Looking for a neo-vintage dress watch(specifically 1990-2006) between 1.5 and 3.5 grand to buy for a friend who collects specifically dress watches for Christmas. He likes visible manual calibres, one of his favorite watches he owns is the chronoswiss orea. He prefers steel over gold, and only sapphire crystals. He also likes manual chronographs, so that’s another option. Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to help.

  • MilesBeforeSmiles@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    So, this is a contemporary option but still very much reminiscent of neo-vintage styling. You should look at Nomos. Something like the Tangente, Metro, or even Tetra gives a lot of the same vibes as Orea. They do their own in-house manual wind calibers, which can be seen through optional saffire casebacks.

  • Palimpsest0@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    Nomos is a good suggestion. Older ones would fit that price band, and, although not regularly fitted with display backs, they’re not uncommonly found with them.

    To go a very different direction, what about a mid 90s to early 00s Zenith El Primero Prime? This is the cal 420 hand winding version of their 36kvph chronograph, smaller and thinner than most modern chronos, in a 38mm case and 11 mm thick. It’s a bit of an oddity to have a movement famous for being among the first automatic chronographs in a manual version, but it makes for a nice view of the movement and a much thinner, dressier watch, if a chronograph can be considered “dressy”. Here’s a good write up on the model.