eBay Finds: Vintage Diver Chronographs, & One Full Kit Benrus

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 Wittnauer Geneve

Starting this week off with a unique vintage Wittnauer Geneve. The 34mm stainless steel case has a neat octagonal design, one you don’t see often. I think they really pulled it off in this case (pun intended), especially with the large lug bevels. Case looks unpolished and still shows the brushed finish. The two-tone silver bullseye dial with crosshairs is a stunner, and in fantastic condition. No movement picture but the seller states the watch runs, and that the movement is a manual wind. Speaking of which, the winding crown is signed with the Wittnauer “W” logo to boot.

View auction here.

Vintage Omega Seamaster

This vintage Omega Seamaster is a real beauty for those that love patina. This is housed in the classic fat lug, wide bezel Seamaster 34mm steel case that is so desired by Omega collectors. The fat lugs have nice, sharp chamfers as they should since the case is unpolished. It is sadly becoming more and more of a rarity to find an unpolished Seamaster. The dial has stylized Arabic numerals at 12, 3 and 9, with slim arrows for the other markers, and a sub-seconds dial at 6 o’clock. This dial used to be a silver/white, but has developed a beautiful spotty patina that is really quite stunning. The hands show some wear and are mostly missing their lume, but honestly they just add to the overall look in my opinion. The caliber 344 bumper automatic movement looks clean and the seller states the watch runs well. And the watch has the original clover leaf Omega signed crown as well. If you like patina, you can’t go wrong with this gem.

View auction here.

Hamilton Golden Tempus

Here we have a neat one, a vintage Hamilton Golden Tempus II. To go with that fancy name, the watch has a fancy look for sure. The gold dial has a circular brushed finish, along with a fluted chapter ring that looks very much like the ones on the famous Universal Geneve Polerouters. The dauphine hands provide a nice contrast with the dial. The case has a super slim bezel and super slim lugs, giving the whole piece a very Mid Century Mod look. The case is yellow gold fill, and shows very little wear. The button crown is signed with the Hamilton “H” logo, and winds the clean manual wind movement. Very cool piece that would go well at the next cocktail party!

View auction here.

Vintage Benrus (Full Kit!)

Everybody loves a vintage watch with box and papers (well, everybody should love them…), and this nice little Benrus fits that bill. The yellow gold fill case is in great shape, as is the champagne dial with Arabic numerals and trapezoid markers. It even has the original signed “three star” crown. The only glitch is the lume on the minute hand is partially missing. The gold tone partial stretch band looks to be original, or at the very least it’s from the same era and looks great with the watch. The fancy lucite box is really….fancy and one I haven’t seen before. It also comes with the Benrus guarantee papers. Is it mint? No, but it looks good and it’s a full kit that shouldn’t end up stressing the wallet when the auction hammer falls.

View auction here.

1970s Hamilton

Next up is a super funky/chunky 1970’s Hamilton. The 36mm gold fill cushion case is in nice shape, still showing the factory brushed finish. The gold dial has simple stick hour markers and hands, very 70’s for sure. The crown is signed with the Hamilton “H” logo, and the solid link bracelet is signed as well. The Hamilton signed Grade 822 movement looks clean, and the seller states it runs well. This is another cool vintage piece that shouldn’t cost too much, and will add lots of vintage flavor to your wrist.

View auction here.

Vintage Clebar Chronograph

Finishing up this edition of eBay Finds strong, with this killer vintage Clebar chronograph diver. It is clearly styled after the famous vintage Bulova 666ft “Surfboard” dial chronograph (that has recently been re-issued as a heritage edition). The 38mm stainless steel blocky cushion case is in great shape and looks unpolished. The dial is definitely a knock-off of the Bulova, this one in blue with a contrasting white surfboard shaped dual register chrono design. The dial is really clean, with nicely patina’d lume and lume filled stick hands. The subdials are slightly oval in shape, which is a departure from the Bulova inspiration. The elapsed time diver’s bezel is in superb shape as well. The thick acrylic crystal has taken a few knocks and has a couple chips in it, but overall doesn’t look too bad. There is no movement picture, but if I had to guess, I’d say it’s likely a Valjoux 7733 movement. However, the seller says it is running well and working as it should. This is a great looking vintage chronograph that should go for far less than the vintage Bulova usually does.

View auction here.