Looking For The Perfect Watch - Help Please

[Satoree]

Hello everyone. I'm a brand new Rolex addict. I think they're absolutely beautiful but otherwise I know very little about them. I've come up with some questions and it seems like this is the place to ask them, thanks in advance.

I've been looking for a Rolex for my father for the last several weeks and I'm stuck. I've become obsessed with finding a very certain looking watch. I think I've looked at almost 5000 different individual watches online in that time and I've got an idea of what I'm looking for.

I really like the look of 1950's and 1960's Oyster Precisions and Oyster Perpetuals. Unfortunately I've found very few of those as large as 36mm. I'm open to newer watches if I could find one somewhat similar in design.

Either one of these would be perfect, but only the first is 36 mm. I'd actually probably buy the first if the seller was local or I could verify them as honest.

http://www.chrono24.com/en/rolex/oys...=0&tab=details

This is my favorite

http://www.chrono24.com/en/rolex/rol...=4&tab=details

Some other questions:

What are the cons and potential pitfalls of buying a vintage watch? What can I do to protect myself should I choose to buy one?

Thank you so much for your help!