eBay Finds: Vintage Divers and Mystery Dials

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 Oris Diver

To start this week we have a cool and funky vintage Oris diver. The oval/cushion style chrome plated case is in great shape, with nice sharp edges and factory brushed finish intact. Seller doesn’t state the size but it looks to be on the larger size judging by the placement of the date window. The black dial is super clean, with nicely aged lume hour markers. It has an aluminum elapsed time divers bezel that is also in great shape. The crown is original and is signed with the Oris name. No movement picture, but the seller states it runs well.

View auction here.

Waltham Ultra-Thin

Next up is a stylin’ vintage Waltham in yellow gold fill, complete with box and extras. The gold fill case looks nice and sharp, and has a nifty engine turned bezel similar to the classic Rolex Thunderbird and thin simple lugs. The simple crosshair gold dial has Arabic numerals at 12 and 6, along with a sub-seconds dial just above the 6. No date and gold dauphine hands complete the look. Nice, thin, classy dress watch. Best of all it comes in the original box with some little tags and a hangtag. Again, no movement picture but the seller states it runs well.

View auction here.

Vintage Bulova Automatic

Here we have one for the ladies, or anyone that likes a smaller diver. This vintage Bulova diver is definitely a ladies model, despite the seller listing it as a men’s watch. The stainless steel Super Compressor style case measures about 25mm wide, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in style. It has a blue dial with a date window at 12 o’clock, and a stunning internal rotating elapsed time diver’s bezel that is rotated with one of the dual crowns. Speaking of the crowns, they are both signed “Bulova” as they should be. The watch comes on the original steel bracelet that is also signed on the buckle. Seller states the watch currently runs. Really nice and colorful vintage ladies diver that is not commonly seen.

View auction here.

Benrus Ultra Deep Super Compressor

And now one for the gents. There are well over 100 different branded versions of Super Compressor divers, but this Benrus Ultra Deep definitely stands out in a crowded field. This is the 36mm version, and the steel case looks unpolished with nice sharp chamfers on the thick angular lugs. The caseback has some tool marks, but that’s the norm for Super Compressors in my experience. The black dial is a beauty, with perfectly patina’d lume plots. The hands are what sets this Super Compressor aside from all the others. They are uniquely designed, with a round pointed lollipop hour and oval minute hand. Look at the pictures for yourself, they’re hard to describe. The watch has the original large size, cross-hatched crowns, which are just awesome. Original thick acrylic crystal with internal date magnifier window. Beautiful and clean movement that runs per the seller. This really is one of the best of the 36mm Super Compressor divers.

View auction here.

Vintage Leroy

Some vintage watches just have more style than others, and this little gem is one those! This vintage military style Leroy has a 29mm stainless steel case in great, unpolished condition. But the dial is what this one is all about. Gorgeous two-tone gray and black bullseye style, with lume Arabic hour markers and a sub-seconds dial at 6 o’clock and a 24 hour outer track. Lume filled sword style hands make it easy to read. I’ve never heard of Leroy watches, but there were innumerable “no-name” brand watches back in the day. But who needs name brand recognition when you have style like this piece??

View auction here.

Vintage Longines Mystery Dial

Finishing up this week with a super stylin’ vintage Longines Mystery Dial dress watch. The simple white gold filled case with slim lugs looks unpolished, and the simplicity just accentuates the mystery dial. The dial is silver/white with simple stick hour markers. The coolest part is the large central disc that has the small arrow hour marker at the edge. The disc rotates as time goes by, so the hour hand looks like it’s floating, hence the “mystery”. The minute hand is a normal dauphine hand. The small crown is original and signed with the Longines flying hourglass logo as it should be. Seller states the watch is running and keeping time. This gem looks straight out of Mad Men, and would look great on the wrist at your next cocktail party!

View auction here.