When I met David H for lunch this week, I took along an example of each of the generations of the Carrera, minus a quartz one. I think he admired each in its own way but he also asked a very pertinent question - "If I was to buy a Carrera, just one, which one should it be?". Much as I admire something about each generation (the 3rd's CdG dials, the 5th's readability, the solidity and range of the 2nd and more) if there is such a thing as the classic Carrera, it has to be the 1st generation. None of the others have quite the purity and clarity of the Carrera as first expressed.

So I urge anyone to give them a try. Oversized watches are just a fashion thing - in the 50s, men's watches were often just 30-32mm - and it may well suit you anyway.

And if it doesn't, and I know you said vintage but also that you had considered a reedition, then one of the automatic models would be worth a try. They are a much bigger watch than the original and manual re-edition but keep many of the features of both.

Excuse the below photo, terribly lit, but it gives some idea of how much bigger the auto re-edition is, though it doesn't lay flat in the shot because of the deployant: