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Omega Constellation
If you’re looking for a beautiful, prestigious watch at a reasonable price, there’s little reason to look past the mid-century Omegas. The Constellation and Seamaster models from the 50s and 60s are beautiful, elegant, carry a well-regarded brand name and frequently sell for as little as $300-500. Try searching the buy and sell areas of WatchUSeek or TimeZone, the fora for watch nerds, or take a chance on eBay. You can also buy from a trusted local dealer, though there’s likely to be a 30-50% markup over internet prices.
The end result? For less than the price of a lot of fashion brands’ quartz watches from the deparment store, you can have a beautiful, classic timepiece from one of the best names in watches.
My grandfather had this very watch. And then he died and now I have it. It’s in my desk drawer along with a Petco discount card and some Christmas stamps.
It was broken so I had it fixed. If you’ve never gone to a shop to get a watch repaired, I highly recommend it. It made me feel better about the years I’ve wasted on the internet. Made me feel like a man with a history, if only for a couple hours.
(Look at how sharp those hands are. It’s like you know exactly what time it is.)
I wore it for a while and broke it again. I think because I wound it too much? Because I was worried it would die? Like a Tamagotchi? So I constantly wound it? And probably overcranked its delicate innards?
Anyway this post reminded me I should head back to the watch shop. Because to see this thing ticking away again … it would, it would maybe be important right now.