Reply With QuoteYou'll get tons of different answers Paul but I've always thought 25 years sounds right.
The watch below is from 1992, we all know that Tudor has ceased production, but how old would a watch have to be before it can be called "vintage"?
You'll get tons of different answers Paul but I've always thought 25 years sounds right.
That's what I thought too...Originally Posted by Cannop
Cheers..
Jase
Vintage to me at least means at least 30 yrs old. For others that will be different i guess.
25 years old is a minimum; although I consider real vintage 1970 and older.
Edit: 100th post
That's where my thinking came in, but I guess it might depend on the watch, the Tudor feels older having a design and dna from watches that are a lot older.
I see - a vintage design. It's a shame the Tudor Sub is no longer made, it's a beautiful piece and a refreshing view to a tired design of the black dials.
I think it counts as vintage. Anything over 20 years, especially if discontinued.
I think in reality it is much much older than any of the years mentioned in the replies tbh.Would a piece of handmade furniture be regarded as "vintage" @ 20 even 30 years old,I doubt it myself,so why do we think a 20 year old watch to be considered vintage!.
The word "rare" is IMO "in some sales posts" used when not rare at all,maybe just rarely for sale,maybe just choice use of wording that catches the eye,rather like advertising something in a different currency to make it appear more expensive.
I have a Speedy for sale which is from the 90's,do I advertise as vintage or just state it's age?.
The word " vintage" in watch talk just doesn't translate to any other item we would certainly appreciate as being a vintage piece.
Just my thoughts you understand,I may be totally wrong :)
With regards to something "discontinued" it then becomes something collectible...perhaps!,if hundreds of millions were produced then maybe not
Eg Eddies first DN of only 200 then yes discontinued = collectible .
Judging by some sales descriptions it can be anything over a few years. ;-)
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
I have always considered the word "vintage" to mean at least 25 to 30 years old in relation to pretty much anything.
Having done the sums and realised that will soon mean anything produced pre 1984 to 1989, I suddenly feel quite old and past it :)
watches up to the 1960's/70 era are generally classed as Vintage, but I have seen later models, which are now discontinued classified as such.
Ivan
iwcforme
Co-sign around the 25 year mark, as with cars.
Beautiful watch!
I think if it's not made anymore and over 20ish years old, it counts as vintage...
Last edited by Thorien; 27th December 2013 at 22:12.
Many watches etc will never become vintage. For something to be awarded that accolade it should be an outstanding product. The age of the object is almost incidental.
Last edited by BrianT; 27th December 2013 at 16:26.
Older that your kids.....
Not sure this is true. There are many early 70s watches out there which would be perfectly correctly (imho) described as vintage, but whihc are far from outstanding.
Vintage is a measure of age, not quality.
Dave
and for my money, 25 yrs old is as good a definition as we will agree on....
This is an interesting thread. Most people seem to think around 25 years. I personally would say anything from the 70's or earlier, but maybe that's just because I was born in that decade.
Very difficult to define, and a bit subjective.
In general (ie not necc watches) I sometimes think something has to go through a phase of looking dated before it turns into a classic. 70's items are a good example - anything from that decade was seen as horrific in the 80's and early 90's. There are of course exceptions before someone posts one, but in the watch world, designs like the RO and Nautilus were seen as very old hat for a while.
I have to say that I don't understand or agree with that POV at all, and I'm not sure it's one that you'll find shared by many others. I think the 25 year rule is as good as any, although with such a definition there needs to be an acceptance that as the years fly by, "newer" watches fall into the vintage category. I always think of mid-eighties and older as vintage, anyway, which is there or thereabouts; maybe watches should have a plastic crystal, too?
A watch has to have wine spilled on it before it's considered vintage. Age is of no consequence.
30 years puts it in the vintage ballpark
RIAC
+1 although given that something must be 100 years old before it can be considered antique, I might be inclined to go as far as 40 years before 'vintage' comes into play
Any good year. Any good watch. Old tat will never anything but old tat. Crap is just crap whatever it s age.
Oxford Dictionary definition of vintage.
" Denoting something from the past of high quality, especially something representing the best of its kind:"
Having searched I can find no definition which refers to a period of time. Vintage is a standard of quality not of age. Alright, I agree that the word is often used incorrectly, but that is another matter.
Last edited by BrianT; 27th December 2013 at 21:15.
It's only a discussion Tony. In fact someone mentioned cars. Now, if I remember correctly for these a period is mentioned, 1919-1931 is Vintage IIRC.
Well put - I originally considered it to be purely a better of age (and I'd consider 80s as 'vintage' or plexiglass) but you're right; it's denoted by quality.
However, with cars specifically: an old style or model of car, specifically one made between 1919 and 1930. So your definition is not clear cut.
Edited to add: posted the car thing at the same time!
That's fine. But another interesting point, at least for me is Vintage motor cycles are deemed to be those produced more than 25 years ago.
Maybe we on this forum should agree and set the World standard.
There doesn't appear to be a single answer - as far as wine is concerned its vintage simply tells you which year the grapes were picked....so in this context 'vintage' does have a relationship to/with time
Yes but that time is variable. For instance the Douros top Port houses have declared 2011 as being a vintage year, the previous being 2007. It has nothing to do with age, a vintage is declared by general consensus to label the gathering from a particular year as being of sufficient quality to merit the description.There doesn't appear to be a single answer - as far as wine is concerned its vintage simply tells you which year the grapes were picked....so in this context 'vintage' does have a relationship to/with time
Yes of course to award a particular year as vintage has a relationship with time . But that time is variable using the term for it's original purpose.
Within the context of this thread relating to watches it is entirely different. Learningtofly mentioned 25 years, seems fair enough to me. Not sure what we are going to do about "Classic" though.
Last edited by BrianT; 27th December 2013 at 22:05.
If consensus cannot be reached on 'vintage' (other than with a few individuals on this forum) I wouldn't worry about 'classic' just yet
For me it's pre-quartz
1880
Pierre Curie discovers piezoelectricity.
1888
Friedrich Reinitzer and Otto Lehmann discover liquid crystals
1927
Warren Marrison invents the 1st quartz clock
1954
First watch batteries
1959
Invention of the integrated circuit
1961-2
Development of light-emitting diodes.
1967
The Beta 21 is the 1st quartz watch
Choose your own date
Last edited by patrick; 27th December 2013 at 22:19.
It's just a label. Who cares.
[QUOTE=Captainhowdy;2979766]The watch below is from 1992, we all know that Tudor has ceased production, but how old would a watch have to be before it can be called "vintage"?
Hmmm - haven't Tudor relaunched??? http://www.tudorwatch.com/#/en/
No, "Classic" is easy. Any model that Learningtofly has owned.:
Umm... not sure if serious...
They never ceased production as a company (they're part of Rolex), just that particular Sub is no longer made.
I don't see the Black Bay as a homage to the Tudor Sub, it doesn't even look like the 1954 dive watch.
It's just a meaningless word that is bandied about and has no real significance.
Cheers,
Neil.
Do You want the watch because you want / like it or just because it's a "vintage".
Double post
Last edited by Martin123; 28th December 2013 at 10:15.
For me it's a plexi glass, tritium and great design, in addition yours has a top hat crystal, flat four insert and folded link bracelet so makes the vintage category easily.
To be fair, if you're going to quote the OED, you ought to quote the whole* definition for balance (where you will see it can be used quite correctly with no necessary reference to quality as defined (probably in closest relation to our requirement from the word) at 4.c.)...
-------------------------------
vintage, n.
(ˈvɪntɪdʒ)
Also 5–6 vyntage.
[a. AF. vintage (1353), altered f. of vindage, vendage, OF. vendange, by association with vinter or vintner.]
1. The produce or yield of the vine, either as grapes or wine; the crop or yield of a vineyard or district in a single season. Now rare or Obs.
Quot. 1460 refers to the capture of large supplies of wine from the French.
b. poet. Wine, esp. of good or rare quality.
c. Used with reference to the age or year of a particular wine, usually connoting one of good or outstanding quality; now spec. a wine made from the grape-crop of a certain district in a good year and kept separate on account of its quality.
d. A property yielding wine. rare—1.
2. a. The gathering of the ripe grapes in order to make them into wine, including the preliminary processes of wine-making, as pressing and placing the juice in the fermenting vats, etc.; the grape-harvest.
Also in the phrase †to make vintage (see (b)).
b. The season or time when this is done. Also with a and pl.
3. transf. and fig. a. The date or period when a person was born or flourished.
b. Hence, the date or period at which a thing was made or produced.
4. attrib., as vintage-ball, -day, -dinner, -eve, feast, -festival, -god, -home (after harvest-home), -man, etc.
b. In sense 1 c, as vintage claret, class, wine, etc. Also vintage chart, year (in quots. fig.).
c. transf. Denoting an old style or model of something, esp. a vehicle; vintage car, a motor car made between 1905 (or 1917) and 1930; cf. veteran car s.v. veteran n. 3.
d. Characteristic of the best period of a person's work, etc.; classic.
-------------------------------
Though to be even fairer, the full OED definition raises more ifs, buts and maybes than providing a specific answer to the OP's question where watches are concerned, and that's before we even touch on how any agreed demarcation line might move forward.
Anyway, enough navel gazing, pre 1970 for me... and I'll consider redefining it after the next paradigm shift in my subjectivity... :)
Edit: * I omitted to include the OED's "Quotations", as there's an absolute shed-load included within this definition.
Last edited by studs; 28th December 2013 at 14:04.
I would think anything before 1979
I think a watch made before 1980 is vintage. I don't know why, but 80's means modern to me.
It has to be older than the owner. If it isn't, then it's contemporary
______
Jim.
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