Fratello’s Top 5 Pre-Owned Sleeper Watches: Part 1 — Featuring Rolex, Zenith, Omega, And More
Another Friday, another Top 5! This week, we kick off a series of Top 5 lists with some great pre-owned options. With ever-increasing list prices of new watches, finding a nice pre-owned one could be a great way to go. In the upcoming articles, we want to highlight some remarkable options. Some are familiar, some are forgotten, and some you might not have seen. But all of them stand out as they offer something special for their going prices. We have set up a list of many fantastic picks, and today, we’ll kick off our series with the first five watches. Let’s find out more!
One of our favorite activities at the Fratello office is checking out what great options your money can buy. We usually like to surprise each other with some remarkable finds that most of us have forgotten and that are still glorious. Sometimes, though, it can also be as easy as a price coming down for one of the more popular options. That was why we wanted to start a series of Top 5 lists with various pre-owned watches that deserve your attention. Over the next few weeks, we will look at some of our impressive favorites that we might even end up buying for ourselves. But whether they find their way to our wrists or yours, we wanted to share these finds with you in these articles, so here we go!
Image: Fire Kids
Zenith Chronomaster El Primero ref. 14/01.0240.400
Let’s kick this list off with one of Lex’s finds. As most of you will know, we have a handful of big Zenith fans on the Fratello team. Brandon, Thomas, Robert-Jan, Lex, and yours truly all love the brand, which is why we regularly dig through its past releases to see what pre-owned bliss we can find. Robert-Jan, Lex, and I agreed that this Zenith El Primero Chronomaster is one of the brand’s most stylish chronographs ever produced. Just looking at the combination of the case and the dial tells much of the story. This watch has some proper style that we usually associate with classic brands like Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin.
Image: Mikaël Dan
The watch has a beautiful 40mm stainless steel case that flows beautifully. It features some wonderful details, such as the stepped bezel and lugs. The chronograph pushers and crown blend nicely with the rounded shape of the case, creating an attractive silhouette.
Image: Fire Kids
The sunburst blue dial is vibrant. A great detail is the date window between 4 and 5 o’clock. In itself, it is nothing special as it is an El Primero trademark. But look how the Zenith designers have shifted the tachymeter scale inwards. Love it or hate it, it’s a clever design choice.
Image: Fire Kids
Zenith equipped this Chronomaster El Primero with its in-house automatic El Primero caliber 400. The high-beat chronograph movement operates at 36,000vph and offers 50 hours of power reserve. This beauty of a watch was produced in the late ’90s and early ’00s and still oozes class. In good condition, this impressive Zenith Chronomaster El Primero ref. 14/01.0240.400 can be yours for well under €4,000, which is an absolute steal if you ask us.
Image: Luxuwrist
Breitling Chronomat 44 B01 ref. AB0115
Our next pick is the Breitling Chronomat 44 B01 ref. AB0115. As I explained in the Buying Guide series, the first Chronomat with the in-house B01 movement was introduced in 2009. That watch was the Breitling Chronomat B01 ref. AB0110. After only two years of production, Breitling changed the name to Chronomat 44 B01 and updated the reference to AB0115.
Image: Luxuwrist
The watch features a massive 44mm stainless steel case with a 54.1mm lug-to-lug and 17mm thickness. That thickness, however, is not (totally) for nothing since this watch is also water resistant to 500 meters. As we know, Breitling made some chunky watches in those days, and this is one of them. But despite its imposing dimensions, there are plenty of great details to discover.
Image: Luxuwrist
It starts with the characteristic bezel with the raised rider tabs at the cardinal points. Additionally, the standout bullet-style crown is typical for the Chronomat. The watch balances itself on the wrist with its 22mm-wide Breitling Pilot bracelet, which is as impressive as the case dimensions. Everything about this watch is bulky and sturdy. Inside the case, Breitling used its in-house B01 chronograph movement.
Image: Luxuwrist
This much-praised caliber operates at 28,800vph and has a 70-hour power reserve. You have plenty of choices regarding the various dials, from standard black or white dials to some rare limited editions like this “Airborne” version celebrating 30 years of the Schneider-era Chronomat. It came with a white or black dial and can be found pre-owned for around €4K. But a regular version can be yours for about €3.5K. Checking Chrono24, all versions may even be cheaper if you buy one from Japan (just keep VAT and import duties in mind). One thing’s for sure: you will get a lot of watch for the money.
Image: Bulang & Sons
Rolex Oysterquartz Datejust ref. 17013
Have you ever thought about buying a Rolex Oysterquartz Datejust? We know that Lex did, and I certainly can’t blame him. This glorious two-tone statement is one of the brand’s sleepers. It is often overlooked because a quartz movement powers it. But true fans know better than to write it off for that. Robert-Jan owns a two-tone ref. 17013, and it’s a great example of the integrated-bracelet style that has become so popular in the last few years. The Oysterquartz Datejust ref. 17013 came out in 1977 and stayed in production until 2002. It is believed that Rolex produced only about 25,000 pieces of this watch.
Image: Bulang & Sons
It features a 36mm stainless steel case with a yellow gold fluted bezel and a yellow gold crown. The gold and steel five-row bracelet is an absolute joy to wear. But you must be careful when buying one of these watches that you buy one with the bracelet in good condition. Inside the case, you will find the Rolex caliber 5035. This quartz movement is exceptional and even qualified as a COSC-certified chronometer. And yes, the requirements are much stricter than they are for mechanical movements.
Image: Bulang & Sons
The precision of the movement was guaranteed partly thanks to thermocompensation and antimagnetic hardening. And as Oysterquartz fans will tell you, the movement was properly built like a mechanical caliber. You can look for the ref. 17014 if you prefer a stainless steel version with a white gold bezel. To us, though, the two-tone Oysterquartz Datejust with the champagne dial is the one to go for, with pre-owned prices starting around €4K and moving up to €6K for one in great condition. This gets you a true style statement and a testament to Rolex’s innovative Oysterquartz series.
Image: Reddit (u/not_an_m)
Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra ref. 231.10.39.21.03.001
Did you ever want to own an Omega Bond watch but not one of those gimmicky Bond models? How about an actual Bond watch worn in the movies? Well, we have the pre-owned pick for you because the Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra ref. 231.10.39.21.03.001 graced Daniel Craig’s wrist in the 2012 film Skyfall. While we all know the Seamaster Professional/Diver 300M as the well-known Bond watch, the Aqua Terra is the Bond watch for 007’s stylish moments. And this Aqua Terra oozes style. The watch has a 38.5mm stainless steel case that is 13mm thick and 45.5mm long with a 19mm lug spacing. Just like other Aqua Terra models, this one is water resistant to 150 meters, and because of its size, it wears like an absolute charm. Omega also produced a larger 41mm version, but we love this slightly smaller option.
Image: Reddit (u/not_an_m)
The watch has a beautiful dark blue dial with a vertically striped “teak deck” pattern. The dial also has a framed trapezoidal date window at 3 o’clock that looks nice. On top of that, I like the placement of the date window at 3 o’clock a lot better than the current position at 6 o’clock (though I know that some of you will vehemently disagree). Inside the case, you will find the in-house-developed Omega caliber 8500. The Co-Axial movement is a COSC-certified chronometer, operates at 25,200vph, and offers a 60-hour power reserve.
Lastly, the watch features an all-brushed and comfortable three-row bracelet that finishes the look of this Bond Aqua Terra in style. I would pick this over the current version in a heartbeat. I love the dial, the date placement is better, and who can argue with a Bond watch? On the pre-owned market, asking prices range from €4K to €6K, which will buy you a true gem.
Tudor Black Bay P01
Our last pick was controversial when it first came out in early 2019. A year later, it was featured in our Sunday Morning Showdown series, and 61% of voters chose “Rate It” against 39% of voters’ firm “Hate It.” Five years after its introduction, you don’t hear many people talk about the Tudor Black Bay P01 anymore. The watch was based on Tudor’s prototype for the US Navy in the late 1960s.
The original P01 prototype
The characteristic feature of the watch is its unique bezel-locking mechanism. A “claw” at 12 o’clock keeps the dive bezel in place. Only by flipping it up can you rotate the bezel. Many deemed this feature impractical and questioned why Tudor would bring it back.
Additionally, the watch is rather substantial in size. The 200m-water-resistant case measures 42mm wide and 14.5mm thick with a 20mm lug spacing. All in all, that is nothing out of the ordinary. But it’s the 55.6mm lug-to-lug that turned people off. Additionally, Tudor delivers the watch with lug extensions that, when laying flat, increase the length to a massive 77.5mm. But I can tell you from experience that the numbers seem a lot more daunting than reality. I have worn the watch multiple times, and it is quite comfortable if you have a 19cm wrist like me.
The P01 has the potential to be a future classic
Inside the case, Tudor equips the watch with its COSC-certified caliber MT5612, which has a 70-hour power reserve. The crown is functionally placed at 4 o’clock to ensure that it doesn’t poke your hand. While it is easy to operate, the placement was another reason for haters to dislike the watch. Honestly, I have always loved the quirky looks of the Black Bay P01 and found it a joy to wear. I didn’t sympathize with all the negative comments and have loved it from the moment it was unveiled. But it wasn’t until Robert-Jan and I talked about it not too long ago that I was reminded of the P01’s charm.
Robert-Jan mentioned that the Black Bay P01 goes for great prices on the pre-owned market. A quick check of Chrono24 shows that asking prices start at roughly €2,100 and move up to €3,250 for one in great condition. Considering its current €4,400 retail price and potential future collectible status, it is the perfect fifth and last pick for this week’s list.
Final thoughts on the top five pre-owned sleepers of this week
There you have it — five pre-owned picks that could be described as sleeper hits. They are not the first watches that come to mind when considering their respective brands. Nevertheless, they deserve every bit of attention for a variety of different reasons. But I would like to turn the question over to you. Which of these five picks is your favorite? Let us know in the comments section, and we will see you next week for the second part of this series!
Featured image: Bulang & Sons
