... look to the 50s first. And if it doesn't have to be a chronograph, even better - you can still pick up the little automatics for a song from time to time. And some of those have interesting complications too, moonphase or alarms for example. Even the chronos can still be hard not too expensively sometimes, although there is an increasing trend to call every chrono from the 30s onwards a pre-Carrera and mark it up accordingly. Which is incorrect really.

Moving on to the 60s, look for the so-called "economy" watches. No model name on the dial usually means less of a ticket price, though again some sellers are trying to push the connections with the named watches and bumping up the economy prices. Sometimes they have base metal chrome-plated cases, but others are steel, and the movements and often much of the dial furniture are the same as the better-known watches.

Move on to the 70s and you can look for the smaller run named watches. Jarama, Verona, Monza can be hard to find, but usually run less than an equivalent Carrera. And later on you have the quartzes and digitals - a Carrera Twin might not be everyone's bag with the LCD display, but a Jack Heuer-run Heuer saw fit to call the model a Carrera so who are we to argue? And I have four quartz-based Carreras and not one of them has cost over €300.

All that said, you're going to be running a lot higher than I was when I started. Just the way the Heuer collecting world is now, I'm afraid.