Vintage VDB Watches

Vintage VDB Watches

Vintage VDB is not for the faint of wrist.

This is German-engineered tool-watch maximalism — massive cases, overbuilt dive specs, and small-batch production using everything from bronze and carbon to

vintage military parts. If you want a watch that looks like it could survive a shipwreck and start a conversation at every watch meet, Vintage VDB delivers.

A Little History

Founded in Erfurt, Germany around 2010, Vintage VDB (short for Vintage-Vertrieb-Deutschland-Baumbach) started as a passion project building oversized divers with

retro-military aesthetics, often using NOS (new old stock) Swiss and German movements.

Every watch is hand-assembled in small numbers, with most models produced in runs of 20 to 100 pieces. Many pieces are one-offs. And every model leans into tactical

durability and wrist presence, with zero concern for mainstream trends.

What Collectors Love

Vintage VDB has a cult following among military watch collectors, Panerai defectors, and dive-watch purists who want something unique, rugged, and unapologetically large.

Core features:

  • Massive cases — often 46mm to 52mm, but designed to hug the wrist surprisingly well

  • Swiss mechanical movements — including ETA 2824, Unitas 6497, and rare vintage calibers from AS, Felsa, and others

  • Exhibition or solid casebacks, sometimes engraved or numbered

  • Strap-forward design — most models ship with handmade leather or rubber straps, with robust fixed or screw-bar lugs

  • Material experimentation — bronze, titanium, stainless, carbon, and even Damascus steel

Signature models include:

  • VDB 2011 / 2012 / 2014 — limited annual series with changing case shapes and dial variants

  • No Limit Diver / Combat Diver — tactical-style tool watches with bead-blasted or PVD cases

  • Vintage VDB Military / Tactico collabs — watches built using authentic vintage components

  • Prototypes & One-Offs — often custom commissions or LE builds with unique casebacks and materials

Why Vintage VDB Deserves a Spot

Because it fills a niche most modern brands won’t touch — extreme, wearable tool watches that aren’t mass-produced, mass-marketed, or watered down.

These are watches for divers, adventurers, ex-mil guys, or collectors who’ve seen every Panerai and want something with more soul. VDB doesn’t do polished indices

or faux-patina gimmicks. They build serious watches, in small batches, with real materials and real wrist presence.

What’s Out There Now

Inventory shifts constantly, but common options include:

  • Annual limited runs — typically 20–100 pieces per model

  • Titanium / Bronze cases — with raw finishing and sterile dials

  • Hand-wound or auto Swiss movements, mostly ETA-based or NOS stock

  • Prototypes — often numbered “1 of 1,” with experimental layouts or engraving

Expect case sizes from 46mm to 52mm, with short lugs and surprisingly ergonomic fit.

Prices range from $1,500 to $4,500, depending on movement, materials, and rarity. One-off prototypes and Damascus or vintage movement pieces may exceed $5K.

Fed’s Take

Vintage VDB is pure tool-watch testosterone — but with legit watchmaking behind the bulk.

I’ve seen some wild ones come through the shop — bronze cases that patinate in days, sterile dials with lume you could use as a flashlight, and engraved casebacks that

feel like custom knives. They’re huge, yes. But they’re also better-built than a lot of boutique divers out there, and the handmade straps are fantastic.

If you want a watch that feels like gear, not jewelry — VDB is the move.

Check Out Our Vintage VDB Inventory

Delray Watch is always on the lookout for unique Vintage VDB watches — especially bronze limited editions, vintage movement builds, and tactical diver models.

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