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How To Buy Vintage Watches

Any watch made before 1990 could be considered vintage, although some collectors put the maximum year of “vintage” at 1980 or even earlier. I’d like to use 1990 as the baseline for this article, which offers my tips on buying vintage watches, but in the end you’ll have to decide for yourself whether a given watch is old enough for you to qualify it as “vintage.”

 There are two very important questions to consider when it comes to buying vintage watches:

 • Can you and do you trust the seller of the watch?

 Does the seller have a good reputation when it comes to selling vintage watches? Investigate! There are enough forums, Facebook groups and blogs out there that might have mentioned the seller in a positive — or negative — manner. Although it might sound cliché, also learn to trust your gut feelings. If the purchase doesn’t feel good or legit, let it go, and rest assured that another nice vintage piece will come along.

 • Have you gained as much knowledge as you can on the watch you want to buy?

 There is quite a bit of coverage out there on vintage watches. Google is your best friend if you’re just starting out. Sometimes you will find relatively small websites that specialize in just one brand or even one model, and these can be gems. An example is this website on vintage Omega Constellation watches. A truly amazing source of information, and all for free. And along with websites, we also have these old-fashioned things called books. Don’t forget about those.

 The publisher Mondani has done a good job on documenting Rolex watches, but another book on Speedmaster watches (by WatchPrint), Moonwatch Only, sets new standards. Books such as these may seem expensive, but they can prevent you from making mistakes that will cost you a fortune later. Read here why you should invest in a good book on watches. Another interesting source of information are the auction-house websites and catalogs.