Reply With QuoteBumpity-bump?
To buy a 'nearly ok' vintage dress watch and restore/service it outright, or to buy a 'decent' serviced vintage watch? That is the question :)
I am still aiming for an IWC Portuguese 371401 (now I think this is 371445), but for the meantime, a short term dress watch alternative is to get a vintage dress watch. I caught the vintage dress watch bug mainly because of this thread:
http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.ph...ll-a-top-brand
The quickest route to get these kind of beauties is via ebay (at least for me, I'm living in Netherlands and this is not my home country), but I am new to vintages. I see for the same vintage model there are varying degrees of state (faded dials, scratches here and there, dirty movement, etc), with the seller mentioning 'recently serviced' or 'running fine'.
As an example:
http://www.ebay.nl/itm/VINTAGE-OMEGA...item3cd03f54c7
or like this:
http://www.ebay.nl/itm/261186824560?...84.m1423.l2649
So any 'buying vintage dress watch 101' advices from the veterans?
P.S. I am actually looking for Longines (ex. Longines Sport Chief), but also found nice vintage Omegas. The criteria of a dress watch that I am hunting for is white dial, no-number, gold or silver hour markings and hands (with more inclination to gold).
Bumpity-bump?
My advice would be to buy one in as clean, original condition as possible. Look for sharp cases, clean movements and avoid redials or badly pitted original dials. Find the model(s) you like and then do plenty of research before committing to buy. An excellent, original watch may cost you more initially but it will save you money in the long run and you can be fairly sure you'll get it back the other end if you buy smart.
From your post it sounds like a vintage Omega Seamaster or Constellation would fit the bill, and you shouldn't struggle to find a nice one. Something like..
or..
If you're set on Longines, I recently picked up this Conquest in nice condition..
Less easy to find than the Omega's but it gives you an idea of what's out there and it seems to match what you're after.
The Omega Seamaster is the range of 400-500GBP the right cost for that? (that's what I see on most of the 'buy it now' on a quick query for this model)Originally Posted by uwtc
My advice would be to buy one in as clean, original condition as possible. Look for sharp cases, clean movements and avoid redials or badly pitted original dials. Find the model(s) you like and then do plenty of research before committing to buy. An excellent, original watch may cost you more initially but it will save you money in the long run and you can be fairly sure you'll get it back the other end if you buy smart.
From your post it sounds like a vintage Omega Seamaster or Constellation would fit the bill, and you shouldn't struggle to find a nice one. Something like..
I was actually looking at this Longines now, the seconds @6 is appealing to me:
and this Omega:
I agree with the previous comments, but I wouldn`t dismiss refinshed dials provided the work has been done to a high standard. The only exception to this is the pie-pan Constellation; I`ve never seen a refished one that looked absolutely right.
Hands are another issue. Getting exact replacements for some models is difficult/impossible and replating them isn`t always successful. Poor hands can really let a watch down IMO, I like them to look clean and sharp.
Gold-plated cases are best avoided unless the palting's in really nice condition. They can be replated but I don`t know how successful this is and it won`t be cheap. Gold-capped ones are a better bet but they can also have the same problems if the gold's worn through on the corners amd edges. Steel ones are safer and can usually be refinished to a high standard. I`ve done a few recently and they can be made to look new again.....but watch out for lost edges if this has been done badly.
Movements can cost a lot to sort out if in poor condition. A new balance from Omega costs over £300 and second hand ones are getting harder to find (and more expensive). My advice is to buy a watch that's been recently serviced properly and is running well. Avoid stuff that isn`t running or advertised as 'needs servicing'. Although I can do the restoration work myself I rarely buy watches to restore because of the potential costs; it's not economical to do in most cases unless the watch is very cheap.
Paul
The problem with vintage dress watches IMHO is the size. I personally do not like 37mm watches and this would be considered a large diameter back in the day.
Good Luck
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