Help Buying A Watch For My Father

[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 been looking for a Rolex for my father for the last several weeks and I'm stuck. I think I've looked at almost 5000 different individual watches online in that time and I've started to get 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 and that's definitely the size I need. I'm open to newer watches if I could find one somewhat similar in design(does something like that exist?).

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

Also, what potential cons should I be aware of when buying a vintage watch? How can I protect myself? Thank you.