Pre-Owned Picks: Zenith, Timor, Rolex, Longines, and Patek

This week’s selection of pre-owned picks is all over the place because it perhaps corresponds best with my own thoughts this week. I’ve been writing some articles this week (most of them to be published later on) covering various topics and brands. It inspired me to pick all sorts of different brands and types of watches.

Every week we pick a few pre-owned watches from Chrono24, the largest market place for wristwatches in the world — watches that we love ourselves, or think they will be interesting to you. So to be clear, we picked the watches, Chrono24 only sent us the images without their watermark and in a proper resolution.

Pre-Owned Picks Of Week 8

The selection of brands is a wild one, from the recently resurrected Timor (see this other article from today) via something vintage by Longines to a relatively modern Rolex and Patek Philippe. Don’t worry, the latter two are not the obvious models that everyone is after. That leaves me with one brand unmentioned so far, Zenith. A brand that I’ve been looking at since my interest in mechanical watches took off in the 1990s. The Zenith El Primero Rainbow Flyback was and probably is still one of my all-time favorite Zenith models. A good reason to include a pre-owned one that I came across in this overview.

Zenith El Primero Rainbow Flyback (€3,490)

I can’t recall what the original price was, but I think it was somewhere between 5,000 and 6,000 Dutch Guilders. That’s the currency we had when I was a kid and before the EU came up with Euros. That would be somewhere around €2,700 I guess when converted to our current currency. I love the Zenith El Primero Rainbow Flyback and I actually don’t know why I never pulled the trigger on one.

This watch was available with the black leather strap with red stitching, like this one on offer, as well as on a stainless steel bracelet. I never cared for the Zenith bracelet. It always looked a bit too ‘busy’ for me. This El Primero Rainbow has a lot of colors on the dial (as its name suggests) but they contrast nicely with the black dial and bezel. The biggest attraction is perhaps the caliber 400 movement. It is an El Primero that ticks at 36,000vph and has a flyback function. Compared to today’s offers, by all sorts of brands, this pre-owned proposition is a steal. Click here to see the offer on this Rainbow Flyback.

Timor “Dirty Dozen” British Military WWW (€1,246)

My colleague Rob just wrote a lengthy article on the resurrected Timor Dirty Dozen watch, so I won’t go into too much detail here. But this is basically the original version of the new Kickstarter project model. As you know, it is always good to study the original before making the decision to go for a remake or just buy the original model itself. The price of the remake, especially with the early bird offer of £650, gives the new version the edge. After the early bird offers are gone, however, the price is upped to £950. At that price, you’re closing in on the classic…

I think I’d go for the original model if I was considering one. With a price of around €1,250, it makes sense to have the original. This particular one dates back to 1940. It has all the military markings on the case back and dial. Measuring 36mm, it uses a hand-wound 15 jewel movement. It has fixed bars (military watches should have this) and comes with a NATO strap. A pre-owned piece of history on the wrist. Click here for the offer on this Dirty Dozen by Timor.

Rolex Yacht-Master 16622 (€6,498)

One of my regrets is selling my Yacht-Master. At the time it was with a good reason (trading up to an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 15300). But it still stings. It was an under-the-radar watch and still is compared to some of the other sports models. I loved how it looked in the sunlight (not so much in artificial light, as the platinum dial would look a bit ‘flat’). As it lacked a bit of ‘coolness’ for many Rolex fans out there, the price was relatively low and looking at pre-owned models today, it is still behind the Submariner and GMT-Master.

Despite the solid platinum bezel (not an inlay) and dial, you can get one below the retail price of a new one. I filtered on offers that come with boxes and papers, so this one is not the cheapest out there (€6,498) but if you don’t care about those, you can find one even lower. This pre-owned Yacht-Master dates back to 2003 and that means it has the “old dial”, with a coarser grain. In my opinion, it is much prettier than the later ones. Click here for the offer on this platinum & steel Yacht-Master.

Longines Conquest (€2,300)

The Longines Conquest was their flagship in the 1950s, a beautiful gold dress watch with the typical enamel medallion on the case back. Here’s one from 1956 made of 18K yellow gold and with a rich looking dial. Inside is the Longines caliber 19AS movement. Longines produced their own movements until Swatch Group (or the predecessor of the Swatch Group) took over. From that moment on, in 1984, it was decided they would not produce or develop their own movements anymore. This pre-owned Longines is located in Spain and offers this watch (with original box) for €2,300. That’s not bad for a solid 18K yellow gold dress watch with a nice in-house movement. Click here for the offer on the Longines Conquest.

Patek Philippe World Time 5110G-001 (€25,240)

The seller of this watch specified the production year of this Patek Philippe World Time ‘Millennium’ reference 5110G as unknown, but I’d say it is safe to assume it is at least from 2000. This watch was discontinued only a few years later, so that minimizes the production year bracket. This watch is being offered with box and papers, so it should be on there somewhere anyway. So if that’s of interest to you, reach out to the seller from the USA. Anyway, the World Time is one of the watches from Patek I like best and that’s why I included their latest iteration from 2019 in my overview of last week (click here for my 10 awesome dress watches from 2019 overview).

This is basically the same watch, with the same movement, but with a different dial and in white gold. It has Patek Philippe caliber 240 HU inside and the case diameter is 37mm. Where the new model (reference 5231J) with cloisonné enamel dial has a retail price of €66,230, this pre-owned model from 15-20 years old is offered for €25,240. Click here for the offer on this Patek World Time watch in white gold.

As always, with pre-owned watches, make sure to do your (own) research. Also, feel free to make an offer on these watches (remember, these are merely asking prices), and don’t be afraid to discuss the warranty the seller can provide. Chrono24 offers its Trusted Checkout system, so you have proper buyer protection (more here). But it never hurts to be surer than sure. Always do your homework. Spending adequate time on a purchase can help minimize frustrations further down the line.

Happy Hunting!