this sharp very often. And the cream dial is mint, with applied gold markers and gold hands. But man, look at those lugs….wow! The highly domed acrylic crystal is mint too. Sadly there is no picture of the movement, but the seller states it runs “perfectly”. Pretty sweet piece, and one I haven’t seen before.

View auction here

Bucherer Panda Chronograph 

Next up is a sweet vintage Bucherer Panda dialed chronograph. The 36mm round steel case is excellent and unpolished, with sharp edges and still showing the brushed finish on the bezel. A white dial with black subdials gives it that classic “panda” look, with bold applied steel markers and steel baton hands. The pushers and oversized crown look good, and the watch even comes on the original Bucherer signed leather strap with Bucherer buckle! The workhorse Valjoux 7733 manual wind movement looks brand spankin’ new, and the seller states it was serviced and runs well. Is the starting price high for an auction? A tad, but $2k for this watch is reasonable to me considering the vintage chronograph market today. 

View auction here

Vintage Wyler Tank 

Ok, this one is a real gem. This vintage Wyler steel tank is really cool. I have a different brand with a steel case just like this and yes, it’s on the smaller side, but the quality and design of the case is just so sweet. The case is 23mm wide, but it’s solid steel and the case back is held in by four tiny screws in the underside of each of the lugs. This is an early waterproof design that was used by several brands, and Wyler seems to have made several models with it over the years. The case is unpolished with razor sharp edges, and it is slightly curved giving it a great Streamline look. The silver dial with applied steel markers is excellent, and is signed “Ra Swiss Ra”, indicating the lume is Radium….always fun. The crown is original and signed with the Wyler logo. No movement pic but seller states it is running. 

View auction here

Vintage 1950s Lord Elgin Golden Knight 

Here’s a rare one, a vintage Lord Elgin Golden Knight. It really doesn’t get much cooler than this one. The gold fill case has a round bezel with awesome fancy lugs that are unique to this model. The case does appear to have been polished, but this one is so uncommon that I had to share it with you all anyways. The black textured dial is in great shape, with the super stylized applied gold hour markers. The seller states the dial is original, and I find nothing to refute that. The round bezel and textured dial give it a black golf ball look. No movement pic, but the seller states it runs well and keeps time. 

View auction here

Wittnauer Professional Chronograph 

Finishing strong (as always) with a beautiful vintage Wittnauer three register chronograph. This beauty has a 35mm wide steel case that is in good shape, although polished at some point in its life. The three register white dial has a nice, mellow patina throughout with a little more along the top edge. This one is powered by the legendary Valjoux 72 manual wind movement, famously used in the vintage Rolex Daytona, amongst others. The movement is a beauty and is clean as a whistle, running great and functioning as it should, per the seller. Overall this is a great vintage chronograph that has a gorgeous patina, and a legendary movement. 

View auction here

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Christoph (Instagram’s @vintagediver) is a long time collector and lover of all things vintage, starting with comic books when he was a kid (he still collects them). His passion for watches began in 1997 when he was gifted a family heirloom vintage Omega Genève by his step-father. That started him on the watch collecting path—buying and selling vintage watches of all sorts, with a special appreciation for vintage dive watches and Seiko.
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