4 Affordable Luxury Vintage-Style Chronographs to Watch

1 - Lebois and Co. 'Heritage Script Chronograph 324.406' 

Lebois and Co are a brand with a long-spanning and interesting history, established in 1934 and revitalised in 2014, bringing the old designs back to the current watch market in both traditional and re-imagined forms.

Lebois offer a range of Vintage-Style Chronographs across their collections, however the model which stands out to us and makes this list is the Script Chronograph 324.406, part of the Heritage collection.

First and foremost, this watch is a stunning piece to look at, with the traditional colours used on the dial, combining a metallic rose-gold with a matte black background colour, allowing the Breguet numerals to pop on the dial via both texture and colour, as well as the thin, classic Tachymetre encircling the chronograph dials.

The 1940's style to this piece is stunning to view from the wearer's perspective, but what else does this Heritage Script Chronograph 324.406 have to offer?

Firstly, the functionality of the watch is something to highlight, with a case size of a reasonable 39mm, which suits many wrist-sizes, as well as being small enough not to be obstructive to every-day wear, coupled with the 13.9mm thickness of the watch, including the crystal dome, makes for a reasonably-sized timepiece, practical for many occasions. Accompanying the practical size, this watch comes with a 5 ATM water resistance, or 50 Metres, so it can also be worn in mild wet conditions, perfect for the everyday encounters with water.

The movement inside this Lebois and Co watch is the LC-450, a hand-wound mechanical movement that provides a hefty 60 Hours of Power when fully wound (manufacturer claim).

To get this watch, it will set you back €3,300, for this calibre of timepiece, it seems reasonable, with the looks of a watch way above this price-bracket, and a movement perfect for watch lovers who enjoy winding their watches by hand, or people looking for an everyday watch that can be put down for the weekend and picked back up, still ticking on Monday morning, after winding it for a short time on Friday.

 

2 - Farer Universal 'Gara Racing'.

Farer Universal are a British brand who launched in 2015, and have since grown from strength to strength with their affordable, value-for-money designs and they have dominated the £1,000-£2,000 price point, competing closely with top-tier brands such as Mido, Hamilton and Tissot, and are favoured among collectors for their timepieces that combine unique colours and designs that usually feature above this price-point, or have a vintage-style, such as the Gara Racing which makes this list.

The Gara Racing is one of three watches in the brand's Racing Chronograph collection, and this makes the list due to the use of colours on this watch, which are more safe and symmetrical as opposed to the Libre or Volante, both of which use asymmetrical colourways, which in our opinion is less appealing and requires a specific taste.

This Gara model makes this list of vintage-style chronographs due to the direct aim from Farer to achieve the classic racing chronograph style, which has been executed very professionally for the affordable price point of £1,875, or £1,895 on the steel mesh bracelet with bar lugs.

As well as the other pieces in the Racing Collection, the Gara arrives in a flexible 38.5mm case, reminiscent of the classic watches of the time which were generally smaller, as well as making these watches accessible to many people regardless of wrist size. Including the crystal, the thickness of this watch is 13.4mm, an adequate size and makes this timepiece wearable in many situations.

Inside this timepiece is the Sellita Movement SW-510Mb, Elabore Grade Hand-Wound Movement with Top-Grade Finishing, leaving space for Farer to spend on design and quality of materials while not compensating too much on a standard movement calibre. The manufacturer approximation of power reserve is 63 hours, making this a versatile option for people looking for a watch as part of a collection, which unites a well-crafted watch with heritage of racing and the two crossing over. 

In traditional Farer style, there are many options of straps to choose from, and in our opinion, the Integrated Green Rubber Strap gives the best pairing with the colours on the bezel and in the sub-dials, as well as combining a vintage look and a more modern textured strap.

 

3 - Furlan Marri 'Sabbia Rosa'.

Furlan Marri are a brand that grew rapidly after their launch in 2021, and their whole design language of their timepieces are vintage-style, so it would be wrong not to include them on this list of affordable luxury watches in this category. The company was put on the radar of watch collectors across the world after the brand won the Horological Revelation Prize in the same year in which the brand launched, and they have continued in the fine form since.

The Mechaquartz watches from Furlan Marri are all aligned with the brand's vintage-style designs, therefore there are more than just the Sabbia Rosa that could fit into this list, however we picked our favourite piece, and one that looks visually the most attractive, in our opinion.

The balance and use of the colours of the Sabbia Rosa make the piece stand-out in the collection, with the gold, beige white and brown tones of the watch being complimentary of each other, along with the French and Italian leather strap choices of beige or brown to complete the full look of the timepiece. Similar to the Lebois and Co watch previously listed, this Furlan Marri watch punches above its price-point in visual appeal.

Sabbia Rosa is the most affordable watch on this list, with the price to purchase one of these models being £540. For the visual appeal and craftsmanship in this watch, this could be seen as a great option for an affordable vintage-style chronograph.

You may be thinking how is this watch at such a low price for the high level of detail and visual appeal? The movement is where Furlan Marri have justified the cost, as it is a Seiko VK64 movement, and the Mechaquartz movement is just a variation of a basic quartz movement, designed to look mechanical with sweeping hands and an instant-reset chronograph. While there is nothing wrong with a quartz movement, and the accuracy is certainly top-level, it is a shame there is no mechanical movement inside this piece, Mechaquartz can suffice, if it means these vintage-style Chronographs such as the Sabbia Rosa are accessible to more people, and introducing these people to the world of mechanical watches and sparking a passion for luxury timepieces, it can be a valid justification for the movement choice in this watch.

 

4 - Seiko 'Prospex Speedtimer Mechanical Chronograph'

This vintage-style Seiko Speedtimer embodies everything from the past and Seiko's history, and can be relived in present times with the continuation of the Prospex Speedtimer.

There are three models of this vintage-style Speedtimer, with each costing £2,500 and there are 3 different dials, one cream - or vintage white, one navy blue and one black.

The movement powering each of these watches is the 8R48, an automatic movement which also has manual winding capabilities, and a full power reserve provides the wearer approximately 45 Hours of Power. The functions of this watch include the chronograph - both 30 minutes and 12 hours, paired with a stop-second hand function and a small circular date window between 4 and 5 o'clock.

While this watch seems to be expensive for a Seiko timepiece, the brand has their successful history and strong reputation to back up their claims to provide the customer with a reliable and well-made watch, with Seiko going one step further on each element of the piece to ensure the quality is as good as possible, such as on the Stainless steel, the watch has a super hard coating to prevent wear and strengthen the steel.

The watch also has a 10BAR water resistance, making it adequate to GADA, yet the dimensions may restrict some people from wearing this piece, as the case size is 42mm, and the thickness is 14.6mm, making this watch only wearable for those with a larger wrist, which is not typical of the traditional watch.

Something that is vintage-style and traditional is the classic pushers for the chronograph and the bracelet, both add to the overall final watch with the dial and bezel, creating a modern version of a classic icon.

 

We hope this list has helped you discover a new vintage-style chronograph, with all of the entrants on this list under £4,000, and Furlan Marri's Sabbia Rosa even under £600. We chose a range of different styles and themes of vintage chronographs to help appeal to a wider range of tastes, aiming to help more people.

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