Reply With QuoteWhat’s your budget?Originally Posted by omegamotorcyclist
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Where is it recommended to look? At the moment I am using only chrono24 but prices seem inflated.
What’s your budget?
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I think you need to be a little more specific about what you are looking for if you want meaningful advice.
I have enquired about a few watches on Chrono24 recently, every single one of them has shifted on price with very little prompting, so do ask the weller, you may be pleasantly surprised.
3 main sources I use to get a pretty good idea: Some of the big auction aggregators have price guides that you can subscribe to or join to view. Also eBay sold listings if it is a more common vintage piece (only shows sales in last few months). Forum listings - search watch make and model with “FS” infront. You will rightly have to pay a premium on the above reference points for price inflation / dealer margin.
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It's lost a lot of popularity due to scammers, fakes, frankenwatches etc., but Ebay is probably still the biggest source. And good watches and deals can still be found if you do your due diligence. There's also the sales parts of dedicated watch forums. Omegaforums for example sees quite a lot of vintage and rare watches in it's sales section. I also like to keep an eye on what's out there by using Watch Patrol, which gives you an overview of what's for sale on various different forums and watch sites. I'm sure there are other similar services available. I'm not a social media kind of guy, but depending on what you're looking for dedicated facebook groups or instagram may provide some options.
Of course it depends on what you're looking for. I collect only two brands really, one of which is vintage Seiko, which means Yahoo Japan is the main source.
Vintage is a minefield for the unwary and with limited knowledge.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
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This. But if you know what you're doing, there are treasures to be found on ebay at bargain prices.
I would echo this. Too many pitfalls to mention. Maybe hang around on the forum for a few years and ask more questions. There are some experts on here (I’m not expert on vintage though!)
“ Ford... you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.” HHGTTG
Or get stuck right in - don’t spend too much - and make your mistakes early. We’ve all done it! Some of us continue to!
Seriously, I would narrow down some options to a watch you would like - and search around and learn as much as you can about it, and it’s movement - there is a good amount of knowledge out there. Be prepared to miss out on a few before you find one that feels right. Also, don’t under-estimate servicing and repair costs (even those that claim to be recently serviced) - as lovely as some vintages pieces are, they are old (obviously), contain old/obsolete/bygone technology/potentially worn out parts and can be fragile.
Good luck!
When I say buying vintage I mean anything that is not new, so I should have probably said pre-owned.
I am mostly interested in dive watches.
2 completely different markets.
Pre-owned basically opens up the full internet to you. Depending which brand and model just google it and see what’s out there. Probably better to buy from the UK to avoid a 20% VAT bill and buying from a bricks and mortar dealer who offer a warranty is always a good plan. You might get cheaper from a private sale, but that can carry more risk.
Id rather buy from a forum. Which are best?
And now we know. Former banned member with a grudge? I’m sure someone will work it out. Byeeee!
Sorry what?
Back on topic: I mention forum because I recently found watchrecon, and it looks amazing to aggregate forums like that. The only watch I own was bought 15 years ago from a forum, I paid a mere £600 for my 2531.80.00 Seamaster!
But Watchrecon only aggregates what it can read without password, which is not very much really, so it misses an awful lot.
Vintage watches is a great playing field liberally laced with mines. It pays to know what you should, and there are no shortcuts to that knowledge that won't hurt.
Learn, pay your dues and make sound judgements, or pay the premium that trusted dealers charge for them to do the same.
Or you could rush in and make expensive mistakes.
I can recommend a vintage Tudor dealer in East London who also happens to be a part time real estate agent:-)
haha, at least you have a sense of humour :)
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It looks like the rolexforum is an incredible place to source Rolex? I already saw a few 16600 Sea Dwellers of interest
Now THERE is a minefield. Vintage Rolex is the most challenging field requiring expertise on an unprecendented level, all of which affects (high) value to a very significant degree. good luck
I think I will just go for a late 16600 with a glossy dial to simplify things :)
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