Vintage Watches: A 1987 Patek Philippe Ref. 3940J 'First Series,' A 1961 Breitling Navitimer, And A 1985 Rolex GMT-Master

To view the entire current selection of vintage watches available in the HODINKEE Shop, click here . Questions? Send us a note, or let us know in the comments. Want to sell your vintage watch through the HODINKEE Shop? Click here . Want to sell your pre-owned watch through Crown & Caliber? Click here . This Week's Vintage Watches Weeks like this one present a challenge for vintage watch fans around the world. This bombardment of lustrous, fancy, (actually really good, but don't tell anyone we said that) new modern watches can feel like a personal attack . After digesting some of what was announced yesterday, that personal attack is actually more of a vindication for vintage lovers. As brands continue to lean on vintage designs – see, most obviously, Rolex's new 36mm Explorer and, also, Breitling's Datora , Duograph , and Premier – there may be no better time to be out here praising the originals upon which these heritage-inspired new releases are built. 1974 Rolex Datejust Ref. 1601 With 'Sigma' Dial In Two Tone 1964 Tudor Oyster Ref. 7934 1960s Croton Chronomaster Aviator Sea Diver Ref. 9870 1975 Omega Seamaster Mariner 1 Megaquartz Ref. 196.0054 / 396.0840 1930s Heuer Autavia Dashboard Stopwatch 1970s Cartier Dress Watch In 14k Yellow Gold 1966 Omega Constellation Ref. 167.005 With 'Pie-Pan' Dial 1960s Vulcain Date With Breguet Numerals 1960s Junghans Pocket Watch 1960s IWC Automatic Date Dress Watch Ref. 647A 1978 Rolex Submariner Ref. 1680 The vintage team thought we would give everyone a bit of a breather and moved this week's drop to Thursday. Next week, we'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming on Wednesday, don't fret. From a Croton Chronomaster to a Max Bill-esque Junghans pocket watch and an early Heuer Autavia dashboard timer, we're confident this week's selection is well worth the extra day of waiting. For something a bit less shiny than all those Watches & Wonders debuts, check out the full selection of vintage in the HODINKEE Shop . 1987 Patek Philippe Ref. 3940J 'First Series' In 18k Yellow Gold With Box By Saori Omura I'm usually not one to easily profess my love for a particular watch, but the Patek Philippe ref. 3940 does it for me every single time. At first, it may sound like an oxymoron, but the beauty of this watch is that it's effortlessly complicated. I find this model to be pure perfection – it somehow feels zen as a whole, amidst all the perpetual calendar elements living pretty tightly side-by-side. Trust me, it's just that good. If you may recall, a few weeks ago, we featured a collection of funky vintage pieces from the 1980s. It's interesting to observe that this ref. 3940 is from the same exact era. While many watchmakers were moving into bigger and flashier designs with quartz movements, Patek Philippe stuck with what they knew best – creating a world-class, classic dress watch, just how the Swiss have been making for centuries. As we know, it's easy to pile on but always more difficult to edit. This is when restraint and perseverance by the legendary watchmaker shines through. The first series has increased in its desirability since it's the earliest and purest execution as Philippe Stern intended. With the trend of case sizes coming down, the 36mm case is welcome. It's slim and comfortable but with a nice weight of gold on the wrist. It's also the only execution offered with solely a solid snap caseback and sunken sub-dials. The dial is a shimmery opaline silver with a hint of champagne and a rare German calendar. But, what I really appreciate is the company's signature being smaller and shorter with an accent over the "E" in "GENÈVE," which was changed in the subsequent executions. Such details may seem subtle, but I prefer this variation that keeps the focus more on the harmonious dial proportions as opposed to who made the watch. Also, let's not forget the slim micro-rotor self-winding movement with the perpetual calendar module (caliber 240-Q), which allows the case to remain at 8mm. The ref. 3940 has just the right amount of vintage and modern elements, which lends itself to easy wear without being too precious. After all, watches are meant to be worn and enjoyed. Especially with the unmistakable warm patina on the yellow-gold case, I'm going as far as saying that this could be my Holy Grail watch. I can only dream, but for one lucky person, you can make it come true in the Shop ! 1961 Breitling Navitimer Ref. 806 'Beaded Bezel' By Brandon Frazin To me, the Navitimer is THE quintessential Breitling – it's the watch I envision when I close my eyes and think of the brand. If someone wanted to amass a collection of classic models from all different brands, the Navitimer would check the Breitling box, no question. It's been part of the Breitling lineup since it was conceived in the mid-1950s, and in 2019, the brand even came out with the Ref. 806 1959 Re-Edition that's nearly identical to the watch we're offering here. Breitling really nailed the re-edition of the 1959 ref. 806 – models like this make us excited to be an Authorized Retailer . However, when you handle the original vintage one, you can understand why the brand did a re-edition in the first place. These early all-black dialed Navitimers with the beaded bezels are some of the most sought-after variants in the Navitimer repertoire. The all-black dial is striking on the wrist, especially with the luminous Arabic numerals. The way the sub-dials shimmer ever so slightly against the black dial has me staring at this thing all day. The Navitimer dial is busy by design, and all the different design elements just work so well together. These white-painted syringe hands help with legibility against the black dial and also give it a nice vintage aesthetic. Besides just being a damn good-looking watch, the size of the Navitimer is a real crowd-pleaser. When it came out, this was quite a large watch at 40mm, but now it's pretty standard. This is ideal for those out there who are hesitant to go for a vintage watch because many tend to be on the smaller side of the spectrum. Essentially, vintage Navitimers are perfect if you want a vintage watch with a more contemporary size. The watch we have here today has aged beautifully and is one of the nicest all-black dialed examples to hit the Shop ; it's ready for a new wrist! 1985 Rolex GMT-Master Ref. 16753 In Two-Tone By Rich Fordon Two-tone is all the rage for Rolex all of the sudden. No one saw the two-tone Explorer coming, and yet, here we are . Recently, during HODINKEE '80s Week, Danny Milton made the case for the stainless steel and yellow gold combo by claiming, "two-tone is the physical embodiment of work-hard, play-hard – which was basically the decade's whole mantra." I really do agree from the perspective of the 1980s, and maybe Rolex is trying to usher in the roaring 2020s with the most recent two-tone release. It's important to note that Rolex, and many other brands, had been using two-tone in their catalogs for decades by the time the '80s rolled around. For whatever reason, the look really took hold in that ten-year span, and we've been pleased to mix in a few 1980s two-tone Rolex watches recently, as well as an example of the brand's history in this space with the 1954 "waffle dial" two-tone Oyster Perpetual that hit the Shop just last week. Danny did a great job articulating why two-tone "isn't ugly," but to me, it's a bit harder to put so eloquently. In the metal, two-tone watches just hit me as either way too much or perfectly executed. There really isn't an in-between. This may be why two-tone gets a reputation for being "ugly." What I can say with conviction is that a two-tone vintage Rolex sport watch is flat-out gorgeous. On Jubilee, Oyster, or even a leather strap, GMTs, Submariners, and Daytonas just work in mixed stainless steel and gold. The 1985 GMT-Master ref. 16753 on Jubilee we have in this week's drop just works. This is the perfect watch for all seasons but, with the weather starting to turn to spring, my mind immediately goes to leaving the bracelet a bit loose and wearing this GMT all summer. This feels like one of the best T-shirt, high-low, vintage Rolex watches you can find. Check it out now in the Shop .In a week where new watches are the talk of the town, consider this a part of the "& More."