3 Vintage Driving Watches You Can Buy Right Now
If you really dig into the history and offerings of the past century’s important watchmakers, you’ll often encounter non-watch products produced by a particular manufacture that you just must have. This Heuer Dashboard Rally Timer isn’t exactly ephemera, but at the same time, it’s still not something that you’re bound to get much use out of. Having said all that, this is ridiculously cool.
Heuer Dashboard Rally Timer
These were originally intended to be mounted on dashboards, hence the presence of mounting holes and hardware, and were meant to serve as a purely functional tool for drivers demanding precision and accuracy. It’s being offered in NOS condition by a dealer in Tokyo, and would make a nice addition to the collection of any motorsport enthusiast or Heuer collector.
Breitling Chrono-Matic
Next up, we’ve got a vintage Breitling Chrono-Matic Ref. 2110-15 that’s being offered for sale on eBay by a Miami-based dealer. As the last two digits of the reference would indicate, this piece makes use of the Cal. 15 movement, which was essentially a more economically produced version of the Cal. 12 Chronomatic movement.
The bold, black and white “panda dial,” accented by red dial markings and dark orange chronograph hands was what first caught my eye, but what really surprised about this piece was the condition that the bezel is in. Despite having one little chip near the five o’clock mark, it’s pretty much perfect. Not bad for a watch made almost fifty years ago!
Rolex Daytona
Rolex’s Ref. 6263 Daytona has established itself in recent years as arguably one of the greatest chronographs of all time, and one of the best buys in vintage watches. Though as with anything, not all examples are created equally.
This 18K 6263 from the Italian dealer Tempus Orologi is absolutely stunning, with a thick case, perfect luminous plots, and a clean dial and bezel. Best of all are the formerly black subdials, which have aged to a gorgeous coffee color. As I’ve said before, there are Daytona’s, and then there are Daytona’s.
