Vises are also one of my vices... Watch your local Craigslist and auctions for a good old vise from an english speaking country(mostly USA, but some good ones are from the UK and AU) I lucked into the bench with both vises at an auction, shown in the thread below.
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=3369781#post3369781posts 10463 & 464
For a bench vise, the ideal, would be a swivel jaw fileworkers vise, or coachmakers vise, that have shallower jaws. The allow you to angle your tools more, without having your work high above the jaws.
Wilton vises are very good quality, and I grew up using one, but they are not my favorite, simply because the round beam does not lend itself well to stacking up pieces of scrap, to hold your work up to the jaws. Sometimes you need a third hand to push a pin, or compress a spring. One of these days, I am going to mount a vise vertically, at eye level for this reason, so gravity will work for you, instead of against you. If I had to pick a brand, it would probably be Athol (Starret). They seem to have a bit better workmanship, as well as a buttress thread, that is very smooth, and a finer pitch, increasing clamping force, although a little slower.
