Watchonista Staff Picks: The eBay Watches We'd Love to Receive for the Holidays

The initially fun assignment of selecting ANY watch offering available on eBay quickly became daunting for our staff once we realized the sheer volume of “dream watches” for sale. But, everything turned out to be a happy story in the end, especially if some of us get our wishes granted come December.

Ranging from $3.295 million for a Patek Philippe Grand Complications in platinum (which I certainly wouldn’t mind finding under my Christmas tree) to a variety of watches in the two-digit range, you can spend days oohing and aahing on eBay and playing “what if?” But I landed on something right in the middle.

Crown-less, hand-less, and the opposite of deep, the Ressence design DNA of pushing its unique time-telling wheel mechanisms right up to the top of the crystal in an oil-filled chamber made my heart go pitter-patter. Aptly, those same out-of-the-box elements mean that I’d attach even more value to eBay’s Authenticity Guarantee service, as this 40mm Type 1 square case example in titanium isn’t your average crown and hands affair. So, if you want to be a really, really good friend of mine, it’ll only run you $17,450 (or maybe less if you opt for eBay's “Make an Offer” option).
 

One of the tricks to eBay is knowing how to search. For example, I recently went down a rabbit hole looking for a vintage Vulcain Cricket alarm watch. Specifically, this blue-dialed beauty.

The obvious search terms, “Vulcain Cricket,” yielded about five pages of results. To narrow it down a little, you can set search filters. My favorite setting is to sort by is “Distance: Nearest First.” If I can find my dream watch closer to home, I’m happy.
 

In addition, a search of “Vintage Vulcan Watch” may deliver a winner that’s been overlooked. The “Newly Listed” filter is also a favorite and can result in fantastic deals. But you have to be quick because other eagle-eyed buyers are also out there.

The best filter of all is your gut. The best advice I ever read about selling watches online was “write the listing like there’s no images and take pictures like there’s no words.” This listing has plenty of photos plus information about the watch’s history and provenance.
 

More and more I find myself drawn to the watch aesthetics of the 1970s. That is why I’m grateful that eBay allows me to refine my initial “vintage” search by isolating listings by their decade of manufacture. Once I clicked on the “1970-1979” range, I found so many gems.

This 36mm Bulova Royal Oak from 1979 caught my eye. I was baffled by this listing because, despite my years at Watchonista, I had no idea this timepiece existed. After some research, I learned three important things.

First, there is a lot of controversy about the origins of this watch. Second, despite its controversial status, the truth is that Bulova made this watch as a tribute to Gérald Genta, who had worked for the brand in the 1960s. And third, despite its rather mundane (but true) origin story, the controversy surrounding the Bulova Royal Oak means that it is often counterfeited. Thank goodness for eBay’s Authenticity Guarantee service!
 

As someone born and raised in the UK, I started looking around for affordable British-made watches on my eBay assignment and focused on the little-known brand, Smiths.

Founded in 1851, Smiths started as a pocket watch and precision instrument brand. But by the end of WWII it was making mechanical wristwatches at its factory in Cheltenham. Smiths timepieces even went on to be worn by members of the 1953 Mount Everest expedition, which included the infamous Sir Edmund Hillary.

You can find the more collectible “Made in England” Smiths watches on many marketplace platforms, but in terms of sheer volume, eBay tends to blow away the competition.
 

I get alerts from eBay when a new Smiths watch appears for sale, while its multi-photo gallery with auto-hover zoom lets me accurately assess the condition of the watch, usually both inside and out. I do have my preferred sellers saved, but for any new ones I encounter, the seller feedback rating gives me peace of mind if I decide to place a bid, make an offer, or simply buy it now.

There are a few Smiths W10s on eBay right now, but condition is key, so this 1969 edition would do me very nicely. It’s probably wishful thinking, but I am hoping my better half reads this in time for the holiday season. After all, I have enough lovely jumpers from her by now!