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Thread: Birth year watch question

  1. #1
    Master
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    Birth year watch question

    So I am still searching for a 1980 birth year watch. Have seen some Rolex watches recently but I am not up on what to look for or what price I should pay and was wondering if anyone has some guidance on this.

    Open to other brands too but really would like to get this done now

    Thanks all

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  2. #2
    Grand Master Sinnlover's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by burton View Post
    So I am still searching for a 1980 birth year watch. Have seen some Rolex watches recently but I am not up on what to look for or what price I should pay and was wondering if anyone has some guidance on this.

    Open to other brands too but really would like to get this done now

    Thanks all

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    Seiko are easy to date, using the serial number. I bought a 1980 6309 just before Xmas, I had no idea it was a birth year watch when I bought it but it’s a nice added bonus.
    An alternative is a British military watch as they are also easy to date as the date is on the case back.
    1980 was a good vintage.
    Last edited by Sinnlover; 17th January 2021 at 22:26.

  3. #3
    Good thing about seiko is you can even get month and year .


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  4. #4
    Grand Master MartynJC (UK)'s Avatar
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    If you really want vintage Rolex I'd buy from a reputable dealer. Serial numbers by date can be found on the www - for example: https://www.bobswatches.com/rolex-serial-numbers

  5. #5
    Journeyman
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    As an aside, am I the only one who gets annoyed where watches, advertised with papers, still show unknown under date of purchase?

  6. #6
    Craftsman levkov's Avatar
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    Ahoy 1980 matey,

    I too was born in 1980 so i know the dilemma..

    Did you have specific brands / watch types / budget in mind?

    Unfortunately not a lot of great watches were born around this date, the pinnacle of vintage watches was in the 60's (plus-minus 10 years), and great modern watches started being born a lot later.
    The 80's are more associated with when cheap quartz watches flooded the market.
    Only a handful of iconic pieces were manufactured at the time, which never seized production to date, like Rolex (pretty much all models) - but these have become very popular, thus command a huge premium.
    Omega Speedmaster - these are great value IMO, the earlier ones have become too expensive, the later ones (especially the ones with Superluminova) lack the charm of a vintage model.
    Military issue watches - these have a clear issue date engraved, therefore make a great birth year watch, and there were plenty around 1980
    There have been some great Heuers at the time, most of which are still overseen these days (i.e. Monnin), but unfortunately unless they come with dated papers, there are no serials you could use to date them..

    Hope it helps,
    L

  7. #7
    Have never understood the birth year watch malarkey.
    Ofcourse if your parents bought it new for you during your birth year, it could hold some charm.
    Otherwise buying a tatty watch only because it was either manufactured or sold in your birth year doesn’t make sense to me. A nice Rolex or Omega example might appeal though.

  8. #8
    Grand Master snowman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RAJEN View Post
    Have never understood the birth year watch malarkey.
    Ofcourse if your parents bought it new for you during your birth year, it could hold some charm.
    Otherwise buying a tatty watch only because it was either manufactured or sold in your birth year doesn’t make sense to me. A nice Rolex or Omega example might appeal though.
    It's got to be a watch you'd buy regardless of year, but I think there's something nice about having a watch that you know has been around as long as you have.

    I bought an Omega Seamaster 30 from late 1961 (I was born in 1962), figuring it was probably actually sold in 62, some years back.

    I later picked up a Novus which is engraved 1962 - I didn't buy it because it was marked as such, but it definitely wasn't a negative for me as it may have been for others.

    I later found it out it related to the 21st birthday of the (presumably) original previous owner.

    Both are smallish (36mm), simple 3 handers and neither was expensive.

    If you like a particular watch and it happens to be available as a 'birth year' watch, that's a bit of a bonus, I think, but I wouldn't buy ANY watch, just to satisfy the requirement.

    M
    Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?

  9. #9
    Master Tetlee's Avatar
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    Two great watches that year from one brand at complete opposite ends of the spectrum. The original CWC RN Diver, they go for crazy money! Then there's one of my favourites, the 1980 non oval logo G10 Fatboy, looking around £400 for one of those.

    Both pretty special as that was their first year for both models, and both are still on production today.

    The true standouts of 1980 for me.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Tetlee View Post
    Two great watches that year from one brand at complete opposite ends of the spectrum. The original CWC RN Diver, they go for crazy money! Then there's one of my favourites, the 1980 non oval logo G10 Fatboy, looking around £400 for one of those.

    Both pretty special as that was their first year for both models, and both are still on production today.

    The true standouts of 1980 for me.
    I saw a 1980 CWC diver for over $14,000 on eBay

  11. #11
    Grand Master Sinnlover's Avatar
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    I have been looking for a 1980 issued CWC divers watch for a while but I have a mental block at spending that much on a watch (even though I really want one). It is by far the coolest watch produced in 1980.

  12. #12
    Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by levkov View Post
    Ahoy 1980 matey,

    I too was born in 1980 so i know the dilemma..

    Did you have specific brands / watch types / budget in mind?
    I am not as fussed as I was, seeing how the prices can go up depending on the brand and model.

    Rolex would be nice but seem to be over £10k I guess an investment to some degree but the market as with anything could fall flat in some years to come.

  13. #13
    Master Skier's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RAJEN View Post
    Have never understood the birth year watch malarkey.
    Ofcourse if your parents bought it new for you during your birth year, it could hold some charm.
    Otherwise buying a tatty watch only because it was either manufactured or sold in your birth year doesn’t make sense to me. A nice Rolex or Omega example might appeal though.
    How about this Ed White Speedmaster that, from the Extract of the Archives, has the 'Date of Production' as 9 Dec 1964 - 11 days after I was born. I have the box, bracelet (crap quality but in good condition) and No. 6 endlinks (that's a specialist subject all of its own!) but no paperwork.

    Bought 8 years ago for a fraction of what it's now worth.


  14. #14
    My dad has an Omega Ranchero with an extract dating it close to his birthday in 1958. I have a ‘birth year’ watch that turned out to be about 18 months prior to my birthday according to the movement number 😂 never mind, it’s a great watch!

  15. #15
    Master Tetlee's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dougair View Post
    My dad has an Omega Ranchero with an extract dating it close to his birthday in 1958. I have a ‘birth year’ watch that turned out to be about 18 months prior to my birthday according to the movement number  never mind, it’s a great watch!
    For what it's worth its fairly common to have variance of around a year from the movement serial number guides. I've read many times people that have gone on to gain an extract and the year given had been different to year that was calculated by movement serial. Those things are only an approximate guide and there is often overlap and I think extract tends to be date watch is sold to supplier which will obviously be later than the date the movement was produced(more on that below).

    I like the idea of birth year watch but in reality is always a bit vague. What are we chasing, year sold, year movement produced, case produced, year assembled?

    In reality let's say you did get the movement serial number to match your birth year, the case more than likely could have been produced a different year and the whole thing assembled a different time again. I have a couple of gold watches and movement numbers and case hallmarks tend to be a year apart from my experience, I had one once with sales receipt which was 2 years later than the case hallmark which in turn was a year later than the movement serial. I guess potentially that could have been a birth year watch for 3 different years depending what you settle on.

    To have a printed extract with the year is lovely to have even with the above taken into account, there's something special about having the information on print. I have an Omega Megaquartz which I'm fairly confident would be a birth year watch for me, but no way I'm paying Omega for an extract especially the newer downgraded quality ones. Longines do theirs for free which is outstanding.
    Last edited by Tetlee; 19th January 2021 at 12:19.

  16. #16
    Master
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    Thats a good point that I hadn't considered with sale date and materials/movement being different.

    Had always been going on sale or production date I guess could be wrong

    I do like some Seikos missed one this time last year, but not seen another yet.

    Maybe I should go for just a watch that I really want, but then that means narrowing it down

    Rolex Sub or Milgass
    IWC
    Omgea Speedy (again)
    Tag Carrera
    Schofield
    Bremont

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  17. #17
    Master Tetlee's Avatar
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    Something to consider which still has a cool relevance to your birth year would be the CWC RN 1980 reissue, available with choice of lume colours. May not be your thing but thought worth a mention.


  18. #18
    Grand Master Sinnlover's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by burton View Post
    Thats....
    Maybe I should go for just a watch that I really want....
    This is the correct choice!

  19. #19
    Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sinnlover View Post
    This is the correct choice!
    Plus not an easy one to agree on

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  20. #20
    Grand Master Sinnlover's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by burton View Post
    Plus not an easy one to agree on

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    But you have a short list and there is no rush, for me the chase, learning about the watch making the choice is more enjoyable than ownership in a lot of cases. As soon as I own it I start to think about what’s next...

  21. #21
    Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Graveworm View Post
    As an aside, am I the only one who gets annoyed where watches, advertised with papers, still show unknown under date of purchase?
    Absolutely NOT, winds me up real good that does


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