More so for vintage, given the overall trend for bigger watches - ladies case sizes today are the same as what men were wearing in the 60s and 70s. I'm 4ft 11 and have tiny (16cm) wrists, so anything above 30mm makes me look like I'm wearing a dinner plate on my arm. So the vintage sizes (20 - 24mm) suit me just fine. And I quite prefer the discretion as well. But a lot of people don't.
That Longines above cost me £26 *including* all costs, plus £3.99 for the leather strap. Although the watch was *filthy* which may have been the reason why it largely got overlooked.
Most of mine cost me in the £15 to £20 range. The most expensive was £50 for a Girard-Perregaux Giromatic, the cheapest was 50p for an Omega Geneve tank...
Gold ladies watches usually do spark a bun fight on the 'bay, but that's because 9ct gold is currently sitting around £25 per gram and people are buying them to sell the gold. So sad, because then you get left with loads of lovely movements with no cases, and very little means of finding a replacement. And when they're gone, they're gone. (I have the same bugbear with out-of-fashion antique silver being consigned to the same fate...)
IWC. Very nice.

My oldest is my great great aunt's full hunter pocket watch. Not the most practical, but it keeps pretty good time. But yeah, I totally agree with you - avoid the hype and buy used or left-of-field if at all possible.
Variety is the spice of life!

I like the aesthetics of chronos and stuff (who doesn't like the cheerfulness of a Pogue?), but they're not the most practical for me when it comes to daily wear. Which is why I stick to dress and sport watches.