Vintage Watches

There are numerous types of vintage watches that are collectible. Since we are a primer on luxury watches, we can only offer you a simple overview of all the vintage watches you might collect or that people collect.

Define “vintage watches” for me

Have you ever seen a photo of the sign that reads, “Antiques made daily?” What goes for antiques might well go for vintage watches. Generally, we define vintage as being two generations old. If it was made before the 1960s, you can call it a vintage watch.

Some might argue that “vintage” is a state of mind. Is an original model Pulsar a vintage watch? It may be, depending on your perspective.

Vintage watches are usually collected in one of two categories: by the type of watch it is, or by the company who made the watch.

How much should I pay for a vintage watch?

Most vintage watches are offered on auction, and you can use the internet to find a variety of resources to tell you reasonable prices to pay for these.

You can also do quick searches to find out reasonable prices to pay for the vintage watch you are looking at. Do this by googling the watch’s serial number (with the watch name, too, though not necessarily). Of course, you will also have to know the condition and other factors about the watch.

EBay is a great place to find vintage watches and to bid on them.

Vintage watches by brand

Every name in classic Swiss horologists has made vintage watches. Any luxury name including Rolex, Dunhill, Cartier and others have also been around long enough to have made significant collections of vintage watches.
Hamilton watches are a favorite of vintage watch collectors.
Elgin and Waltham watches are two American railroad watches that were mass produced and definitely have vintage appeal.

Kinds of vintage watches

There are a lot of different kinds of watches that people collect as vintage watches. The list that follows is probably not exhaustive. There is something mystical about holding a timepiece in your hand that also has its own history.

Military watches are much sought-after by military collectors as well as watch collectors. Consider this: many of these survived battles that their owners did not.
Repeater watches ring a tone on the hour.
Pocket watches like the Elgin and many more. Pendant watches are a cousin.
Mechanical watches are, of course, classic examples of vintage watches – or is that vintage examples of classics?